Doctors Driving IT Development with their Mobile Technology Choices

Posted by AMS at 31 MAY 8:04 am

When physicians at Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center started adopting smartphones a few years ago, they almost immediately looked for ways to use them in their clinical lives.

Doctors liked being able to access their patients’ records and clinical tools anytime, from any place, so they pressured the hospital to give them access.

With an estimated 81% of physicians using smartphones (up from 72% in 2010), according to a survey of 2,041 physicians released May 4 by Manhattan Research, Albany Medical Center was not alone in feeling pressure from physicians to allow them mobile access. Hospitals and health information technology vendors are realizing that the way to sell physicians on health information technology is to make it mobile. Instead of hospitals and vendors telling physicians to adapt to their preferred ways of using technology, physicians are gaining the power to sway hospitals and vendors to their preferred way of using it.

Tech-savvy physicians have long been fans of mobile technology, even before it became as user-friendly as it is today. Many physicians adopted the Palm Pilot when it was the new device on the market.

The BlackBerry was the first smartphone to reach widespread adoption rates in health care, with many hospitals buying them in bulk and handing them out to physicians. But the mobile devices available today have something to offer even the least tech-savvy physicians, mainly ease of use, which is why the market penetration has gone so deep.

Manhattan Research found that while there are three smartphone leaders — Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, devices using Google’s Android platform and Apple’s iPhone — physicians are showing a clear preference for Apple products for the first time. That bias toward Apple has extended to the tablet market as well because of the iPad. Manhattan’s survey found 75% of physicians owning at least one Apple product.

“Physicians just really love the ease of use of the [Apple iPad],” said Meredith Ressi, president of Manhattan Research. “It’s intuitive, and they know it’s not going to give them a bunch of technology headaches.” Thirty percent of doctors are using iPads to access electronic medical records, view radiology images and communicate with patients, according to Manhattan. An additional 28% of doctors plan to buy an iPad within the next six months.

Albany Medical Center has discovered a similar trend among its physicians.

As a direct result of physician demand, the hospital made provisions to allow them to use their own mobile devices to access the hospital’s IT system.
Administrators knew anecdotally that many physicians preferred Apple products, but a recent project helped shed some light on their use.

Eighteen physicians in the group were given an iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry to use and compare over three months. There was a clear preference for the iPad for accessing email, patient records and applications, and the iPhone was the preferred device for phone calls. Albany said despite the limited number of doctors, this survey was indicative of physician use of mobile devices.

Source: www.ama-assn.org

Complimentary Webinar with Elizabeth Woodcock

Posted by AMS at 24 MAY 4:29 pm

Elizabeth Woodcock speaks on how portals are improving practice work flows and 
keeping patients loyal.

DATE: Wednesday, June 1, 2011

TIME: 12:00-1:00 PM Eastern Time

Speaker: Elizabeth Woodcock, MBA, FACMPE, CPC

Click here to register today!

Practices using patient portals are finding that benefits go well beyond improved operating efficiencies – portals are also increasing patient satisfaction and loyalty. Join industry expert Elizabeth Woodcock for this webinar to learn:

•    How portals improve work flow and create value for practices
•    What types of self-service patients are demanding
•    How a well-designed portal helps keep patients loyal to a practice

Plus, there will be a Q&A session with Ms. Woodcock following the presentation.

For more information and to register today – click here!

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

 Elizabeth Woodcock, MBA, FACMPE, CPC

Elizabeth Woodcock is a highly regarded industry speaker, author and trainer focusing on medical group operations and revenue cycle management for nearly 20 years.  Ms. Woodcock has led educational sessions for many professional organizations including the MGMA and the AMA, and she has consulted a diverse group of physician practices. The author of several books, including “Mastering Patient Flow to Increase Efficiency and Earnings,” she is frequently published and quoted in national publications.

Health IT Tops Jobs List For College Grads

Posted by AMS at 24 MAY 7:39 am

A career in health information technology (IT) is the hottest vocation for college graduates in this challenging economy, according to a study from the University of California San Diego Extension.

The study, released last week, shows that health IT ranks first among the top ten careers listed and is described as a profession in which technicians update and organize medical information electronically. The report credits the federal government’s health IT initiatives that have spurred the adoption of advanced technology systems that manage and use health information. As healthcare delivery organizations embark on transferring patient records from paper-based systems to digitized medical records, the shift has fueled a demand for health information technicians who can oversee the growth of a comprehensive database of medical records during the next decade.

Among the technology trends we will see are the expansion of electronic health records (EHR) to include patient data from various sources such as integrating text, voice, images, and handwritten notes. To support this shift, the healthcare industry will need technicians for emerging jobs such as healthcare integration engineer, healthcare systems analyst, clinical IT consultant, and technology support specialist, the report said.

“Several factors–a growing industry with vast employment needs, a societal concern with federal backing for broad reform, and a solution incorporating advanced knowledge and skills among workers–combine to form a strong base for workforce development and employment opportunity for the coming decade,” Mark Cafferty, San Diego Workforce Partnership president and CEO, said in a statement.

He also said skilled knowledge workers will not only meet the immediate needs in healthcare, but also will serve as a catalyst for new and emerging types of jobs in the coming years as the impact of healthcare IT takes hold.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that medical records and health information technicians held about 172,500 jobs in 2008 (about 39% of jobs were in hospitals). Jobs are expected to grow by 20%, or about 35,100 new jobs, for the decade 2008-2018.

Health information technicians are needed at hospitals, physician offices, nursing care facilities, outpatient care centers, and home healthcare services. Technicians also may be employed outside of healthcare facilities, including federal government agencies.

Other careers that placed in the top ten are:
— Mobile media. Cell phones and other mobile devices are now multifunction devices that enable users to surf the Web, listen to music, download podcasts, use maps, access global positioning satellites, shoot and send photos and videos, and send text messages. With the countless new software applications, the number of ways to use smart phones is exploding.
— Data mining. Data mining is the technique of extracting specific types of information or patterns from large databases, such as data warehouses. Advanced statistical methods sift through large volumes of data, providing answers to questions that were once too time-consuming.
— Embedded engineering. Devices from phones, appliances, and televisions, to automobiles and iPods all use processors to run. These complex digital processors, or computers, are embedded systems, often built around a microprocessor core, that are designed by software engineers.
— Feature writing for the Web. Technology has transformed journalism and marketing, creating new ways for how news and information are conveyed. The new medium allows for more interactivity, as readers respond via comments or blogs.

Source: www.informationweek.com

Computerized Health Records Growing in California

Posted by AMS at 17 MAY 8:03 am

Healthcare experts widely agree that computerized records can help doctors and hospitals avoid medical errors and improve the quality of care.

On this score, California appears to be heading in the right direction: Growing numbers of doctors, hospitals and community clinics appear to be giving up their stacks of paper records in favor of technology that serves the same purpose, according to a new report from the California HealthCare Foundation.

Nearly half of physician practices have electronic medical records in place, up from 14% in 2008. Doctors are increasingly relying on computerized systems to order medications rather than writing prescriptions by hand.

Community clinics are embracing the technology with particular gusto: Forty-seven percent said they have implemented an electronic health-record system, up from just 3% in 2005.

The tools “have the potential to reduce errors and adverse clinical events, and to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care,” the foundation said in its report, “The State of Health Information Technology in California.”

But the foundation also found room for improvement.

Although 40% of physician practices have electronic systems that enable their doctors to communicate with patients over email, only about one-third of the doctors do so routinely, it said.

To read the report and view its charts, go to http://www.chcf.org/~/media/Files/PDF/S/PDF%20StateHealthInfoTechnologyCA.pdf.

Source: LAtimes.com

Will Electronic Health Records Save the Planet?

Posted by AMS at 10 MAY 7:53 am

(CBS) Can switching from paper to electronic health records bring better health for patients? One thing’s for sure: the switch will be good for the health of the planet – at least if you believe the results of a new study by California-based health-care giant Kaiser Permanente.

The study showed that electronic health records – EHRs in industry jargon – could lower carbon dioxide emissions by up to 1.7 million across the U.S. That’s the equivalent of taking 300,000 cars of U.S. roads, the New York Times reported.

In addition, EHRs would save countless trees by eliminating the use of 1,044 tons of paper for medical charts. And additional environmental benefits would result from filling prescriptions online (less travel to and from doctors’ offices and drugstores) and from digitizing X-rays and other scans (reducing the use of toxic chemicals like silver nitrate and hydroquinone).

Those benefits would outweigh the negative impact of the increased energy use required to run all those computers, according to a written statement released by Kaiser.

“Prior to this study, the benefits of electronic health records were categorized primarily by their impact on the quality of care and potential to improve efficiency,” Kaiser Permanente’s Terhilda Garrido, a co-author of the study, said in a written statement. “As the country increases its ‘meaningful use’ of HIT, we should consider other macro impacts as well.”

The study was published in the May issue of the journal Health Affairs.

Source: www.cbsnews.com