Information technology systems are evolving. The goal is to use healthcare information technology to identify the best care processes and use the technology to ensure that these best processes are utilized worldwide.
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EMRs: Are We There Yet?
Despite the evolution and investment in EMRs over the past five decades, little evidence exists that all this digitization is making a difference in quality, safety, or cost.
Continue readingGerrymandering Pop Health
The word “gerrymander” comes from the pairing of Gerry’s name with the shape of one of the contorted districts north of Boston that resembled a salamander (see Figure 1). This gerrymandering of the Massachusetts Senate proved so successful that although the Federalist party won both the election for governor and a majority of the Massachusetts House, they failed to win the Senate, then controlled by the Democratic-Republicans.
The sophisticated analytics that allow for the gerrymandering of election districts also offer a model that can be applied in the delivery of population health services.
Continue readingHow Tinkering with the ACA Puts Health IT Investments at Risk
On February 27, 2017, President Trump said, ”Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated.” Well, Mr. President it is complicated and yes, we all knew.
Continue readingClinical Trials, Genetic Testing, and Personalized Medicine
Rather than considering patient information, and in particular genetic testing results, as private property to be used for private good, perhaps it is time to think of our population’s medical information as private property, owned and controlled by the patient, to be used for public good.
Continue readingClinical Care, HIT, and Mike Trout
A miscalculation by just seven milliseconds is the difference between hitting a ball fair or foul. For comparison, a blink of the eye takes about 150 milliseconds.
Continue readingWhy Reform Legislation Won’t Solve Healthcare’s Ills
To best understand the failures of the bill, it is important to understand its shifting of incentives that were modified by ACA.
Continue readingThe Merging of HIT
Although most attention to HIT focuses on the use of the EMR, other recent HIT tools successfully merge clinical and administrative activities that previously stood independent of each other.
Continue readingIt’s Time to Stop and Refocus EHR Efforts
Healthcare’s uniqueness stems from its personal and emotional characteristics, and deep ties to our sense of humanity.
Continue readingWhy HIT Tools Can Help Organizations Navigate the Challenges of Growth
With the advent of EMRs and other sophisticated clinical and administrative HIT systems, each transferred patients comes with an exponentially larger set of patient data, much of it extremely valuable to receiving hospitals and their clinical staff trying to effectively and efficiently manage the limited resources available to treat these very complex patients.
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