Electronic Health Records (EHR, EMR)
The technology underlying the electronic health record and the electronic medical record seems to be significantly driven by sales to a perceived market. That market is controlled by parameters designed to report data to regulatory agencies and insurance companies, rather than to increasing the interactivity and effectiveness of actual professional medical care decision making for individual patients. The importance of interoperability, portability and other standards of data collection and use cannot be overemphasized. The infusion of national quality medical standards is laudable, as long as they keep pace with reality and are dynamic and accurate. However, the fly in the ointment is the tremendous importance of direct medical evaluation of the patient, assessment of findings that require action tailored to the individual problem list, and to the evolution of the individual plan of treatment. It is ironic that for example, MUMPS the program that evolved out of the context of research attempts to invent a healthcare computer language, that in my opinion, was originally designed to enhance some of these functions, is now, according to Wikipedia, “...currently used in electronic health record systems as well as by multiple banking networks and online”. Indeed, either banking networks have become closely aligned to health record systems or vice versa. In any event it is clear that the level and length of training that physicians need to treat and manage the complexity of human biological function and dysfunction cannot be equated to “multiple banking networks” data processing. As someone who supervised the computerization of an occupational health system over some twelve years ago, I recognized that it was essential to develop what I call Physician computer subset decision interfaces. These interfaces are not only where the value of the intense medical training and intellectual competence required of physicians, coupled with the computational capacity of the software and hardware, are realized, but also where they meet interactively to solve medical problems in fluid clinical contexts. This involves focused human contact, rather than only treatment of the isolated “medical chart’. If software design is concentrated only on profitable sales which are driven by healthcare data collection, and which are heavily constrained by bureaucratic demands, the efficacy of this massive investment in healthcare IT is fraught with failure.
When the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released its report "Electronic Health Record Usability: Vendor Practices and Perspectives" this past spring, its first words of warning were that design and ease of use were major sticking points.
"Any time a business decision is client-driven, it's much more likely to be successful," says Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman.
Six healthcare organizations have been named as finalist for the 2010 HIMSS Davies Ambulatory Care and HIMSS Davies Public Health Awards of Excellence, recognizing their use of electronic health records.
Although nearly half of all Americans are ready to toss the paper and believe electronic health records will enable more efficient healthcare, they are largely in the dark about what it actually means for them as a patient, says a new survey.
Less than one in 10 American adults use electronic medical records or e-mail their doctor, according to a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll.
The benefits of the National Demonstration Project on the patient-centered medical home, an initiative by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and its subsidiary TransforMED, are still being realized two years after the project ended.
MEDecision has partnered with NaviNet to assist payers in delivering patient clinical summaries to any provider enrolled in the NaviNet Network.
The Regional Extension Centers aimed at helping physicians across the country convert to digital records have begun their work, and some of the centers’ leaders were trumpeting their goals at the 2010 Government Health IT Conference and Exhibition June 15-16 in the nation’s capital.
As part of the National Health IT Week, held June 14-18 in Washington, DC, leaders of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) urged Congress to make haste on meaningful use, without losing sight of what can be realistically achieved by the industry.