InfoTech BULLETIN

The latest health information technology news and research

Survey: Technologies aiding collaboration could transform healthcare delivery

Collaboration and informationsharing between you and other healthcare professionals have the greatest near-term potential for bringing about health sector innovation, according to findings from a survey on national health sector innovation.

Respondents identified technology- enabled innovations and telehealth solutions as potential breakthroughs that could enable significant nationwide healthcare transformation. Specifically:

* 65% said that collaborating via information and communications technology to diagnose and treat conditions holds high potential.

* An equal percentage said that electronically sharing or accessing diagnostic images, video, or patient biometrie data has high potential.

* 64% of respondents said that providing clinical training and references via information and communications technologies holds high potential.

* 32% said patient care provided via care- at- a- distance models has high potential.

Survey participants noted a gap between perceived potential and current practices. For only 4% said they have "no compelling need to use telehealth," but only 9% said sharing electronic data and images is "very common" today.

"These findings tell us that unlocking that potential requires efficient collaboration among health professionals, regardless of time and distance," says Frances Dare, director, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group Global Healthcare Practice, which commissioned the research.

HIT programs' first grads ready to help your practice

If you need help implementing an electronic health record (EHR) system and achieving meaningful use, you could start with the 3,000 people who were the first graduates of the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology (HIT) Professionals. More than 2,200 of these graduates were expected to complete their training in April.

The graduates are part of a broader workforce development program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for HIT that also includes university-based training, HIT competency examinations, and the development of an HIT curriculum for use in institutions of higher education. The graduates are part of the initial HIT workforce that will be trained through the program this year.

"Training the professionals to support the growing HIT industry is a critical step toward ensuring that healthcare providers are successful in their adoption and meaningful use of HIT," says Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, national coordinator for HIT. "The workforce development programs represent a comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of the healthcare industry. The programs are designed to deliver highly qualified professionals who are proficient in every level of the healthcare delivery system."

Members of this new workforce will fill a growing workforce gap need for the professionals required to help healthcare providers and institutions improve patients' health through HIT. They also will have been trained to work with EHR vendors to implement EHR systems in provider and hospital settings.

Will you really qualify for meaningful use?

Are you part of the 80% of ambulatory providers who have purchased an electronic health record (EHR) system and are confident they will qualify for meaningful use (MU) this year? Take a closer look just to make certain.

Research firm KLAS did, and it found that, when looking at what functionalities members of this group have implemented, most of them still have significant holes to fill, according to a report by the firm.

Although 80% of the surveyed providers said they would quality for MU this year, more than two -thirds of them are not sharing medical records electronically with patients, and nearly half of them have not implemented clinical decision support rules, two key MU requirements.

The report, "Ambulatory EMR: A KLAS Guide to Meaningful Use Success," presents the results of interviews with 597 ambulatory providers using 25 different EHR systems. The study measured vendor performance in eight key MU areas: progress notes; drug- drug and drug-allergy alerts; computerized physician order entry; data mining tools; e -prescribing; clinical decision support rules; patient electronic access to medical records; and viewing active medication, allergy, and problem lists. The report also outlines several best practices for ambulatory providers looking to make an EHR purchase in the near future.

The report finds that Epic and Greenway customers appear best-prepared overall to qualify for MU incentives this year, with high usage and high clinician satisfaction in the key MU areas measured. Providers using Praxis, SRSsoft, simplifyMD, and LSS, however, appear the least prepared to qualify for MU in 2011.

Other vendors covered in the report include AdvancedMD, Allscripts, Amazing Charts, Aprima, athenahealth, Cerner, e- MDs, eClinicalWorks, GE Healthcare, Healthport, Henry Schein, Ingenix, McKesson, MedPlus, NextGen, Sage, and Sevocity.

Government names new leader for HIT efforts

Remember the name Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, because chances are you're going to be seeing and hearing it a lot.

Mostashari is the new leader of the federal government's efforts to encourage the adoption of health information technology (HIT) and health information exchange by you and your peers in your practices, as well as by other health system entities.

Mostashari began serving as national coordinator for HIT in the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for HIT at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on April 8, replacing David Blumenthal, MD, MPP.

Mostashari, who has training in internal medicine, joined the ONC in July 2009. Previously, he had served as assistant commissioner for the Primary Care Information Project in the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where he facilitated adoption of prevention- oriented HIT by more than 1,500 providers in underserved communities. He also also led the NYC Center of Excellence in Public Health Informatics.

Healthcare professionals suggest ways to improve EHRs

A new study from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) researchers may lead to electronic health record (EHR) improvements that make it easier to follow up on your patients' abnormal test results- if vendors heed the findings.

The VA researchers conducted a qualitative study with 44 full-time primary care providers, radiology personnel, laboratory workers, and information technology employees from two facilities. Participants talked about what enables and prevents their use of EHR technology. They also made recommendations of what would help them manage and follow up on notifications related to abnormal tests.

Focus group participants said they receive many alerts containing information unrelated to abnormal test results. Some participants said it was difficult to use certain EHR features that would enable them to manage their alerts more efficiently.

Other participants said that their ability to follow up on abnormal test results would be improved if EHR manufacturers would improve display and tracking processes for critical alerts, redesign the clinical workflow, and streamline test result notification.

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Be careful when using social media

When you're using Face book, Twitter, or other social media, be honest, respect privacy, and uphold the reputation of the medical profession.

So suggest Arash Mostaghmi, MD, MPA, and Bradley H. Crotty, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts in "Professionalism and the Digital Age," published in the April 19,2011, edition of Annals of Internal Medicine.

"As more providers and trainees use social networks and blogs, healthcare professionals must be aware of what is being posted online and how it is presented," they write. "Furthermore, the use of online rating sites and search engines by patients requires physicians to understand and manage their online identities and personal brands. Together, these challenges demand that physicians proactively review and maintain their digital lives."

The authors recommend that physicians consider all postings as public and that they examine their privacy settings closely.

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Study reveals growing smartphone, tablet computer use

You and your peers increasingly are relying on smartphones and tablet computers to check email, research medications and conditions, and complete online surveys, according to new research by online research company Knowledge Networks.

Drawing on responses from 5,490 doctors, the 2011 Digital MD Marketing research found that 67% of primary care physicians (PCPs) and 61% of specialists now have smartphones, and 27% of PCPs have tablet computers such as iPads. Reference applications are the most popular mobile medical "apps" among physicians.