Facebook and Electronic Medical Records

Posted by AMS at 7 DEC 6:57 am

US Lags Behind in Health IT

Posted by AMS at 8 NOV 8:00 am

WASHINGTON – Countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the U.K., and Norway have nearly universal adoption of health information technology (HIT) while the U.S. lags painfully behind, according to the man charged with bringing the U.S. up to speed.

David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Department of Health and Human Services, made that assessment Friday at an event sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund.

Only about 47% of U.S. medical providers — a bucket term that includes both doctors and nonphysician providers — have adopted some form of health information technology, whereas in countries such as New Zealand doctors are using HIT to quickly compile a list of every one of their patients that is on a particular drug, or has a certain disease, according to a presentation by Robin Osborn of the Commonwealth Fund.

In countries such as Denmark, a patient can sign onto a Web portal and see the details of every hospital stay, doctor’s visit, and medication all with the click of the mouse.

Blumenthal says America has lacked the funds to implement electronic health records and to pay to reward doctors who get on board with the new technology.

Moreover, it has been difficult to convince healthcare workers to ditch the paper that has long defined record keeping and communication in the medical field.

“We have many healthcare workers who are interested in some level about using [electronic records] but fearful about buying the wrong one, implementing it wrong, what if it becomes out of date?” Blumenthal said. “What if it breaks down when the waiting room is full?”

And lastly, aside from a few specific systems — including Kaiser Permanente and the VA — the nation lacks an infrastructure that allows for various electronic medical record systems to communicate with each other.

But most of those barriers will be knocked down, Blumenthal said, thanks in large part to the HITECH Act. The HITECH Act was part of the 2009 economic stimulus bill, which authorized $19 billion to upgrade the nation’s HIT capabilities and to provide incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they use electronic health records.

The $19 billion included $693 million to create 62 regional expansion centers across the U.S. to assist regions with implementing HIT, as well as $118 million to train over 40,000 new HIT professionals.

Blumenthal said that beginning next year HITECH will reward physicians for using HIT in a “meaningful” way. The stick that goes with that carrot will come several years later when physicians who don’t use HIT will be facing penalties.

By Emily P. Walker , Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today
Published: October 30, 2010

New Electronic Medical Records Software Could Improve Your Health

Posted by AMS at 14 OCT 8:03 am

Here is a simple read on how electronic medical software works in real life.

For most of my career as a family doctor, I kept track of my patients’ health histories by scribbling hand-written notes in a paper chart. For a healthy child, I’d include dates when vaccines were given; for an adult with, say, diabetes, I’d make sure to jot down a recommended schedule of blood and urine tests as well as foot and eye exams. A majority of primary care physicians, in fact, still use this kind of tracking system—despite research suggesting that these handwritten flowsheets aren’t just inefficient, but extremely vulnerable to errors. Some say the solution lies in simply switching to electronic medical records.

[6 Ways Electronic Medical Records Could Make Your Life Safer and Easier]

After all, paper charts don’t automatically update themselves when, say, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes a new vaccine recommendation. An electronic medical record system can do that and can also allow test results to be emailed or transferred automatically into a patient’s chart; paper charts rely on office administrators to input them by hand, which can lead to mistakes. I, myself, have occasionally forgotten to record that a vaccine was administered during the chaos of a busy work day. Nor did I have any systematic way of knowing how many of my patients were actually receiving the preventive and chronic care they needed.

[How to Create Your Own Personal Health Record]

But the latest research suggests that electronic health records don’t necessarily improve care unless they include interactive features: They should make it easier for doctors to implement proven guidelines for good care, providing the necessary shots and screenings, follow-up exams and treatments to help patients live longer with chronic diseases or to prevent these diseases altogether. Ideally, these records should include a software tool that periodically culls through patients’ records looking for gaps in care such as who is overdue for a cholesterol screening or flu vaccine. The system would then send out reminders to patients to come in for a test or appointment.

[Electronic Medical Records: Will Your Privacy Be Safe?

Kaiser Permanente added such a tool to their electronic medical record system several years ago and found that it works to improve care. A study published last month in the American Journal of Managed Care found that the support tool brought more diabetes and heart disease patients in for health screenings, vaccinations and medication adjustments. After three years, for patients with diabetes, the percentage of care recommendations met every month increased from 68 percent to 73 percent; for heart disease patients, the percentage rose from 64 percent to 71 percent. Another study found that tool helped more healthy patients get the recommended screening and exams for preventive care. Bottom line: This support tool lowers the rate of skipped appointments and gaps in care.

This is great news if you use Kaiser Permanente for medical care, but what if you don’t? Well, you can probably expect to see some significant changes at your doctor’s office over the next three to five years. Physicians who take advantage of government financial incentives to set up electronic medical record systems must prove they’re making “meaningful use” of the data from the health records, meaning that they’ve improved patient care as a result. But now is a good time to ask your doctor about how your records will be handled in the future. Will a fail-safe system be implemented to ensure that you don’t miss crucial office visits or screenings? If you see more than one doctor on a regular basis, find out if your primary care clinician—the one responsible for coordinating all of your care—uses a system that’s compatible with the systems your specialists use. This will make it far easier to transfer test results and updates to prescriptions back and forth between various offices. Otherwise, the responsibility for keeping your medical chart up to date will fall on your shoulders. If you’re not satisfied that your doctor is staying abreast of all these technological changes, you might want to consider switching to another practice.

By KENNY LIN
Posted: October 13, 2010

This story can be found:

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/healthcare-headaches/2010/10/13/new-electronic-medical-records-software-could-improve-your-health.html

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Pros And Cons To Converting To Electronic Medical Records

Posted by AMS at 30 AUG 8:23 pm

The Department of Health and Human Services recently released rules for creating electronic health records. These rules came days after HHS issued regulations to safeguard the privacy of medical records.

This digital revolution could dramatically improve medical care. The RAND Corporation estimates America could save $77 billion a year with health information technology (HIT).

But policymakers must remember the interests of doctors and patients. If they don’t, HIT could increase costs, hurt medical care and infringe on the doctor-patient relationship.

Health care providers have slowly digitized their medical records. According to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, “only 20 percent of doctors and 10 percent of hospitals use even basic electronic health records,” although according to some studies, the numbers may be double that.

Last year’s stimulus package offered $27 billion in incentives for doctors and hospitals to improve their technology, and the new health law offers funding. But the funds won’t be released until doctors meet a list of “meaningful use requirements.”

Those requirements initially were so onerous few providers could meet them.

Kaiser Permanent, an early adopter of electronic record-keeping, couldn’t meet the requirements. President Barack Obama often praises Utah’s Intermountain Healthcare for its integrated information systems, but even Intermountain couldn’t meet 75 percent of the criteria.

HHS has since amended its requirements to make it easier to comply. But how will others fare with the newly relaxed rules?

Providers must meet the HIT requirements by 2015. Those that miss the deadline will lose subsidies and face financial penalties.

The government is essentially forcing doctors and hospitals to upgrade their technology systems without providing financial support. Consumers will likely pay for the upgrade.

Providing doctors with more easily accessible data could help them make better decisions for their patients. But this is the key: Doctors must still be the ones making the decisions.

Unfortunately, access to “meaningful use” information may allow government officials to steer doctors toward cost-effective — instead of health-conscious — treatments or practices.

This has already happened in California’s Medicaid program. State officials limit physicians’ ability to prescribe drugs, often forcing them to prescribe cheaper medicines before moving to newer, more expensive ones.

Doctors must wade through paperwork to get clearance to prescribe drugs that may not be on the state’s approved list.

Federal officials may also urge doctors to skip certain tests. This has already happened. In late 2009, an HHS task force revised its guidelines for mammograms. The panel said most women should wait until age 50, and then only get a screening every other year rather than the current practice of starting annual exams at 40. Only after a public outcry did the government soften this position.

Embracing HIT could improve medical care. But doctors, not government officials, must use the information to plan the best treatment for their patients. As our health sector moves into the Information Age, it’s crucial that we remember the central importance of the doctor-patient relationship.

Turner is president of the Galen Institute.

BY GRACE-MARIE TURNER Oklahoman

Published: August 28, 2010

EMR Strengthen Vaccine Safety Monitoring In Seizure Study

Posted by AMS at 29 JUN 7:00 am

Intelligent use of electronic health records—even those collected from multiple health systems—can alert providers to harmful medical practices.