HIE market: Take a deep breath
 |
Nearly 10 years ago, my father bought a new computer. This was not the first time nor would it be the last time that a new machine graced the household, but it was the first time I encountered a personal computer where the manufacturer failed to include a floppy disk drive. Surely, this was a factory error; at least that’s what I believed when I informed my father that the computer was “defective.” I had yet to become accustomed to the mystical USB drive.
Today, I could hardly do any work without the portability of a portable USB drive. What once seemed disruptive and preventive from me at the time now is commonplace. With that thought in mind, I believe that while HIE growing pains are to be expected, we can take in a large breath and understand that it won’t all be bad.
In the past month, the National eHealth Collaborative released its 2011 study on 12 sustainable HIEs, where it was found that some common successful HIE business models include participants who are paying fees to connect into their network.
There’s a lot of optimism for accountable care organizations (ACOs) from the market, as in a Health Affairs article that posits that health reform efforts will depend on creating new and better ways to organize and pay for healthcare. On the flip side, the Commonwealth Fund released a report asserting that providers do not have the current infrastructure to take on and manage risk successfully in relation to ACOs.
As far as new developments, there’s plenty of activity to chum the waters. In addition to President Obama beginning an insurance exchange roll-out, New Hampshire’s statewide health information organization went live.
If you have any questions or would like to speak with me about the HIE marketplace, please send an email to jbyers@trimedmedia.com.
Jeff Byers