August 2007

R U PHRed?

Magazines are spilling much ink over Personal Health Records (PHRs), the latest piece of IT that will fix healthcare. I asked my small-practice doctor a few weeks ago what he would do if a patient presented him with a PHR.  Not much, he answered (first I had to explain what it is.)  No insurer would pay him to populate the data and it isn't integrated with his (limited) PPM system.  The patient would be welcome to a copy of his medical records (for an exorbitant "handling & copying" fee) to populate the PHR himself, but good luck making out the doctors handwriting, medical abbreviations and terminology. If one had seen specialists, those seperate records would need to be secured and entered as well.

The PHR hype is in full swing, and it will likely take a decade minimum for a majority of patients to have PHRs.  I doubt most people will even look at their PHR even if they have one, but that's besides the point.  Progressive insurers like Aetna offer members a pre-populated PHR based on claims data.  In the long term, this will help Aetna improve care, reduce errors and lower costs. Follow the money and one will see the adoption path PHRs follow.

As with all technologies, the question of standards is arising with PHRs. AHIP has taken a good first step in creating a standard that is expected to be ready by December of '08. The standard includes data set and portability requirements to take into consideration a person's change in employers and health plans.

Some payors like Medical Mutual of Ohio and  Anthem BCBS have PHRs that align with the AHIP standard. Time will tell how PHRs are accepted by consumers, but for now it's a great story angle for healthcare PR pitching.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on August 28, 2007 at 2:20 PM
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Pay Cuts in Never Never Land

In corporate America, when people make mistakes they or their company pay for it. In the world of healthcare, doctors get paid for their mistakes. Thankfully some of that will be ending, as the Bush Administration is stopping Medicare compensation to hospitals for "reasonably preventable" and "never events."

The former includes patient falls, pressure ulcers, UTIs, catheter infections and other conditions. The latter, or "never events," are for objects left in the body during surgery, blood incompatibility, air embolisms and other believe-or-not medical stupidities.  Score one for pay-for-performance.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on August 24, 2007 at 1:26 PM
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HCIT Market Size Projections

Healthcare IT vendors love market size numbers, so the recent projections from industry analyst firm Gartner should be welcome. Healthcare is the most rapidly growing vertical sector, expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.7 percent through 2010. In 2006, healthcare IT in the U.S. grew 4.9 percent to $26.1 billion.

Gartner's Healthcare IT Summit is coming up Nov. 11-14.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on August 21, 2007 at 12:15 PM
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EMR As Lawsuit Defense?

According to a survey by the Medical Records Institute and Professional Risk Associates, forty-five percent of doctors said they think that electronic medical record systems can make physician practices less vulnerable to malpractice cases.

The survey of 115 medical practices showed that two-thirds of respondents with an EMR system said providers at their practices fully use the systems. A quarter of respondents said their EMR systems do not have all the functions necessary and that they have not been adequately trained on the systems.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on August 17, 2007 at 3:04 PM
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A Tip for HCIT Marketers

Part 11 in a Continuing Series on PR Strategy and Tactics

Forrester Research is offering a free trial membership on their Web site (http://web2.forrester.com/forr/reg/loginreg.jsp ).  The service offers access to free research alerts and other valuable nuggets that can help in marketing and PR campaigns.  Analyst Liz Boehm writes in a "First Look Alert" about healthcare consumerism, to see hit the "Continue Reading" link...

Continue reading "A Tip for HCIT Marketers" »

Posted by Shawn Whalen on August 10, 2007 at 12:08 PM
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'07 CCHIT Class

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology has announced the first CCHIT Certified Ambulatory electronic health records certified under the 2007 criteria. The six ambulatory EHR certified products are:

.    Community Computer Service (MEDENT 17) 

.    e-MDs, Inc. (e-MDs Solution Series 6.1.2) 

.    Greenway Medical Technologies (PrimeSuite 2007 R2)

.    McKesson Provider Technologies (Practice Partner 9.2.1)

.    NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc. (NextGen EMR 5.4.29)

.    Purkinje (CareSeries EHR 2.0)

Posted by Shawn Whalen on August 2, 2007 at 3:04 PM
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