Chilmark Research

Overview
The healthcare sector is changing rapidly.  A number of factors are affecting change.  Government-led initiatives look to control spiraling healthcare costs. The rise in consumer directed healthcare plans and increasing cost share burden are leading to a growing trend in consumerism.  Consumers are also turning to a ever wider range of care delivery models to obtain care, disintermediating traditional care delivery models. Employers are also more directly engaging healthcare providers for more cost effective options.  Against these macro-changes, information technology is also making its presence felt, most recently with the US passage of the HITECH Act which will result in nearly $40 billion to be invested by US taxpayers to digitize the American healthcare system.

Such changes are leading to profound changes in healthcare delivery facilitated by IT.  But if IT is to play an effective role, it is critical for those providing and adopting such solutions to understand what is actually being adopted and used, by whom, in what capacity to meet what needs.  This is where Chilmark Research will apply its research expertise to make sense of what is a very dynamic and rapidly evolving market.

Leveraging deep expertise in proven market research methodologies, strong analytical skills and domain expertise, Chilmark Research offers unparalleled quality in the reports it publishes. These reports come in two basic forms, sponsored and contract. Sponsored reports are available to anyone for purchase whereas contract reports are commissioned research for a specific client.

We will make preliminary findings (e.g., executive summaries, introductions) of our sponsored reports freely available via this website approximately 3-4 months after initial publication of a report. The only thing we ask is that you simply honor us with a reference or citation if used elsewhere. Stakeholders in a given market will want to purchase complete reports for their comprehensive reporting of the market that addresses among other topics, current status, adoption trends, detailed profiles of major market players, analysis of critical market issues and their potential impact.

Contract research will be made public on a case-by-case basis. If a client wishes to make a report (or some subset) available to the public, we will certainly post it here, but that decision will be left to the sponsoring party – after all, they did pay for it.

Current Sponsored Reports:
iPHR Market Report, Analysis & Trends
Publication Date: May 2008 (published, see “Available Reports”)

HIE Market Report, Analysis & Trends
Publication Date: mid-Spring 2010

Cloud Computing in Healthcare, Structure, Models & Trends
Publication Date: May 2010

Ease of deployment, little overhead, redundancy, access anywhere with an Internet connection are just some of the purported attributes of cloud computing.  Several technology advances, including broadband and virtualization are enabling a new level of robust solutions. Today, there is a wide range of cloud computing solutions targeting the healthcare sector.  From simple Utility as a Service (UaaS) solutions for archiving and retrieving images, to Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions providing specific web-based applications (eg EHRs, CDS, Quality, eRx, etc.) for clinicians and Platform as a Service (PaaS) which first began with consumer-facing solutions from Microsoft and Google to more recently those from HIE vendors such as Axolotl, Covisint and Medicity.

Against this rapidly developing and changing backdrop, what solutions are gaining significant market traction?  What business models are most common and how will these cloud solutions alter the healthcare landscape, both in the delivery of clinical applications and more broadly, better serving patients.  These are some of the questions that this concise and cogent report will answer.

Personal Health Systems – The Next Big Thing?
Publication Date: TBD

Microsoft has done it, Google did it as well, Dossia has several Fortune 500 customers going live.

What is it?

They each have introduced, a Personal Health Platform (PHP). The PHP goes a step beyond a personal health record (PHR) by providing a consumer with a health-data ecosystem. This ecosystem not only provides a repository for PHR-type files and possibly data from various health devices, but may also facilitate social networking communities, assess costs and quality of services from providers and even facilitate communication with health and wellness providers.

As an early, evolving market that has yet to take definitive form, this report will look at the following critical issues of these future PHPs:

• What are the current models, features and architectures of PHPs?
• Which models, features and architectures are seeing early market adoption and success?
• How will PHPs evolve and what will be the subsequent impact to established care models?
• How will standards, interoperability and health information exchanges impact PHPs and vice versa?
• Which partnerships matter and which ones will become irrelevant?
• How will providers of PHPs address privacy and security of records in a network care ecosystem?

Selection Strategies for PHRs
Publication Date: Fall 2008 (postponed)

There are countless PHRs in the market today, some are excellent with robust architectures and strong partners, others are of questionable origin and viability and there are many that fall somewhere in between. Adding another layer of complexity, some PHRs are better suited for provider markets, others for health plans and still others for employers. This results in a complex market matrix that makes if exceedingly difficult to select a PHR platform.

Leveraging the findings in our iPHR Market Report, Chilmark Research will delve deeper into what are the critical decisions and questions that a company should ask to evaluate a PHR platform prior to purchasing.

In addition to leveraging the market report, Chilmark will also include findings from its interviews with numerous companies (health plans, employers and providers) on their selection strategies. From these interviews, Chilmark will compile a best practices guide for creating a Request for Proposal for a PHR and subsequent guidance on PHR vendor proposal evaluation and final selection.

Suggestions & Custom Reports:

While we strive to identify and report on technology developments that we foresee as most relevant and pressing in consumer-facing healthcare IT, that does not necessarily mean we have all the answers or know what may be the most pressing issues in the market that you are experiencing.

We offer two options on addressing what is most important to you and your organization:

Write to us and make a suggestion as to a topic that you believe is not being adequately addressed and needs the in-depth research skills and reporting that Chilmark Research offers.  We will consider all suggestions seriously assessing such suggestions against broader market needs and opportunity.  If a suggestion meets our internal criteria, we may request additional information from you, to appropriately scope the project prior to launch.

The other option is research sponsorship.  Under the sponsorship model, we will work with you and your organization on a given topic of interest to frame research objective(s), project scope and methodology. We find that this approach is most appropriate for organizations seeking information of a proprietary nature.  These research projects can range in size from concise 3-5 page briefs to extensive multi-chapter reports.

For More Information, Offer a Suggestion or Discuss Specific Research Needs:

Please send an email to: info@ChilmarkResearch dot com