A new survey sponsored by Detroit-based Covisint shows 58% of 50 senior level executives give high marks for exchanging health information online.

Over the past several years, hospitals, physicians and other providers have been spending billions of dollars nationally to install electronic medical records and other information technologies.

The EMRs, which also can be shared online through secure networks, help to reduce duplication of services, improve quality, lower readmission rates and improve chronic care delivery.

However, some executives in healthcare have been cautious about using the technology because of privacy and ease-of-use issues.

"Healthcare is changing with a vengeance, and companies who excel at improving the cost and quality of care will benefit from these findings," said Cynthia Porter, CEO of Porter Research, which conducted the study for Covisint. "We set out to determine where the true industry game-changers were, and the results were eye-popping."

Some of the study's findings include:

One-third of EMRs lack critical population health management and reporting capabilities.

Isolated manual communication processes remain high despite the desire for a more integrated and automated workflow experience.

Accountable care (shared savings) is on the radar, although actual implementation is low.

"Healthcare CIOs have seen the cloud's potential in moving beyond 'islands of information' and creating a simple means to securely exchange clinical and administrative data," Tim Busche, Covisint's director of product marketing for healthcare, said in a statement.

"Now, the vast majority of CIOs are ready to place their trust in the cloud for mission-critical data as they migrate from HIEs to accountable care initiatives, like (accountable care organizations) and patient-centered medical homes."

Covisint, which is part of Compuware, provides a cloud engagement platform that helps organizations manage their external business operations.

In a related issue, the Michigan House Tax Policy Committee is expected to vote next week on Senate Bills 142 and 143 that would amend the sales and use tax acts to no longer tax cloud-based computing services.

A Compuware representative said Covisint and other IT companies could leave Michigan if the tax continues.

Compuware also has announced the terms for its initial public offering of Covisint. Compuware plans to raise at least $64 million by offering 6.4 million shares at $9 to $11 per share.

"More health care CIOs trust cloud computing, Covisint survey finds" originally appeared in Crain's Detroit Business.