Provider trust can cause an HIE to sink or swim

Ken Terry | Fierce Health IT | August 2, 2011

Amid the ongoing debate over the sustainability of multi-stakeholder health information exchanges, the National eHealth Collaborative (NeHC) has released a report explaining why some HIEs have been successful, profiling a dozen of them. A common denominator among working exchanges? Trust among its participants, the report's authors say.

Successful HIEs work hard to build trust among the participating healthcare entities. Aside from assuring data security, "the culture, policies, and procedures of the HIE regarding data usage must assure participants that no stakeholder will gain a competitive advantage at the expense of others," the report says. Because there are less likely to be major competing healthcare systems in rural areas, the report notes, it is easier for HIEs in those regions to attract participants, many of whom need support in building their own health IT infrastructures. (Despite that assessment, however, CareSpark, a rural HIE based in Kingsport, Tenn., recently went under because it couldn't get local providers to work together.)

The report's authors also maintain that to create a sustainable business model, HIEs must persuade local stakeholders that they offer enough value to be worth supporting financially. "Reduced data distribution costs and increased staff productivity are the major reasons why participants are willing to pay for the services offered by these HIEs," they write. The most prevalent form of financial support is subscription fees...