Wondering why ACO’s are necessary has become somewhat of a routine task, but there’s really very little question about the validity of the concept in that is does put the patient first. As we know, the goal of an ACO is to achieve cost and quality improvements, and a better approach to coordinated care on all levels.
There’s no doubt the majority of the responsibility for a successful implementation of an ACO lies with physicians. If adopted as a model, physicians are forced to lead us forward; however, the details depicted in the image below (thanks to Healthcare IT Connect for compiling it) tell a much broader and deeper story that clearly paints a picture of troubling times ahead unless something is done about this trend.
Breaking news hits the wires from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), which has responded to a recent query by a group of six Republican senators who are hell bent on slowing down the meaningful use program to ensure its operating efficiently and not just handing out money to everyone claiming they’ve met Stage 1 (and eventually the other stages).
What’s remarkable about the news, though, is that CHIME actually issues a letter calling for a one-year extension of meaningful use Stage 2. According to CHIME’s letter, as reported by Healthcare Informatics,
For several years, the market and its insiders have pontificated about when the vendor landscape is going to suddenly change and contract. With countless hundreds of EHR vendors in the space in some capacity, the annual trade publication trend pieces that run in December and January often predict the year we’re about the enter as the year in which the market with change and a great many vendors will disappear.
Last year this was the case. This year is no different. Next year will be the same.
In his July 2012 piece, “Why the EHR market is on the brink of mass consolidation,” Dr. Robert Rowley writes in Government Health IT that given that 70 percent of users on the top 12 systems out of about 600 that these market forces will lead to consolidation.
A recent Ovum study showed that almost 60 percent of employees bring some type of mobile device into the workplace. There are a few names for this, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), Bring Your Own PC (BYOPC), Bring Your Own Phone (BYOP), User Introduces Unsecure Device onto My Network and Then Loses My Secure Data (UIUDOMNTLMSD).
Alright, so I made that last one up, but that is how most IT managers feel when the discussion is started about BYOD. An end user bringing a device to work is both a gift and a curse for any sized company. We see an increase in productivity but also the increased threat of data being lost or stolen. Having a strong mobile device management (MDM) strategy can help companies reap the benefits of BYOD while limiting the consequences.
When I worked with Sage Healthcare, one of the tenants of our marketing campaign was ensuring the market and those we served were well aware of the length of time our product had been used in ambulatory practice and its worth to countless physicians during that time.
Thirty years is a long time, especially for the ever changing world of software and technology; perhaps too long.
But I digress. Certainly, a product with three decades of service deserves to be recognized as one of the market’s leaders. After all, it is in the Smithsonian as the first practice management system in use commercially.
With the mandate of electronic health records (EHR) across the nation, hospitals and physicians are researching, evaluating and purchasing EHR Systems. These systems range in price from affordable with minimal investment to the Rolls Royce version.
Many hospitals are investing large capital dollars for EHR programs. Hospitals must choose a vendor that will meet the organization’s needs. Physicians may choose systems that are more narrowly focussed to the needs of their offices and their specialization. In other words, interoperability may be addressed for hospital EHR systems with their more diverse internal users and may not be a major consideration for a non-network physician. Even with anEHR system in place, they do not necessarily make information sharing easier since many of them do not have interoperability outside of their networks.
Kal Patel, COO of Meditab Software, speaks about innovation in health IT, reactions from physicians and caregivers about the continuous changes in health IT, trends affecting the industry, where we are going and how we are going to get there and the qualities he thinks makes for a health IT leader.
What’s your daily motivation and what makes for innovation currently in the HIT market?
I am motivated by innovation, focusing on creating a product that’s in a league its own, not only for usability, but for the highest and best use, providing each practice the most customized solution for their specialty needs. We don’t subscribe to the notion that one size fits all.
