The Ailing State of Health Info Tech
May 12, 2012
No wonder search for medical information within an institution is darned near impossible. O’Reilly Radar reports on "The State of Health IT According to the American Hospital Association." The extensive article details the American Hospital Association‘s findings and describes the implications in depth. Journalist Andy Oram laments:
"The most poignant aspect of the AHA letter is its careful accumulation of data to show the huge gap between what health care calls for and what hospitals, vendors, standards bodies, and even the government are capable of providing."
It seems like we should have closed that gap by now, but I guess that’s like those jetpacks we still don’t have. In brief, the AHA found the following: basic quality and cost control measures are commonly skipped; the meaningful use reforms created for electronic health records are often meaningless; doctors still record much of their data in unstructured formats; quality reporting measures are unreliable and vary widely between hospitals; and government agencies are dragging their feet in making changes they are pushing others to adopt right away. (Government hypocrisy? Shocking.)
See the article for its comprehensive analysis of the issues. The part that most catches my eye is the discussion on electronic health records. The EHR concept seems simple enough, and obviously necessary, but apparently it isn’t that simple. For one thing, existing hospital and doctor office staff aren’t all computer savvy. Another problem seems to be inadequate standards, specifications that failed to take some important details into account. Vendors have had to improvise on those points, which means a huge difference in scope and quality between EHR systems. What a mess.
Oram concludes his examination with:
"What I find particularly troublesome about their report is that the AHA offers no hint that the hospitals spent all this money to put in place new workflows that could improve care. All the money went to EHRs and the minimal training and installation they require. What will it take for hospitals to make the culture changes that reap the potential benefits of EHRs and data transfers?"
Excellent question.
Cynthia Murrell, May 12, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
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