A recent study of health information exchange solution vendors shows enterprise HIEs serving integrated delivery networks, health, or hospital systems will be the fastest-growing market segment of HIE organizations in the coming two years.

The study, "Vendor Assessment: Industry Short List for Health Information Exchange Technologies," was conducted by IDC Health Insights, a Framingham, Mass.-based market research firm.

IDC researchers said enterprise HIEs are unlike regional health information organizations (RHIOs) and statewide or national HIEs, because they can establish a sustainable business model and are not as encumbered by organizational and data governance issues.

For the study, IDC evaluated 14 healthcare IT vendors,  including Axolotl, Browsersoft/Open HRE, Carefx, dbMotion, eClinicalWorks, InterSystems, MEDecision, Medicity, MEDSEEK, Microsoft, Oracle, Orion Health, PatientKeeper, and RelayHealth.

IDC researchers said they chose the vendors because they are representative of the market and include leaders in the industry.

According to Lynne Dunbrack, program director at IDC Health Insights, the HIE vendor market is volatile with new companies entering the market and with market consolidation.

"We can expect dramatic changes in the next 12 to 18 months as HIE technologies become a commodity and dominant players acquire their way into a crowded market currently made up of many small, privately held vendors," she said.

IDC researchers said they put the vendors through a rigorous assessment for the study that centers around three principles IDC Insights says are critical in today's selection of an IT supplier: fact-based research, industry focus, and evaluation transparency.

IDC said the analysis is intended to help providers find the vendor best suited to their organization's existing IT environment and business needs.

Leaders of Informatics Corporation of America said the report demonstrates the enormous growth potential of health information exchanges (HIEs) in the next two years.

"The IDC report predicts the paradigm shift toward collaborative care through HIE models, which we see as a pivotal opportunity to drive improvements in the quality of medical care delivery and patient outcomes," said Gary Zegiestowsky, CEO of Informatics Corporation of America.