Intermountain Healthcare, Presbyterian Healthcare Services and SSM Health announced the launch this week of Graphite Health, a member-led company that will build on a common data language to create a standardized, interoperable data platform.  

The goal, according to Graphite Health, is to enable a secure and open marketplace to facilitate the distribution of digital health tools for health systems and entrepreneurs alike.  

"Right now, when a hospital wants to adopt new innovative solutions, it is hampered by overly cumbersome processes that can require years to implement," said Dr. Ries Robinson, CEO of Graphite Health and chief innovation advisor at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, in a statement.

"Graphite Health will offer a true paradigm shift to deliver on the promise of lower costs and faster integration of solutions that significantly improve patient care and experience, while still maintaining the highest privacy standards," Robinson continued.  

WHY IT MATTERS

As Robinson noted, hospitals that wish to implement new software can face a long, drawn-out process of contract negotiation, security evaluation and customization.

This means that health systems must fully commit to the adoption of a new digital tool before meaningfully using it.  

Graphite Health's founding members say it will work to overcome these challenges.

Its common data language – built off the FHIR framework – will address inefficiencies in data translation and support the development of plug-and-play digital applications, as a press release explained.   

In turn, health system members can implement trusted digital tools, echoing the process of other app marketplaces, such as the App Store. 

The health systems hope these innovations will lead to more convenience, better-quality care, lower costs and overall efficiency. "The promise of digital transformation to reduce real human suffering is too big to quibble over definitions and silos. It is a collective problem that requires collective action," said Carter Dredge, lead futurist of SSM Health, in a statement.   

"We’re addressing this market failure through a novel utility model that spreads the costs and efforts across a broad set of like-minded stakeholders so everyone can lift together – so everyone can benefit," he added.  

In addition to the organizing members, Graphite anticipates bringing additional health systems and philanthropies into the coalition in coming months.   

It cites a "Digital Hippocratic Oath" – which builds on the pillars of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice – as fundamental to its vision, allowing it to foster trust between patients, doctors, health systems and app developers.  

THE LARGER TREND  

The nonprofit, member-led Graphite Health is modeled on CivicaRx, which is also led by Intermountain, and which works to ensure generic health medications are broadly available and affordable.  

Its venture follows the establishment of other app marketplaces from health IT companies aimed at allowing smaller third-party vendors to create software that integrates with various electronic health records.  

ON THE RECORD  

"Graphite Health is more than a new start-up, it represents a new approach to solving one of our long-standing national problems: health care is too expensive and inconvenient," said Dan Liljenquist, senior vice president and chief strategy officer of Intermountain Healthcare in a statement.   

"By embracing the collective membership approach, and committing to our Digital Hippocratic Oath, we will ensure patients are treated as people rather than products. By doing so, Graphite Health will accelerate access to valuable digital tools that can deliver better health care outcomes at a lower cost," he said.  

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Email: kjercich@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.