Meaningful Use Promises to Open Data Up To Patients
Michael Paquin , FHIMSS
M
eaningful use promises to open data up to patients , improve the flow of information and drive efficiencies to maximize the level of care providers can offer . But meeting meaningful use requirements can be a daunting challenge , and as the federally mandated dates for IT adoption loom nearer , many providers are scratching their heads about how best to attest .
1 . Don ' t ignore the human side . Installing new hardware and software is the first step . Bigger hurdles lie in building a system that accommodates the people who will be using it . All of this is changing the way workflow happens . The way clinical people have been used to doing their clinical care will need to now interact with information systems . Instead of short term initiatives a long term communicative process that focuses on the end goal of practitioners embracing the program and adapting their workflow to it .
2 . Take a fresh approach . Recent changes in American healthcare have pushed the industry to deliver new kinds of care with fresh objectives in mind . The thing about clinical providers is that their training is to focus on single patients . This is a good thing for a doctor ' s ability to interpret information and attend to the needs of the patient in front of him or her . Information technology helps sift through the massive amounts of data generated to help arrive at conclusions that were previously harder to reach , or had eluded medical professionals . Rather than analyzing several hundred cases , thousands or millions could be studied at a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of the time .
3 . Do it with data . The influx of data has been driven by meaningful use and its requirement for electronic health records and computerized physician order entry . This has been instrumental in the drive for the collection of structured data , which in turn paves the way for opportunities to improve care in wider groups of patients . The drive to use data has the ability to catch more people before they undergo a significant healthcare event , and that with a better-managed patient population becomes more comprehensive reimbursements . Leveraging the information captured lets healthcare systems take a bird ’ s eye view that helps them address broader patient health questions . How many patients do we have with a certain condition ? How many are the same , how many are different ? This is when doing data analytics becomes important . If you see a pattern , you can address it much more effectively than when doing it one by one .
4 . Recognize the importance of education . Forcing a massive new system on an entire organization can damage workflows , relations , and even the quality of care . A lot of this is a two pronged approach : make sure clinical people are involved . The other piece is educating , and getting those people involved . Similar to dipping a toe in to a pool
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