Cross-border Health Information Exchange to Achieve World Health Outcomes

The number of people crossing borders for visiting family, leisure, or business has greatly increased over the past decades. Some of this travel may contain planned or unplanned use of health services out-of-state within a country or in a different country. Meeting the information needs of providers caring for populations crossing borders has gained attention for better management, coordination, and policies across health systems. The chapter reviews the background, current practices, and limitations of states, regions, and countries relating to cross-border health information exchange. To this end, the chapter discusses the ethical, legal, financial, organizational, and technical aspects of cross-border health data exchange. These aspects are discussed within the context of the mobile populations who cross-borders across different regions and countries around the globe.