States should lead health info exchange charge

New research from a Deloitte & Touche health research group suggests that state governments may be the best-positioned players to make sure health information exchanges happen. After all, states already have a great deal of information in hand to leverage, including disease pattern data, prison health data and immunization records, and databases already set up to offer a single view of a given client, say researchers with The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. States are also well-positioned to apply for e-health grants and coordinate publicly-funded insurance programs with private insurance initiatives, they note. And getting involved offers a good payoff, researchers suggest. Among other benefits, HIEs can simplify a state's health administration process, support better clinical decision-making and improve citizens' overall health, the group suggests.

I have previously argued that private health plans are more likely to drive the development of health information exchanges--particularly when it comes to EMRs--given their close business relationship with providers. Still, the D&T folks certainly have a point in noting that states already collect a bushel full of critically-important information. With any luck, both of these forces of nature will help the industry achieve a consensus on health data sharing.

Get the Deloitte take on health info exchanges:
- see this D&T press release
- review the report

PLUS: A group of state CIOs publishes an update on their health IT efforts. Report (.pdf)

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