Coming on the same day as the announcement that HHS will put another $162 million toward Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), the news that Pennsylvania has decided not to partner with Delaware as it works to develop its own HIE would be easy to overlook.
But given the way the potential alliance between the two states was first rolled out, it seems fair to wonder what was behind the decision not to move forward.
According to the recently finalized Strategic Plan for the Pennsylvania Health Information Exchange (PDF), the ideas floated in the draft plan released late last year were not well received during the public comment period
Specifically, “...[T]he recommendation to partner with DHIN caused significant adverse public comments by the IT vendor community and prompted a hearing by the Pennsylvania Senate.”
As a result, the plan later states, “Public comment on this recommendation by the vendor community supported using a Request for Proposals (RFP) to select a contractor to build PHIX.”
Those are the only two references to the objections in the entire 86-page report. But as we observed when the draft plan was first released, Pennsylvania officials were contending that “tapping into Delaware’s network will enable Pennsylvania to lop 18 months off its previous schedule for establishing its own statewide health information exchange. Moreover, taking advantage of Delaware’s established vendor discounts will save Pennsylvania as well.”
So, what happened? What was the specific nature of those “significant public comments by the IT vendor community”, and why did they lead to the change in plans?
Given that states across the country are working hard to develop their own HIEs, and in view of HHS’ most recent contribution of taxpayer dollars to support that effort, it seems fair to suggest that the experiences in one state should be made public so that other states can avoid repeating someone else’s mistakes.
To state the obvious, the goal of HIEs is to enhance the exchange of health information across state and regional boundaries. For policymakers working to make that happen, it would help if the information and experience gained as HIEs are being developed were exchanged as well.
Jeff Rowe blogs daily at Priming the Pump.
