Remodeling and the Perfect HIE

 Here at the base of Mt. Timpanogos we just remodeled the KLAS offices. Nothing fancy, but it seemed time to replace the pink tile that was so hip in the 80s and time to move forward into this century.  We spent long hours making sure that we would not displace employees for more than a month. It was a lofty goal, but as anyone knows that has worked with contractors (of any sort), things rarely work out according to plan.

Our one month exile turned into two, and then two turned into three. It’s a long time to be sharing small spaces, especially when talking (loudly, as most of our employees do) on the phone. After several months camping out in temporary space, we finally moved back into our old (but, oh-so-new) space.

In our recent HIE Report “Health Information Exchanges: Rapid Growth in an Evolving Market”, we’re seeing much the same thing. Commitments that they would be live this year are now stretching another year (or two). Despite thorough planning, administrators are running into unexpected but time-consuming snags: disagreements between  competing organizations about how to share the data; delays in getting physical hardware in place and paid for; figuring out a reasonable model for patient consent; adjusting to ever-changing federal and state regulations; figuring out you are the second customer to do this with your vendor.

With all those obstacles, it’s no wonder that private HIEs have become the preferred way for more and more organizations. There is a business model that you can wrap your arms around, governance that you can manage, and a clear end game. You get to call the shots, and if it doesn’t work, you have to look in the mirror.  Still, public HIEs are certainly not going away any time soon.