Weekly Round-Up June 27

June 27, 2009

Mobile Computing

Gigaom (www.gigaom.com) and Salon (www.salon.com) has this article about a new iphone application, Fitorbit (www.fitorbit.com).  The application allows you to link up with a live fitness trainer.  There is a lot of interesting potential here for Health IT.

First, this is an example of utilizing Health IT to promote a healthy lifestyle and thus, lower utilization rates.  Second, this business model can be adapted to other areas of healthcare.  Not only, can this increase patient choice but also could allow for a “virtual” medical home.  Finally, this may become a disruptive technology.  A fitness trainer as by extension, a healthcare worker is geography dependent.  This may no longer be the case.

http://www.salon.com/tech/giga_om/tech_insider/2009/06/22/fitorbit_fitness_training_site_connects_you_to_a_personal_trainer_iphone_app_to_follow_draft/

Healthcare Reform

Time had this article about Healthcare Co-Ops, as proposed by Senator Conrad.  I think this is something worth some thought.  Co-Ops may also form the foundation of state-level HIEs.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1906105,00.html


Weekly Round-up June 20

June 20, 2009

Cloud Computing

The Gigaom  and Salon website has an interesting article on Cloud Computing and the idea of the workload being the benchmark.  I think this is something the Health IT community should begin thinking about in terms of implementation.

 

http://www.salon.com/tech/giga_om/tech_insider/2009/06/15/ibm_tries_to_sell_enterprises_on_workload_specific_clouds/

 

 

Social Networking

 

WT News discusses how Social Networking helps with public health.  This can go a lot further doctors can send out health tips to their patients.

 

http://washingtontechnology.com/Articles/2009/06/08/Cover-social-networking-sidebar.aspx?s=wtdaily_160609&Page=1

 

 

Healthcare Reform

 

I am actually trying to not comment on Healthcare Reform until the bill is near complete.  I always feel obligated to read the bills and this leads to reading multiple 1000 page drafts!! However, I came across this fantastic article in The New Yorker.  The author states that the leading cause of healthcare costs is doctor over-utilization.  The author recommends collaboration among doctors to improve quality while reducing cost. He refers to these collaborations as Accountable Care Organizations and cites the Mayo Clinic as an example. 

 

This article made me realize that the medical culture must change in terms of how we use healthcare before we can fully see the benefits of Health IT.

 

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande


Weekly Round-Up June 8

June 8, 2009

International Development

There was a relevant passage in President Obama’s Cairo speech on Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/06/04/transcript-remarks-president-obama-cairo).  Effectively, the U.S. will build global markets for Health IT.

 

…On science and technology, we will launch a new fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries, and to help transfer ideas to the marketplace so they can create jobs. We will open centers of scientific excellence in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and appoint new Science Envoys to collaborate on programs that develop new sources of energy, create green jobs, digitize records, clean water, and grow new crops. And today I am announcing a new global effort with the Organization of the Islamic Conference to eradicate polio. And we will also expand partnerships with Muslim communities to promote child and maternal health…


Weekly Roudup May 30

May 31, 2009

Weekly Round-up May 30

 

Innovation

I found this article in Time interesting.  It discusses IBM’s entry into stream computing. I think this will have a huge impact on Health IT.

 

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1898217,00.html

 

 

International

This is an article from Venture Beat that talks about Vietnam as a possible market for Health IT.

 

http://venturebeat.com/2009/05/21/ibm-says-nows-the-time-to-invest-in-innovation-in-vietnam/

 

 

Social Media

This article from the NY Times has nothing to do with Health IT per se but there be multiple applications for social media professionals in Health IT.  Maybe this blog fits into this category?

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/fashion/21whiz.html?_r=1&ref=technology


New Growth Theory and Health IT Policy

May 16, 2009

I have become rather interested in the economics known as New Growth Theory and have been thinking of its application to Health IT.  Please note that I am not an economist so I may have poor interpretations but this has become a worthwhile thought exercise.  Here are my thoughts:

Early incarnations of New Growth Theory (NGT) as advocated by Solow state that technology is an investment much like physical capital.  This investment will lead to growth.  Therefore, technology is exogenous.  So for us in the Health IT field, we would see investment such as Stimulus package’s subsidies for EMR purchase as an economic driver. 

Paul Romer had a different perspective.  He said that technology was endogenous, that is came up from variables such as human capital in terms of research and the ability to spread this technology.  So in this case, we should be investing in a Health IT R&D workforce and create the infrastructure to spread new creations.  Therefore, workforce development programs also found in the stimulus as well as Health IT research centers and the NHIN project are vital.

I am open to any thoughts on this subject as I continue to think about it.


Weekly Round-Up

May 9, 2009

Below are this past week’s items of interest…

Cross Platform

This has nothing to do with Health IT but Venture Beat blog discusses Moblying marketing games that can be used on any mobile platform.  The technology may prove useful for mobile PHR solutions that require interoperability.

 

http://venturebeat.com/2009/05/06/moblyng-launches-cross-platform-web-and-mobile-games/

 

General

Former DNC Chair Howard Dean penned the following article in The Politico.

 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21954.html

 

It was reported in the NY Times (as well as many other newspapers) that GE is implementing its Healthymagination program.  The purpose of this project is to launch health solutions to include low-cost technology solutions.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/business/08health.html

 

Congress: HR 2552

This bill has been presented to Congress by Rep. Diane DeGette and provides for improving the Federal Health Infrastructure in terms of quality improvement.  While the text is not available, it may have an effect on Health IT.

 

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:36:./temp/~bdpACs::


Weekly Round-up and More on Meaningful Use

May 3, 2009

First, a little self-promotion…The Hill newspaper publised my letter on sustainable Health IT financing, 

http://thehill.com/letters/in-health-reform-fix-inequity-that-saddles-emergency-care-2009-04-29.html

Other happening this week include:

This article by Business Week is very good. It addresses some of the drawbacks of Health IT.  Some of these issues I have spoken about, specifically moving too quickly.  Overall, the article adds value to the debate.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_18/b4129030606214.htm?chan=magazine+channel_top+stories

According to the NY Times, IBM is providing bridge financing for projects eligible for stimulus dollars in order to start projects as soon as possible.

 http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/ibm-pledges-2-billion-for-economic-recovery-funding-gap/

However, the major event is that HIMSS (www.himss.org) has issued its recommendations for Meaningful Use.   I recommed readers go to the HIMSS website and read them.  Overall, I feel that the definitions and recommendations are reasonable and measured. 

However, all stakeholders must take these recommendations seriously whether you implicitly market EHR or provide some ancillary service or product.  First, there is high emphasis on interoperability so all products must work together.  Second, there is emphasis on enhancing patient care so ancillary products and services could enhance that capability for EHRs.  Finally, there is high emphasis on performance metrics so data analysis capability will be important.

Also, HIMSS focuses on the work of CCHIT, HITSP, IHE and Hl7 Continuity of Care Document as standards.  So we stakeholders must examine them carefully.

Of course, we need to see what other recommendations are made and what is ultimate decided by ONC.


More from the World Healthcare Congress

April 25, 2009

The following are interviews that I conducted at the WHCC (www.worldhealthcare.org):

Satori World Medical

 

Steven Lash, President & CEO of Satori World Medical (www.satoriworldmedical.com) attended the 6th Annual World Healthcare Congress (www.worldcongress.com).  Satori World Medical is a global health care company specializing in the emerging, multi-million dollar medical tourism space based in San Diego.  I had an opportunity to speak with Steven Lash.  Our conversation was very enlightening.

 

When one thinks of medical tourism, one of the biggest misconceptions is that medical care in foreign hospitals is unsafe. However, this is actually not the case.  Satori World Medical offers standard medical procedures at reputable international hospitals at a lower cost.  However, the company also follows strict rubrics in certifying the facilities it uses.  It examines each facility carefully using performance metrics and Leap Frog standards.  Satori World Medical’s Chief Medical Officer Ron Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.S. has actually traveled to all of these facilities personally and even scrubbed into surgery. All medical hospitals in the Satori Global Network™ all have specific departments designed to cater to international patients with doctors and medical staff that are fluent in English. 

 

Apparently, medical tourism is quite common for Europeans since many Europeans attempt to bypass the long waits that their national health systems create.  Interest in medical tourism is also a growing phenomenon in the U.S. Many immigrant populations wish to go back to their home countries for procedures to be close to family.

 

What makes Satori World Medical unique is its patented business model. Its innovative Health & Shared Wealth Program™ enables all participants to share in the economic benefits of global health care, including, for the first time, the employee.

With Satori World Medical, companies utilize health reimbursement accounts (HRAs) to fund a portion of the significant savings generated to the employee when they elect to undergo a surgical procedure through the Satori Global Network™.  HRAs are employer-funded, tax-advantaged accounts that employees use to pay for their medical expenses.  When the employee undergoes his or her surgical procedure using the Satori World Medical program, he or she will not only have no out-of-pocket expenses but also receive thousands of dollars, deposited by their employer into a HRA, which can then be used to cover future medical expenses.  Such an arrangement creates a win-win for all stakeholders.

 

Satori World Medical does not utilize Electronic Medical Records per se since it is not a healthcare provider but rather an advisory service.  However, the company has created its own longitudinal care record to track a patient’s progress.

 

Satori World Medical seems to be a rather interesting company operating in a very specific niche.  With its unique position, I think that we will be hearing more about this company in the future.

 

CosmoCom

 

During the 6th World Healthcare Congress, I was able to speak with Steve Kowasky, Executive Vice President and Founder of CosmoCom (www.cosmocom.com).  Cosmocom, founded in 1997, provides the software platform for next generation Contact Centers.  Their platform, Cosmocall Universe, is based on the concept of Cloud Computing.  While traditional call/contact centers are based on specific locations, Cosmocom allows contact centers to become virtual in that “operators” can be dispersed.  Cosmocom counts major enterprises and telecommunications companies as their software customers.

 

Recently, Cosmocom entered the Health IT market with its CosmoHealth product offering.  CosmoCom refers to CosmoHealth as “Unified Provider-Patient Communication,” leveraging  the emerging trend toward “Unified Communication.”:  The company has a successful initial customer with the University of Kentucky where a major user of the software is the University of Kentucky Health System.  The Health System had its multiple units each using a different contact center.  This fragmentation caused a lot of waste and poor customer service. Using CosmoCom’s software, the Health System was able to integrate its call centers and thus, reduce waste.  They have been able to introduce performance measurement to assure customer service and plan to create an automated appointment reminder system.  They also are integrating the CosmoCom software platform with their Electronic Health Records System.

 

Cosmocom has seen growth in the Health IT space beyond UKY.  CosmoCom counts as its customers Gordian as well as several other wellness/disease management companies.  CosmoCom has effectively allowed these companies to improve productivity through predictive dialing of patients in need of health coaching and by allowing health professionals the ability to work from anywhere, including home.

 

I was quite impressed with CosmoCom.  It has proven how technology can make processes more efficient.  More importantly, it provides a platform for future innovation.

 

All One Health

 

A major theme of the 6th Annual World Healthcare Congress was low-cost telemedicine through the use of mobile phones.  While such solutions are utilized in developing countries, one company, AllOne Health (www.allonehealth.com)  is attempting to build a market for mobile phone accessible Personal Health Records here in the United States.  I was able to speak with the company’s CEO William Reed.

 

AllOne Health is a company based in Pennsylvania that encourages individuals to take responsibility for their health and gives employers and health plans tools to support them. This includes personal health management, secure mobile access to personal health information, and extensive workplace services, including on-site health care, safety and compliance programs and health benefits.

 

The PHR is controlled by individuals and offers both two-way communication (between patient and “case manager”) and broadcast capability.  The software will be available to individuals, employers and health plans.  Pharmaceutical Benefit Managers (PBMs) have expressed interest in the technology due to its capacity to help with patient adherence to drug regimens. The software is interoperable and wireless carrier independent. AllOne Mobile’s goal is to be agile, for example by supporting newly-released mobile technologies within 90 days. They are aided in this challenge by a close partnership with Diversinet (www.diversinet.com), AllOne Mobile’s security partner.

 

AllOne Mobile is partnering with Microsoft HealthVault and is in talks with Google to offer the application directly to consumers.  Interestingly, AllOne Mobile does not see government regulation as an obstacle.  Reed says the President’s agenda for health care transformation plays into the company’s sweet spot _a focus on personal accountability, wellness and health care IT.

 

Ultimately, AllOne Mobile has great potential, especially in the area of disease management.  Neither computer nor Internet access is necessary to view information stored on AllOne Mobile. With the ubiquity of mobile phones, AllOne Mobile has the potential to transcend this barrier in PHR adoption.

 

 


My Week at the World Healthcare Congress

April 18, 2009

I attended the 6th Annual World Healthcare Congress (www.worldcongress.com) this past week.  So I will share some of my notes from the conference.  Next week, I will share some of my interviews with participants:

Tuesday April 14, 2009

The first keynote discussion of Dr. Dora Hughes (HHS), Mr. Bruce Bodaken (Blue Shield of CA) and Dr. John Kingsdale (Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority) brought some critical insight.  Particularly, Dr. Hughes talked about President Obama’s 8 principles of Healthcare Reform.  The President’s intent is that any plan must abide by these principles.  These principles are:

  • Protect Families’ Financial Health
  • Make Health Coverage Affordable
  • Aim for Universality
  • Provide Portability of Coverage
  • Guarantee Choice
  • Invest in Prevention and Wellness
  • Improve Patient Safety and quality
  • Maintain Long-term fiscal sustainability

 

This is pertinent for even the Health IT community because the principles set the paradigm.  Health IT solutions should always point back to the eight principals for justification.

 

Dr. Hughes interestingly enough also reinforced the point that there is no exact Administration plan.  The healthcare plan is meant to be a collaborative effort.  Other speakers reinforced the need for bipartisanship in the reform effort.  Personally, this “group effort” bodes well for Health IT since it enjoys bi-partisan support.

 

Other items that were mentioned were pay-for-performance and community health ratings.  This trend emphasizes the need for data so Health IT solutions should have data research components.

 

Overall, this presentation has relevance for the Health IT community.

 

The second keynote discussion included Angela Braly (Wellpoint), Carl Camden (Kelly Services) and Mark McClellan (Brookings Institute).  Mr. Camden cited the large amount of uninsured being sole proprietorships, i.e., freelancers.  He discussed how a lack of insurance becomes an impediment to start a new company. 

 

While his emphasis was on the need to provide insurance to those individuals, I think there is relevance to Health IT.  Small-businesses owners should be a target audience for Health IT vendors, specifically, PHRs.  These individuals are likely to be uninsured or underinsured.  An inexpensive PHR will allow for a record of care that may become sporadic during periods of low insurance coverage.  Thus, a PHR becomes a stop-gap measure until a better insurance can be implemented.

 

Dr. McClellan is proponent of pay-for-performance as well as insurance mechanisms that encourages cost-effective treatment.  Again, Health IT would be the underpinning of his reforms.  For example, a robust e-prescribing system could encourage the purchase of generic drugs.

 

This was a very insightful discussion.

 

The third keynote discussion included Jim Clifton (Gallup), Jim Guest (Consumers Union), Newt Gingrich, and Regina Herzlinger (Harvard Business School). This discussion talked about consumer behavior and its importance in good health.  This leads to 2 questions how do we change culture to better utilize Health IT and how can Health IT change culture?

 

The hazard exists that we will have Health IT, specifically PHRs, but consumers will not use them.  Speaker Gingrich talked about a Southern Georgia town where the male population would only routinely get their blood pressure checked in the local barber shop.  It was an environment where they felt comfortable.  Perhaps, Health IT stakeholders must begin to think about such cultural solutions to ensure full use of Health IT.

 

For the second question, again, I refer to Speaker Gingrich’s thoughts on changing the culture.  He argued for positive incentives for better behavior through transparency and metrics.  Health IT could help with the development of these incentives by collecting the data to create and validate performance metrics.

 

This panel demonstrates how Health IT is critical to healthcare reform.

 

The fourth keynote dealt with market forces.  The panel included Steve Burd (Safeway), Newt Gingrich and Gary Ahlquist (Booz and Company).  The question of Health IT actually came up in the discussion.  The question was how to assure adoption and interoperability without bureaucracy.  Speaker Gingrich advocated that the government set out requirements on interoperability and use and perhaps, provide some subsidy.  However, he said that government must not dictate the exact technology.  Such a dictate would freeze technology in its infancy.  I must admit I agree with this position.

 

Wednesday April 15, 2009

 

The first keynote of the day was on sustainable healthcare.  The panel included Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus (Grameen Bank and Grameen Health_Bangladesh) and Frank Rijsberman (Google).  Mr. Yunus provided a holistic view of healthcare reform in the developing world.  He talked about the need to raise income of the poor, improve nutrition and sanitation and increasing access to healthcare providers.  In terms of Health IT, Dr. Yunus talked about leveraging cell phones.  Cell phones are the source of internet access for the poor in the developing world.  Dr. Yunus is working with GE to find ways to improve healthcare utilizing cell phones.  Personally, I feel that this initiative needs to be monitored closely since it may be the source of global best practices for low-cost Health IT.

 

Mr. Rijsberman discussed Google initiatives to distribute healthcare data.  He discussed aggregate data such as the spread of flu and individualized data such as finding a nearby dentist. Additionally, this data could be delivered through web-enabled cell phones. The ultimate result would the efficient allocation of resources, i.e., placing the time, money and effort in the necessary areas.

 

For me, this discussion emphasizes that the “pipeline” for the information can be rather “low-tech.”  What is far more important is collecting the data from users, from patients, etc.

 

The second keynote was about patient education.  The panelists were Dr. Daniel Vasella (Novartis), Dr. Peter Salgo (Second Opinion, PBS) and Marilyn Carlson Nelson (Carlson Companies).

 

Dr. Salgo made some interesting points.  He talked about discussing risks in health.  He said that statistics must be presented in very easy-to-understand ways. More importantly, he discussed incentives for patients to educate themselves.  For example, viewers of Second Opinion can receive CME credits.  Perhaps, a similar program could be set up for the utilizing Health IT, specifically, PHRs.  PHRs could have an online health education component.  Users could receive credit of some sort for utilizing the PHR in general and the educational component specifically.

 

 Dr. Salgo did cite a problem with the internet in that there is too much unfiltered information.  Ms. Carlson cited reputable websites.  So these are valid points to consider.

 

Again, this was another good discussion.

 

The final discussion of the day dealt with population health.  Dr. Karen Davis (Commonwealth Fund), Randel K. Johnson (U.S. Chamber of Commerce) and Dr. Reed Tuckson (UnitedHealth Group) made up the panel.  Dr. Davis reviewed various metrics of population health across nations. Apparently, EMR/Health IT adoption is at 28% in the U.S. versus 98% in the Netherlands.  More importantly, only 30% of U.S. physicians have pay-for-performance incentives.  Dr. Davis cited Denmark as good example of EMR utilizations.  Denmark has a single Health Information Exchange for citizens’ data.  This data can be accessed by a physician through a portal.

 

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The first discussion panel of the day focused on prevention.  The panelists included Dr. Will Cavendish (NHS_UK), CAPT Bradley Perkins (CDC) and Cory Billotti (DOW).  CPT Perkins discussed Health IT.  The Alliance to Make U.S. Healthiest of which the CDC is a partner has as one of its tenets: to catalyze Business Opportunities.  Health IT is one of those opportunities.  CAPT Perkins discussed DOSSIA, the non-profit sponsored by Walmart, Intel.  He stated that DOSSIA’s model is to establish PHR use as a public utility and then build the business space outward from there.  He also discussed the CVS/Google partnership to make CVS customers’ prescription data available on Google Health to those customers.  CAPT Perkins also said that we could expect PHR use to be at least 40-60%, which is where online banking use levels currently are.

 

Overall, this discussion was insightful even thought the focus was not Health IT.  I thought that Health IT was placed in the proper context as a tool for better health outcomes.

 

The second discussion focused on Healthcare IT Infrastructure (and I hope that I can capture everything that was discussed).  The host of the discussion Dr. William Winkenwerder expressed the role of Health IT infrastructure well.  He called local Health IT the “muscles” of the system and the infrastructure as the “nervous system.”  Both require care and nourishment through a “circulatory system.”  This was an excellent analogy.

 

The first panelist was the deputy director of the Office of the National Coordinator.  She expressed that the stimulus infusion of resources would lead to a tipping point in Health IT implementation.  She pointed out an interesting point. The $18 billion dollar allocation to CMS is actually a net cost; the actual outlay is $30 billion.  She said that the necessary workforce does not exist for Health IT does not exist but the stimulus includes partnership funding with academia to close this gap.  There was great money to the states to create Public-Private Partnerships that map to the federal plan.  She mentioned the National Research Center and its extension centers.  And she talked about meaningful use.  She said that there will be much discussion to include a public meeting Apr 28-29.  She said that any meaningful use must be outcomes-related.  When asked about the role  of government, she alluded to the Economic Advisory Panel, which solicited opinions from stakeholders and she did not rule out mandates.

 

George Halvorsen of Kaiser talked about health outcomes and Health IT.  He said that there were ½ trillion dollars in avoidable health events.  Health IT allows for the collection of the necessary data to mitigate these costs..  He mentioned that the medical community gets the treatment of asthma right only about 46% of the time.  Health IT could improve this outcome.  He said the one requirement for Health IT is that it must be “plug and play.”  When asked about the role of government, he said that government should facilitate the use of Health IT by clearing away obstacles.  When asked about security, he said that the electricity grid must be protected as well as the Health IT network.  At this point, it is difficult to criminalize Health IT penetration because we do not know how the information would be misused.

 

Dave Merrit of the Center for Health Transformation mentioned how the previous administration did make great progress for Health IT by helping set up the governance standards.  He said that there are three phases in Health IT implementation.  First, EMRs must be deployed.  Then, the connective infrastructure must be created.  Then, interoperability must be established.  His concern was that paperless siloes might replace paper siloes.  He said if those siloes are broken then Health IT could be used to collect and analyze information and provide those findings to the right stakeholders.  Best practices could be established and policy could be based on those best practices. The end result is evidence-based medicine.  He said that possibly $1 trillion of waste possibly could be eliminated.  He mentioned Intermountain as a success story.  He also discussed administrative waste: 90% of medicare claims is paper-based; 70% of claims remittance is paper-based; and 60% of eligibility requests are paper-based.  He said that Health IT could go beyond the clinical and improve the administrative side of healthcare.  For Mr. Merritt, he said the role of government is to assist with the infrastructure.  He equated the NHIN with the Eisenhower highway system.

 

David Cerano of Microsoft said that Health IT’s biggest competition is not among vendors but against paper records.  He also differentiated between the patient (person receiving care) and the consumer (the person overseeing the transaction of healthcare delivery such as a caregiver).  For Microsoft, meaningful use means that the consumer is included in the interchange and that data is separated from applications.  Mr. Cerano also mentioned that the presentation of data in a meaningful way is essential.  He concluded with Microsoft’s goals being to liberate data, empower people and connect care.

 

Overall, this was an extraordinary discussion.

 

There also was a presentation by Dr. Don Yansen of Click Health.  Click Health is pioneering the use of cell phone cameras in telehealth.  Basically, community care workers could use cell phones cameras to send pictures over the internet to doctors for diagnosis.  The intent is to leverage the internet to bring high-quality care to poor and underserved areas.  Click Health is using micro-finance to purchase the phones and the system is entirely digital.  Click Health has projects or will have projects in Bangladesh, Botswana, Uganda, Nepal, Haiti and Philadelphia (in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania).

 

I found this discussion fascinating since it reinforced the theme of “low-cost” technical solutions to healthcare.


Weekly Roundup for Apr 12

April 11, 2009

This week there was no consistent theme but definitely some interesting items.

 

·        Collaboration

This article from Bloomberg and Harvard Business Review may provide some insight into benefits of an integrated Health IT environment by enhancing collaboration.

 

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/harvardbusiness?sid=Hd35c8bed1e982b47e582a4c063220ecc

 

·        IBM

This is not an endorsement of IBM per se.  I came across some of their case studies of Health IT on their website.  It includes initiatives in Japan for preventive health, in Canada for home healthcare, and with Google and Continua Health Alliance for personal healthcare records.

 

http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/us/smartplanet/topics/healthcare/20090223/index.shtml?sa_campaign=message/leaf1/smarterplanet/heathcare

 

·        Nursing

From Zogby, Cisco is releasing a platform to improve communications between nurses and patients.

 

http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.cfm?ID=18816

 

·        PHR

The NY Times offered this extremely interesting concept: large Hospitals providing PHRs to patients.  There logic is quite sound.  These hospitals usually deal with referrals so PHRs would ensure complete medical histories.  This may be an avenue worth pursuing to get everyone a PHR.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/technology/companies/06health.html?_r=1&hpw

 

·        General Innovation

In a report on the HIMSS Conference, the NY Times discusses a targeted medical alert system sponsored by GE and CDC.  The goal is allow informatics to improve public health.  There also is a discussion about a partnership between IBM and the Mayo Clinic in order to develop a natural processing language.

 

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/health-care-industry-moves-slowly-onto-the-internet/

 

·        Kaiser Permanente

This is an article from business week.  It provides a great overview of Kaiser’s approach to Health IT adoption.

 

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc2009047_562738.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

 

·        North Carolina

This article from Fierce Health IT and the Winston-Salem Journal discusses some of the costs involved with Health IT roll-out.

 

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/apr/06/shift-may-take-time/

      

·        White House

The President is putting support behind joint DOD-VA Health Record.

 

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53857