The raison d’être of health IT includes four key items: 1) enhance patient safety, 2) improve quality of care, 3) foster greater accessibility, and 4) facilitate a reduction in medical costs.
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Featured Articles
Looking Back…and Looking Ahead…on the Progress of EHR Implementation
The appointment of a healthcare policy expert David Blumenthal, MD, rather than an informaticist, signals that the Obama Administration is serious about promoting the use of health IT through policy changes that impact how healthcare is delivered in the United States.
Continue readingHospital Computerization Not a Budget Saver, Concludes Study
The recent survey of over four thousand hospitals found no connection between computerization and reduced costs. In addition, increased computerization led to only small improvements in the quality of care.
Continue readingMaking Meaningful Use Meaningful
So what is “meaningful use?” Perhaps former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart defined it best: “It is hard to define, but I know it when I see it”
Continue readingIs There Any Doubt It’s Broken?
If George Steinbrenner expects the Yankees to win the World Series every year considering he spends 40% more than any other team on payroll, is it wrong for us to expect the same from our spending on healthcare? Should we not receive the best care in the world?
Continue readingWe Need Privacy Now
Today, patient information is actively being used to target market products and services to patients. Although the data firms utilize is de-identified, they employ reverse lookup utilities to reconstruct the information with patient identifiers.
Continue readingFollowing Lance’s Lead – No Cheating
Haven’t we had enough of cheating? According to the NYTimes (Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy, 8/5/09), medical journals published articles written by ghostwriters paid for by Wyeth, the pharmaceutical company, to promote the use of Wyeth’s hormone replacement therapy for women.
Continue readingPan-Mass Challenge 2009
I just completed my 2 day Pan-Mass Challenge, a 193 mile ride that raises money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Jimmy Fund) here in Boston. It is the single largest athletic fund-raising event in the world, raising more than $250 million dollars over the past 30 years.
Continue readingIs It Time to Play NICE?
Much of the resistance to healthcare reform in Congress and beyond is based on cost concerns. Perhaps the success of healthcare reform is dependent upon the ability of comparative effectiveness research to show the way to cost savings that can fund the reform.
Continue readingLeverage Clinical Decision Support
Good clinical decision support tools can improve outcomes and cut costs. However consumerism evolves, it will surely play an important role in the delivery of health care. Only organizations that adjust to this sea change, through innovation and emphasis on consumer issues, will survive.
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