Anthelio (formerly PHNS), a hospital outsourcing company that provides information technology, information management services, and revenue cycle management services, has formed the Healthcare Innovation Council, a body of healthcare experts that will look for new ideas to help hospitals cope with escalating financial and quality pressures.
Part of the driving force in this effort, according to Anthelio CEO Rich Garnick, is a core belief that the private sector needs to stand up and take ownership of affecting change in the healthcare sector. "We like, and want to partner with government, where appropriate, but we don't want to rely on government," Garnick told FierceHealthIT. "We're hardcore capitalists, private sector entrepreneurs and businesspeople, and we believe in the private sector; the innovation, creativity and capability."
Council members, who come from health insurance, hospital management, and academia, will meet once a quarter to review ideas generated by members, Anthelio staff, and employees of Anthelio's 100 hospital customers. Anthelio will "road-test" worthy concepts by piloting them at some of its client hospitals.
"The best ideas and best thoughts are the ones you put out there and let other people play off of those," Rick Kneipper, chief strategy and innovation Officer of Anthelio, told FierceHealthIT. "Almost anything is a subject for discussion at these meetings, but we [anticipate] pretty intensive sessions." Kneipper will serve as chairman of the council.
Hospital collaboratives seem to be spreading through the industry. Premier Healthcare Alliance, an offshoot of Premier Inc., the big group purchasing organization, offers a couple of collaboratives to help hospitals ramp up to form accountable care organizations. And the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) recently announced the creation of a "wiki" that will enable hospitals to share ideas about computerized physician order entry.
Anthelio's Healthcare Innovation Council includes:
- Jack Bailey, who helped run California Pacific Medical Center, Memorial Health System of East Texas, and Lutheran Medical Center of North Texas;
- Jim Brexler, CEO of Erlanger Health System and former vice chancellor of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Services Division and CEO of LSU's Health Care Services Division;
- Robert Burns, chair of the Health Care Management Department at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania;
- Hud Connery, CEO of the Performance Management Institute and the former CEO of Essent Health Care and the former COO of Health Trust;
- Jack Lord, MD, chairman of Dexcom, Inc., and a former Humana executive;
- Julie Klapstein, CEO of Availity; and
- MaryAnn Stump, RN, president of Innovation International, Generate, and a former executive of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota.
To learn more:
- here's Anthelio's press release
- check out the web page about the Premier collaboratives
- see this press release about the HIMSS wiki