HealthLeaders Media IT - January 22, 2008 | Ignoring the Skeptics Add news.editor@healthleadersmedia.com to your address book. View as a Webpage | Subscribe for Free

Ignoring the Skeptics Gary Baldwin, Technology Editor Several recent studies and surveys suggest growing skepticism about the longevity of regional health information organizations. Nearly 70 percent of respondents to our own recent unscientific online poll agreed that most RHIOs will cease operations within the near future. Although most people understand the importance of data sharing across competitive organizations, many are wondering if the multitude of RHIOs will have staying power. Financial and governance issues--not the technological capability in play--are often cited as stumbling blocks. [Read More]

January 22, 2008

Editor's Picks New technologies at Washington, DC, hospital to help if disaster strikes Here's an article about advance planning--the kind you might not want to do. Washington Hospital Center has unveiled new emergency department technologies designed to prepare the downtown Washington, DC, facility for a terrorist attack or other massive disaster. The technologies, which cost about $4.5 million, include negative pressure isolation rooms to prevent the spread of infectious agents and rooms that can be sterilized with vaporized hydrogen peroxide. [Read More] Listening to doctors and patients talk This story is a bit Orwellian. Verilogue, a technology startup company, has software that analyzes the real-time patient-physician interactions, compiles a verbatim transcript, and puts the recording and transcript in a database that Verilogue clients in the healthcare industry will use to learn what doctors and patients actually say to each other about diseases and medicines. The company sells the data to pharmaceutical companies. Somehow I cannot imagine many physicians agreeing to this (physicians are paid to participate), but the company claims annual revenue of up to $5 million, so someone is buying. [Read More] Florida hospitals switch to EMRs The News-Press, from Fort Myers, FL, reports on a local hospital's effort to automate clinical record-keeping. "These systems are not simply paper charts put on computers," the article points out. "They are medical management systems." [Read More] An MD-Legislator pushes for EMRs This Wall Street Journal blog item has some lively discussion around a New Jersey legislator (who is also a physician), who is promoting EMR technology. Scroll down the page and read through the comments on financing the technology. The public is far more sophisticated on these issues than politicians and pundits may realize. [Read More] Tech Headlines Patients easily stay in touch with tech Detroit Free Press - January 22, 2008 Growing use of CT scans fuels medical concerns Washington Post - January 22, 2008 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center testing 'smart' rooms Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - January 22, 2008 Paging Dr. Internet eMarketer - January 22, 2008 Events & Product News High-Tech device cuts errors in mixing meds FDA concerned about dangers of medical fragments left in bodies Beth Israel selects Concordant for EMR From HealthLeaders Magazine Why Is The ED Such A Pain? The emergency department has a culture all its own with a unique set of challenges to match. It's also your hospital's window to the community. So you'd better make it work. [Read More] Where Did We Put That Wheelchair? Alternative Goes Mainstream Claiming Their Due      Qualify for a FREE Subscription IT Leaders Forum Poll Shows Americans Value EMR Benefits Over Privacy Concerns: Contributor David St.Clair says that while privacy concerns are legitimate when we talk about the proliferation of health information exchange and EMRs, these concerns need to be put into perspective. [Read More] Audio Feature Listen: Physician Creates, Offers Free EMRs: Shelbourne, MA-based physician Stefan Topolski, MD, discusses the development of his own electronic medical record program--and why he decided to give it away to other doctors for free. Sponsor HealthLeaders Media IT Contact Lisa Brown, Director of Integrated Sales, at lbrown@healthleadersmedia.com or call 781.639.1872.

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