Idon’t usually feel compelled to comment on healthcare policy, but something I read recently has me a little miffed. The Meaningful Use Work Group of the ONC’s HIT Policy Committee recommended that 10 percent of orders be entered via CPOE to meet criteria for funding in 2011. Since when is ten percent considered successful. I’ve been through many years of schooling; I’m a veteran pharmacist of more than ten years “in the trenches” and have now been involved with many technology projects in my relatively new role as an IT pharmacist. Never has ten percent of anything been considered acceptable. Try telling your boss you’re only going to give ten percent. Note the reaction on his/her face.
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“Ten percent” rule for meaningful use on CPOE is weak!
“What’d I miss?” – Week of July 13
As usual there were a lot of things that happened during the week, and not all of it was pharmacy or technology related. Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found interesting.
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Best Hospitals 2009-2010
US News and World Report: “America’s Best Hospitals, an annual ranking of the country’s elite medical centers, is a tool for patients who need medical sophistication most facilities cannot offer. Unlike other rankings and ratings that grade hospitals on how well they execute routine procedures like outpatient hernia repair or manage common conditions like low-grade heart failure, the U.S. News approach looks at how well a hospital handles complex and demanding situations—replacing an 85-year-old man’s heart valve, diagnosing and treating a spinal tumor, and dealing with inflammatory bowel disease, to name three examples. High-stakes medicine…..In 12 of the 16 specialties, those in which quality of care can spell life or death, hospitals were scored on reputation, death rate, patient safety, and care-related factors such as nursing and patient services; the 50 highest scorers were ranked. Scores and complete data for unranked hospitals are available as well. In the other four specialties—ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation, and rheumatology—hospitals were ranked on reputation alone, because so few patients die that mortality data don’t mean much. Here are a few of the details: Reputation, which counted as 32.5 percent of the score, was based on three years of specialist surveys—a total of almost 10,000 physicians were asked to name five hospitals they consider among the best in their specialty for difficult cases, without taking into account cost or location. A mortality index, also 32.5 percent of the score, indicates a hospital’s ability to keep patients with serious problems alive. Patient safety, new this year, made up 5 percent of the score; it indicates how well a hospital minimizes harm to patients. And a group of other care-related factors, such as nurse staffing and available technology, accounted for the remaining 30 percent.”
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Cool Technology for Pharmacy
Advantech MICA-101
The Advantech MICA-101 is The MICA-101 is a medical tablet PC based on the Intel Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) reference architecture. The device reminds me a lot of the Motion C5. The MCA tablet provides clinicians access to patient care records at the point of care and allows for real time documentation.
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Poor economy equals fewer pharmacy IT projects
Healthcare IT News: “The economy is forcing hospitals to consider delaying or scaling back their IT projects, according to a survey of America’s “most wired” hospitals and health systems.The Most Wired Survey, conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, the journal of the American Hospital Association, found that even with incentives being made available to implement IT, hospitals still have a long way to go.”
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BlackBerry versus iPhone popularity in healthcare.
mobilehealthnews: “For the record, BlackBerry has conducted clinical trials with smartphones paired with Bluetooth-enabled medical peripheral devices for years. Three of the company’s smartphones are among the five most popular smartphones in North America. At least one executive at BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion is a bit curious about all the hype around Apple’s recent medical foray with the iPhone. mobihealthnews recently had the chance to discuss wireless healthcare trends with Research In Motion’s Fraser Edward who heads the company’s Healthcare Marketing Group. In this second installment, Edward explains the points above and much, much more, including: which types of BlackBerrys physicians prefer, why wireless health needs to adopt a “belts and braces” approach, how RIM’s latest acquisition — Chalk Media — fits into wireless health, and what the BlackBerry App World’s advent signifies. Edward also shares his favorite App World app.” – Edwards goes on to talk about physician preferences for various BlackBerry devices, going as far as to say “to pinpoint the phones that I’ve seen us getting a lot of traction on within the medical community — it would be the Storm and the Bold“. If I were to use a BlackBerry device, I believe it would be the Storm. I like the idea of a touch screen more and more each day. However, I’ve heard many people claim the Bold is much better for messaging. The future of BlackBerry devices appears fuzzy as the iPhone’s popularity continues to grow. It seems that every physician, pharmacist and IT professional I see in the hospital is carrying an iPhone. Remember the days of the Palm Pilot and its incredible popularity? There was a time when Palm powered handheld devices enjoyed the same popularity as the BlackBerry devices do today. As the smart phone revolution got underway, Palm devices simply disappeared. The popularity of the iPhone will eventually do the same to the BlackBerry, especially when Apple begins offering the iPhone through other carriers. Among pharmacists in “my circle”, I am one of the few that chose not to change carriers for the iPhone. Only time will tell what will happen to BlackBerry smart phones, but I see the end sooner than later unless Research In Motion has something up its sleeve. Apple and the iPhone are simply too powerful. Good luck BlackBerry, you’re going to need it.
Stanford offers glimpse of 3D Radiology images on Flickr
“The Stanford Radiology 3D Imaging Laboratory uses computed tomography and Magnetic Resonance imaging data to create three-dimensional images of the human body. Individual CT and MR scans of the body are taken around a single axis that are stacked and rendered using complex computer algorithms to create a three-dimensional volume of data. The images produced from this data can be manipulated on-screen to provide doctors with unique interior perspectives of the human body for diagnosing and treating patients. Each month the lab produces nearly 20,000 images. “- The Stanford 3D Radiology Lab has posted some pretty cool images on Flickr. If you get a moment stop and take a look, you won’t be disappointed. My favorite image is the skull, of course.
Oursourcing IT jobs and cloud computing
This morning I posted a quick note about a shortage of qualified IT staff in healthcare. Todd Eury of Pharmacy Resource Technology (PTR) left me an interesting comment that I would like to share with you.
When appropriate – what about strategic IT Outsourcing? IT Management Solutions delivered by U.S. based firms? For example: http://www.pharmacydatahosting.com Opesnet handles IT Outsourced Management Services for LTC Pharmacy Operations. I understand the frustration with the shortage – but this might be an answer in some cases / situations. Reputable firms can provide great value and help contain/ lower costs.
I think this is an excellent idea not only for the IT staffing shortage, but as an answer to difficulties in advancing a cloud computing model in healthcare. It is clear that the shortage will hamper efforts to implement advanced technology in healthcare, and in particular pharmacy. Many IT professionals are grown and educated from within a healthcare system, often limiting their expertise in cutting edge automation and technology. Strategic IT outsourcing offers access to highly trained professionals specializing in models not currently used in the healthcare industry. The idea of outsourcing could also be extended beyond cloud computing to encompass pharmacy information systems, barcoding automation, electronic document management, etc. In other words, leave it to the experts. I love the idea Todd, keep ‘em coming.
Shortage of qualified IT staff
Hospitals and Health Networks: “As if it already weren’t tough enough to find and retain quality health information technology professionals, the recent passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act as part of the Obama administration’s broader economic stimulus package may only make the task more difficult. “We had a shortage of talent before this stimulus was initiated,” says Timothy R. Zoph, chief information officer at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. “This will exacerbate the problem.” Compounding the issue further is a triple whammy of major IT projects facing every health care organization. Not only is there the HITECH-fueled push for electronic health records, the stimulus law also tightens HIPAA privacy and security requirements, something American Health Information Management Association CEO Linda Kloss calls a “very big challenge.” And already in the works is the transition to ICD-10 coding and the related ANSI X12 5010 electronic transactions.” – I can tell you from personal experience that this is already a big issue. IT departments are struggling to keep up with the limited technology in use by healthcare today; I cannot imagine the future as hospitals continue to adopt more and more advanced technology.
Mac tablet coming soon?
9to5mac.com: “The translations are a little sketchy but the ChinaTimes is basically saying that in October, Apple will launch a $800, 10-inch tablet. Most of this information has been published before so it isn’t certain whether or not this is a rehash of that information or from new sources. The biggest question at this point is which OSX will it run? Will it be the Mac OS, the iPhone OS or some hybrid? The iPod launches are usually in September so a iPod platform device would indicate some deviation. Also, Apple’s tablet patents seem to indicate that they are working on a full MacOS tablet.” – I really hope this is accurate, especially if the Mac tablet runs on the iPhone OS. Unfortunately the Mac tablet rumor has been floating around for years and has yet to materialize into something tangible. Those of you that know me understand my infatuation with tablet computers. The tablet platform is the perfect combination of desktop power and mobile utility. Pharmacy has yet to unlock the power of tablet computers in the clinical setting, but I believe that will change in the near future. I push my tablet agenda every chance I get.
