Information continuity

In the healthcare industry, information continuity is the process by which information relevant to a patient's care is made available to both the patient and the provider at the right place and the right time, to facilitate ongoing health care management and continuity of care.

There is a non-Information Technology reference to "Informational continuity"[1] — the use of information on past events and personal circumstances to make current care appropriate for each individual.

Information continuity in the information technology sense may exist alongside physical care continuity, such as when a medical chart arrives with a patient to the hospital.

Information continuity will become more and more important as patients in health care systems expect that their treating physicians have all of their medical information across the health care spectrum.

This use of this term in health information technology initiated at Seattle, Washington, at the Group Health Cooperative non-profit care system to describe activities including data sharing, allergy and medication reconciliation, and interfacing of data between health care institutions.