Ever-bigger HIT silos might be the result of ACO buildup

Ken Terry | Fierce Health IT | October 15, 2011

The recent KLAS report on how providers are grappling with accountable care organizations shows that no single IT vendor can provide a complete ACO solution. Nevertheless, the advent of ACOs--and all they portend in terms of future reimbursement changes--is driving many healthcare organizations to depend more on a single vendor for their IT needs, says Colin Buckley, a co-author of the report.

"What we're seeing is that organizations have been trying to get more standardized and are driving toward a single integrated vendor to simplify their lives," Buckley tells FierceHealthIT. "They look to those vendors to continuously develop their platform. But I don't think anybody we talked to is expecting that their single vendor is going to give them everything they need for an ACO."

Provider organizations that have a more integrated solution, he added, are more confident about their ability to build ACOs. In contrast, institutions that have best-of-breed systems are concerned about the future...