Collaboration Plans
Regional health information organizations (RHIOs) continue to struggle with governance and sustainability issues but have not yet given up the ghost. New RHIOs continue to form and the most progressive RHIOs are being more aggressive with providing new services. While the fortunes of the hundreds of RHIOs around the country have been decidedly mixed, a surprising number of RHIOs showcased some of these ideas at HIMSS14.
All of the new (and most of the not-all-that-new) ideas for RHIO services involve providing data-based services rather than messaging. We think that this approach — moving up the value chain — will be fruitful for the RHIOs that can successfully package, price and deliver these new services. RHIOs are correct in thinking that provider organizations that have traditionally feared competition are now looking to collaborate in an effort to deliver more coordinated care. The challenge, as always, will be to incorporate these new services into existing provider workflows.
