Psilos: Get innovative, invest in health IT

The investment and focus in health IT innovation will assist the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) goals and could produce large return-of-investments, according to the venture capital firm Psilos Group's “2010 Outlook on Helathcare Economics & Innovation” report.

According to the report, PPACA will accelerate the importance of healthcare innovation that improves quality and reduces cost. “It is now time for the venture industry to expand its sponsorship of those companies and entrepreneurs that are committed to using 21st century technologies to catalyze the innovations we need to put our healthcare economy on track for a successful future,” stated the report.

The report stated that the establishment of a successful new healthcare economy will require innovative approaches to the healthcare system. According to Psilos, areas needing the most attention, which could produce the largest results, include:

• Creation of new payment and delivery systems;
• Development of new models of insurance;
• Dramatic improvements and reduction in administrative costs; and
• Elimination of costly errors and ineffective treatment modalities.

Psilos accented the above with a short list of specific areas of opportunity the group believes will create a meaningful and long-lasting return on investment:

• Constructing an efficient system to prevent and manage chronic illness;
• Fostering error reduction in inpatient, ambulatory and post-acute care;
• Developing technology and benefit plans to deal with the diabetes epidemic;
• Creating new medical technology to enable earlier, better diagnosis and thus earlier intervention with high-cost/high-morbidity diseases; and
• Employing medical devices to foster less invasive and more effective surgical interventions.

 “The successful deployment of all of the opportunities for healthcare system improvement described above is dependent on innovation in IT,” concluded the report. “IT is the bread-and-butter of the venture capital industry and thus creates a particularly fertile opportunity for those who will translate their vast IT experience into the healthcare field.”