LACK OF INTEROPERABILITY

The lack of interoperability in the healthcare industry is an enormous national problem. It is especially challenging for patients with mental or behavioral health issues. And that’s not a small subset of the US population. Rather, one in four Americans experience mental illness or substance abuse each year. Because patients who have had a mental or behavior health issue are subject to heightened privacy restrictions, hospitals and HIEs are less willing to transfer their data for fear of incurring liability. Worse, when Congress added Meaningful Use incentives to increase hospital EHR usage, it chose not to include psychiatric facilities in the incentives program. As a result, the percentage of hospitals using EHR systems rose from just 4% in 2008 to 94% in 2013. But, for behavior health, for which incentives were not offered, only 2% of psychiatric hospitals used an EHR system by 2012.

While the problem of lack of interoperability in general will require many solutions, the additional challenges faced by patients with a history of mental or behavioral health issues can be much improved by either adding incentives similar to those already offered to hospitals and healthcare systems, or by increasing investment in health IT start ups. And private equity firms are beginning to look into the behavioral health care as an area to pursue. Either way, there is certainly room for health IT start ups to have a big impact.

Although Congress has not yet expanded the Meaningful Use incentives to cover psychiatric facilities, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) is considering updating the rules around mental and behavior health issues. A rule change might make hospitals more willing to transfer patient data.

In short, the unique challenges presented by lack of interoperability to patients facing mental or behavior health issues will require uniquely-tailored solutions. With a rise of incentives and investment those solutions are likely to come from health IT start ups.

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