WeBlog: Can We Get It All Together?

An intriguing piece by Dr. John Halamka, who co-chairs the national HIT Standards Committee, suggests that a “golden age” of electronic medicine is dawning — and “just in time.” http://www.technologyreview.com/business/38473/?mod=chfeatured

The good news, he says, is that while health care reform is a contentious topic in policy circles, the need for reform of information technology in health care is widely embraced:

“This is medicine today. A sea of paper and fax machines, information silos, privacy barriers, and unconnected data. And yet, we know the public is ready for a better system. According to a 2010 Harris Poll, four in five Americans believe any doctor treating them should have instant access to their medical record online.”

Dr. Halamka gives his predictions for major developments in health IT over the next five years, including migration to the cloud — “the only way to rapidly implement electronic health records” — by a wave of software innovation, and development of novel ways that individual genomic data can speed diagnosis and improve treatment.

Meanwhile, reports of ways in which IT is changing health care continue to pour forth. A few examples:

Ø  A report on NPR, “Cellphones Could Help Doctors Stay Ahead Of An Epidemic. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/08/31/140065855/cell-phones-could-help-doctors-stay-ahead-of-an-epidemic

Ø  A report in Healthcare IT News, “Facebook app to help track how viruses spread” http://healthcareitnews.com/news/facebook-app-help-track-how-viruses-spread

Ø  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a final rule on e-prescribing https://www.cms.gov/erxincentive/04_Statute_Regulations.asp

Ø  A study shows better diabetes outcomes with electronic health records http://www.medpagetoday.com/clinical-context/Type2Diabetes/28346

The challenge is to bring the data silos together, so that we don’t keep duplicating what already has been done and can share information without sacrificing privacy. Tablet computers, social networking and a constant stream of new apps undoubtedly will help move us toward this goal.

Know of some good apps or technologies that can help us reach health IT nirvana? Please give us your comments.

Nancy Tomich