Terry Macaleer, President, Orion Health, U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Precision medicine is an emerging approach to identifying precisely those treatments that will work for a given patient, based upon terabytes of the patient\u2019s\u2014and countless other patients\u2019\u2014genomic and other \u201c-omic\u201d data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As data with this level of detail hasn\u2019t been readily ingestible and usable until very recently\u2014when the utilization of vast computing and storage power became feasible and cost effective\u2014the approach is emerging at the same time as new government programs for value-based care, which aim to incentivize providers and health systems to prevent healthy people from ever getting sick in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But while precision medicine may be just the thing providers and health systems need to truly thrive in an environment that values quality outcomes, the major EMR vendors have been committed to an approach that will never yield the benefits of precision medicine\u2014one designed, instead, to maintain their existing EMR business, prevent their record-keeping solutions from atrophying, and address the opportunity to develop a \u201cprecision medicine\u201d solution that\u2019s simply bolted onto their EMR offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These vendors are aiming to keep users on the vendors\u2019 existing EMR offerings as long as possible, even if it means preventing those users from taking advantage of big data, enhanced computing, increased data storage, and the financial incentives of value-based care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, that approach won\u2019t work, because these vendors\u2019 offerings don\u2019t have the infrastructure necessary to support the sheer quantity of data that precision medicine calls for. Besides, even if they did have the infrastructure and could deliver precision medicine as an offering, all they would be able to serve up is precision medicine based on their limited EMR data, not comprehensive population health data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The winning precision medicine solution will, instead, be provided by an agnostic health IT vendor, not an EMR vendor who isn\u2019t open to third-party solutions working in conjunction with their EMR offerings. That sort of vendor isn\u2019t doing any favors for providers and health systems so reliant on the free sharing\u2014and analysis\u2014of data. In fact, I\u2019ve actually heard from one ACO that they won\u2019t even consider health systems for membership if they use an EMR system that impedes the free-flow of data in any way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those discerning providers and health systems who recognize precision medicine as the present and future of value-based care, today\u2019s market is blazing a path to their future success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These providers and health systems know that, in a value-based care system, they\u2019re going to need an unlimited supply of healthy people to make money\u2014the exact opposite of what the major EMR vendors hope to continue to provide their users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my question to you is this: Will you choose the agnostic solution that has a history of enjoying success in value-based care systems around the world, a solution that can provide the insights providers and health systems need to maintain that unlimited supply of healthy people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n