In The News

Digital Healthcare Conference All About Acceptance of Health IT, Accountability – Neil Versel, WTN News, 06/20/2011

“Meaningful use implies that we weren’t using the data in a meaningful way now and ACO implies that we weren’t being accountable today,” said Alan Eisman, North American healthcare director for Information Builders, a New York-based firm specializing in business intelligence.

Certainly, many healthcare organizations have not. But expectations are changing. “I would never recommend that anyone go to a hospital that’s paper-based,” conference chair Dr. Barry Chaiken said during a discussion of accountability.

Is the federal “meaningful use” standard a floor or a ceiling for electronic health records?

That was the question put to the closing panel at WTN Media’s ninth annual Digital Healthcare Conference in Madison last week by conference chair Dr. Barry Chaiken. There was no consensus, but plenty of lively discussion about the $27 billion Medicare and Medicaid incentive program for embracing EHRs in order to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care. Chaiken, chief medical officer at Docs Network, the Boston-based consultancy that he runs, and a former chair of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), said he believes health IT will raise the norm for all providers and “lock in” better behaviors, suggesting that in some ways, meaningful use could be a floor.

Fixing the Health Care System — Begins with Physicians – Barry P. Chaiken, Christopher Young, CNBC Guest Blog, 03/25/2011

To receive Federal stimulus money for the implementation of electronic medical records, hospitals and physicians must satisfy the “meaningful use” criteria as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services. Although Stage 1 criteria appear to be more of a checklist of how to use these systems, subsequent stages will be more complex and difficult to satisfy, thereby putting into jeopardy the continued qualification for these funds by hospitals and physicians.

Privacy: Not Just Another Word – Protecting patient privacy in the era of digitization – Barry P. Chaiken, DOTmedbusiness News, February, 2011, p.39

Although the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act tightened protection of patient data, organziations continue to struggle with the proper processes and workflows that allow reasonable access to the information by clinicians while protecting the confidentiality of the information. (dotmed.com/dm15216)

Five Mobile Security Tips for Hospitals – Brian Dolan, mobi health news, 02/03/2011.
Dr. Barry Chaiken, the former chair of HIMSS and now chief medical officer for Imprivata, shared five tips for hospitals still trying to formulate a security strategy for the mobile devices their physicians, nurses and other staff are increasingly using. While these are very high-level strategies, Chaiken’s list should be heeded. Security issues are more often than not an under-discussed issue in mobile health, especially for healthcare professional users.

5  Key Considerations for Hospitals to Ensure Mobile Device Security – Jaimie Oh, Becker’s Hospital Review, 01/31/2011

“Hospitals should really be working so none of the data can be saved on actual mobile devices. That way, if the mobile device is lost or stolen, an individual can’t log onto the device and view anyone else’s personal health information.”

“Eventually, we expect authentication will become more sophisticated over time so that personal health information, even on mobile devices, will be better protected.”

“Patients should be able to trust their providers that their personal health information is being sufficiently protected,” Dr. Chaiken says. “It’s not only about being secure but also making sure unauthorized users don’t access private information, whether that is achieved through authentication or privacy alert products.”

How to Improve Patient Satisfaction with Electronic Records – John Rossheim, Medpage Today’s KevinMD.com, 01/18/2011

“If patients don’t understand that the technology is there for their benefit, that it’s a safety and quality measure, they may see it as a barrier to their relationship with their physician,” says Barry Chaiken, M.D., immediate past board chair of HIMSS and CMO of Imprivata, which makes data-security software.

“Years ago, doctors had their backs to their patients when they used an EMR,” says Dr. Chaiken. Now more physicians have rearranged their workspaces so that they make eye contact with patients as they use their computers, he adds.

Identity 360 – EMR Adoption. How Fast? – Imprivata, 01/10/2011

Securing ePrescribing with Strong Authentication – Barry P. Chaiken, British Journal of Healthcare Computing and Information Management, 01/02/2011

Social Networks For Patients Stir Privacy, Security Worries – Kelly Jackson Higgins, Darkreading, 09/28/2010

That could impact the patient’s family’s financial situation, for instance. “It’s easy to link someone’s ZIP code and location with their disease process and a couple of other pieces of information and cross-reference and figure out who that patient is,” says Dr. Barry Chaiken, chief medical officer at Imprivata. That information could be used against the patient’s family in a business deal, for example, due to the financial implications of the illness, he says.

Focus on Patients Need When Choosing an HIE Strategy for ‘Meaningful Use’ - Neil Versel, FierceHealthIT, 09/07/2010

“The whole point of these health information exchanges is to provide each of the clinicians, both the physician who is treating the patient and the physician who previously treated the patient, with the best up-to-date information possible,” adds Dr. Barry Chaiken, chief medical officer of Lexington, Mass.-based software vendor Imprivata and current board chairman of HIMSS.

How to Get Wired: The Basics of Health Information Exchange – Pamela Lewis Dolan, amednews, 09/06/2010

“The whole point of these health information exchanges is to provide each of the clinicians, both the physician who is treating the patient and the physician who previously treated the patient, with the best up-to-date information possible,” said Barry Chaiken, MD, MPH, a fellow with the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and chief medical officer of Imprivata, a health IT software vendor based in Lexington, Mass. The goal is to go to the HIE that will be the best source of information, depending on who your patients are, and where else they may have been treated.

Healthcare IT Make Security, EMRs a Priority – Larry Barrett, Datamation, 08/25/2010

“More than one year after its passage, hospitals continue to be deeply concerned about their ability to meet deadlines imposed on them by the HITECH Act,” Imprivata Chief Marketing Officer Barry Chaiken, said in the report. “Organizations fear security breaches and unauthorized access to patient records, while trying to manage clinical transformation through the deployment of EMR systems to achieve improved care delivery and cost savings.”

Survey: Data Breach Prevention Top of Mind for IT Decision Makers – Molly Merrill, Associate Editor, Health IT News, 08/17/2010

“More than one year after its passage, hospitals continue to be deeply concerned about their ability to meet deadlines imposed on them by the HITECH Act,” says Barry P. Chaiken, MD, CMO at Imprivata. “Organizations fear security breaches and unauthorized access to patient records, while trying to manage clinical transformation through the deployment of EMR systems to achieve improved care delivery and cost savings.

Hospitals Worried About Breaches, Survey Shows – Kelly Jackson Higgins, Darkreading, 08/18/2010

Barry Chaiken, chief medical officer at Imprivata, says he thinks hospitals are worried both about existing threats, as well as new threats that EMRs could present. “Surely as we increase the amount of patient data in electronic format, there is more to be exposed if a breach occurs,” he says. The HITECH Act is driving healthcare organizations to provide medical records in electronic format, and that will help ensure more accurate records, he notes.