Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredeson, co-chairman of the alliance said the vote last week to study the issue of sustainability is an important one because there is “such an enormous gap in what is actually sustainable and the very high-minded things we’re all talking about.”
Among the “high-minded” concepts might be the Dossia project under development through $15 million in seed funding from a coalition of Applied Materials, BP America, Intel Corp. , Pitney Bowes, Wal-Mart and Cardinal Health.
Dossia, will provide a personal health record platform for up to 4 million employees, dependents and retirees, said Anne Chapman, senior program manager of Personal Health Record Programs Health Group at Intel Corp. The program is under development through a contract with Omnimedix. The Dossia coalition hopes to find a sustainable model within the next three years and is poised to announce the addition of two new companies to their group within the next couple weeks, Chapman said.
The coalition is developing the not-for-profit model to lay groundwork for healthcare data exchange because currently employers foot half the bill for healthcare, Chapman said. The companies expect the project will prompt “widespread uptake of PHR usage among consumers,” Chapman said. “We want the PHR industry to thrive and to go forward.”
The Dossia coalition plans to work with states after testing within its own private sector in 2007. “It’s something that has never been built before,” Chapman said. “After we test it, we will reach out to states and interested public agencies on how it could be applicable to states’ efforts.”
Reed Tuckson, MD, an advisor to the state alliance and executive vice president and chief of medical affairs at UnitedHealth Group said he was concerned. “Do you have enough guidance to pull this off –- or are we going to wind up with a bunch of trains and the need for a massive effort to reconfigure them? ”
Chapman said the Dossia coalition is working with legislative subcommittees. “Yes, it’s a major issue as all these trains are leaving the station at the same time,” Chapman said, but the group hopes that the standardized designed will make it publicly accessible.
“I’m most excited that big business sees this as something they can put money behind,” said Herb Conaway, a representative of the New Jersey legislature. However, “figuring out how much this is going to cost is a big part of moving forward.”
Jim Geringer, director of policy and public sector strategies at the Environmental Systems Research Institute and former governor of Wyoming, said he disagrees with some who argue that the public sector should not be the first to develop a sustainable project. “I think as long as we work from the same protocols, I don’t care if it’s the private or public sector working on it,” Geringer said. “The private sector could lead us rather than follow us,” as long as standards are in place.
Bredesen applauded the vote to study sustainability: “I, as a governor, would like to know, is there a transaction cost out there that somebody might be willing to pay for these kinds of things? ”
Autor(en)/Author(s): Diana Manos
Quelle/Source: Healthcare IT News, 02.04.2007
