AlliedHIE, ICA launch behavioral health HIE

HARRISBURG, PA – Looking to remedy organizational problems that hamper health information exchange, AlliedHIE and Nashville, Tenn.-based ICA have partnered to launch an HIE that officials say will target healthcare organizations' infrastructure and communications issues.

AlliedHIE develops health information exchange technology with a focus, company officials say, on connecting vulnerable and at-risk patients to better care. ICA was founded as a way to market technology developed by Vanderbilt University Medical Center to hospitals, IDNs, communities and states.

Together, the two will launch an exchange with a secure clinical messaging DIRECT/HISP pilot project and HIE infrastructure for Lafayette Hill, Pa.-based NHS Human Services, officials say.

“Our approach to HIE is very different than other vendors,” said Kelly Lewis, president and CEO of AlliedHIE. “Most companies take a top-down approach seeking to build a technology infrastructure that will enable either a full or partial HIE capability throughout an IDN, region or state."

Instead, said Lewis, AlliedHIE seeks to identify organizations' communications and exchange needs and deliver technologies targeted to solve them, rather than selling "generic HIE solutions to customers without first diagnosing problems." That approach, he said, can result in "rapid ramp up, fast ROI and cost savings that become apparent almost immediately upon implementation."

That strategy is borne out by two recent reports from the National eHealth Collaborative and IDC Health Insights, which find that too many HIEs have relied on the "build it and they will come" strategy, said Allied HIE officials. Both reports assert that HIEs must plan for sustainability from the very beginning, and that if an HIE is not sustainable after initial funding, then careful consideration should be given to the viability of launch.

“Our partnership with AlliedHIE represents an exciting departure for ICA,” said Gary Zegiestowsky, president and CEO of ICA. “Allied’s commercial HIE approach eliminates traditional sustainability concerns of the typical 501.C3 type HIE organization by addressing specific information exchange business needs. Their strategy fits well with our new volume solution deployment methodology that offers clients specific solutions for specific needs, while also enabling a complete, robust HIE infrastructure."

He added that ICA was specifically attracted to Allied’s interest in the behavioral health market, which he said has "been underserved, from an HIE perspective.”

AlliedHIE’s first pilot project is with NHS Human Services, which develops programs that provide care to children and adults dealing with addictive diseases, autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental health issues, elder care, traumatic brain injury, and foster care. NHS is a multi-state organization with a significant presence in the state of Pennsylvania.

Based in Pennsylvania, AlliedHIE is actively working with the Pennsylvania eHealth Collaborative in order to provide DIRECT and HISP (Health Information Service Provider) services across Pennsylvania's 67 counties.