Maine healthcare leaders have announced the launch of a statewide health information exchange called HealthInfoNet. Officials said the exchange will make Maine the largest state in the country to operate a statewide network for sharing clinical data. Maine's data exchange will begin with a one-year demonstration project that will link 15 hospitals and more than 2,000 physicians.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has updated its toolkit that provides step-by-step guidance for healthcare leaders on how to evaluate HIT projects. In this latest version, two examples have been added on computerized provider order entry and picture archiving and communication systems.
This article offers a glimpse into three healthcare organizations efforts to adopt electronic health records and the challenges that they have encountered. For instance, Western North Carolina Health Network, which is comprised of 16 community-based hospitals in western North Carolina, struggled to get all of the hospitals to agree on how the EHR would be used, how the data would be displayed, and who would have access.
Dozens of large and small companies are turning to wireless technology to help achieve the Obama administration's goal of a healthcare system that keeps people healthier for less. A 2008 study that was distributed by a coalition of companies and organizations that support healthcare reform predicted annual savings from remote monitoring at $10.1 billion for U.S. sufferers of congestive heart failure, $6.1 billion for diabetes, and $4.9 billion for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. But claims about cost savings from new technology often don't pan out.
Under the Obama administration's stimulus bill and other proposals, portions of a $29 billion fund are available to reimburse hospitals and doctors' offices that invest in electronic records systems and other software that might improve care and lower healthcare costs. The government has stressed the need for increased security as part of this digitization initiative, but making patient data more accessible also creates the potential of it falling into the wrong hands.
Aspect Medical Systems, Inc., announced a five-year comparative effectiveness research collaboration with Cleveland Clinic focused on improving patient outcomes following surgery. The collaboration will utilize the Clinic's electronic medical record system to identify anesthetic management practices that are associated with optimum outcomes. These practices will then be tested prospectively utilizing real-time decision support methods. The company has also signed a licensing agreement with Cleveland Clinic that will cover the intellectual property that emerges from the collaboration.