First, the SynapticHealth summary of the meaningful use debate:
“Meaningful” = “Certified” vs. “Meaningful” = “Synaptic”
“Certified” solutions that meet specific requirements for things like interoperability, efficacy, and compliance. It’s understandable that when it comes to grants to cover solutions and professional services, the hope is that the funds cover quality products and services. But:
1) Issues:
a. Who gets to decide what is meaningful;
b. Who gets to be in the club of certified vendors;
c. Is innovation stymied of the certification requirements are prohibitive for firms not already in the club?
2) SynapticHealth’s two cents:
a. $0.01 = What if current certification bodies have really lame requirements for “interoperability” and “efficacy”? Since when do all of the incumbents in a market, most of whom have had a dozen years to build great applications and have failed to do so (at least in the interoperability part, if not both the interoperability and efficacy parts) get to build constructs to keep out threats to their sales? This is weak. Yes, we want to avoid $40,000 investments in Uncle Vinnie’s software package. But if a medical group or clinic is willing to select Uncle Vinnie’s software, we’ve got bigger problems than certification seeks to address. But we’ll let that group go invest in a 12-yr old bit of bloat-ware that never worked well and certainly doesn’t engender the kind of upgrade in the healthcare system that we are all looking for (not that all solutions do this – but some of the certified apps are crap and we all know it). And so we are going to argue that we will stymie innovation and small firms’ efforts to get in the game (un-American) in favor of maintaining the status quo. Wow. (That, unfortunately, sounds quite American lately, especially as it relates to the national debate on healthcare reform).
b. $0.02 = More importantly, let’s all fix healthcare, HCIT and HIE rationally. We would argue that SynapticHealth demonstrates more meaningful use than current certification processes because:
i. Interoperability: a HCIT or HIE solution vendor that has a) a Forum for discussing how to make the app interoperable, post faqs, etc,, b) a Directory that lists adapters, APIs, SDKs, routing protocols, data publishing and consuming directions, developers that have built add-ons, etc. c) a strategy for developing apps, widgets, web services, integration as a service, software as a service, etc. that can be widely distributed into various HCIT and HIE networks, and d) a desire to scale their app into the various bundles and onto the many “rails” that will be required to actually improve healthcare, HCIT and HIE processes – is already more interoperable than the current certification bodies’ requirements (as I understand them).
ii. Quality and efficacy: a solution vendor that can demonstrate a) how their app changes the process of information exchange, b) how their app thrives in an ecosystem of apps, c) how they enable mass collaboration around the use of their app, and d) how their app can begin to commoditize connectivity and information exchange in favor of value added solutions is probably better than a lot of their competition.
Putting yourself, your applications, widgets, apps and applets in the SynapticHealth sandbox or shopping mall is a significant step towards demonstrating material use. Adopting the SynapticHealth approach to interoperability is truly meaningful and game changing.
Some simple steps to do this:
· Presence in SynapticHealth: SynapticHealth is a multi-step program designed to promote collaboration around information exchange, interoperability, product enhancements, etc. – especially as it relates to the requirements of material use. Things you can do now:
o Establish a Company- and/or Solution-specific presence in the SynapticHealth Forums
o List your information services in the SynapticHealth Directory
o Or – develop your own forums and directories and list a link on our site to your own sandbox or shopping mall. One way or another, develop this discipline and then distribute information on your efforts widely. Don’t make it hard for a Google search to find your gear.
· Transparency and Openness:
o Begin the process of developing adapters and information exchange services that are scalable and replicable (e.g. for publishing or consuming data or information services from external sources or other applications)
o Develop APIs and other means to ‘open up’ your application to the external development community – the development teams from all those clients and outside parties that will develop for your solutions and applications in ways that you can’t imagine (mass collaboration)
· Product Development Strategy:
o Articulate a clear path towards interoperability via APIs and adapters
o Describe existing information services that you will enable via web services / SOA or move into the realm of more scalable and replicable technologies
o Articulate new information services (interfaces, adapters, transactions, entire applications or solutions) that you know your clients want, where you can leverage the external development community to build and distribute (perhaps with revenue share opportunities)
o Describe “mash ups” with your application(s) that you are part of or would like to be part of (and are willing to enable)
o Develop pilots and demonstration cases for these scalable apps, “mash ups”, bundled apps, etc.
And do it all at SynapticHealth – a common area for the community at large to expand on your ability to become more meaningful and useful. Leverage the whole market.
Get Synaptic.
