Kentucky e Health Board Meeting Frankfort KY February

Kentucky e. Health Board Meeting Frankfort, KY February 21, 2006 A New Patient-centric and Sustainable Path to Achieving Health Information Infrastructure n n William A. Yasnoff, MD, Ph. D, FACMI Managing Partner, NHII Advisors N H I I ADVISORS © 2006

Outline I. III. IV. What is the National Health Information Infrastructure (NHII)? How does the NHII help address current health care problems? How can we organize the creation of the NHII? What is the path to HII in communities? N H 2 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

I. What is the NHII? n n 3 Comprehensive knowledge-based network of interoperable systems Capable of providing information for sound decisions about health when and where needed “Anywhere, anytime health care information and decision support” NOT a national database of medical records © 2006 N H I I ADVISORS

I. What is the NHII? (continued) n n Includes not only systems, but organizing principles, procedures, policies, and standards, e. g. l Organization & governance l Alignment of financial incentives l Operational policies l Message & content standards Individual provider Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are only the building blocks, not NHII N H 4 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

II. How does NHII help address current health care problems? A. B. C. 5 Improving Healthcare Delivery at Point of Care (Improving Quality) l Complete patient information l Decision support Reducing Costs & Achieving Efficiencies l Eliminate duplicate tests & imaging l Eliminate duplicate communication channels (labs, x-rays, etc. ) Support Public Health Initiatives & Biosurveillance l Automated disease reporting l Automated syndrome reporting © 2006 N H I I ADVISORS

III. How Can We Organize the Creation of the NHII? N H 6 ©

Community Approach to HII n n n n 7 Existing HII systems are local Health care is local benefits are local Facilitates high level of trust needed Easier to align local incentives Local scope increases probability of success Specific local needs can be addressed Can develop a repeatable implementation process Parallel implementation more rapid progress © 2006 N H I I ADVISORS

Community Pointer to Encounter Data Added to Index Hospital Record Laboratory Results Specialist Records Returned Requests for Records Clinician EHR System Encounter Data Stored in EHR Patient Authorized Inquiry Index of where patients have records Temporary Aggregate Patient History Info Exchange 8 Clinical Encounter Patient data delivered to Physician N H © 2006 I I ADVISORS

U. S. Hospital Record Laboratory Results Specialist Records Returned Requests for Records Authorized Inquiry Index of where patients have records Temporary Aggregate Patient History Other Info Exchange N H Patient data delivered 9 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Problems with scattered data model for community HII n n n 10 All health information systems must have query capability (at extra cost) l Organizational cooperation challenge (esp. for physicians) l Maintaining 24/7/365 availability with rapid response time will be operationally challenging (& costly) Searching HII repository is sequential (e. g. for research & public health) Where is financial alignment & sustainability? © 2006 N H I I ADVISORS

Operational Community HIIs Name Data Storage Financially sustainable? Spokane, WA Central YES South Bend, IN Indianapolis, IN Central YES Central Not yet Number of operational community HII systems using scattered model: NONE 11 N H © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Key Problems of Community HIIs Privacy assurance for consumers l EHR incentives for physicians l Financial sustainability l Ensuring cooperation of health care institutions l Adoption and gradual improvement of standards l How can these problems be solved? N H 12 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

IV. What is the Path to HII in Communities? N H 13 © 2006

Components of a Community Health Information Infrastructure Stakeholder cooperation Complete Electronic Patient Information Financial

Complete Electronic Patient Information n n 15 Most information is already electronic: Labs, Medications, Images, Hospital Records Outpatient records are mostly paper l Only 10 -15% of physicians have EHRs l Business case for outpatient EHRs weak For outpatient information to be electronic, need financial incentives to ensure that physicians acquire and use EHRs Requirement #1: Financial incentives to create good N H business case for outpatient EHRs © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Requirements 1. Financial incentives to create good business case for outpatient EHRs N H

Complete Electronic Patient Information n n 17 Need single access point for electronic information Option 1: Gather data when needed (scattered model) l Pro: 1) data stays in current location; 2) no duplication of storage l Con: 1) all systems must be available for query 24/7/365; 2) each system incurs added costs of queries (initial & ongoing); 3) slow response time; 4) searching not practical; 5) huge interoperability challenge (entire U. S. ); 6) records only complete if N H every possible data source is operational © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Complete Electronic Patient Information n n Need single access point for electronic information Option 2: Central repository l Pro: fast response time, no interoperability between communities, easy searching, reliability depends only on central system, security can be controlled in one location, completeness of record assured, low cost l Con: public trust challenging, duplicate storage (but storage is inexpensive) N H 18 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Complete Electronic Patient Information n n Need single access point for electronic information Requirement

Requirements 1. 2. Financial incentives to create good business case for outpatient EHRs Central

n n n Stakeholder cooperation n Voluntary Impractical Financial incentives l Where find $$$$$? Mandates l New Impractical l Existing – HIPAA requires information to be provided on patient request Requirement #3: Patients must request their own information N H 21 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Requirements 1. 2. 3. Provide financial incentives to create good business case for outpatient EHRs Central repository for storage Patients must request their own information N H 22 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

n Financial Sustainability n Funding options l Government – Federal: unlikely – State: unlikely – Startup funds at best l Healthcare Stakeholders – Paid for giving care – New investments or transaction costs difficult l Payers/Purchasers – Skeptical about benefits – Free rider/first mover effects l Consumers – 72% support electronic records – 52% willing to pay >=$5/month Requirement #4: Solution must appeal to consumers so they will pay N H 23 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Requirements 1. 2. 3. 4. Financial incentives to create good business case for outpatient EHRs Central repository for storage Patients must request their own information Solution must appeal to consumers so they will pay N H 24 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

A. Public Trust = Patient Control of Information Public Trust n Requirement #5: Patients

Requirements 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Financial incentives to create good business case for outpatient EHRs Central repository for storage Patients must request their own information Solution must appeal to consumers so they will pay Patients must control all access to their information N H 26 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Public Trust B. Trusted Institution § Via regulation (like banks) impractical § Self-regulated § Community-owned non-profit § Board with all key stakeholders § Independent privacy oversight § Open & transparent § Requirement #6: Governing institution must be self-regulating communityowned non-profit N H 27 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Requirements 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Financial incentives to create good business case for outpatient EHRs Central repository for storage Patients must request their own information Solution must appeal to consumers so they will pay Patients must control all access to their information Governing institution must be self-regulating community-owned non-profit N H 28 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

Public Trust 29 C. Trustworthy Technical Architecture § Prevent large-scale information loss § Searchable database offline § Carefully screen all employees § Prevent inappropriate access to individual records § State-of-the-art computer security § Strong authentication § No searching capability § Secure operating system § Easier to secure central repository: efforts focus on one place § Requirement #7: Technical architecture must prevent information loss and misuse © 2006 N H I I ADVISORS

Requirements 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Financial incentives to create good business case for outpatient EHRs Central repository for storage Patients must request their own information Solution must appeal to consumers so they will pay Patients must control all access to their information Governing institution must be self-regulating community-owned non-profit Technical architecture must prevent information loss and misuse N H 30 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

e. Health. Trust™ Model n n All information for a patient (from all sources) stored in single e. Health. Trust “account” controlled by that patient Charge $60/year/patient ($5/mo) l n n n Paid by patient, payer, or purchaser All data sources contribute at patient request (per HIPAA) Operating Cost < $20/year/patient Payments to clinicians for submitting standard electronic clinical info provides incentives for EHR acquisition (~$3/encounter)** N H 31 **patent pending © 2006 I I ADVISORS

e. Health. Trust™ Encounter Data sent to e. Health. Trust ™ Clinician’s Bank Patient data delivered to Clinician $3 payment Secure patient health data files Clinician EHR System YES Encounter Data Entered in EHR Patient Permission? NO DATA NOT SENT e. Health. Trust™ 32 Clinical Encounter N H Clinician Inquiry © 2006 I I ADVISORS

e. HT Model Meets Requirements 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Financial incentives to create good business case for outpatient EHRs Central repository for storage Patients must request their own information Solution must appeal to consumers so they will pay Patients must control all access to their information Governing institution must be self-regulating community-owned non-profit Technical architecture must prevent information loss and misuse N H 33 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

e. Health. Trust Advantages n n Easily Integrated with l Patient-entered information l Patient education information l Patient reminders l Patient-provider electronic communication Promotes Gradual Standards Adoption l Initial standard enforced through patent l Reimbursement policy can improve standard over time (e. g. to increase coding) Provides Transition from Paper Records l Fax images of paper records stored l Metadata facilitates some indexing Immediate Realization of Benefits l Each e. Health. Trust™ member gets immediate benefit from complete records l Benefits not contingent on critical mass N H 34 © 2006 I I ADVISORS

How does e. Health. Trust Architecture Assure Security? n n 35 Clinical server (“cubbyhole server”) l Ultra-secure “separation kernel” – Subset of secure operating system – Each user has hardware-enabled “virtual machine” that cannot impact others l Only operation is retrieval of one record – User then logged off l No searching possible l No database software l Hacker worst case: one record retrieved Research server has copy of clinical data l No phone lines or network connections l Access requires physical presence l Standard database software l Consumer permission required for searching – Bulk of searching revenue --> consumer N H © 2006 I I ADVISORS

e. Health. Trust Stakeholder Benefits n Purchasers l Individuals – – l Employers & Gov’t (Medicaid/Medicare) – n n n 36 Lower cost, higher quality care Complete medical records under their control Lower cost, higher quality care Practitioners l Financial incentives for EHRs l Access to complete patient records Providers l Access to complete patient records l Increased efficiency Payers l Availability of complete aggregate data needed to monitor care © 2006 N H I I ADVISORS

Strategy for Funding e. Health. Trust™ n n n 37 Issue two RFPs l 1) Vendor builds e. Health. Trust in exchange for long-term guaranteed operations contract (Vendor owns software) l 2) Non-exclusive licenses to integrate e. Health. Trust information with web-based health information services ( startup funds) Engage purchasers to enroll beneficiaries to guarantee operational revenue l Need about 100, 000 subscribers to break even (~$6 million/year revenue) Once system operational, market to individual consumers through physicians N H © 2006 I I ADVISORS

SUMMARY A New Patient-centric and Sustainable Approach to HII I. III. l l l 38 Central Community Repository Paid for and Controlled by Patients Solves Key Problems Privacy Assurance for Consumers EHR incentives for physicians Financial Sustainability Cooperation by health care institutions Adoption and Gradual Improvement of Standards N H © 2006 I I ADVISORS