Quote Of The Year

Timeless Quotes - Sadly The Late Paul Shetler - "Its not Your Health Record it's a Government Record Of Your Health Information"

or

H. L. Mencken - "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

Friday, December 24, 2010

Remember There Is A Big World Out There Getting On With It!

This just popped up. It is probably important. Sadly OZ not actually mentioned.

U.S., Europe Sign Accord to Foster EHR Compatibility

European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes and U.S. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius signed an agreement in Washington to collaborate on EHR interoperability

The United States and the European Commission have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on compatible formats for EHRs (electronic health records) and to promote education in health care technology.

Vice President of the European Commission Neelie Kroes and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced and signed the memorandum on Dec. 17 at the Transatlantic Economic Council, a political organization that fosters economic cooperation between governments.

Interoperability of EHRs is essential for the e-health market to grow globally, according to the Commission.

Under the terms of the memorandum, HHS and the Commission will exchange delegates and specialists to share information on e-health. They'll also set up joint working groups, workshops and conferences to establish shared strategies on EHRs.

Adoption of EHRs is four times higher in the EU than in the United States, the Commission reports.

"Nothing makes more of a difference to people's lives than good health," Kroes said in a statement. "I warmly welcome today's agreement. It is an excellent basis for the Commission and the U.S. authorities to expand our cooperation on promoting the overall benefits of e-health for patients, health systems and companies."

Under the agreement, EU and U.S.companies will have greater potential to do business in e-health on either continent, according to the EC.

The U.S. government is investing $20 billion toward the use of EHRs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

More here:

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Health-Care-IT/US-Europe-Sign-Accord-to-Foster-EHR-Compatibility-561574/

Happy Christmas!

David.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Happy Christmas and A Great 2011

Well an amazing year!

Lots of happenings and lots of genuine hopes for sanity and openness seemingly dashed on the twin altars of political expediency and over controlling, obsessive power lust.

I keep hoping 2011 will be better. In the mean time have a great break.

I might pop up some news but otherwise do not plan to be back until mid January 2011.

Stay safe, drive carefully and enjoy the company of those close to you!

David.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Weekly Overseas Health IT Links - 22 December, 2010.

Here are a few I have come across this week.

Note: Each link is followed by a title and a paragraph or two. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.

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http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/study-shows-almost-one-third-of-patients-visit-multiple-hospitals-demonstrating-need-for-information-sharing.html

Study Shows Almost One-Third of Patients Visit Multiple Hospitals, Demonstrating Need for Information-Sharing

Written by Leigh Page | December 14, 2010

In a five-year retrospective analysis in Massachusetts, almost one-third of patients visited multiple hospitals, suggesting significant unnecessary services that could be reduced by health information sharing through IT systems, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Surveying adult patients visiting Massachusetts emergency departments, inpatient units and observation units from 2002-2007, the study found 31 percent visited two or more hospitals and accounted for 56.5 percent of all acute-care visits. Additionally, 1 percent visited five or more hospitals, making up about one-tenth of all acute-care visits.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/business/14records.html?_r=3

December 13, 2010

Panel Set to Study Safety of Electronic Patient Data

By MILT FREUDENHEIM

Almost two years ago, President Obama pledged $19 billion in stimulus incentives to help convert the nation’s doctors and hospitals to using a paperless system of electronic health records intended to improve the quality of care and reduce costs. But the conversion is still a slow work in progress.

Only about one in four doctors, mostly in large group practices, is using the electronic record system. A vast majority of physicians in small offices, the doctors who serve most Americans, still track patients’ illnesses and other problems with pen and paper.

The thousands of sometimes deadly medical errors tallied by an Institute of Medicine study in 1999 are still all too common, according to a recent report on North Carolina hospitals in the New England Journal of Medicine. And the electronic record systems are themselves increasingly attracting concerns that computer errors, design flaws and breakdowns in communication sometimes endanger patients.

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http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/survey-top-5-reasons-providers-not-ready-meaningful-use

Survey: Top 5 reasons providers not ready for meaningful use

December 13, 2010 | Molly Merrill, Associate Editor

NEW YORK – About 90 percent of healthcare providers that purchased electronic medical records technology are off track to meet their meaningful use implementation goals, according to the 2011 Black Book Ranking's user survey.

Black Book Rankings is a division of the market research firm Brown-Wilson Group. Its user survey ranks the top EMR vendors for 2011 based on key performance indicators including meaningful use.

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The Workforce Challenge

Finding the qualified people to build and deploy health information exchanges is one of the biggest problems the healthcare industry faces.

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, InformationWeek

Dec. 11, 2010

URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228800049

Finding the qualified people to build and deploy health information exchanges is one of the biggest problems the healthcare industry faces. There are relatively few people around who've worked on clinical information systems and also have an understanding of the interfaces, governance, and other technology issues involved.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate there will be a shortage of about 50,000 health IT workers over the next five years, including people to work on data exchanges. HHS has several efforts under way to develop the needed workforce, including giving community colleges and universities grants to launch and expand health IT training programs.

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http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/TEC-260171/HIT-Privacy-Security-Guidelines-for-Feds-Released

HIT Privacy, Security Guidelines for Feds Released

Dom Nicastro, for HealthLeaders Media , December 14, 2010

President Obama's Health Information Technology (HIT) advisors are calling upon federal regulators to create a "universal language exchange" where healthcare data can be exchanged efficiently and with enhanced privacy and security controls.

The advisors made their recommendations in a report released last week, "Realizing the Full Potential of Health Information Technology to Improve Healthcare for Americans: The Path Forward."

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101216/NEWS/312169965/

Commerce Department report calls for expanded online privacy protections

By Joseph Conn

Posted: December 16, 2010 - 12:00 pm ET

The U.S. Commerce Department has released a report on privacy and the Internet that leans heavily on transparency but treads lightly on new regulation.

In a cover letter that is part of the 88-page report, Commercial Data Privacy and Innovation in the Internet Economy: A Dynamic Policy Framework, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke observes that "the Internet is becoming the central nervous system of our information economy and society."

But the technologies prompt new concerns because they "allow the collection and use of personal information in ways that, at times, can be contrary to many consumers' privacy expectations," Locke said.

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101216/NEWS/312169996

EHRs key to improving public health, CDC chief says

By Paul Barr

Posted: December 16, 2010 - 8:45 am ET

Electronic health records play an important role in promoting public health, said Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's 2010 Update conference.

EHR systems can be key tools within the six key areas targeted by the CDC for seeking substantial improvements in the health status of Americans, he said. The targeted areas of improvement are food, healthcare-associated infections, HIV, motor vehicle injuries, teen health and tobacco control, Frieden said.

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101216/NEWS/312169995

Fed tech officials laud IT innovators at ONC Update

By Joseph Conn

Posted: December 16, 2010 - 11:45 am ET

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology ended its two-day update of federal health IT activities on Wednesday with cheerleading from three top government information technology officials.

Aneesh Chopra, the Obama administration's chief technology officer and associate director for technology, led the first round. Although his portfolio covers a broad scope of industries, Chopra also serves on the federally charted Health IT Standards Committee and the enrollment work group of its sister HHS advisory panel, the Health IT Policy Committee.

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http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2010/12/good-managers-and-complex-technological.html

Thursday, December 16, 2010

"Good Managers" And Complex Technological Projects - Recipe for Poor Results?

Once more on the topic of CIO’s and other health IT leaders lacking in solid healthcare informatics and clinical credentials, there’s this letter in today’s WSJ that I think says it all about complex technological projects, including (perhaps especially) healthcare IT.

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http://www.ihealthbeat.org/features/2010/emerging-technologies-could-help-transform-health-care-system.aspx

Friday, December 17, 2010

Emerging Technologies Could Help Transform Health Care System

by Kate Ackerman, iHealthBeat Senior Editor

A new report from Computer Sciences Corporation offers a positive outlook on how disruptive technologies will reform the health care delivery system. The report, titled "The Future of Health Care: It's Health, Then Care," predicts that new technologies will help curb costs and improve health through a greater focus on wellness and self-monitoring, increased and earlier disease detection, and more effective treatments.

Fran Turisco -- the study's lead researcher and an Emerging Practices research principal in CSC's Global Healthcare Services Group -- said the report represents a "180 degree" reversal from how such research is typically conducted. She explained that most studies of this nature identify new technologies and from there extract the emerging trends. For this study, researchers talked to a number of industry leaders to first identify the major trends necessary to address the health care system's current problems and then selected the emerging technologies that support these trends, Turisco explained.

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http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=7388E322CD8441B394C5D7D8F98B7905

Survey:Rapid iPad Adoption Thanks to Point-of-Care Apps

(12/14/2010)

iPad deployments are accelerating in large part due to the mobile device’s compelling point-of-care applications and uses, according to a survey of nearly 950 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) members from the Columbia, Md.-based BoxTone, a Mobile Service Management (MSM) software company.

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http://govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=75663

ONC panel approves steps for provider directories, NHIN rules

By Mary Mosquera
Wednesday, December 15, 2010

A panel that advises the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has endorsed steps to help healthcare providers identify and address hospitals, clinics, labs and other organizations electronically through directories.

The Health IT Policy Committee also approved broad recommendations for rules of the road for governing the nationwide health information network in order to draw more participants. The NHIN is a set of standards and services that enables mostly large providers to share patient data securely through the Internet.

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http://www.tgdaily.com/software-features/53075-doctor-patient-relationship-compromised-by-facebook

Doctor-patient relationship compromised by Facebook

Doctors on Facebook risk compromising the doctor-patient relationship because many don't use tight enough privacy settings.

Researchers surveyed the Facebook activities of 405 postgraduate trainee doctors at Rouen University Hospital in France and found that almost three out of four had a Facebook profile. One in four logged on to the site several times a day, and half logged on several times a week.

Almost half believed that the doctor-patient relationship would be changed if patients discovered their doctor held a Facebook account, but three out of four said this would only happen if the patient was able to access their profile.

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101217/BLOGS02/312179999

Goodbye, Mr. FIPPs?

Based on current advice, HHS rule-makers can have their pick of three possible paths to take on patient privacy and consent.

One path was laid out this month by the Federal Trade Commission in a report on privacy involving commercial personal health record systems. The FTC calls for a standard of protection that defines privacy as consent.

In drafting its recommendations, the FTC looked at the Fair Information Practices Principles, or FIPPs, developed by the Department of Health Education and Welfare in 1973. One of the five FIPPs says: “There must be a way for an individual to prevent information about him that was obtained for one purpose from being used or made available for other purposes without his consent.”

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http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/blogs/XML_electronic_health_record_design-41555-1.html

XML, New Design Mentality Raise Hope On The EHR Front

Rob Tholemeier

Health Data Management Blogs, December 16, 2010

Based on our frequent conversations with practicing physicians, and knowledge of how other industries automated and implemented information sharing, we have three primary knocks against the current stable of electronic health records systems:

1. Terrible user interfaces based on a Microsoft .NET paradigm, which focuses on building screens to capture data into an SQL database vs. building applications which automate and improve doctor’s workflows and time management.

2. EHRs utilize some data security techniques, but virtually none do anything to implement patient privacy and granular consent over what health information is shared with whom and when.

3. The is a complete lack of integration standards and capabilities built into most EHRs.

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http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/xml-ehr-standard-format-41529-1.html

The Case for XML-based EHRs

HDM Breaking News, December 14, 2010

In a recent posting on Health Data Management's Discussion Board, a reader promotes the use of XML technology to create a standardized format for electronic health records, an idea that the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology recommended two days later (see story).

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http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/Best-in-KLAS-41543-1.html

2010 Best in KLAS Vendors Named

HDM Breaking News, December 15, 2010

KLAS Enterprises LLC has issued its 2010 Best in KLAS Awards based on customer satisfaction with health information technology vendors and consultants.

The awards are based on data from more than 17,000 interviews the Orem, Utah-based vendor research firm has conducted during the past year from thousands of hospitals and physician practices.

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EHR Adoption Crosses 50% Threshold

Government survey finds that a slim majority of physicians are now using electronic health records or electronic medical records systems.

By Nicole Lewis, InformationWeek

Dec. 13, 2010

URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228800286

Results from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) show that between 2009 and 2010, the percentage of physicians reporting having an electronic medical record/electronic health record (EMR/EHR) system that meets the criteria of a basic system increased by 14% and a fully functional system increased by 46%.

The survey, published earlier this month and conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), found that preliminary 2010 estimates were that 51% of physicians reported using complete or partial EMR/EHR systems, versus 48% last year. About 25% reported having systems that met the criteria of a basic system, up from 22% last year, and 10% reported having systems that met the criteria of a fully functional system, an improvement from 2009 when 7% said they were using systems that met the requirements of a fully functional EHR/EMR system.

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http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/FIN-260059/Will-HL7-Create-PayerProvider-Symbiosis

Will HL7 Create Payer/Provider Symbiosis?

Karen Minich-Pourshadi, for HealthLeaders Media , December 13, 2010

The American Medical Association estimates that nearly $210 billion annually is spent to process healthcare claims. Moreover, approximately one in five medical claims are processed inaccurately, according to the AMA 2010 National Health Insurer Report Card. These processing errors cost an estimated $15.5 billion to the healthcare industry, and the report notes that if insurers could improve that number by just 1%, they would save nearly $777.6 million.

The pressure for both payers and providers to operate more efficiently and cooperatively is becoming a necessity for all concerned—which is why many in healthcare are using their Six Sigma and Lean initiatives to make the interaction between payers and providers a collaborative effort to decrease claims adjudication woes. But there’s more afoot that will help morph this traditionally adversarial relationship.

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http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/study-ehr-cost-benefit-physicians-41527-1.html

Study Shows EHR Costs, Benefits Per Physician

HDM Breaking News, December 14, 2010

Costs for adopting an electronic health records system in an ambulatory practice could hit $120,000 per physician, with 84 percent of that cost ($101,250) being lost revenue from fewer patient encounters during the transition, according to a recent study.

However, EHRs once fully adopted could increase the number of patients seen by each physician by up to 15 percent, bringing in $151,000 in additional revenue per physician per year, the study projects.

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/blogs/it-everything/20101214/312149999

Panel members say EHR consent is possible

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in its report on healthcare information technology last week came up with some interesting ideas about redirecting federal efforts to put more emphasis on health information exchange.

The PCAST laid to rest the canard that it is technologically infeasible to create electronic health-record systems that can restore to patients some semblance of privacy and control over the flow of their electronic health records. The council outlined a technological framework for not only recording patient consent directives for opting into or out of health information exchanges, but also even more granular controls over sensitive information such as diagnosis codes for psychiatric disorders.

I suspect the report will cause healthcare data-miners to increase their lobbying budgets while providing Maalox moments to providers who sell patient data.

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101213/NEWS/312139936

Information fragmentation adds to costs: study

By Maureen McKinney

Posted: December 13, 2010 - 4:00 pm ET

Fragmentation of medical information persists in adult acute-care settings, resulting in higher medical costs and increased likelihood of adverse events, according to newly released research.

In a study published in the Dec. 13 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers from Children's Hospital Boston found that of the nearly 3.7 million patients who sought treatment in acute-care settings in Massachusetts during a five-year period, more than 30% visited more than one hospital. And 1%—43,794 patients—visited five or more hospitals during the study period.

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101214/NEWS/312149998/

Report finds health data exchange lags

By Paul Barr

Posted: December 14, 2010 - 12:00 pm ET

The electronic exchange of health information is targeted as needing improvement in a new public health preparedness report from Trust for America's Health and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In a state-by-state analysis looking at 10 indicators of emergency preparedness, seven states' health departments were identified as not being able to send and receive health information electronically to providers and community health centers. The 52-page report, "Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters and Bioterrorism," notes that as seen during the H1N1 influenza outbreak, "this type of communication is crucial to ensure public health departments have an accurate picture of the on-ground events and that healthcare practitioners are given the most up-to-date, accurate information.”

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http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/6496/great_ormond_street_trials_ipads

Great Ormond Street trials iPads

15 Dec 2010

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust is piloting the use of iPads for e-prescribing.

The trust became the first paediatric hospital in the UK to complete the roll out of an electronic prescribing and medicines management system in October 2009.

It is now trialling the use of five iPads for e-prescribing on Victoria ward, which specialises in renal medicine, with a view to a wider roll out.

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http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20101213/NEWS01/12130319

Online medical records system planned for N.Y.

Chris Swingle • Staff writer • December 13, 2010

The 10-county Rochester area is a leader in the state when it comes to sharing patients' medical records electronically across different places where care or testing is provided — such as hospitals, labs, imaging facilities and doctors' offices.

The record-sharing network has been created by the Rochester Regional Health Information Organization, or RHIO, granted nearly $24 million so far. The money has connected different medical computer record systems and paid for some private practices and clinics to switch from paper to digital patient records.

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Big Exchange, Big Challenges

The CEO of the largest U.S. health information exchange discusses mounting tech pressures.

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee, InformationWeek

Dec. 11, 2010

URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228800084

The Indiana Health Information Exchange, the U.S.'s largest HIE and one of the longest running, serves more than 19,000 doctors and 70 hospitals. It has data on more than 7 million patients. Its CEO, Dr. Marc Overhage, recently talked with InformationWeek senior writer Marianne Kolbasuk McGee about the tech obstacles HIEs face.

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http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/print/TEC-260039/Telemedicine-in-ICUs-May-Trim-Critical-Care-Costs

Telemedicine in ICUs May Trim Critical Care Costs

HealthLeaders Media Staff , December 13, 2010

Tele-ICU technology could save 350 additional lives and more than $122 million annually if broadly and effectively implemented across Massachusetts, according to a study from the New England Healthcare Institute and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

"Critical Care, Critical Choices: The Case for Tele-ICUs in Intensive Care" analyzed data collected from a demonstration project at UMass Memorial Medical Center and two community hospitals in Massachusetts. NEHI and MTC studied tele-ICU technology because of its potential to address the supply-and-demand problem plaguing critical care. It comes down to the "collision of two strong trends," according to the report.

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http://govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=75651

CMS shows provider incentives improve clinical quality

By Mary Mosquera

Friday, December 10, 2010

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has shown that financial incentives offered to healthcare providers to improve patient care do enhance clinical quality and can slow the growth of Medicare costs.

CMS supplied results from three healthcare demonstrations, which included the use of electronic health records (EHRs), for small and solo physician practices, large physician practices and hospitals.

The pilots give CMS the opportunity to work closely with providers to improve quality and efficiency, and their lessons help shape Medicare policies, said Dr. Donald Berwick, CMS administrator.

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101213/NEWS/312139997

ONC names two new certifying bodies

By Joseph Conn

Posted: December 13, 2010 - 11:30 am ET

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS has named two more organizations as authorized testing and certification bodies.

They are ICSA Labs, Mechanicsburg, Pa., and SLI Global Solutions, Denver. Both organizations are now eligible to certify electronic health-record systems as well as modules of those systems as capable of letting a healthcare provider meet the meaningful-use criteria and qualify for IT incentive payments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101213/NEWS/101219987

ONC wants PCAST report feedback

By Joseph Conn

Posted: December 13, 2010 - 11:30 am ET

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is seeking public comment on a report released last week by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

The formal request for information was published in the Federal Register (PDF). The comment period will be open through the end of the business day Jan. 17.

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http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101213/NEWS/312139995/

Va. health info exchange links to veterans EHR

By Joseph Conn

Posted: December 13, 2010 - 11:30 am ET

MedVirginia, a Richmond, Va.-based health information exchange, is now linked to the virtual lifetime electronic record, a collaboration between the healthcare systems of the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments and civilian healthcare systems, the organization has announced.

To make the link, the information exchange used the Continuity of Care Document C32 format developed by the Health Level Seven International standards development organization and the federally supported Health Information Technology Standards Panel, as well as the Connect open-source gateway software developed by the federal government.

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http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/remote-users-often-lax-health-data-protection/2010-12-13

Remote users often lax with health data protection

December 13, 2010 — 2:16pm ET | By Neil Versel

Thanks to mobility, cloud-based storage and web access to office databases, about two-thirds of working professionals have accessed "some type of sensitive data" outside of their offices within the last year, according to a "visual data breach" survey conducted by People Security on behalf of 3M. A good number of those had viewed health data remotely, opening up the possibility of significant HIPAA violations (though the report doesn't specifically mention HIPAA).

"A significant number of respondents surveyed have accessed personally identifiable information and protected health information outside of the office, with 26 percent accessing credit card numbers, 24 percent accessing Social Security numbers and 15 percent accessing medical information," the report says.

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http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/aetna-medicity-deal-beginning-end-independent-hie-vendors/2010-12-08

Is Aetna, Medicity deal the beginning of the end for independent HIE vendors?

December 8, 2010 — 1:35pm ET | By Dan Bowman

While Aetna's $500 million acquisition of health information exchange vendor Medicity this week appears to be a direct reaction to UnitedHealth Group's deal for Axolotl earlier this year, the move is much bigger than one-upsmanship, and likely will start a ripple effect that will end with independent HIE vendors going the way of the dinosaur, writes Chilmark Research blogger John Moore.

Moore, an IT analyst with the health technology analyst firm, ultimately foresees more deals like these occurring--although probably not on such a grand scale--because of what he calls the "digitization of the sector" thanks to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.

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http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/acquisition-aetna-medicity-hie-accountable-care-organizations-41501-1.html

Consultants: Medicity Positions Aetna for Future

HDM Breaking News, December 10, 2010

Aetna Inc.'s pending $500 million acquisition of health information exchange vendor Medicity Inc. is part of the insurer's preparation of its infrastructure to support accountable care organizations envisioned in the health care reform law.

That's the view of John Osberg, principal at Informed Partners LLC, a Marietta, Ga.-based consulting firm. Salt Lake City-based Medicity will help Aetna complete "last mile" connectivity to physician desktops, he says.

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Enjoy!

David.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

And Now For an Interesting Point of View on E-Health Standards. Tom Beale Ruminates!

Thomas Beale let me know he had posted a new piece today.

Ruminations on ‘design’ in e-health

I have often bemoaned the state of standards for the e-health sector. Earlier posts provide details. The main argument is that the key specifications the sector needs are for interoperable data, information and knowledge, but that the main approach to getting these is via standards agencies, whose processes almost guarantee failure. Hence the ‘standards crisis’ in health informatics. The failure is not innate in standards agencies as such; it is just that standards agency committees in the e-health sector are doing the wrong thing. They are acting as de facto R&D fora rather than as a choosing mechanism on proven designs from industry. In my view (and experience) this is because among the members and leaders of those committees are almost no engineers, i.e. people who understand a) how standards actually work in other industries and b) that design is an essential element of what is being standardised. The consequence of the situation in e-health standards is ‘design-by-committee’.

Read the full blog post here:

http://wolandscat.net/2010/12/19/design-in-ehealth/

The full post is well worth a browse.

The paragraph I have italicised I have to say I have an especial fondness for. If only we could be developing Standards on the basis of proven implementations I have the feeling we might have a smaller collection of Standards, but that collection would be trustworthy and reliable.

As some other sites often finish a post.

What do you think?

David.

Physician Productivity and the EMR - What is the Latest?

This report popped up a few days ago.

EMRs have varying effects on productivity: UC Davis study

By Joseph Conn

Posted: December 17, 2010 - 12:01 am ET

A study of about 100 primary-care physicians found that using an electronic health-record system yielded mixed results in physician productivity after the doctors had climbed the learning curve and become fully acclimated to the systems.

The bottom line of the study by Hemant Bhargava, associate dean and professor of management and computer science at the University of California Davis Graduate School of Management, and his colleagues is that EHR system specialization by medical specialty matters in that the differing needs of internists, pediatricians and family practitioners in an EHR made a difference in whether the systems helped or hindered workflow.

The study was conducted from 2003 to 2006 following the rollout of an electronic health-record system across six care sites of a large primary-care network affiliated with an academic medical center.

“Our research suggests that a ‘one-size-fits-all' design does not work—the ideal technology design should vary by physicians' requirements and work-flow demands,” Bhargava said in a news release.

More here:

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20101217/NEWS/312179998/

I thought it would be worth chasing down the original study, but am told (Hi Joanne) that it will be a little while before the details are released. Here is the UC Davis press release

UC Davis study finds e-medical records have varying effects on productivity

December 16, 2010

The introduction of electronic medical records in hospitals and clinics — dubbed the “silver bullet” of health care reform — appears to have varying effects on different types of primary care physicians, a UC Davis study has found.

“Our research suggests that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ design does not work — the ideal technology design should vary by physicians’ requirements and work-flow demands,” said Hemant Bhargava, associate dean and professor of management and computer science at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.

Bhargava and his research colleagues recently completed a study of a multimillion-dollar information technology project installed at six primary care offices from 2003 to 2006. The offices were part of a large primary care physician network affiliated with an academic medical center.

The study, one of the first to measure the impact of electronic medical record-keeping on doctors’ productivity, was conducted with Abhay Mishra, an assistant professor of health administration at Georgia State University, and research assistant Shuang Liu, a Ph.D. student in applied mathematics at UC Davis.

The system that was studied digitized patient records and allowed for electronic prescriptions and messaging.

The federal government has shown its support for developing electronic health records by setting aside $19.2 billion in stimulus funds to help pay for such conversions across the country.

“Prior to our study,” Bhargava said, “there was controversy regarding the benefits of health care IT investments. In fact, there was some anecdotal evidence that these technologies reduced physician productivity.”

For the study, researchers analyzed the impact the technology had on physician productivity, collecting data on work hours and output before and after the introduction of EMR technology. The data was collected for about 100 physicians spread across three primary care categories — internal medicine, pediatrics and family practice — and six clinics.

The researchers found that the initial implementation of the EMR system resulted in a 25 percent to 33 percent drop in physician productivity. While significant, the drop was anticipated, Bhargava said.

“Initially, physicians and their staff had to learn the system,” he explained. “After a month of utilization, physicians and their staff became more comfortable with the technology and productivity overall increased to just below starting levels, with interesting variations by unit.”

Over the next few months, the researchers found that the impact of the new technology on productivity varied by physician group. Internal medicine units adjusted to the new technology and experienced a slight increase in productivity. In contrast, pediatricians and family practice doctors did not return to their original productivity levels and experienced a slightly lower productivity rate.

“These differences by unit suggest that there is a mismatch between technology design and the work-flow requirements and health administration expectations for individual care units,” Bhargava said.

The findings, he explained, can be more easily understood by breaking EMR technology use into two categories — information review and information entry.

The use of electronic medical records makes information review — patient history, notes from previous visits, charts of test data and radiological images — more efficient. These features are useful to internal medicine doctors, who tend to see a greater proportion of ill patients.

In contrast, pediatricians’ work tends to involve more information entry and documentation for which EMR technology can be more time-consuming.

Bhargava suggests vendors and medical centers consider implementing different versions of electronic record keeping systems, tailoring the user interface, information entry and visualization features for different groups of physicians.

About UC Davis

For more than 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has more than 32,000 students, more than 2,500 faculty and more than 21,000 staff, an annual research budget that exceeds $679 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges — Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. It also houses six professional schools — Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.

Media contact(s):

* Hemant Bhargava, Graduate School of Management, (530) 754-5961, hemantb@ucdavis.edu

* Jim Sweeney, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-6101, jpsweeney@ucdavis.edu

The release source is here:

http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9665

What to say. Some of the results are pretty obvious such as suggesting that using the EMR for looking up information is a more useful activity than data entry. Hard to argue!

The finding that different specialities get different outcomes is interesting.

It is a bit sad the data being reported on (2003-2006) is so old!

The study shows clearly that EMR usability and work flow support is vital and good training is critical, as well as also indicating the need for some much more modern studies reported much more quickly!

David.