While population health is a key trend and long-term goal for healthcare organizations and vendors, the market “is still very much in its infancy,” according to a new report from Chilmark Research.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based group called the results from the report “far more sobering” than the buzz surrounding population health, noting that while organizations express high interest in the concept, health care companies of all sizes “continue to struggle with rapidly evolving models of reimbursement.”
Vendors, meanwhile, have not yet built out solutions to fully address the concerns of the market, the report found.
The move to value-based reimbursement is a key driving force behind the need for vendor solutions, particularly as reimbursement is increasingly tied to clinical outcomes. The need to leverage all sorts of data – from clinical to claims to demographic, among others – is “rapidly growing,” yet the market is still “very immature” and “has created significant confusion,” the report says.
The report also found that over 100 vendors claimed to address analytics for population health management, but it noted there were “few actually delivering on their brochure-ware promises.”
Among vendors, those in the EHR space are quickly seeking to capitalize – analytics for population health management were “barely on the radar,” but over the past 12 months, “there has been a recognizable sea change,” according to Chilmark.
The potential for vendors is significant given the ubiquity of EHRs in large health systems and because EHRs directly impact physician work flow. But “best of breed” vendors continue to dominate the market, and they themselves are capitalizing on the increased need for analytics platforms.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
“To leapfrog competitors, EHR vendors will acquire best of breed vendors that have the solutions best suited for their target markets. This will continue to create vendor selection challenges for (healthcare organizations),” the research firm said in announcing the report.
Similar sentiments are growing louder in the mobile health sector as well — there’s enormous potential, but it’s too early to call it a revolution just yet.
