MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'interoperability'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:08:18 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036310&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FwDSUut5dc7o%2F From HL7 International‘s Chuck Jaffe, M.D., at the AMDIS conference in Ojai, Calif., this morning: Related posts:Podcast: Dr. David Kibbe on personal health information, medical homes, value in healthcare and more Podcast: Dr. Bill Bria on CMIOs and medical informatics Friday funny (Source: Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog) Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036310 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:26:53 +0100 5036310 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968631&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FvWWzxxstVzo%2F It’s official, Google is in fact walking away from Google Health, the way overhyped, way underused personal health record platform. In a posting on the Google Blog today, Aaron Brown, Google Health’s senior product manager, said the company would “retire” Google Health Jan. 1, 2012. (Data will be available to download until Jan. 1, 2013.) Google also decided to wind down another experiment, Google PowerMeter. From the post: When we launched Google Health, our goal was to create a service that would give people access to their personal health and wellness information. We wanted to translate our successful consumer-centered approach from other domains to healthcare and have a real impact on the day-to-day health experiences of millions of our users. Now, with a few ye... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968631 Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:59:23 +0100 4968631 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4911611&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftraffic.libsyn.com%2Fnversel%2FRick_Kneipper_-_Anthelio.mp3 Why are physicians still resisting EMRs? Maybe it’s because systems aren’t easy to use and lack interoperability. That’s the hypothesis of Rick Kneipper, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Anthelio Healthcare Solutions, a Dallas-based business process services firm that until February was known as PHNS. In my latest podcast, Kneipper joins me to discuss the shortcomings of current EMRs and current EMR policy, and offers his remedies for the problems. Give it a listen, then share your thoughts, too. Podcast details: Interview with Rick Kneipper, co-founder and chief strategy officer, Anthelio. MP3, mono, 64 mbps, 12.7 MB. Running time 27:50 1:05 Why he thinks current EHRs aren’t meeting their promise of improving safety, quality and efficiency of healthcare 2:00 Mo... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4911611 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:28:20 +0100 4911611 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4829034&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FBHnoLVW6vfw%2F Last month, I asked if anyone has been successful with an EMR for mental health. I wondered if an iPad might make it easier for a psychotherapist to take electronic notes during a session without making the patient feel like the computer was getting in the way, because a desktop PC certainly would be a distraction. I also wondered about where mental health fits in the realm of truly comprehensive EHRs. (Yes, I make a distinction between EHR and EMR here, since, while it’s important to have a complete medication list to avoid harmful interactions, there’s little reason why an orthopedist or dermatologist would need to know whether a patient had been diagnosed with a mental illness. The same goes for records of sexually transmitted diseases or any other condition that patients ma... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4829034 Tue, 17 May 2011 03:09:29 +0100 4829034 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734268&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FokDK9gkw3iE%2F (click on the graphics to link to original sources) Regular readers know that I find Professor Clay Christensen’s theory of disruptive innovation to be a useful lens to explain industry evolution. Let’s look at two recent health IT initiatives and see why one is working and the other is stalled. (more…) Tags: disruptive innovation, EHR, interoperability (Source: e-CareManagement) e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734268 Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:26:45 +0100 4734268 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4684485&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FsIIYXgtP5I8%2F Healthcare IT News just published its list of top issues for health plans in 2011: 1. Administrative Mandates (Compliance HIPAA 5010, ICD-10, etc.). 2. Care Management, Data Analytics, and Informatics. 3. Health Insurance Exchanges and Individual Markets. 4. New Provider Payment & Delivery Systems (ACOs, PCMHs, etc.). 5. Bend the Cost Trend. 6. Medicare and Medicaid. 7. Health Information Exchanges and EMRs. 8. Consumer’s Role in the Modernization of Healthcare. 9. Reform Uncertainties. 10. Payer/Provider Interoperability. Dear health plan colleagues, Wake up! The order of this list is totally out of whack. #2: Care Management, Data Analytics, Informatics. Good…sounds about right. However, #2 can’t happen before you address: #7: HIEs and EMRs #10: Payer/Provider ... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4684485 Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:15:37 +0100 4684485 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676899&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FNeilVerselsHealthcareItBlog%2F%7E3%2FEcS5gp-MhXQ%2F Geisinger Health System, Group Health Cooperative, Intermountain Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente and the Mayo Clinic will join together to promote sharing of electronic health data as part of a new organization called the Care Connectivity Consortium. The formal launch is set for 9 a.m. EDT Wednesday at the National Press Club in Washington, and the event will be webcast here. According to a media advisory, the Care Connectivity Consortium is “a historic interoperability collaboration among five of the nation’s leading health systems to securely share electronic health information and best practices.” Executives from the organizations will be on hand to “will discuss the goals of the consortium, how sharing electronic health data supports high quality, patient-centered ca... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676899 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:06:21 +0100 4676899 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4424300&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FNfqJ8rWZReQ%2F The other day I came across an interview with David Blumenthal. I didn’t find anything all that meaningful in the interview itself. However, in the comments, someone provided some really interesting commentary on what Blumenthal said in the interview. Dr. Blumenthal says we need operability before we move to interoperability. Yet if you don’t design your systems from the start to interoperate, you’ll inevitably wind up with operable systems that do not interoperate – at all. Having accomplished this, we’ll then have to develop and impose an after-the-fact standard to which all systems must comply. This will mean redesign, retrofit, and plastering all kinds of middleware layers between disparate systems. It may even result in retraining tomorrow all those provi... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4424300 Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:12:03 +0100 4424300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4125105&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FfzA8zEEyTkY%2F The September issue of Wired magazine and an article in last Sunday’s New York Times illustrate a central debate in technology circles. The debate is not new — it’s being going on for two decades — but it has newfound vibrancy. The essence of the debate is about competing tech/business models: walled gardens vs. the open world wide web (web).   vs.   The debate is highly controversial and nuanced. There are “experts” on both sides. My point today is not to take sides (although I’ll admit my canine partiality to the open web), but rather: to point out that the debate is occurring  to explain what the discussions are about to suggest that competition between walled gardens vs. the open web is creating healthy competition and providing consumers with great choi... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4125105 Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:30:33 +0100 4125105 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4098123&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FW60X2LSWk_g%2F Mike Miliard did a great job in capturing highlights and key points of my presentation at the Mobile Health Expo conference earlier this week. You can read his story here. Please write me at vincek@bhtinfo.com in you’d like a copy of the PowerPoint presentation. Tags: EHR, HITECH, interoperability, mHealth (Source: e-CareManagement) e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4098123 Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:10:12 +0100 4098123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4018247&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FMFllEgfzgTU%2F Care management software is intended to help patients make critical connections across the health care delivery system.  Today it’s used primarily by 3rd party care managers who are typically either employed directed or indirectly by payers. While not surprising, the state-of-the-art of care management software is that it continues to function as disconnected islands of information. The  2010 Health Information Technology Survey (available at no charge) provides an insightful yet sobering snapshot of care management software. The study was sponsored by TCS Healthcare Technologies, the Case Management Society of America, and the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians. The study consists of answers from 670 respondents who chose to fill out to a ... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4018247 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:37:07 +0100 4018247 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3983449&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2010%2F09%2F15%2Fno-sign-for-healthcare%2F I recently heard Arien Malec from ONC summarize the biggest challenge of Healthcare Information Exchange (HIE) in one simple phrase: There’s no @ sign for healthcare It’s a really basic idea, but sadly cuts straight to one of the core reasons HIE isn’t happening. We don’t have a great way to authenticate, verify and address health information to another provider. Twitter has created this interesting concept of using @ to specify people. For example, you can find me @techguy and @ehrandhit. It’s amazing how quickly Twitter has created a whole new set of addresses where we can communicate with other people. Certainly it’s not designed for healthcare, but it’s amazing that they could create this whole new address system for people and organizations. A... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3983449 Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:11:26 +0100 3983449 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3946560&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2F5rv0xNvyUfk%2F   We’ve spent the past year creating the MU (meaningful use) requirements for Stage 1 of the HITECH act.  As shown by the diagram above, Stage 1 focuses on Data Capture and Sharing. Now it’s time to begin to focus on Stage 2 (Advanced Clinical Processes) and Stage 3 (Improved Outcomes). The current generation of EMRs (electronic medical records) were designed primarily to assist care providers with clinical documentation, billing, and maximizing revenues. They were not designed to enable care coordination and optimize population health.   This essay is the first in a new, ongoing series that will highlight: Design and metrics for Stages 2 and 3 of the HITECH act Companies and care providers developing and using applications targeting Stage 2 and 3 MU objectives This first essay wi... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3946560 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:49:07 +0100 3946560 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3471884&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2Flz5D9nw2Izc%2F We concluded our last post in this series with a blunt prediction that “key physicians will sit on the sidelines” and that clinician non-adoption of EHR technology is a potential “deal-breaker for the success of HITECH”. While this might sound like a criticism of the way HITECH has been implemented, it’s not intended that way — it’s a commentary on 1) the complexity and scope of change that will be required to make HITECH successful, and 2) the level of protective entrenchment existing American health care today. Rather, we believe that the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT – Dr. David Blumenthal and his staff — have done a superb job in interpreting and defining key aspects of HITECH legislation. We’re big fans. For those of you who have been fo... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3471884 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:56:39 +0100 3471884 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3342728&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FfteitOp1biQ%2F In one of my many discussions with people at HIMSS 10 we started talking about EHR interoperability standards. The person I was talking to worked as an engineer for a vendor that’s entire work is interoperability of EHR data. As we talked, I made the comment that it seems like CCD has won the battle for EMR interoperability. He gave me a kind of blank stare and said, yeah. Basically his response was like yeah everyone knows that. Almost as if there weren’t any other real EMR interoperability options out there. Well, I guess someone better let Google Health know too. As I went through the HIMSS showroom floor, I got the same feeling. The good thing is that I think the people behind CCR are satisfied with this result since CCD is a derivative of sorts from CCR. Related posts:In... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3342728 Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:51:11 +0100 3342728 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3335440&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Fadministrator%2F2010%2F03%2F01%2Finteroperability-showcase-at-himss-10%2F The interoperability showcase is a really interesting part of HIMSS. They have 80 organizations and vendors that are participating in a wide variety of interoperability scenarios. It’s such a great idea to bring these vendors together to show interoperable EMR. The problem I have with this concept is that they had the same showcase at HIMSS 09, no? Have we seen any real progress towards interoperability? I guess the question is a bit open for debate, but I can’t say that I’ve seen any huge progress towards interoperability since the last showcase. Is that because there are political and funding issues that are blocking the interoperability from happening? I guess the point is that the interoperability showcase seems to show that interoperability is possible from a techni... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3335440 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:43:53 +0100 3335440 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3224905&cid=t_100023_114_f&fid=34963&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsymtym.net%2F2010%2F01%2Fhealth-information-commons%2F The commons refers to resources that are collectively owned. There are two tragedies that may befall a commons: The Tragedy of the Commons and The Tragedy of the Anticommons. Paraphrasing Michael Heller (Gridlock Economy): the tragedy of the commons is when too many people share a single resource, we tend to overuse it; and the tragedy of the anticommons is when too many people own a single resource, and anyone can block the use. Modifying this for healthcare, the tragedy of the healthcare anticommons is that too many people own portions of a patient’s health information (HI), and anyone at anytime can block a full rendering of the patient’s HI. A patient’s HI might be charcterized by those that have an interest in the HI, including the patient. This interest extends beyo... symtym blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3224905 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:43:32 +0100 3224905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3142661&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F9kNOhVgzN8k%2F Another interesting story from EMRUpdate talking about how one EMR vendor, Medtuity EMR, took 3 locations and tied their EMRs together. However, they didn’t just do one centralized database accessed from each location. Instead, they essentially built patient data interoperability between the 3 locations. Check it out: We just linked 3 sites in October. The docs described what they wanted, including the speed of a separate SQL Server in each facility. They also had a billing office (as the center or hub). They previously used a single server with Remote Desktop as the means of communicating with a central server. They were not entirely happy with that arrangement and so wanted to embark on a SQL Server in each facility. Additionally, they did not want all encounters synched to all fac... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3142661 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:33:47 +0100 3142661 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3092778&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FnaQJ3skPWfE%2F “Physician order entry and decision support I believe offer the most chance of improving healthcare delivery. There are a lot of information systems with bells and whistles that don’t focus on physicians’ real needs.” – Neil R. Powe, MD, MPH, MBA, Chief of Medical Services, San Francisco General Hospital source I previously posted about the benefits of EMR interoperability. The above quote touts Physician order entry and clinical decision support as the most likely to improve healthcare. Are these the three most promising features of an EMR or is there something they’re missing? What’s the killer feature of an EMR that will make every doctor implement an EMR whether they like it or not? Related posts:Killer EMR Features According to EMR Vendors I... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3092778 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:25:34 +0100 3092778 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3084855&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F12%2F10%2Fbenefits-from-emr-come-from-interoperability%2F “Looking for savings in hospitals that use EMRs is short-sighted. The real payday for use of EMRs will come with interoperability. Measurable savings will be realized as middleware is installed that will allow for the electronic transmission and translation of patient records across different proprietary systems between delivery networks.” – Jim Lott, Executive Vice President, Hospital Council of Southern California, Los Angeles source “EMRs don’t save money in standalone situations. However, EMRs will absolutely save significant money (and improve care and safety) when connected and sharing clinical information.” Johnny Walker, MBA, CPA, Founder and past CEO of Patient Safety Institute, Plano, Texas source These two quote remind me a lot of my previous ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3084855 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:04:02 +0100 3084855 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3075607&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FeJD71yCt0Nw%2F “The ideal circumstance would be the use of EMR smart cards that would be updated with every patient encounter and that can be read electronically by every medical provider treating the patient, regardless of the providers’ medical network or health plan affiliation.” – Jim Lott, Executive Vice President, Hospital Council of Southern California, Los Angeles source I’ll admit to not being an expert on smart cards, but does anyone really think that smart cards are going to get widespread acceptance? The only thing we’ve ever gotten people to consistently carry around with them is their drivers license and even those go missing all the time. How many patients forget their insurance card? Can you imagine the front desk nightmare trying to get people to remem... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3075607 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:21:11 +0100 3075607 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3023229&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F11%2F16%2Fproblems-with-arra-emr-stimulus-money%2F I recently read a Healthcare IT article that talks about some of the challenges with the EMR stimulus money. Here’s a couple of the challenges discussed with my commentary. Albert L. Strunk, MD, representing the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said ACOG is concerned that the measures, while clinical in nature, are not related to adoption of electronic medical records. “The meaningful use measures for ARRA should determine whether a physician has met the objectives shown in the meaningful use matrix, not whether the EMR is being used to report clinical quality measures that rarely apply to that physician’s patients,” he said. I think this is an interesting analysis. Clinical quality measures are one of the main goals of having an EMR. However, ve... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3023229 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:13:48 +0100 3023229 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2989242&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FtOrT4I_LFf4%2F David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. National Coordinator for Health Information Technology U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Dear Dr. Blumenthal, I was honored to receive a personal email from you today. However, after reading it, I conclude that you must have intended to send this email to Judith Faulkner, CEO of Epic Systems. I really liked what you said about working toward interoperability: The HITECH Act calls for the “development of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of information and that…promotes a more effective marketplace, greater competition…[and] increased consumer choice” among other goals.  (Section 3001(b))  This means we cannot support arrangements that rest... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2989242 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:58:35 +0100 2989242 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2981183&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FaeujPdqyGRU%2F The King of the Cats has just acknowledged that indeed cats and dogs should co-exist peacefully. Dr. John Halamka — Vice Chair of the HIT Standards Committee of the ONC and one of the most vocal and influential figures in health IT — writes a blog post this morning entitled “The Genius of AND”. Halamka reasonably summarizes the essence of the debate about standards and interoperability as being between “the healthcare informatics crowd” (cats) and the “Internet crowd” (dogs): He notes that the debate shouldn’t be about one or the other POV prevailing (“either/or”), but about integrating both points of view (“and”): ..we need to embrace both approaches – the right tool for the right job depending on what you want to achieve. For provider to provider communi... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2981183 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:39:16 +0100 2981183 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2883078&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F10%2F11%2Fhhs-connect-program-for-healthcare-data-interoperability%2F I’ll admit to not being the most expert person on HIE, RHIO, NHIN, and all of the other acronyms associated what really is just creating systems and structures for sharing healthcare data between various doctors and systems. However, I do have some knowledge in the area since I believe all of these things will be important for those using an EMR. So, I was surprised when I’d never heard of HHS’ health connect software. Here’s a short bit from Government Health IT of the government’s connect software’s latest update: The Health & Human Services Department (HHS) has updated the government’s Connect software to improve information security and enterprise services for organizations that want to use it to exchange health data, said its senior architect... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2883078 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:15:16 +0100 2883078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2832251&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FtVXihMwiuC0%2F Dr. Don Storey and I spoke at the at The Forum 09 conference in San Diego earlier this week. The DMAA publication “The Continuum” had an excellent writeup of our enthusiastically received presentation.  Here’s a copy of our PowerPoint slides… HITECH Health IT Legislation: Opportunities for the DMAA Community View more presentations from vincek. and here’s DMAA’s writeup: Helping physicians and hospitals meet the “meaningful use” criteria for federal support for health information technology under recently passed legislation represents a keen opportunity for the population health management industry, presenters at this session said yesterday. Vince Kuraitis, JD, MBA, of Better Health Technologies, LLC, and Don Storey, MD, of RMD Networks, presented a look at the evolut... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2832251 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:54:42 +0100 2832251 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2800507&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F09%2F15%2Fhealthcare-data-sharing-in-emr-software%2F Healthcare data sharing is one of the hottest topics when talking about the importance of EMR software. Some people call it healthcare data portability. One of the problems I have with these discussions is that everyone has different goals for why they want to share the information. Here’s a partial list of reasons people may want to share healthcare data between various EMR respositories (in no particular order): Clinical data sharing for reimbursement purposes Quality data sharing for broader research goals Quality data sharing to meet ARRA requirements/reimbursement Data shared for continuity of care between providers There are probably other reasons to have EMR software be able to share clinical data. However, you get the basic point. There are a lot of reasons why people want ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2800507 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:45:59 +0100 2800507 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2790321&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2Fqn6AlRE1xgg%2F By Vince Kuraitis and Steven Waldren MD, MS.  Dr Waldren is Director of the Center for Health Information Technology at the American Academy of Family Practice (AAFP). Two issues have rightfully surfaced front and center in the public’s understanding of HITECH Act implementation: ” definition of “Meaningful Use” of EHRs, and ” definition of “certification” process for EHRs …and we applaud the progress of the workgroups and the HIT Policy Committee in addressing these issues constructively. However…a THIRD issue lurks – “Data harmonization at the expense of data liquidity“, or put another way – “misplaced pursuit of one (and only one) language at the expense of practical communication.” On August 20, the HI... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2790321 Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:18:03 +0100 2790321 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2751993&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FbffcvkNpO3k%2F One of my readers pointed out that NaviNet was offering their Health Information Exchange (HIE) solution to state governments for free. Here’s a short part of the press release: NaviNet (formerly NaviMedix), America’s largest real-time healthcare communications network, today announced the NaviNet Health Information Exchange (HIE), a solution that combines the NaviNet Provider Network of more than 770,000 providers nationwide, and NaviNet technology and services. The NaviNet HIE is now available to all state governments and U.S. territories at no cost, enabling more efficient implementation and expansion of local health data exchange. Adoption of NaviNet HIE minimizes technology investment requirements, providing states and territories a rapid and cost-effective way to offer their ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2751993 Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:27:53 +0100 2751993 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2751994&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FDIluPSWQkxQ%2F I recently got the following email which highlights my point that the EHR stimulus money should have been focused on things like interoperability standards and not funding EMR adoption the way it is doing it. He also makes some interesting comparisons worth considering: I see an uncoordinated money pot out there, attracting uncoordinated work on EMR. — about as effective technically as HDTV (since mid-80’s), W3C, the space station. Non-profit efforts seem to generally fail, or to work so slowly as to be irrelevant. EMR standardization would likely benefit from an authoritative organization (similar to IEEE) that would work with existing systems as provided by Kaiser, Walmart, GE, etc. and grind out a solution acceptable to these and other major (and minor) players. Then a de fa... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2751994 Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:33:22 +0100 2751994 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2719776&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2Fjp_2OUrAwoQ%2F   “We need to make care linkages a core competency of American health care.”  George Halvorson, Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Kaiser Foundation Hospital   There’s a double meaning to the title of this new series: Healthcare Crosses the Chasm to the Network Economy At the level of technology, it’s a reference to Geoffrey Moore’s bestselling business/technology book — “Crossing the Chasm”. The Chasm here is the huge gap between early adopters of technology and mainstream users. The book describes the process of bringing specific technologies into mainstream usage. At the level of clinical care, its a reference to the landmark 2001 report by the Institute of Medicine — “Crossing the Chasm”.  Here, the Chasm is a reference to the quality/safety... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2719776 Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:09:37 +0100 2719776 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2705195&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2Fu4izsd-pnv0%2F At last Friday’s meeting, the HIT Policy Committee adopted the recommendations of the Certification and Adoption Workgroup. Between the initial recommendations in July and the adopted recommendations in August, one critical word was added to the definition of “certification”.  That one word is “minimum” — and this one word expresses the correct approach and philosophy for the government’s role in the certification process for EHRs. In this post I’ll address why a “minimum” approach toward certification makes sense:  Why “Minimum” Certification is Right: More Like UL Why Current CCHIT Certification Based on Functionality Risks Irrelevance or Lock-in to Outdated Technology Why “Minimum” Certification is Right: More Like Underwriters Laboratories (more&... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2705195 Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:46:43 +0100 2705195 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2641350&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FsdbX7BfA2F8%2F “Qualcomm pulls the plug on LifeComm”  announced Brian Dolan of mobihealthnews recently.  As demonstrated by e-CareManagement blog readership, there has been a lot of interest in LifeCOMM.  My first blog post on LifeCOMM in 2007 has been single the most commented on post and the second most widely read blog post. It’s taken me a while to sift through my thoughts and feelings about saying “Goodbye” to LifeCOMM. At first I was deeply disappointed, but after further reflection think that LifeCOMM wasn’t the right type of platform for today’s consumer mobile health market. Disappointment My first reaction was one of disappointment. (more…) Tags: business model, Google Health, HealthVault, HIE, HITECH, interoperability, LifeCOMM, network effect, platform, wireless (So... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2641350 Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:44:23 +0100 2641350 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2637881&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FMOdN01pvbl8%2F Yes, I’m still on my kick of asking the question of why we’re making the definition of meaningful use so complicated. Certainly I could make an ambitious goal of every doctor having to document everything granularly and electronically and share everything with everyone so we give the best care possible to patients. The reality is that if you do that, then no one will care about meaningful use and the EHR stimulus money will go unspent. Certainly the above is a bit of an exaggeration, but I can’t help but ask myself if the definition of “meaningful use” isn’t so ambitious that the above will be the net result (at least for small practices) of the current definition of meaningful use. It’s a little bit wrong for me to say it’s too complex, but ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2637881 Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:12:26 +0100 2637881 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2598314&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2F_Qrq2SSm6Pk%2F I know — you’re thinking that using “geek” and “wisdom” in the same sentence is an oxymoron. Bear with me — I’m trying to make a really important point in today’s posting. Interoperability has multiple dimensions — and I’d bet that most of us have never thought of interoperabilty as involving “process” — people working together and collaborating; I know I hadn’t. The Interoperability Work Group of HL7’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) Technical Committee was formed in April 2005 to attempt to define the concept of interoperability. The group examined 100+ definitions of interoperabilty. Their work is summarized in their report: Coming to Terms: Scoping Interoperability for Health Care, February 2007. 3 Types of Interoperability: Technical, Semantic, Process ... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2598314 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:07:35 +0100 2598314 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2511552&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Fclinicalit.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F06%2Fnj-bill-would-ban-non-cchit-emrs.html This is something I reported for the new FierceEMR last week: There's a bill in the New Jersey legislature that would effectively ban the sale and use of health IT products that don't carry CCHIT certification. My story got picked up Friday by iHealthBeat, where it quickly became one of the top five most-viewed stories and No. 1 on the list of most e-mailed. The story even drew a comment from CCHIT Chairman Mark Leavitt, who linked to a post on the commission's blog. There, I learned from a commenter that the bill made it out of committee on a unanimous vote. That's an ominous sign. If states start setting their own EMR rules, we'll be left with 50 different systems of interoperability, few of which would actually interoperate with other. We will have wasted billions of taxpayer money on m... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2511552 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:55:00 +0100 2511552 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2452787&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FOYQinxxctDI%2F A few years ago there was this really funny thread over on the EMR Update forum that asked if doctors would one day display a sign that said “Got EMR?” (this was before the term EHR became in vogue) The concept was asking the question about whether patients would ever demand that their doctor us an EMR or they’d go to another doctor for care. The comparison was made to online banking. I remember online banking being on my list of requirements for a bank. Why couldn’t EMR be on your list of requirements for a doctor? However, I don’t think most patients really know enough about EMR to want their doctor to ask for it. Maybe if EMR companies and independent studies of EMR really showed a stark improvement in patient care by those using an EMR this would change. U... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2452787 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:57:13 +0100 2452787 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2390015&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FlTTJzcTDQuQ%2F We’re all still sitting here waiting for the government to finally decide two key terms in regards to gaining access to the $18 billion in stimulus money in the HITECH act (ARRA). I’ve been interested in the subject myself since before it was even settled that we’d call it meaningful use as opposed to meaningful EMR user. From the looks of that post back in February, there was still a lot of confusion about “meaningful use” and “certified EHR.” Turns out that a few months later, we still have very little clarification about what these two terms mean. Certified EHR discussion has really revolved around CCHIT certification or some other alternative. We’ll try to leave that discussion for other posts. What has been interesting is in just the pas... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2390015 Tue, 05 May 2009 13:19:39 +0100 2390015 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2387028&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FRW3_E7jEE8g%2F I’ve had a number of people ask me my thoughts on this Wall Street Journal article which talks about open source EHR and in particular the open source EHR developed by the VA hospitals called Vista. I must admit that I’ve been enamored by the concept of free EMR. One of my most popular blog posts was this guest post about Free EMR by Medicare. Turns out that Vista is one of those open source (free) emr software that keeps popping up. I imagine it will continue to pop up for a long time to come. Let me offer three points that I keep hearing over and over when I hear people talk about open source Vista. 1. (We’ll start with the good) Those that go to the VA are quite happy that no matter what VA hospital they go to, they have their information available. I’ve heard th... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2387028 Mon, 04 May 2009 15:53:26 +0100 2387028 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2367601&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FtTFxdY36JfU%2F A reader recently commented about something called openEHR. Maybe I was a little swayed by anything that says open since open source has used the term open so much. The idea of an open EHR sounded really interesting to me. I’m still not sure I completely understand the plan of openEHR, but I was put in contact with a fine lady named Heather Leslie who is working with openEHR on a product called Clinical Knowledge Manager (CKM). I must admit that when I read the various information on clinical knowledge manager’s attempt to create clinical archetypes I was pretty lost. Maybe I’m just dumb or maybe across the pond (the project started in the UK) they are just using different terminology. Possibly it’s a little of both. When I got this email about clinical knowledge ma... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2367601 Sat, 25 Apr 2009 06:53:53 +0100 2367601 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2365201&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F04%2F23%2Fstill-far-from-healthcare-interoperability%2F I think that anyone that is in this industry had to be struck by the story of ePatientDave pulling his medical history into Google Health (see my previous ePatientDave post). It’s not that we didn’t already know that it was a problem. I think that most in the medical industry know the problems associated with our data right now. However, I feel like we’re all (including myself) in a little bit of denial about this fact. The story of ePatientDave just painted a picture of how bad the data really is going to be. The takeaway I have from ePatientDave’s experience is that we’re still a long way from having interoperable patient records. In fact, it makes my previous post about ICD-10 and EHR interoperability even more significant. Not to mention the need to simpli... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2365201 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:06:13 +0100 2365201 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2365203&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F04%2F22%2Fmyth-ehr-stimulus-bill-requires-doctors-to-use-ehr-and-be-interoperable%2F There are a bunch of myths being perpetuated right now around ARRA and the HITECH act. I’ve been on a number of conference calls and read a number of people perpetuating these myths. Some might call it poor communication and others might call it downright unethical talk. I’ll leave any judgment to someone else, but I believe these myths could lead to major problems in HIT. Here’s the first myth I’d like to debunk here and now: Myth: The EHR Stimulus bill (often referred to as ARRA or the HITECH Act) REQUIRES doctors to use EHR and be interoperable. Reality: The government has no ability to actually require the use on an EHR. ARRA and the HITECH act do require you to use a certified EHR and show “meaningful use” IF (that’s a big IF) you want to rece... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2365203 Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:55:29 +0100 2365203 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2353921&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F08nCQqKnxoE%2F I’ve been hearing a bit of discussion about ICD-10 really helping to solve some of the problems of interoperability. Their contention is basically that ICD-10 is more precise in its description of the diagnosis and so therefore the information that is coded using ICD-10 will then provide more specific codified information that can then be rather easily shared. If you haven’t read about the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10, here’s a good article about the transition. In theory, this is completely accurate. If everything went as outlined, we could really get a lot of interesting information for studies and for interoperability of health data out of our ICD-10 codes. The problem is that in reality ICD-10 is just going to cause even more problems for sharing quality data. Not ... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2353921 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:55:05 +0100 2353921 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348777&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34695&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FMedicalConnectivityConsulting%2F%7E3%2FFvbo_iijQWw%2F The Big Picture Medical device interoperability and standardization is a hot topic, and with the efforts surrounding adoption of the 11073 standard, IHE and patient care device frameworks, and the drive towards implementing electronic medical records, the field has become essential to the future of the healthcare industry. Yet, as we look to realign medical devices and their communication mechanisms away from proprietary intercommunication and towards standards-based communication, we should think “outside the box” to other fields, technologies and technical disciplines for inspiration and guidance on best practices. Perhaps an obvious one that comes to mind is the USB 2.0 standard. The simple idea being proffered is the ability to plug a medical device into a computing platfor... Medical Connectivity Consulting blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348777 Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:37:52 +0100 2348777 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2314666&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F-eFyoyxwg6I%2F A lot of talk has been done lately on the importance of interoperability of EHR software. Many people point to health information exchanges when talking about this EHR interoperability. I must admit that almost all of the interoperability and health information exchange discussions I’ve seen recently leave me lost. Maybe I’m just not that smart, but I also think it’s possible that people are trying to bite off more than they can chew. I’d like to see a simplified method for exchanging health information. Let’s break it down into bite size increments where we can actually have achievable goals and solvable problems. For example, let’s start with something like prescriptions, allergies or labs. Let’s get those right and then add on top of those funct... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2314666 Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:36:04 +0100 2314666 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2314669&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2F7NXjyfU9GGI%2F I recently read a nice article comparing EHR interoperability to the Transcontinental Railroad. They hit the key point when they said, “Just as standardizing the railroad gauge created a uniform distance between tracks so that track the came from the East and West would fit together, health care IT standards will create a seamless and interoperable IT infrastructure that will benefit the entire nation.” I find the comparison incredibly intriguing and thought provoking. The only problem I have with the comparison is that the transcontinental railroad was merging essentially 2 standards (east and west) and standardizing the gauge was the only standard needed. In health care IT we have far more stakeholders in the game and far more standards that need to be established (allergies,... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2314669 Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:29:28 +0100 2314669 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2314636&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FtjL9XrI90NE%2F This report…(is)  also an attempt to inject a dose of reality into the discussion of interoperability – from practical expectations for the near term and future years to the challenges of developing software architecture and implementation guides that can execute new interoperability criteria uniformly and successfully. 2) New York Presbyterian/Microsoft: We’re Creating Patient Data Liquidity Today! New York-Presbyterian Hospital Pioneers New Personal Health Record, Press Release; April 6, 2009 Patients can reference their actual, up-to-date health records, which are organized and stored through Microsoft’s Amalga and HealthVault technologies and stored by the patient in a personal account following visits to their hospital, doctors and health care providers. Here are more de... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2314636 Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:41:01 +0100 2314636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2288960&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FyF5HCw4UkO0%2F What do cats (incumbent EHR vendors and their supporters) have to smile about over HITECH? A lot. …and it’s not very complicated.  HITECH directs $17 B to the cat community, and leaves scraps for the dogs. (As a refresher, the cat POV is that HITECH stimulus funds should simply pay directly for electronic health record (EHR) technology — that providers will figure out how to use the technology to improve quality and outcomes; the dog POV is that HITECH should pay for improved quality and outcomes — change incentives and IT will naturally follow. See the first post in this series for more detailed explanations.) There are three aspects of HITECH that are particularly favorable to cats: (more…) Article Series - The Dog Manifesto: A Disruptive Innovator's Guide to Health ITWil... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2288960 Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:28:38 +0100 2288960 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2580289&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FyF5HCw4UkO0%2F What do cats (incumbent EHR vendors and their supporters) have to smile about over HITECH? A lot. …and it’s not very complicated.  HITECH directs $17 B to the cat community, and leaves scraps for the dogs. (As a refresher, the cat POV is that HITECH stimulus funds should simply pay directly for electronic health record (EHR) technology — that providers will figure out how to use the technology to improve quality and outcomes; the dog POV is that HITECH should pay for improved quality and outcomes — change incentives and IT will naturally follow. See the first post in this series for more detailed explanations.) There are three aspects of HITECH that are particularly favorable to cats: (more…) Article Series - The Dog Manifesto: A Disruptive Innovator's Guide to Health ITWil... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2580289 Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:47:25 +0100 2580289 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2580291&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FVk_cTwmT93s%2F If you’re a dog (an innovator), what’s there to smile about over HITECH?  Quite a bit. In the first post of this series, I suggested that HITECH favors cats by about 60/40 and noted that the single most cat-like feature of HITECH is providing incentives for physicians and hospitals to acquire and implement EHRs  — but only EHRs. Reader “Mark” commented: “How does this work out to 60/40? Looks to me like 100% cats.” Let’s look a bit deeper to see how HITECH creates opportunities for disruptive innovation . (As a refresher, the cat POV is that HITECH stimulus funds should simply pay directly for EHR technology — that providers will figure out how to use the technology to improve quality and outcomes; the dog POV is that HITECH should pay for improved quality and outcome... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2580291 Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:09:39 +0100 2580291 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2288962&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2FVk_cTwmT93s%2F If you’re a dog (an innovator), what’s there to smile about over HITECH?  Quite a bit. In the first post of this series, I suggested that HITECH favors cats by about 60/40 and noted that the single most cat-like feature of HITECH is providing incentives for physicians and hospitals to acquire and implement EHRs  — but only EHRs. Reader “Mark” commented: “How does this work out to 60/40? Looks to me like 100% cats.” Let’s look a bit deeper to see how HITECH creates opportunities for disruptive innovation . (As a refresher, the cat POV is that HITECH stimulus funds should simply pay directly for EHR technology — that providers will figure out how to use the technology to improve quality and outcomes; the dog POV is that HITECH should pay for improved quality and outcome... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2288962 Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:09:39 +0100 2288962 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2228388&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=38130&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tempdev.net%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D620 TempDev has been a leader in EHR interoperability for years, through our relationships with Midmark and McKesson and our implementation of interfaces between EHRs and labs, radiology, hospitals, devices, registries, PHRs, and practice management systems. As EHRs become more established and the “meaningful use” provision of the HITECH stimulus begins to take effect, there is an increasing interest in providing fully connected health records. As a result, we recently branded our interoperability line “TempDev Connects”. We often find that while the concept of interoperability is attractive to virtually everyone in the healthcare industry, its difficult for non-technical staff to conceptualize how interoperability works. To help, we created the diagram on the left. In ... Implementing EMRs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2228388 Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:19:28 +0100 2228388 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2195668&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=36504&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FMedicalRecordShow%2F%7E3%2F5yygu52TgTE%2F Back in the day when I was a burgeoning kendo student, I read an account about a visiting fencing master. The writer, an established member of a kendo club, was looking forward like everyone else to the visit of this celebrity sensei. While having practiced kendo for nearly seven decades, the guest was appallingly fast, and had a reputation for winning known throughout Japan. He was, in a word, amazing, and every bit as impressive in person as his record suggested. When the guest asked the writer to practice with him, the club member was practically beside himself. What special techniques and feints would he be privileged to witness? What insights into timing, distance, and psyching-out your opponent would he be party to? “I’d like to work the overhead strike,” the guest ... The EMR/EHR Show: Making Your Electronic Medical Records Really Work blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2195668 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:31:32 +0100 2195668 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2152809&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2009%2F02%2F02%2Fcchit-certification-thoughts%2F I just came upon a blog post on the TempDev blog that talks about the expansion of CCHIT certification into a number of new specialty categories. It’s really interesting to look at the list of new categories: Behavioral Health Clinical Research Dermatology Oncology Advanced Interoperability Advanced Quality (in reference to Quality Measures) Advanced Clinical Decision Support Long Term Care OB/GYN As noted by Ben, these are in addition to the HIE and PHR categories added for 2009. Well, I never back away from a discussion about CCHIT. I just wonder why the Senate hasn’t called me up to a hearing to talk about CCHIT certification. Of course, my friend Al Borges would do much better than I, but I digress. After reading through Ben’s post about the expansion of CCHIT I had... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2152809 Tue, 03 Feb 2009 07:35:07 +0100 2152809 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2111011&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=36504&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FMedicalRecordShow%2F%7E3%2F512728618%2F In what seems like a consistent extension of President-elect Obama’s recent statements on healthcare, Tom Daschle called for a rethinking of the problem, and constructive action to fix it, during a January 8th Senate Hearing. This AAFP article summarized his statements nicely. As a primary care physician involved in medial IT and EMR’s, it’s difficult to find fault with his ideas: Fleshing-out the base of the wellness pyramid: primary care medicine, which is currently the tiny tip of an inverted pyramid Incentivizing primary care medicine via reimbursement reform and tuition assistance Focusing on outcomes as a basis for Medicare payments, especially improved outcomes at a lower cost Making corrective action to fix the system a reality Interoperability among EMR’s ... The EMR/EHR Show: Making Your Electronic Medical Records Really Work blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2111011 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:24:04 +0100 2111011 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1924444&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34695&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicalconnectivity.com%2F2008%2F10%2F31%2Finteroperability-barriers-to-adoption%2F There’s been some great comments on the recent post about the announcement of MD FIRE. That plus some other activities I’ve been involved in have inspired some thoughts on barriers to adoption for medical device interoperability. For this discussion, interoperability refers to the ability of a medical device to be controlled by another medical device or third party information system. Medical device systems from a single vendor frequently include interoperability between the medical devices and applications running on general purpose computers, but since all the components are from the same vendor I’m excluding them from this discussion. Like everything else, medical device interoperability will walk before it runs. In a recent comment, JimW suggests that MD FIRE’s ... Medical Connectivity Consulting blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1924444 Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:54:58 +0100 1924444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1909417&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=38130&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tempdev.net%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D244 The NextGen User Group Meeting is just 16 days away! This year’s meeting is at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, which is supposed to be a great place (although, it will be difficult to outdo the 2006 meeting at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas!). I absolutely recommend that all NextGen users attend the UGM as its the best way to learn new ways to get more out of your EMR, see what’s coming, and meet other NextGen users. I always feel like I learn six months worth of information in just three days. TempDev will be at the UGM and we look forward to meeting all of you. Laura will be staffing Midmark’s booth, explaining our partnership and interoperability packages. I will be roaming the halls to introduce TempDev to the NextGen user community. We’re also working... Implementing EMRs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1909417 Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:39:12 +0100 1909417 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1485000&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2F302413715%2F Vince Kuraitis and David C. Kibbe, MD, MBA We’re not. From the Kansas City Business Journal : Google Inc. has approached Cerner Corp. about a partnership, but Cerner officials don’t sound eager to entangle themselves with the Web-search Goliath. That’s because the proposed partnership relates to Google Health, the personal health record site launched earlier in May in beta form. The overture hasn’t led to substantive talks, Cerner President Trace Devanny said, because Cerner doesn’t see much value in Google Health or HealthVault, a similar site that Microsoft Corp. launched in October. Cerner CEO Neal Patterson referred to the sites during a May 23 shareholders meeting as "electronic shoeboxes," requiring consumers to do much of the data importi... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1485000 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:06:52 +0100 1485000 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1469547&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emrandhipaa.com%2Femr-and-hipaa%2F2008%2F05%2F26%2Fhhs-secretary-mike-leavitt-blogs-about-ehr-adoption%2F Today I came across the HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt’s blog. To be honest, I saw Mike Leavitt’s picture on the blog and I felt like I was meeting an old friend. No, I don’t really know Mike Leavitt from the next person on the street. We have never met before and the closest I’ve been to him is probably when I watched him pass by in numerous 24th of July parades in Utah. However, he was the governor of Utah for many of the years I lived in Utah and so I feel like I kind of know the man. Reminiscing aside, I find Mike Leavitt’s blog completely captivating. He currently has been writing about his trip to China. For some reason I’ve always had an inner itch whenever I heard about China. I don’t know what it is, but I find the place completely fascinating... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1469547 Tue, 27 May 2008 07:20:28 +0100 1469547 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1349758&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2F264064443%2F The Continua Health Alliance is doing a good job in getting remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices to become plug-n-play — where devices and peripherals from different manufacturers complying with Continua Guidelines will be able to talk to one another. Continua’s work-to-date is a necessary, but not yet sufficient effort to make RPM devices mainstream. Knocking down the barrier of device-incompatibilty exposes the bigger barrier of lack of data interoperability among RPM technologies and between RPM devices and health care IT systems.  Jonathan Edwards, research VP and lead telemedicine analyst for Gartner, nails the issue: (more…) Share This Related posts (and # of comments) Microsoft’s HealthVault: User Manual = C-, Strategy to Create a New Ecosystem = A (1... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1349758 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:01:55 +0100 1349758 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1340848&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=35744&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fe-CareManagement%2F%7E3%2F262006501%2F Vince Kuraitis and David C. Kibbe, MD MBA Who is the federal  government calling on to breathe life into the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN)? Google and Microsoft. In our first article of this series describing the Personal Health Information Network (PHIN), we noted early entrants as Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault, and Dossia.  We also noted that the network could grow rapidly, and that others would want to join or link to the PHIN. With Uncle Sam announcing plans to link to the PHIN, even we are surprised at the speed at which developments are occurring.  Government Executive reports: The federal office in charge of creating a national network of electronic health records plans to integrate the system with the health care databases that Google and Microsoft launche... e-CareManagement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1340848 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:19:18 +0100 1340848 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1207163&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34625&url=http%3A%2F%2Fclinicalit.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fpriorities.html What would be my blog without a random item from weeks ago? On Tuesday I discovered a news story from Dec. 31 about an e-health strategy in Rwanda. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly is helping to fund the installation of Internet links between the three major hospitals in the Central African country, known in these parts mostly for its 1990s civil war and genocide.According to the story, lack of high-speed Internet is holding back a national e-health strategy, "meant to help Rwandan medical experts exchange health information with their overseas counterparts." Those overseas counterparts included "two U.S. universities of George Washington and New Jersey." So George Washington University in Washington, and, I presume, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of... Neil Versel's Healthcare IT Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1207163 Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:35:00 +0100 1207163 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1149637&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34623&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthnex.typepad.com%2Fweb_log%2F2008%2F01%2Fpublic-health-i.html As part of some research on IBM's efforts in collaborative innovation, I was checking out the new beta site for alphaWorks, IBM's public program for early adopters of new technologies and trends, and came across this very interesting new offering related to open-standards based exchange for healthcare data. Technologists can actually go in and try this system out. A bit out of my technical skill level (not sure what an "affinity domain" is),  but would be interested to hear feedback on those who do try it out. As always, please spread the word:What is Public Health Information Affinity Domain (PHIAD)?  PHIAD creates the first on-demand system in the public health industry by enabling the integration and sharing of data generated at clinical and public health institution... HealthNex blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1149637 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:51:02 +0100 1149637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=463922&cid=t_100023_113_f&fid=34653&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FHimssLive%2F%7E3%2F83980682%2F For the eighth year, systems engineers from more than 80 leading health information technology companies gathered in Chicago January 15-19 to participate in the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) North America 2007 Connectathon. There, they tested the capabilities to share patient data within and across hospitals and healthcare systems. National initiatives and elsewhere around the world are striving to enable the exchange of electronic health records (EHRs) across networks of providers to improve care delivery. Through IHE, the physician community and the healthcare IT industry are implementing standards-based solutions to make this possible. Sponsored by HIMSS, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the Connectathon is a un... HIMSS Live! blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=463922 Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:54:52 +0100 463922