CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has invested more than $1.5 million in two electronic patient records initiatives in Maryland. CareFirst has pledged $967,000 to plan and implement an electronic patient records system at Community Health Integrated Partnership Inc., a network of seven community health centers. The company also is contributing $550,000 to an $800,000 project at LifeBridge Health to allow patients electronic access to their doctors and hospitals.
Chico (short for Computer Hospital Intensive Care Operator) allows doctors and other medical workers at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami to virtually examine patients, speak to them, and access digital files--even if they are miles away. As the population gets older and the shortage of healthcare professionals becomes more acute, video-conferencing robots like Chico may be the future of medicine.
Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, have all cited technology in their campaigns for healthcare reform. However, while IT may feature in the next president's healthcare agenda, doubt remains as to whether any of the candidates will deliver fully on their proposals.
The fusion of x-ray capabilities with functional imaging technology such as SPECT and PET has resulted in hybrid equipment. The utilization of these modalities have resulted in greater diagnostic certainty and enhanced patient management through their advanced visualization capabilities. Until recently, fusing MRI with radiography has been problematic, with most solutions using a moving-bed patient system between MR and x-ray suites. A team from the department of radiology at The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa has added to the armamentarium of fusion imaging with the creation and deployment of a MRI/radiography system.
Surely one of the most pronounced healthcare industry trends is towards "transparency." Hospitals are beginning to post various quality metrics on their Web sites. Patients can study the details of hospitals' performance and outcomes on common procedures. Others are disclosing the likely cost of these procedures. It's a profound shift, one that is long overdue--and needed, when you consider that we consumers will be increasingly asked to foot the healthcare bill in the years ahead.
But there is one area of pricing that remains in the clouds, namely the cost of new information systems and other technology. Software vendors love to tout their new contracts. My inbox is brimming with announcements. But ask them how much the deal was for, and more often than not, you will be stonewalled. Go to the hospital or medical group customer, and oftentimes, you get the same result. I have attempted to shine light on this topic in our "Deal" feature in HealthLeaders magazine, but it has been a struggle. Sometimes CIOs are just reluctant to talk about much the hospital actually had to ante up. Other times they have signed confidentiality agreements with their software suppliers to keep quiet.
Now, who exactly is being served by this murkiness around the cost of clinical IT? Well, it's certainly not potential purchasers of clinical IT. If buyers cannot obtain realistic estimates of cost prior to even sending out the RFPs, they are working in a vacuum. And for cash-strapped physician groups, the murkiness around cost may just result in suspicion that EMR vendors are an unscrupulous bunch.
My hunch is that software vendors like these confidentiality agreements because they are cutting deals left and right, charging the well-heeled customers way more than those of lesser means. Non-disclosure may also offer psychological protection to the insecure, who wonder if they have been gouged or got a good deal.
I guess you could say that the "value" of software is kind of like a house. It is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. But at least with housing transactions, it's easy to see what somebody else paid. I'm all for free markets. I also think that transparency on cost helps keeps them that way.
The U.S. Congress needs to pass healthcare IT legislation before private companies develop multiple systems that don't talk to each other, according to members of the Health IT Now Coalition and the Information Technology Industry Council. The groups urged Congress to move ahead with health IT legislation such as the Promoting Health Information Technology Act, which would establish a public/private group to recommend health IT standards and certification and would budget $163 million a year for healthcare providers to adopt health IT products.