Challenges & Forces: Healthcare IT Update
Michael Paquin, FHIMSS
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e should be pleased with the progress made over the past ten years, but continue to demand better workflows and solutions from our IT vendors. It’s amazing to look back at where we were ten years ago and see the transition, to see how much the stimulus package has changed the advancement of healthcare IT. We can see how far we have come and what the complexity of the policy issues that we’ve had to consider as we reach toward our goals – and to hold those goals to better health, better care and lower costs firmly in mind. It is important to reflect on the milestones, making sure we look at the data, learn from the data, to see what’s working, where there are pockets, what are the emerging issues and trends and what do we need to do to adapt and adjust our policies our implementations and our actions as we get everyone connected and actually using the various systems. It is important to attach value and praise to Organizations like HIMSS, CCHIT, and the ONC. Ten years ago, 90 percent of hospital patient records, 80 percent of physicians’ patient records and 93 percent of prescriptions were written on paper. Electronic health records ten years ago couldn’t make lists for physicians of the patients who had diabetes, measure quality or outcomes. The HITECH Act has had its desired effect so far. It has increased adoption levels of health IT across the board, from small physician practices to academic medical centers, over the past three years.
Today we believe that 70% of the physicians now have some sort of EHR in place, and 80% of the hospitals have an electronic patient record system. All of this growth does not come without its issues. We are seeing a staggering 30% of the purchased EHR physician systems being replaced. These replaced systems are often the physicians 3rd or even 4th install. We have to demand better service and support from our vendors. We also must try and make the expectation of training and what is actually delivered by the vendors realistic. I believe that the biggest source of discontent is the disconnect between what the physician expects and what they pay for and end up with is the issue. A study, “Health Information Technology in The United States: Driving Toward Delivery System Change, 2013," co-authored by Mathematica Policy Research and the Harvard School of Public Health, shows that in 2012, 44 percent of hospitals reported having a basic electronic health record system – up 17 percentage points from 2011. Indeed, since 2010 – when providers started getting federal stimulus funds – the proportion of hospitals with at least a basic EHR system has nearly tripled. Physician practices, meanwhile, have also made substantial progress, with more than 38 percent reporting the adoption of basic EHR functionalities in 2012. Of those providers who've made investments in IT, many have already made significant...
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