A Commercial Web-based HIE Offering from Verizonhttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid201_gci1516731,00.html

Last week, Verizon announced its entry into health information exchange. It has partnered with MedVirginia and Oracle to offer a backbone for HIE. The information provided in the press is a little hard to understand. It is not clear exactly what types of services will be offered. It seems like there will be the opportunity for each subscriber to participate in a master patient index. Also there will be user authentication and other privacy and security services. It is not clear if other services such as anonymization, data aggregation, and data processing for quality reporting will be available.

I have thought for a long time that the process of forming public health information exchanges is too complicated. Establishing governance structures, adopting standards, developing privacy and security protocols, debating consumer consent requirements are all time consuming. Often it is difficult to achieve stakeholder consensus concerning the issues. Furthermore, few of the existing HIEs have developed business plans that assure sustainability outside of federal or state grant processes. Even relatively simple approaches such as the NHIN Direct Project easily bog down.

Everyone involved in HIT realizes the importance of rapid deployment of HIE on a national basis. Meaningful use demands it. Yet results to date have been underwhelming. I think there are billions of dollars potentially at stake. It is not surprising then that a corporation with the resources of Verizon would develop a web-based approach that promises rapid implementation, scalability, and a sustainable business model. I predict that there will be many more efforts to provide HIT services using the Internet, cloud computing, and software as a service approaches. It should be interesting to see how the Verizon offering evolves.