After employing extensive efforts to ensure the right players are at the table and they have meaningful roles in the planning process of the American Health Information Community (AHIC) successor - did they forget the IT vendor community?" Or was this a purposeful move to negate commercial interest?

The second public meeting on the AHIC 2.0 transition was held this week in Washington, D.C. The organizers and planning group co-chairs discussed their progress since the March meeting and solicited further feedback from the public. During the public comment period concerns were expressed that the health IT vendor community was noticeably absent from the membership in the planning groups. An audience member voiced "We're the folks that have to deliver the software...both develop, deliver and quite often implement the software used for the quality initiatives". The co-chairs responded that the vendor community is an important constituency in the planning process and that there is "some coverage" with representatives from Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) participating in multiple planning groups as well as membership from the "consulting community".

Late last year, during an AHIC technical meeting to discuss the entity's successor, Robert Kolodner was asked why it seemed the IT vendor community was being excluded from the organization's membership. He responded that IT vendors were consciously left out due to their potential to benefit from the activities of AHIC 2.0, but that it would be reconsidered during the planning process. Well, the planning process is upon us. If vendors are interested in having a voice in the transition to the new organizational body they need to make their intentions known. The meeting organizers acknowledged that the vendor community is important but that this is a "fast moving train" and they "have to get people on board quickly."

It was pointed out by another meeting attendee that everyone needs to keep in mind that this is not happening in a vacuum and reinforced that we all share the same goal. If there are concerns of potential conflicts of interest then that is why there should be transparency requirements throughout this transformation process. The next meeting is scheduled for May 30, 2008 where they will review initial recommendations of the planning groups and continue to refine the scope of the successor.

Gain more insight into state and local health IT at INPUT's 3rd Annual State & Local MarketView event on June 4, 2008 in Tysons Corner.