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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“What’d I miss?” – Week of February 14th
“What’d I miss?” – Week of January 17th
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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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is not without risk
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has created quite a flutter of activity in healthcare during the past several months. I can’t remember a time when something was such a popular topic. Everywhere you look, Twitter, Facebook, personal blogs, professional blogs, and so on are talking about how to demonstrate “meaningful use” and get their hot little hands on some cash.
While the idea is sound, the implementation has something to be desired. The overwhelming attention to the definition of “meaningful use” and the looming 2011 timeline has created some unwanted side effects to the ARRA. Hospitals have started throwing project plans in reverse for significant revision or throwing them out the window and starting over all together. Projects that may have been in the pipeline for months, or years, are now taking a back seat to the ARRA requirements. Project development and timelines are involved processes that are designed to work around several variables such as capital budgets, current software and hardware specs, and available human resources.
Many healthcare systems have yet to develop a plan to implement many of the requirements necessary to meet the ARRA “meaningful use” criteria. If a healthcare systems wasn’t ready to begin the process at any time over the past several years what makes the US government think they’ll be ready just because they say so? Is the infrastructure in place? Do they have the resources to not only implement, but support the new systems as well? These are all questions that people should be asking. I for one am disappointed in our facility as we have decided to immediately move forward with projects that weren’t slated for another 18-24 months. To make this happen other projects have been placed lower in the priority queue, creating a lack of resources that risk jeopardizing the quality of both implementations.
Healthcare systems should not be directed down a path that they feel unprepared to face. Doing so will only invite failure.
Siemens Innovations ’09 – The End
Siemens Innovations has officially come to an end. My time in Philadelphia was good, but I will be happy to get home to the “dry heat”. The information I picked up was very valuable and I made some great contacts. I’m excited to get back to work and see what damage I can cause with my newly acquired knowledge.
As I wrap up my time here at Innovations ’09 a few thoughts come to mind:
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Length of time to implement CPOE
Ok, I’ve taken a little heat since claiming that a “meaningful use” goal of 10% CPOE was weak, so I did a little digging. While collecting ammunition for my defense I came across a little blurb addressing this very issue.
iHealthBeat: “Thirty-five percent of hospital CIOs surveyed said it would take their facilities three years to achieve 100% adoption of computerized physician order entry, according to a new survey from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. Twenty-seven percent of CIOs surveyed said it would take their hospitals two years to achieve 100% CPOE adoption, while 17% of respondents said complete CPOE adoption would take four years and 13% estimated a five-year time frame to achieve 100% adoption. Only 9% of CIOs surveyed said full CPOE adoption could be achieved in one year.” - Remember that the “adoption year” timeframe is 18 months away (2011) with a 2012 start date qualifying you for the full incentive potential. This means you could actually wait as late as 2013 for full adoption and still qualify for funding. I realize CPOE is a major project; we’re struggling with it right now. Bu I still think hospitals have enough time to do this right and still get 100% usage. As the saying goes, “nothing worth having comes easy”.
ASHP Makes Recommendations for Definition of “Meaningful Use”
ASHP.org: “In a recent letter to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, ASHP said the definition of meaningful use should include the following three elements: interoperability of medication orders and prescriptions; medication decision support and continuous improvement; and the ability to report and quantify improved patient safety, quality outcomes, and cost-effectiveness in the medication-use process.” – Kind of vague, don’t you think. I expected a little more aggressive stance.
Talking “meaningful use” with our CIO.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is an $850 billion stimulus package passed by Congress aimed at encouraging economic growth in various industries through government spending. If you’re in healthcare, then you may be able to take advantage of $51 billion that has been allocated to the healthcare industry, $19 billion of which is aimed at the adoption and implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), also known as Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). The only way to get your share of the money is to demonstrate that you are a “meaningful user” of an EHR system. The problem is figuring out what a “meaningful user” is.
My curiosity about being a “meaningful user” led me to the office of our CIO, where I casually asked him if we were going to qualify for any of the funds allocated by the ARRA. He informed me that “meaningful user” had not been completely defined, and is currently a hot topic of discussion.
