Again, in the last week, I have come across a few reports and news items which are worth passing on.
These include first:
Pfizer becomes latest to partner with fast-growing online doctors' forum Sermo
October 15, 2007 - 2:50PM
A year-old online forum where 30,000 doctors swap medical observations has lined up a partnership with Pfizer Inc. _ an alliance that runs counter to the site's founding ideal to give doctors a place to communicate without the pharmaceutical industry listening in.
Under a collaboration to be announced Monday with Cambridge-based Sermo Inc., Pfizer will work with the fast-growing Web venture and its participating doctors to agree on terms allowing Pfizer's hundreds of staff doctors to view postings and reply.
Rules are to be worked out in online "town hall" meetings involving Pfizer and Sermo's physician members. But it's expected any postings by Pfizer's medical staff must be clearly identified as coming from a Pfizer source logging onto the system securely from an office computer, said Daniel Palestrant, Sermo's CEO.
When the service began in September 2006, it was intended as an advertisement-free forum for communication among doctors about topics such as drug side effects _ in effect, a sanctuary from the influence of pharmaceutical industry and its sales staffs.
But recent online polls and focus groups involving Sermo members indicated a clear desire to seek industry participation in a controlled fashion, while continuing to bar ads on the site. The findings led to the collaboration with New York-based Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, Palestrant said.
"These doctors are saying, 'We want to have a different type of relationship with the industry,'" said Palestrant, a former surgery resident at a Boston hospital. "Doctors in our focus groups would say, 'In many cases, the most timely and interesting information on drugs comes from the industry. But I want that information on my terms.'"
Continue reading here:
This is a fascinating innovation that may very well be useful to many – especially younger – clinicians who are comfortable with an on-line technology enabled practice
It is well worth having a look at the on-line demo of how the system works which is found here.
I must say I am not sure sponsorship from a major drug company is a good thing – but I guess we will see.
Second we have:
Labor to dump Access Card
Karen Dearne and Ben Woodhead | October 16, 2007
A LABOR government would scrap the contentious $1.1 billion Access Card project, human services shadow minister Tanya Plibersek has confirmed.
Labor would scrap the proposal entirely, says human services shadow minister Tanya Plibersek
"We have said all along that if the Access Card had not been introduced by the time of the election we would not proceed with it," Ms Plibersek said.
"So, yes, we would scrap the proposal entirely."
Touted by the Howard Government as a health and welfare smartcard and anti-fraud measure, the scheme has met with sustained opposition as a de facto identity card. Originally proposed and promoted by then minister Joe Hockey in April 2006, the project has been in limbo since July, following a series of legislative and procurement stumbles.
Human Services Minister Chris Ellison was forced to withdraw enabling legislation in March, after the draft bill was rejected by an all-party Senate committee.
Continue reading here:
http://www.australianit.news.com.au/
This is a useful summary of where the various government IT initiatives are presently situated and makes it clear that the Access Card project is on fairly thin ice at best
Further reporting is also found here
http://www.cio.com.au/index.php?id=1135473785&eid=-601
Labor to dump billion dollar Access card if it wins federal election
Democrats welcome move but say response was too slow
Sandra Rossi (Computerworld) 16 October, 2007 11:26:28
Third we have:
Reporter's Notebook: Tales from the AHIMA Crypt
By: Joseph Conn
Story posted: October 15, 2007 - 5:59 am EDT
Privacy, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, and at the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHMIA) annual convention last week, privacy in its varied interpretations was a recurrent theme, including a daylong “privacy institute” the day before the show officially opened for its three-day run in Philadelphia.
I can’t tell you any more about the institute, because it was, well, private, for AHIMA members only. It was probably pretty interesting, given the organization’s long-standing reputation as an advocate for patient privacy and its involvement (through an affiliate organization) in recent years as a government contractor on several projects with direct and indirect privacy implications.
Once the convention got under way, though, there were several, more readily accessible educational sessions devoted to privacy and one general session address. One was a panel discussion, provocatively titled, “Tales from the Crypt—HIPAA in the Real World.” The convention guide said of the session: “HIPAA is not for the faint of heart. Practical solutions to real problems that can bring a potential nightmare to a satisfactory end.”
As billed, there were plenty of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act horror stories from the four panelists, who all work in the trenches as medical-record managers for healthcare organizations. They also made mention of the recent, highly publicized breach of actor George Clooney’s medial records by hospital workers in New Jersey, which, according to an Associated Press account, involved between 27 and 40 workers, including physicians, who were suspended after illegally viewing his medical records.
Perhaps there were some Clooney fans on the panel who felt empathy with the punished, because they conducted a theoretical discussion about whether a young and foolish healthcare worker, fired for a privacy violation such as unauthorized peeking, should ever be rehired. If, for example, the panelists pondered, the person had been sacked for looking at a record, and then, after a suitably long period of penitence, say, completing a nursing training program, wanted to resume a career in healthcare, should the earlier indiscretion be forgiven? The panelists left the question unanswered.
Pam Dixon, executive director of the San Diego-based World Privacy Forum, was in the audience with me for this session and we talked about it later. Dixon, herself a devout privacy advocate, gave a general session presentation on medical identity theft. She said she was struck with and pleased by the passion the panelists evidenced for privacy protection, how vigilant they were and how seriously they took their responsibilities. Later, in a talk to attendees, Dixon said AHIMA would be just the group to take the lead in raising public awareness of medical identity theft and helping crafting an industry response.
Perhaps they needn’t have bothered. The Clooney episode has clearly entered the zeitgeist. As I was driving to work the morning after the AHIMA show ended, a local Chicago radio personality commented on the actor’s situation and then on broader healthcare privacy threats. Employers, he noted, are asking workers to sign up for personal health records, but from a privacy standpoint, he said it probably wasn’t such a bright idea.
Continue reading here:
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071015/FREE/310150008/1029/FREE
The Clooney episode certainly has sparked concern all over – showing just how hard it is – in the real world – to have apparently rational people – behave decently with respect to others’ privacy. This article also provides a useful summary of the other matters discussed the AHMIA annual conference.
Fourth we have:
Computers that talk to docs transform medicine
At some clinics, costly electronic record systems can give advice and challenge physicians' decisions.
A few years ago, Dr. Alison Peterson might not have noticed if one of her patients skipped an appointment. Or forgot to fill a prescription. Or missed an important lab test.
Now, all she has to do is ask her computer.
And if, by chance, she tries to prescribe a drug that could cause an allergic reaction, her computer may flash a warning: Are you sure you want to do that?
At Peterson's office in Cottage Grove, the old patient charts have been replaced by the latest in medical technology: an electronic record system that's ushering in a whole new era in medicine.
Once mainly a high-tech way to track doctors' orders and patient visits, the newest generation of electronic records popping up across the Twin Cities seems to have a virtual mind of its own.
It not only stores information, it also eagerly prods doctors to make decisions based on the newest research. Clinics throughout Minnesota are scrambling to convert to the pricey systems.
The Allina clinic where Peterson works, for example, scrapped its yellowing paper files for an electronic system a year ago.
Now Peterson, a family physician, can call up the chart of a patient with pneumonia or heart disease, and see experts' tips on the best way to treat it.
She can push one button to see what questions to ask, and another to find out what medications are recommended.
Ideally, she shouldn't even have to worry about potential drug interactions because an alert should pop up and warn her if she tries to prescribe drugs that don't mix well.
Continue reading here:
http://www.startribune.com/1244/story/1482960.html
This is a useful article to give to those who are unsure just why the EHR is important and why – once the pain of implementation is over – life can be both easier and safer.
Lastly we have:
http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/3113/nhs_scotland_ready_for_national_pacs_roll_out
NHS Scotland ready for national PACS roll out
12 Oct 2007
The Scottish Executive has announced that national deployment of Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) across Scotland will begin this month after successful pilots in hospitals across Glasgow and Dumfries and Galloway.
Over the next two years every hospital in Scotland will receive a new system from Carestream Health [formerly Kodak Health], which will eventually lead to a national database of digital x-ray images for every Scottish citizen.
A Scottish Executive spokesperson told E-Health Insider: “The national PACS programme is to support the seamless acquisition, storage, retrieval and display of digital patient images within and between clinical sites across Scotland. To enable this, the national archive will support access for sites that do not have the national PACS solution.
“The introduction of PACS in NHS Scotland enables the delivery of a range of benefits to patients. Clinicians will be able to access images taken at stages along pathways and readily access relevant patient records. This will streamline care and speed up diagnosis and treatment.”
The system is in place at hospitals across Scotland including the Southern General, Victoria Infirmary, Gartnavel General, Royal Hospital for Sick Children and, just recently, the Western.
Continue reading here:
http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/3113/nhs_scotland_ready_for_national_pacs_roll_out
Now if Mr Abbott is really going to take over all those hospitals – here is something he could do which would really make a difference – as shown by the experience in England and now Scotland!
All in all not a bad start to the week!
More next week.
David.
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