The Healthcare Intelligence Hub E-Newsletter
Data / Empowering High Performance
Highlighting Health Technology Transformation
Bob Cushman, Senior eHealth Consultant, MEDSEEKApril 20, 2011
The recent iHT 2 (Institute for Health Technology Transformation) events in Atlanta and San Francisco focused on bringing together healthcare executives and industry experts to discuss the upcoming impacts of healthcare reform, share experiences of the development and implementation of health information exchanges (HIEs) and discuss the readiness for healthcare organizations and providers to adapt to changes in the competitive/collaborative work environment.
Several industry executives discussed the business models of HIEs - from both the point of view of federal dollars used to create state-based organizations to the privately funded, privately implemented regional HIE. Arguments were made as to which model had the best opportunity to be successful and whether or not true information exchange - based on information systems standards - was actually achievable.
Leadership from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) challenged the audience in Atlanta to think creatively about the recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) publication for the accountable care organization (ACO) and seek to use Meaningful Use to provide the tools and technologies to minimize readmission rates, enable individuals to improve their care and share information across a broad spectrum of providers - not just the acute care hospital and primary care center.
Attendees learned that as the nation gets closer to ACO legislation, hospitals and healthcare organizations are closely examining how they can plan and implement structural changes to shift their focus from volume-based to value-based care. Comments were made by many throughout the events, including Mark Blatt, Director of Global Healthcare Strategies, Digital Health Group, Intel Corp., who said in San Francisco that while the US Congress is incentivizing the industry with money upfront, the government (namely the CMS), much like many large employers, will go bankrupt if it does not squeeze $400B out of the system in the coming 10 years. As part of this revolution, healthcare organizations - which have done little to change in the last 10 years - are being forced to rapidly change in a compressed amount of time in order to remain solvent.
Porter Research President Cynthia Porter talks with MEDSEEK Senior Account Executive Nick Merchant at the Atlanta iHT 2 event.
While there was discussion about the structure and formation of ACOs, leaders were quick to note that the ACO model is not a "project," and that serious healthcare organization is quickly aligning with payers/employers and physicians, looking at technical and physical infrastructure and contemplating continuity of care models that will ultimately make the patient the focal point of care. Healthcare organizations will be required to look at managing populations in order to build healthy communities and are quickly putting together the right technology and tools to be prepared to electronically exchange data and measure the impact of their efforts.
Several executives outlined the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) as the key lynchpin in the ACO framework. It was argued that the PCMH, when designed properly, would be the key delivery mechanism in the patient/provider relationship. The PCMH could be designed to be the most important feature in the care continuum.
Other countries such as Sweden have dramatically reduced the number of hospitals from hundreds to double digits, all while seeing overall improvements in the population's care at a lower cost. Americans are poised to see dramatic changes in the way their traditional physician and care teams perform their jobs, and the level of participation and prevention that will require them to manage their own care. Get ready for the revolution.
The next iHT 2 Health IT Summit will be held May 10-11, 2011, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Bob Cushman is
Senior eHealth Consultant at MEDSEEK, which provides healthcare organizations with Enterprise
eHealth solutions to fully engage and
strengthen relationships with key constituents, physicians, patients, employees and consumers.
Tweet
