Both ends of the spectrum

This month brings both optimism and pessimism about health information exchange (HIE).

A survey shows that the vast majority of providers and payers using HIEs are skeptical about the networks' future.

Ninety-five percent of payers, 83 percent of hospitals and 70 percent of physicians said that publicly-funded HIEs are struggling with flawed business models and are not providing meaningful connectivity. Almost three-quarters (72 percent) of respondents said that there could be as few as 10 of the currently functioning public HIEs supported by federal grants still operating by 2017 when the grants come to an end. The HIEs need to find better business models, improve their processes and create ways to encourage participation. Nearly all healthcare organizations believe community/regional and private HIEs are better suited to meet their needs.

Meanwhile, New York providers shared positive experiences with HIE at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s Annual Meeting on Jan. 23.

Health IT can help practices, particularly small ones, access their own data and close gaps in care, said Paul Ryder, CP of product management for the New York eHealth Collaborative, a nonprofit working to help practices develop health IT systems and strategies.

Information exchange plays a crucial role, he says, and especially is beneficial to smaller practices. “I firmly believe health information exchange is a democratization of healthcare and helps physicians decide if they want to be independent or not.”

It seems HIEs have much potential, but like all business ventures, they need to be financially sustainable. Hopefully, efforts along those lines will continue this year.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor