Regional Extension Centers and HIE

The Software Advice team has written an interesting critique on recently created Regional Extension Centers (RECs) designed to advance adoption of EHRs. You are invited to complete their online survey with special emphasis on reporting anecdotal experience with these organizations. Although it is probably too early to draw substantial conclusions, I agree with Houston Neal that RECs will remain ineffective. My arguments suggest inadequate public funding and institutional arrangements, while his deplore the slow pace of government programs and their interference with free market dynamics.

As Neal points out, the eHealth Initiative has published a disappointing report on RECs to assess progress in their implementation across the US. They have also issued their 2010 report on Health Information Exchange (HIE).

Under the Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC), RECs were created to provide technical assistance, guidance and information on best practices to support meaningful use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The competitively selected RECs - announced in February and April 2010 - serve health care providers within their geographical areas. The Survey of Regional Extension Centers, Planning for Adoption: The Early Direction of Regional Extension Centers (September 2010), presents the following findings (page 3):

• Many Regional Extension Centers remain in the planning stages.
• Progress has been slow in transitioning pre-award letters of commitment
  by providers to signed contracts by PCPs with a Regional Extension
  Center.
• Opinion is evenly divided on progress toward REC objectives being reliant
  upon assistance from the Health Information Technology Research Center.
• Among Regional Extension Centers planning to offer a preferred EHR
  vendor list to PCPs, the most important criteria for selecting a preferred
  EHR vendor are:
  o Price/ total cost of ownership over 3 years
  o Guarantee of meaningful use functionality
  o The number of installations locally
  o Use of an ASP hosted model
• After stimulus funds are removed, a majority of Regional Extension
  Centers will change their fees as a means to sustainability.

The sample for this survey included only 46 of the 60 RECs in operation. The above findings suggest difficulties in defining the relationships among RECs and other health care institutions, as well as the lack of a sustainable business model. It is also not clear how these centers will provide support services across the US. The competitive selection process for RECs considered neither the issue of comprehensive geographical coverage, nor design of the requisite institutional arrangements with RHIOs, the HITRC or SDEs. I pointed out some of these weaknesses in my commentary on the proposed REC design and selection process last year.

The eHealth Initiative has also published a report based on their Seventh Annual Survey of Health Information Exchange - The State of Health Information Exchange in 2010: Connecting the Nation to Achieve Meaningful Use. The survey identified 234 active health information exchange initiatives (HIEs) in the US, among which 199 responded to and qualified for inclusion in the 2010 Annual Survey on Health Information Exchange. It should be noted that 48 of 56 state designated entities (SDEs) have been included in this sample. This shift in the definition of health information organizations needs to be taken into account in the survey findings reported. On page five, a description of the geographical coverage of organizations included in the survey shows that they cannot be considered comparable in size or clientele:

"Most non-SDE initiatives are operating at a multi-county coverage area. Fifty-five
initiatives report covering a multi-county area, while 21 initiatives report covering an
entire state. Other coverage areas include: 17 at a multi-state level, 11 at a county level,
7 at a metro level, 5 that do not cover a geographic area, and 6 initiatives that cover
another area such as part of a city or county, or are working with a specific population
group."

While the 2010 survey claims an increase in the number of operational exchanges, the rate of "mortality" among the sample from 2009-2010 is not considered, nor is the redefinition of "exchange initiatives" (defined as RHIOs in earlier reports) to include state designated entities (SDEs). The interpretation of survey results makes no distinction between state and federal programs for health information exchange.

In 2009, 57 health information exchange initiatives reported being operational. In 2010,
the number of operational health information exchanges increased to 73, 5 of which
report being SDEs. (page 8)

At least 28 of the 2009 respondents who did not respond to the 2010 survey were thought to continue their pursuit of HIE - although there is no data presented to support this assertion. The research methodology does not clearly state the total number of organizations included in the 2009 survey who did not respond in 2010. This number is essential to evaluate the 2010 survey response rate as well as sample mortality. (In my commentary on the 2009 survey, I identified similar problems in the research methodology.)

The significant methodological deficiencies of the surveys conducted by the eHealth Initiative seriously undermine the optimistic claims made by their authors.
Some useful websites:

The State HIE Toolkit
The State Health Information Exchange Leadership Forum
HIMSS Health Information Exchange
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
Wikipedia Regional Health Information Organization
Nationwide Health Information Network Overview (ONC)
Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII)

Reflections on Business Models

In commentaries on US policies to promote meaningful use of health information technologies and electronic health records, I have pointed out the importance of a system level view of infrastructures for health information exchange. Key to the development of such infrastructures is the underlying business model to assure nationwide integration and system sustainability. A number of papers on health care system business models are available from a variety of agencies:





A Strong State Role in HIE: Lessons from the South Carolina Health Information Exchange

(2010) AHIMA



Abstract:

HIEs provide the infrastructure for information exchange, including the business model, governance structure, operating principles, legal model, and technology model for the exchange of healthcare information among various organizations. HIEs and regional health information organizations (RHIOs) have struggled with development and sustainability. The causes of failures are varied, but a lack of a compelling value proposition for all stakeholders is often cited as the prevailing reason.1
The primary beneficiary from an HIE is often the patient, who contributes the least directly toward the HIE’s development and operational costs. Other vested stakeholders, such as payers and providers, all receive varying benefits and bear varying responsibilities for the costs. A major barrier in the development of HIEs then is the identification of a model that fairly and equitably distributes the costs and benefits among the various stakeholders. At the crux of this issue is whether HIEs should follow a private, market-driven model that requires the generation of profit and value for the participants, or if HIEs are a public good that requires public financing. RHIOs and HIEs typically rely on a mix of government and private grants in the start-up phase, with the expectation of self-sustainability in the future: Four categories of business models are: not-for-profit, public utility, physician-payer collaborative, and for-profit.




ICT for the Health Unit, Directorate General Information Society and Media, European Commission: Business Models for eHealth (2010)


Abstract:

The evidence suggests that a solid business model is required for developing and
implementing a value-creating and sustainable eHealth service. In particular, this business
model needs to map all key supporting activities, value chain relationships and
dependencies impacted by the introduction of an eHealth service. This state of affairs can
be achieved if a set of activities and steps are implemented.
First, the structuring and implementation of such business model requires strong senior
management involvement throughout the various phases of the design, development and
delivery of an eHealth service. More importantly, senior management should not just act
as a project or programme manager; instead, it should make sure that the eHealth system
that it is supporting is provided with the required funding throughout its entire
development and implementation phases. Essentially, senior management is expected to
have a clear vision of what its healthcare delivery organisation wants to achieve with a
specific eHealth service and system, and lead the required operational steps.
In addition, staff involvement is essential in designing a business model of an eHealth
service. They need to be given the opportunity to understand how the specific service is to
change their activity or role, and need to provide evidence for mapping their interactions
in order to see how the eHealth service is going to improve or modify them. All of these
activities are aimed at making sure that business models do not fall short of reflecting the
interactions of those actors who are to use them in their day-to-day professional activities.
A business model of a value-creating and sustainable eHealth system is a static entity. It
might change as a consequence of technological and organisational evolution. However, it
can evolve following an evaluation aimed at measuring the potential and current impact of
the eHealth system. This may require data collection concerning activity, costs and
benefits. It also involves the need to apply sensitivity analysis to assess different scenarios
through which it is possible to design or modify a business model. Although the literature
provides several eHealth evaluation models, their implementation requires strong senior
management and process management, since regular performance data needs to be
collected and examined in order to assess current performance and estimate future
developments.

US Regional Health Information Organizations and the Nationwide Health Information Network: Any Lessons for Canadians? D. Protti ElectronicHealthcare, 6(4) 2008: 96-103

Abstract:
There seems to be general agreement in the United States that a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) is a neutral, non-governmental, multi-stakeholder organization that adheres to a defined governance structure to oversee the business and legal issues involved in facilitating the secure exchange of health information to advance the effective and efficient delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities. The geographic footprint of an RHIO can range from a local community to a large multi-state region. As regional networks of stakeholders mature, they often find the need for a formal independent organizational and governance structure (i.e., an RHIO) with systems to ensure accountability and sustainability for the benefit of all stakeholders. Experts maintain that RHIOs will help reduce administrative costs associated with paper-based patient records, provide quick access to automated test results and offer a consolidated view of a patient's history. The terms RHIO and Health Information Exchange (HIE) are often used interchangeably though most would see HIE as a "concept" relating to the mobilization of healthcare information electronically across organizations within a region or community as opposed to an "organization." Typically, an HIE is a project or initiative focused around electronic data exchange between two or more organizations or stakeholders. This exchange may include clinical, administrative and financial data across a medical and or business trading area. HIEs may or may not be represented through a legal business entity or a formal business agreement between the participating parties. Local Health Information Infrastructure (LHII) is a term occasionally used synonymously with RHIO. LHII was originally termed by the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) to describe the regional or local initiatives that are anticipated to be linked together to form an envisioned National Health Information Network (NHIN). The NHIN describes the technologies, standards, laws, policies, programs and practices that enable health information to be electronically shared among multiple stakeholders and decision makers to promote healthcare delivery. When completed, the NHIN will provide the foundation for an interoperable, standards- based network for the secure exchange of healthcare information in the United States.

eHealth Initiative (2007): Health Information Exchange: From Start-up to Sustainability





University of Copenhagen Masters Thesis (2009):

Behind the Internet Business Models: An E-health Industry Case





OECD International Futures Project on
“The Bioeconomy to 2030: Designing a Policy Agenda”

Health Biotechnology:
Emerging Business Models and Institutional Drivers (2008)


Abstract:
Up until today, two business models have been dominant within the application of
biotechnology for human health, or what is called health biotech in this report. One is the
classical biotechnology model. In this model, scientific discoveries and technological
inventions have been quickly developed within entrepreneurial firms, usually based upon
venture capital. They compete through their specialized scientific knowledge, often sold to
large companies, and they also compete through their flexibility, especially quick
commercialization of new fields. The other dominant business model is that of the large,
vertically integrated company. These large firms have integrated everything inside the
boundaries of the firm, from research and development (R&D) to production to marketing
and after sales monitoring. Firms in pharmaceuticals have competed through finding the
next ‘blockbuster drug’ and those in medical devices have also competed through
developing specific technologies and devices for large numbers of customers.
The report argues that four institutional drivers will form a very different context to deliver
human health care. Those four institutional drivers for change are 1) Scientific and
technological advances; 2) Public research and the public-private interface; 3) Public policy,
institutions and regulation; and 4) Demand and consumers.