HIE solution-

In 2009, under a sub-section of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) signed into law by President Obama, known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), provides financial incentives for the adoption of Electronic Health Record (EHR) and authorizes Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC-HIT) to promote Health Information Exchange. Health Information Exchange (HIE) is the term used to define an electronic network amongst a healthcare organization within a region or community or hospital systems which will share, link, and communicate with each other and allowing the exchange of clinical data across its exchange network. 

 There are many different HIEs which are already connecting different organizations and health systems within a community. There are different models of HIE ranging from private for-profit to government non-profit model. However all HIEs have one common characteristic which is "interoperability." Interoperability refers to the HIE's ability to transmit and share data amongst different health information systems in a universally recognized language as a data protocol.

The benefits of adopting and becoming part of a HIE network is having the ability and access to deliver an electronic secure exchange of clinical data between different providers in the health care systems. With the HIE, a clinician or organization can share the clinical data of a patient throughout the continuum of patient's medical care which is crucial to achieving meaningful use and also delivery of high-quality and cost-efficient patient care. 

Accountable Care Organizations (ACO)-

Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) only takes up a few pages on the new healthcare law proposed by President Barack Obama in 2009, but its effects has been overwhelming and has probably become one of most used and talked about phrase in the healthcare industry since the new healthcare law has been introduced.

An ACO is a network of physicians, hospitals, institutions and other healthcare providers such as nurses, physical therapists, case managers and social workers who will share responsibilities of providing care to the patient. In the new law which set forth the rules and regulations of setting up an ACO, an ACO needs to have a minimum of 5,000 Medicare beneficiaries and must remain in the ACO status for minimum of 3 years.

With the baby boomers entering retirement age, the costs of the Medicare program are expected to rise. Thus by forming the ACO initiative which will focus on primary care and preventive care, and give strong incentives to providers to reduce and avoid unnecessary tests and procedures, together the ACO will save money and meet quality benchmark measures for improving overall population health. In other words, providers will get paid more by keeping their patients healthy and out of the hospital.

The official start date of the ACO initiative is schedule to launch in January, 2012, but the race to form ACOs has already been started by hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers across the country.

Final 10 Things to Know About ACOs

• 1. The role of the physicians will change dramatically
• 2. Patients must be engaged in their care
• 3. ACOs will create winners and losers among providers
• 4. ACOs are a team sport
• 5. Transparency will empower consumes and motivate providers
• 6. ACOs will require a complete redesign of the current health system
• 7. ACOs must be dynamic learning organization
• 8. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and costs a lot less
• 9. Expect a significant change in transitions of site care and delivery mechanism-remote and virtual care will become the norm
• 10. Primary care should be a major focus in the ACO environment

Characteristics of Ideal ACO

• Care management including continuum of care, primary care focus, preventative care focus and coordination of care across the spectrum
• Up-to-date, certified and state-of-the-art health information technology
• Patient-centeredness
• Having the right culture which encompasses a collaborative, patient-centered, learning, adaptable, and mission-driven environment
• Strong leadership to recruit other providers and having champion physicians from all levels of care and specialties.
• Mechanisms for shared-savings model