Past buzz, down to business

Mary Stevens, Editor of CMIO

Health information exchange (HIE) has passed the buzzword mantle to a new contender, accountable care organizations (ACOs). This is more than a move in the health IT lexicon and evidence of its passage was everywhere at HIMSS11 in Orlando, Fla. HIEs haven't vanished and their endemic challenges remain as well. There were 24 educational sessions and a dedicated HIE Symposium on the HIMSS syllabus, and a variety of vendors on the show floor; while HIE also flavored the interoperability showcase.

Prior to the show, Pam Mathews, RN, MBA, HIMSS senior director of regional affairs, predicted HIMSS11 would highlight some of the recent federal and state information exchange milestones, such as Direct Project pilots. In our pre-HIMSS conversation, she suggested looking at the HIE Symposium from the strategic perspective and the practical perspective.  Applying that to the rest of the show was equally useful: speakers and vendors offered plenty of advice and exhibits, respectively, of both down-the-road connectivity and systems that could be used today or six months from now.

There were HIE success stories in the educational sessions, as well as skepticism about the long-term financial viability of many initiatives and several presentations devoted to trust, standards and interoperability. Equally important, I saw and heard about more “HIE solutions” from more vendors, states and regions than last year.  If the buzz-worthy acronym was ‘ACO’ at this year’s show, that’s fine – HIEs are part of the plumbing that will be necessary for ACOs to work.

With the run-up to HIMSS11, you might have missed the start of CMIO.net’s “HIE Chronicles.” In this five-part series, reporter Jeff Byers follows the progress of the Rhode Island statewide HIE. Part 1 describes the exchange’s inception and near-demise in a March 2010 flood. You can read Part 2 for a look at how the system was rebuilt after the water receded. Future installments will look at consent issues, deployment strategy and go-live, which is slated for March.

HIMSS12, in Las Vegas, will no doubt include more stories of success, but the work in the trenches goes on.

What were your HIE-lights at HIMSS11? Let me know at mstevens@cmio.net

Mary Stevens,  Editor of CMIO