Report offers HIE keys to survival

Establishing health information exchanges sounds good on paper, but in practice, it's hard to come up with a solid financial justification for keeping them going. So how do you keep a health information exchange alive? Among the key steps to take is to do a good job of determining what each stakeholder will want from the project--both financially and operationally--according to a Foundation for eHealth Initiative report released last week.

The group's Value and Sustainability Model, which hopes to help HIE organizers survive after startup funding dries up, is built on the lessons learned by three RHIOs, the Indiana Health Information Exchange in Indianapolis, HealthBridge in Cincinnati and Taconic Health Information Network and Community in Fishkill, NY. The foundation developed the model, in part, with $6.8 million in HHS funding.

The model, which is available at no cost, gives HIE developers a toolkit that will help planners decide how ready its community is to support an exchange, offers guidance in developing a business case and pro forma financial statements, and provides a template helping HIE planners develop an overall business plan.

To learn more about the model:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (sub. req.)

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