healthcare ecosystemHealthcare is a distributed network of disparate systems (the "healthcare ecosystem"). As publishers, consumers and sponsors of information services, Healthcare Information Technology (HCIT) andHealthcare Information Exchange (HIE) vendors, users and developerscan improve healthcare by getting Synaptic - by thriving in this sort of ecosystem and leading the development of smarter, stronger and more profitable information services.
collaboration
Healthcare relies on information and collaboration, meaning, the HCITandHIE, and the "glue" and other information services that make collaboration possible. Numerous interoperability, replicability, and efficiency challenges abound.
service registries
Every single healthcare organization, vendor, solution, device, etc. needs to articulate it's HIE capabilities - interfaces, transaction formats, APIs, data governance requirements, etc. "This is how my organization or application publishes and/or consumes data." A registry of these information services is more than a directory - it's a place to list, publish, consume, test, sponsor, mash-up, etc. various types of information services.
an exchange of services registries
A registry like the SynapticGrid is a one-to-many place to publish your information services. The SynapticGrid is a place where mash-ups and other "glue" between apps and solutions can more rapidly move the market to "many-to-many" solutions - a necessary next stage of the evolution of the healthcare ecosystem.
commoditization vs. value-added services
Certain parts of the healthcare value chain need to be commoditized: integration and transaction processing, primarily. Value-added services and especially mash-ups need laboratories, incubators, and profit motives - places where developers can collaborate and have a reason to share and sell information services.
transparency
Consumers of applications need a real means to determine which solutions thrive in the healthcare ecosystem. "Certification" and "meningful use" need to be demonstrated via APIs, interfaces, connection points, mash-ups, etc. - vendors need to list these services - and consumers need to be able to easily compare which apps are the most "synaptic."
