HIEWorks Launches - New Blog Focused on HIE Trends, Updates and Insights

By Todd J. Fisher, CEO, MobileMD

HIE, as mentioned in the opening letter, has gotten its share of knocks lately. Despite much progress with HIEs over the past few years and recent Federal support and funding, often times there is a sense of pessimism. But this belies the real progress being made — and the need now, more than ever, to bring the growing HIE community together to share ideas, tips and insight into HIEs: What's working, what's not, what issues are bubbling up to the top that we all need to be aware of, and so on.

HIEWorks (blog.hieworks.com), a new blog focused on HIS community, launched on January 27th. We invite you to visit the blog, sign up for alerts when new information and news is posted, and share this with your friends and colleagues. The more we share, communicate and learn, the better HIEs will and can succeed.

If you missed the first few weeks, below is a summary intro to a few of the blog postings that may interest you. Click on "read more" you and you'll go direct to the HIEWorks blog — and don't forget to sign up for an alert or RSS feed on the home page.

PA Governor's Office of Health Care Reform Plan for a PA State-Wide Exchange (PHIX) - A Disaster?

At the end of November, the Pennsylvania Governor's Office of Health Care Reform ("GOHCR") submitted a proposed plan outlining a strategy to expedite and implement the Pennsylvania Health Information Exchange ("PHIX"). In my opinion, the plan is precariously perched on the precipice of disaster. The only safe path away from disaster and toward success for the GOHCR is to step back, rethink its strategy to partner with the Delaware exchange, and consider what health information exchange technology and services truly means to the providers and patients of Pennsylvania. In my opinion, GOCHR's proposed plan represents an incomplete assessment of the key issues and potential solutions masquerading as a rational decision driven by a need to achieve speed to market.
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Inter-system/Community Exchanges Lack Sustainability

There are many inter-health system/community Health Information Exchange initiatives. Federal and state grants are available, dollars are allocated, loosely organized boards are formed, and consultants are engaged to guide vendor selection, technology design and implementation activities. One thing remains constant among such endeavors: with an infinitesimally small number of exceptions, such HIE initiatives have consistently fallen apart. In short, competition and the prospect of lost revenue create a disincentive for organizations to jump into such "clinical data cooperatives".
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CMS releases long-awaited definition of 'meaningful use' of IT

My concern is the path is extremely narrow - a lengthy set of detailed requirements and measurements that are clearly derived from existing systems' technology and functionality. Over 500 pages of requirements and measurements derived from a look at what was and what is, not what can be or what might be? By contrast, the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights is 12 pages using the same font size, page size, and margins. Regardless of your opinion of the current state of affairs in our fine country, the Constitution has certainly withstood the test of time.
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