A Week in Review, July 25

FDA proposes regulation of mobile healthcare apps

[LA Times] The Food and Drug Administration has introduced a proposal that would allow it to regulate smartphone and tablet apps that relate to health and medical needs. Read full story.


List of 'Most Connected Hospitals' Emphasizes Health IT Adoption

[iHealthBeat] On Tuesday, U.S. News & World Report released its "Most Connected Hospitals" list featuring 118 facilities, U.S. News & World Report reports. Read full story.

EHR, Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is becoming a standard method of software and hardware operation for many businesses. SearchHealthIT reported health care cloud adoption is on the rise, thanks in part to EHR systems.

Cloud computing advantages for healthcare are undeniable (especially for smaller providers), faster EHR implementation, low cost of ownership, and system access mobility. However, cloud computing risks should not be ignored when deciding to transition to a cloud-based system. Cloud computing risks include vendor dependency, security, data privacy and confidentially issues.

Because of the substantial cost savings associated with cloud-based systems, cloud computing is here to stay. However like any other IT project, appropriate steps should be taken to reduce and mitigate those risks. Seek out advice and guidance from cloud computing subject matter and legal experts to hammer out contingency plans, service level, data ownership, and security agreements in the event of system down time, security and privacy breaches.

A Week in Review, July 18

Healthcare IT booming but faces talent drought

[ZDNet] The healthcare IT sector is on a roll but the market's fast demand and growth is hindered by a lack of talent skilled with both clinical and IT know-how, note industry players, who add that clinical analysis, interface management and electronic medical records are some of the most sought-after skills in the industry. Read full story.


The Costs and Implications of EHR System Downtime on Physician Practices

[SYS-CON] Government funding incentives (ARRA HITECH Act) to implement electronic health record systems (EHR) are driving most physicians towards the selection and implementation of EHR applications that are appropriate to their practice. However, even though the average practice takes more than 120 days to select their EHR solution, 87% of practices spend no time evaluating the service levels and uptime associated with these installations, instead leaving this important criterion in the hands of the software provider. Read full story.


Do EHRs leave out your personal story? Social media response

[Healthcare IT News] The idea of a nationwide electronic health record system is brilliant. Patients could use their own personal health record to request prescription refills, schedule future appointments and evaluate their own test results. The record could live on thumb drives, mobile devices, personal computers, or in the cloud. Read full story.

Whimiscal Friday: Six Strikes, Anti-piracy Plan

[Whimsical Friday is a light-hearted note on any technology that impacts our lives in some form or fashion.]

Several major US Web providers, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon, and the entertainment industry developed a “six strikes” plan to combat, educate and punish people sharing copyrighted files online.

Matthew Decarlo reported for TechSpot that...

[this plan] officially called the "Center for Copyright Information" (CCI), the organization is being established jointly by the film, music and television industries along with the ISPs. As part of The Center, ISPs will issue "Copyright Alerts" to notify alleged pirates of their unsavory behavior. Warnings may begin as a formal letter or email to inform accountholders of the unscrupulous activity (this has occurred for years, so it isn't anything new).

Failure to heed those warnings will initiate another tier of alerts as ISPs begin to nag suspected offenders with pop-ups or by redirecting specific pages. If the accountholder refuses to comply, ISPs will progress to a series of "Mitigation Measures," including bandwidth throttling, redirection to a landing page until the subscriber contacts the ISP (it's unclear if this will block access to all sites), or "other necessary measures."

Regardless of how you feel about the RIAA or piracy in general, piracy is illegal and copyright holders should be compensated for their work. Unfortunately, the formulation of CCI is the beginning of legalized online monitoring. If you weren’t already convinced, anything, I mean ANYTHING, you do online is monitored and traceable, and now it can be legally reported to another party.

The question remains where does online monitoring by big brother stops? Since I constantly browse healthcare sites, will I start receiving targeted healthcare advertising because the ISP sold my online activity to marketers? Will an employee be terminated because their employer found out via the ISP the employee posted their resume on several job boards? Now that ISPs have legal standing to monitor “suspected” traffic, can they be trusted?

The Center for Copyright Information has the potential to be a slippery slope.

EHR Implementation Tutorial

Craig Byer with SearchHealthIT has written a good paper, EHR implementation tutorial: From vendor selection to maintenance, that succinctly conveys the EHR message, from why it needs to be done to vendor implementation. Byer's article can be used as a resource by organizations, practices and/or healthcare IT consultants to help articulate the EHR message and the process to transition from paper records to electronic records.

I find Byer’s resource particular useful for IT consultants in the trenches trumpeting the EHR horn. Getting medium to small-sized providers to grasp the importance of transitioning to electronic records can be an arduous task, especially if the practice is information technology adverse. Having additional third party information to assist in conveying the EHR message is never a bad thing.

A Week in Review, July 11

EMR by the Numbers – Video Infographic (GE Healthcare)



Delays Force Feds To Propose EHR Reporting Changes

[Information Week] The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said it plans to allow eligible professionals to attest in 2012 that they have used their electronic health records to collect data on clinical quality measures as part of the CMS criteria for "Meaningful Use" of EHRs. Read full story.


Personal Health Records to Thrive Despite the Demise of Google Health: Report

[eWeek] Despite the exit of Google from the personal health record market, the consumer version of electronic health records may have a future as part of an overall health care IT strategy, according to a report by research firm Frost & Sullivan. Read full story.


EHR Adoption Will Drive Health Care IT Stocks Through 2013

[TWST] Health care IT companies stand to benefit from the current move toward stage one meaningful use implementation of electronic health records by hospitals and physician offices through 2013, says Jamie Stockton, First Vice President at Morgan Keegan & Co., Inc. Read full story.

Whimsical Friday: $660 For A Brake Job?

[Whimsical Friday is a light-hearted note on any technology that impacts our lives in some form or fashion.]

“I hear this loud grinding noise while driving and it get’s louder when I apply the brakes”

“Mr. Henderson, my technician checked it out and you need a front brake job.”

“How much?”

“$660.00”

“$660.00 for a brake job? Put my car back together I’ll do it myself.”

This is the conversation I had last week with a national automotive service chain. I got caught up in the moment, because an automobile mechanic I’m not. Yeah, back in the day I changed my flats and my own oil, but I’ve never, again I say NEVER, done a brake job. During this era of AAA and the miniscule savings gained from changing your own oil, when it comes to automobile maintenance and repair I hardly do anything myself other than pump my own gas & wash it. I call AAA and/or fork over the cash for someone else to handle it. So for me to personally change the brakes on one of my vehicles is waaaaay out of my comfort zone.

Since there have been several technological automobile advances over the past few decades, i.e. rear view cameras, self parallel parking, air bags, etc. I was hoping this wasn’t the same tedious task I watched my uncle do about 40 years ago. Just maybe, after I removed the wheel there would be some type of touch screen hidden there with an app that I could run, or I could pull up the program source code to locate the runaway do-loop, or I could ping the network to see which host wasn’t responding. Unfortunately after I removed the wheel, I realized all of that was wishful thinking, no touch screen for me to play with.

I decided I needed help, so I called my brother in-law and my friend both of which live about 1000+ miles from me. Yeah, yeah, I needed assistance from two people, again, I have NEVER done a brake job before. Plus I could spread out my gazillion questions between them to keep from looking like a total klutz. In addition to my phone assistance, I watched several how-to video’s on YouTube which actually was a very good idea.

Needless to say, after 3 days of several trips back and forth to the automotive store, several phone calls and text messages to my instructors, I finally completed the brake job with new pads, rotors, and calipers all for about $200, take that!

This was my first, and my last, brake job. Until this can be done with a touch screen, I’m out of the automotive repair/maintenance business. Heck, I may stop pumping my own gas. Maybe not, some gas stations do have touch screens now.

Due Diligence Is In, Google Health Is Out

Google announced it’s pulling the plug on their Google Health personal health record (PHR). Developers that built connectors between their EHR and Google's PHR systems will be left out in the cold. The take-away from this shutdown is that, when choosing a third party partner, provider, and/or vendor due diligence must be performed, even if it’s a Fortune 100 company like Google. For instance, in addition to validating Google's ability to actually deliver the product, there were 4 other areas that should have been investigated also.

Financial: In 2010 Google had annual revenue in excess of $29 billion and roughly $8 billion in profits, so financial stability and resources were not a problem.

Capability: Over the past decade Google has been one of the most technically innovative companies around, i.e. Internet search, Android, etc., so Google’s technical capability was not an issue.

Support: Although Google was only founded about 13 years ago -- barring any illegal activity -- a multinational company with over 24,000 employees and several billion dollars in revenue doesn't disappear overnight. Google’s viability to provide long term support was strong.

Competence: Google is an Internet search company that hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products. However none (or very little) are federally regulated like EHR systems, this should have raised a few eyebrows. A healthy discussion should have occurred around Google’s inexperience and competency with developing federally regulated healthcare software. Unfortunately, entities that did perform due diligence and decided to proceed with Google's PHR development, Google's lack of experience was probably overshadowed by their very strong financial and technical positions.

Currently, both public and private entities have not settled upon health data standards and the execution of national health information exchange. According to former U.S. HIT coordinator David Blumenthal this could be a decade-long health IT construction project. Basically, Google did not have the stomach to tough it out. PHR development is not at the pace, and space, for a savvy, leading-edge, technical innovative company such as Google.

During my IBM days, I remember a CFO stating that no one loses their job for choosing IBM as a partner. For those healthcare IT executives that chose to hitch their wagon to Google’s PHR, hopefully none of them will lose their job for choosing Google as a partner.

A Week in Review, July 4

Capgemini eyes US healthcare acquisition

[Financial Times] Capgemini, the European IT services company, is looking for a string of acquisitions to bolster its position in the US market, with a particular interest in the healthcare sector. Read full story.


AAMI: Healthcare technology management dawns as a new profession

[CMIO] After an intensive two-day forum to better define the evolving role of clinical and biomedical engineering, industry leaders came to the conclusion that healthcare technology management is the new name for the profession, which was explained in a presentation at the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference & expo on June 26. Read full story.


Health IT grads to improve healthcare

[UPI] Nine U.S. programs in comprehensive management of health information are graduating their first classes, totaling about 500 students this summer, officials say. Read full story.


IBM study defines futuristic networked devices for healthcare

[Networkworld] IBM came out with a study this week that looks at what future healthcare applications and devices, be they PCs, tablet or smartphone might look like.

The study notes that medical device makers have in the past few years successfully targeted consumers who are extremely health or fitness conscious as well as those who need to be regularly monitored because of a serious health problem. But the IBM study says those devices and services could now go a step further and integrate mobile and home-based devices with web-based resources, electronic and personal health records to help people make more well-informed medial decisions and actually help manage their healthcare situation more proactively. Read full story.