Economic Advantage????

This news from iHealthbeat: Do we have a choice about EHR?   October 17, 2007 Boston Health Network Requires All Physicians To Adopt EHRs by 2009 Partners HealthCare System in Boston is requiring all of the physicians in its network to adopt or agree to adopt electronic health records by Jan. 1, 2008, or else they will be removed from the network, Tom Lee, CEO of Partners Community HealthCare, said, Modern Healthcare reports.Partners expects to lose between 15 and 20 primary care physicians this year because of the mandate, and it could lose some patients if those physicians stop referring patients to Partners hospitals, Lee said. To retain their network status, about 5,000 physicians in the network will be required to adopt either Partners' or GE Healthcare's EHR or sign an agreement...

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Microsoft Health Vault

from iHealthbeat, "Microsoft has launched its HealthVault program, which offers consumers online personal health records. The company hopes that individuals will let health care providers directly transmit prescriptions, test results and other medical information to their HealthVault accounts. PHRs will be stored in a secure, encrypted database, and patients will be able to set the privacy controls" Seeing this post I raced to find the "Vault"... First of all, it is complicated to set up, requiring a download of the basic program, and then and number of "connect" interfaces.  It is not designed for patients to enter their medical history, so it is not a true PHR, or personal health record. In addition, the patient must download a number of drivers for "devices".. These devices, so far...

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The "Monkey on your Back"

I think one of the issues most providers are grappling with in regard to HIT and EMRs in their office is not only the initial investment of capital, but the ongoing "relationship" between the practice and the vendor(s).  Will you have a "tiger by the tail?" The daily operation of the practice will be entirely dependent upon your PMS and/or EMR system. Witness the recent "crash" of the entire West Coast VA CPRS system. A recent iHealthbeat article quoted that it was the worst incident effecting quality and safety of care in the VA system. The vendors have their "business model" for profitability, and they are not about to let providers interfere with that fact. Keep in mind we are in the early phase of EMR and  HIT "buildout" There will initially be a "bubble" as providers invest...

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Whose Network is it, Anyway??

The San Francisco Chronicle featured an article highlighting Health 2.0 and the wave of consumer (patient) oriented web sites. DailyStrength.org people can choose among 500 support groups - from celiac disease to pulmonary fibrosis - create an online journal to chronicle their disease and send electronic hugs to other members. ZocDoc.com lets patients book physician and dentist appointments online, similar to the way OpenTable.com allows diners to make online reservations for restaurants RateMDs.com takes a page from consumer rating sites like Yelp and RateMyTeachers.com - a popular site that allows students to "grade" teachers and administrators - by allowing patients to anonymously praise or pan their doctors. Dubbed the YouTube of health care, ICYou.com allows patients to share their stories...

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