Healthcare information technology infrastructure for accountable care organizations should be flexible, secure and able to support analysis and care coordination, an eHealth Initiative report (PDF) says.

The report was compiled by the eHealth Initiative's accountable care council. Information technology should enable care coordination and collaboration; allow for secure transfer of personal health information; include billing and collection technology; allow for secure, HIPAA-compliant online data exchange; allow for collection of information from workflow; support telehealth; allow for ongoing measurement; and support analysis of clinical, administrative and financial data, the report said.

The council also surveyed 20 organizations about accountable care. Eight reported fully operating ACOs. Four reported ACOs under development, and two said they would soon announce an ACO.

Of the respondents, 15 answered questions about health information technology use and 87% reported IT helped to measure patient safety, at-risk populations and financial accountability.

Fourteen respondents listed existing information technology infrastructure, including clinical decision support; health information exchanges; electronic health records; data warehouses; provider and patient portals and patient registries.