Health information exchanges (HIEs) are entities in the united states that can bring healthcare stakeholders within a specific geographical area and govern the sharing of health information for the purpose of improving the delivery of healthcare within that area by facilitating the access to and retrieval of health information in order to help clinicians provide a timelier, safer and more efficient care. These organizations have the ability to move clinical information across different systems of health care information while being able to continue to maintain the meaning of the information that is being exchanged.