Seems like people really liked my tweets from yesterday at the Connected Health Symposium. So, I thought I’d do it again today. Here’s some of the interesting tweets I saw and wrote during the Connected Health Symposium.

Information matters when patients are paying for their healthcare. #HighDeductiblePlanMember #chs11

October 21, 2011 10:18 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@techguy

John Lynn

The cost of healthcare was a major theme throughout the entire conference. I agree completely that as patients start to pay more of their healthcare, they need more information and make better decisions.

RT @perficient_hc: Dr Tippet: If #healthit was as strong as IT in Finance we’d save money and live longer #chs11

October 21, 2011 10:30 am via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@Independa4U

Independa, Inc.

I found this really interesting. Twitter (and even this blog) doesn’t quite capture the irony of the statement. Basically, Dr. Tippets from Verizon really highlights how if we did IT right in healthcare we have the potential of saving lives and live longer. Both noble goals.

“The literature is overwhelmingly positive on the benefits of EHR, but the negative gets more attention.” -Blumenthal at #chs11

October 21, 2011 9:22 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@techguy

John Lynn

I think Blumenthal might have actually said Healthcare IT instead of EHR, but there’s a lot of overlap in this. I agree with Blumenthal that the media and even blogs like mine love to write about the negative more than the positive. It makes for a compelling headline. Maybe the people behind the good research studies need to promote themselves more too.

15% of Internet users track weight diet or exercise routinely online but h/c is not using this #CHS11

October 21, 2011 10:31 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@drnic1

Nick van Terheyden

This kind of hit me on multiple levels. First, I found it interesting that 15% are tracking their weight and exercise. Is that too low? It’s probably the highest level of any other healthcare data tracking app. I wonder where the rest of the apps stand. The second thing that hit me was the fact that doctors aren’t using this data. Finding some way to make it easy and useful for doctors to use all this collected information is going to be a challenging, but important next step. I’ll be interested to see how EHR companies work through the process of taking that data and integrating it into their EHR software. It won’t be easy, but I believe patients will love this type of integration. Plus, it would encourage many others to start using these medical devices.

Everyone probably realizes by now that I love to read first hand experiences with EMR and EHR. I guess I’ve always loved stories and I’ve always loved to tell stories, so maybe that’s where that comes from. I guess this is why I loved Katherine Rourke’s post called “Would An EMR Have Improved My Son’s ED Care?” on the Hospital EMR and EHR website. It’s a great read if you love first hand experiences with EMR as I do.

Katherine does raise a challenging question, “Does an EMR improve patient care?”

In past presentations, I’ve always put the idea of an EMR improving patient care under the “possible EHR benefits.” (See a full list of EMR and EHR Benefits) As many things in life there’s a big “Depends!” that is the b est answer to that question. The answer to this question depends on what kind of care you were offering previously, the type of care you offer, the EMR you chose, the features you chose to employ in that EMR, the match between your workflow and the EMR workflow, and I’m sure another dozen other depends as well.

What’s more important to point out is that an EMR can improve patient care. I certainly can’t guarantee that an EMR will improve patient care in your clinic, but I’ve seen many cases where it has improved patient care and so I know it’s possible. The biggest determining factor in whether an EMR will improve patient care in your clinic is your desire to have it do so.

Many times in life, you get what you want. Do you want an EMR to improve your patient care? Or were you too focused on wanting to get the EHR Incentive money? Not that these and other benefits are mutually exclusive, but the focus of your EHR implementation matters a lot. Make sure you’re focused on the right things and your EMR selection and implementation will go 100 times better. In fact, it will even improve patient care if you want it to.

Folks,  as an editor covering this industry I’ve read more EMR vendor news, pored over more of their press releases and taken in more their advertising pitches than most.   Despite that, I’ve seldom walked away with a clear sense of why that vendor was truly special.

While that’s never a good thing for any vendor, it’s a particularly bad problem in 2011, which, I predict, will make or break many smaller EMR developers.  If it was hard to get buyers’ attention over the last two years — especially that of fearful physicians — it’s going to be a Herculean challenge this year.  The noise level is higher than a pack of screaming fans at a Metallica concert.

I’m not suggesting that EMRs have become a commodity like John suggested was a possibility (the real problem is how diverse they are, in fact!) but I am saying that many are still doing a terrible job of setting themselves apart.  Too much of the content churned out by EMR vendors makes appallingly broad generalizations or strings together a list of “me-too” features.

I do sympathize, tremendously, with the struggle health IT marketers go through in trying to sell such a complex product in a way which clearly communicates:

*  Affordability
*  Easy maintenance
*  Easy-to-establish productivity
*  Reliability

and in the case of selling to larger entities like hospitals:

*  Interoperability
*  Data integrity
*  Intelligently designed infrastructure
*  Scalability
*  And much, much more!

Still, there’s no getting around the fact that they’ve got to get the job done.  This year, if an EMR vendor seems like a me-too, they’ll be history in 18 months, tops.   Like it or not, the time has come to put up (a clear message) or shut up.

I’ve always loved the discussion on benefits of an EMR. There are a lot of interesting possibilities. It’s certainly a hard thing to measure since you’re often comparing apples and organes, but there’s certainly some interesting possible benefits. Looks like the video got most of my list of EMR benefits. Enjoy!

I just read one of the best posts I’ve read in quite a while by Marc Holland, CEO of System Research Services about HI(TECH) Anxiety. One of the best parts of the post was a list he did of the concerns physicians and their staff have about the EMR stimulus:

• I don’t have enough Medicare revenues to qualify
• I don’t have enough of a Medicaid patient volume to qualify
• I’m reluctant to shop, let alone buy, until I know what criteria I must meet for my usage to be considered “meaningful”
• The vendors I have spoken with don’t offer a version suitable to my specialty; a general purpose EMR simply doesn’t meet my needs
• I have no personal capability or interest in becoming my own IT department and I don’t have the luxury of staff with the necessary skills
• I haven’t begun to shop and don’t know where to start
• The software I have seen doesn’t match my needs; usability is a key concern
• I’m concerned about sharing my patient information with competitors and with the government, how do I preserve the confidentiality of my patient information?
• How do I obtain and manage patient permissions?
• I need help; lots of help

These concerns really aren’t new. Plus, none of them are really all that significant. It’s just the learning curve that’s required to implement an EMR. Sadly, I think that far too much focus has been on shoving the EMR down people’s throats instead of educating them properly on EMR and the inherent benefits of those EMR.

We’re always happy to welcome people interested in doing quality guest posts on this blog.  So, when I got this in my email, I thought it was an important subject to cover on this blog.  The following guest post looks at some of the advantages of an EMR system.  This is a good start for those looking at an EMR system.  I think there are a number of other advantages that aren’t listed below.  I’d love to hear about other advantages of an EMR system in the comments.

The Advantages of EMR Systems

There’s talk of every public hospital in the USA being equipped with electronic medical record systems in a year or two; that’s how popular and necessary these information technology systems have become. And why not, considering the various advantages they hold. EMR systems:

• Lower costs in the long term: While the initial cost may be high, over a period of time, the average cost of the system becomes much less than a similar manual system. When records are maintained electronically, there is less room for error. Security is also enhanced leading to patient confidentiality and privacy.
• Eliminate repetitive and unnecessary testing: EMR systems help prevent repetitive testing and thus save both patients and hospitals a lot of money. They can be transferred via email to any hospital or medical practitioner in an instant thus avoiding the need for tests that have already been performed.
• Provide accurate medical information: Information that’s stored in the electronic format is not prone to human error and can be retrieved easily at the touch of a button or the click of a mouse. Search and retrieval times are a fraction of what they would be in manual systems.
• Allow information to be available anytime, anywhere: Doctors and other medical personnel can access medical records from anywhere using handheld devices like the iPhone and related software. This allows them to continue treatment no matter where they are and also to pass on information so that other physicians can also provide emergency care when needed.
• Allow for streamlined information: The information is stored in such a way so that retrieval of select data based on certain criteria and filters can be accessed. Besides this, physicians can also use the system to prescribe medicines for their patients from pharmacies that are part of the program. This allows patients to get refills directly without having to go to the doctor or the pharmacist. EMR systems also allow physicians to order diagnostic tests and view the results online.

This article is written by Kat Sanders, who regularly blogs on the topic of phlebotomist school at her blog Health Zone Blog. She welcomes your comments and questions at her email address:katsanders25@gmail.com.