HIMSS unveils Health IT Value Suite

To better evaluate and communicate the impact of health IT investments, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) unveiled the Health IT Value Suite, a comprehensive knowledge repository that classifies, quantifies and articulates the clinical, financial and business impact of health IT investments.

“Using the Health IT Value Suite, stakeholders and organizations can continue to advance their objectives with confidence, and realize maximum value by providing high-quality, safe and cost-effective care,” according to a release.

The Health IT Value Suite helps stakeholders evaluate the success of their IT investments with an emphasis on examining and improving performance across numerous factors. Specifically, it contains hundreds of provider case studies demonstrating health IT’s value; using this evidence, HIMSS has identified ways in which value can be realized, and has grouped them into five categories—satisfaction, treatment/clinical, electronic information/data, prevention and patient education and savings—which are called Health IT Value STEPS.

“As healthcare providers continue to implement IT solutions, it is increasingly critical to be able to evaluate technology’s real impact. Pinpointing the clinical and financial impact of health IT investments is complex. That’s why we’re introducing the Health IT Value,” said Carla Smith MA, CNM, executive vice president of HIMSS, during a July 19 press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

An executive summary of the HIMSS Health IT Value Suite is available here. The suite will continuously be updated with additional data and increased functionality and enhancements coming over the next few months.