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So my startup hosts and supports a decent number of EHR/EMR solutions and I even seriously entered talks at one point for us to partner up with a large medical

by zupreme 10y ago

So my startup hosts and supports a decent number of EHR/EMR solutions and I even seriously entered talks at one point for us to partner up with a large medical conglomerate to write a new platform. That idea died for the same two reasons most similar initiatives in healthcare die: Government and Insurance (called "Payers" in the healthcare industry). You can write the absolute best EMR & PM (Practice Management) platform on the planet but if you can't get the payers to integrate with it you're dead in the water. The only practices who would even consider you without those integrations are ones not currently using an EMR, which means that your first hurdle with them has to be convincing them to go electronic - which means you own all the logistical hurdles associated with a large-scale chart-scanning operation, user training, mindset shifting, and much more. And don't even get me started on the barriers to entry the Department of Health and Human Services have put in place....

JusticeJuice 10y ago
Interesting. I think there's a real argument that an integration platform for healthcare should be a government run entity - ensuring that all parties have a chance. I'm curious about these barriers you speak of - I'm based in New Zealand, and I must admit I haven't run into many government based barriers to entry - just barriers created by privatized companies.
- shaftoe 10y ago
  I work in healthcare. A lot of the complexity is FROM government attempts to help. Look at HIPAA. Originally about medical record portability, now it largely deals with security, privacy, and availability. These sound good, but it is frustratingly vague, subject to massive reactive fines, and assumes a lot of practices that always feel out of date. It's way more of a pain than private compliance frameworks like PCI. The problems in US healthcare are complex, entrenched, and Brook no simple fix. The government is incredibly buearacratic, designed by lawyers who value an openness to interpretation by courts that creates ambiguity, and creates solutions in their own mold.
nradov 10y ago
All of the major payers have standard interfaces for submitting electronic claims now. The payers aren't a barrier to launching a new EHR.

by zupreme 10y ago

JusticeJuice 10y ago

Interesting. I think there's a real argument that an integration platform for healthcare should be a government run entity - ensuring that all parties have a chance. I'm curious about these barriers you speak of - I'm based in New Zealand, and I must admit I haven't run into many government based barriers to entry - just barriers created by privatized companies.

shaftoe 10y ago
I work in healthcare. A lot of the complexity is FROM government attempts to help. Look at HIPAA. Originally about medical record portability, now it largely deals with security, privacy, and availability. These sound good, but it is frustratingly vague, subject to massive reactive fines, and assumes a lot of practices that always feel out of date. It's way more of a pain than private compliance frameworks like PCI. The problems in US healthcare are complex, entrenched, and Brook no simple fix. The government is incredibly buearacratic, designed by lawyers who value an openness to interpretation by courts that creates ambiguity, and creates solutions in their own mold.

nradov 10y ago

All of the major payers have standard interfaces for submitting electronic claims now. The payers aren't a barrier to launching a new EHR.