RHIO/HIE solutions emerge

While RHIOs and HIEs might be having trouble getting their act together, it's not for lack of technology options. In fact, they'll find a pretty rich set of solutions to check out at HiMSS, including some that weren't available at last year's big show. Increasingly, the move seems to be to put a simple Web interface on disparate data systems rather than go for higher levels of integration--which makes a whole lot of sense.

Where to start looking? One possibility is SOA-based dbMotion (part owned by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) which says it can pull of the neat trick of creating integrated patient records from data held by providers with no shared-data technology in place. Clinical workflow integration technology vendor Orion Health offers a portal-based, unified interface which can be layered on top of existing data. Its technology has already been in use for a RHIO integrating all providers in New Zealand for several years. Another entrant is Axolotl, whose "Virtual health Record" platform assembles chart-like on demand from all connect healthcare systems in a RHIO.

While you're at it, you may also want to check out the HiMSS Interoperability Showcase, which offers a living demonstration of a health information exchange using the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise process and framework. It never hurts to see the real deal in action.