MHA's Executive Briefing

Thinking strategically about new information technology

Some new technologies—like the Web, bar codes and MRIs—profoundly alter our organizations; others, like artificial intelligence, fail to register a blip on the radar screen. Five questions will help you determine which course the next new thing will take.

Read the full article from H&HN Weekly.

Stimulus creates huge demand for HIT professionals

With all the new money flowing into health IT, particularly with the $35 billion or so in federal money (a net $19 billion after accounting for expected efficiency savings) for electronic health records, someone's going to have to build, install, deploy and train people to use the systems, right? Studies estimate that there was a need for 10,000 to 15,000 new health IT professionals nationwide, but those were conducted before the enactment of the federal stimulus back in February. So there's clearly a huge demand for a health IT workforce, Health Leaders Media reports.

More recently, the an American Hospital Association survey found that 25 percent of responding organizations are shorthanded when it comes to IT staff and expertise. However, the economic downturn that has left so many talented IT professionals unemployed could provide an unprecedented opportunity for healthcare. "We have to figure out a strategy to take IT professionals from other disciplines and orient them to healthcare, and then look at the educational system and the places where they are training people who are specializing in healthcare issues to beginning to look at healthcare IT as a piece of the curriculum," says AHA spokesman Rick Wade.

While these seasoned IT pros can be of immediate help in building secure infrastructure, they will have to be trained for the unique needs of healthcare. "It's all about understanding clinical business processes," says Alex Rodriguez, CIO of St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, Ky. "That is the separation-being able to have the communication skills to dive into how the business processes work, the communication skills and the thinking skills to determine how the new technology applications are going to be used," he explains to Health Leaders.

While the increased demand could drive up salaries, Rodriguez says people are looking for professional growth and stability in these trying times, so hospitals may not have to break the bank when augmenting their health IT staff.

For more on the staffing implications of the stimulus take a look at this Health Leaders Media story.

[ via FierceHealthIT ]

Top 10 Hospital Technologies: C-Suite Watch List for 2009 and Beyond

ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, recently revealed its top 10 list of health technologies that hospital c-suite executives should have on their radar now. The just-released list takes into account the convergence of critical patient safety, economic, and regulatory pressures facing healthcare executives today.

The final 10 list includes today's hottest technologies and technology-related issues across a variety of clinical and operational areas, such as health IT, cardiovascular surgery, oncologic radiation, procurement, infection control, and imaging and radiology services.

ECRI Institute's Top 10 Hospital Technology Issues: C-Suite Watch List for 2009 and Beyond, available for free download, contains easy-to-read overviews and ECRI Institute's unbiased perspectives on complex and high-profile technologies and processes of care that are prominent and will continue to be so in the next few years. The new executive report is intended to help guide health care leaders in planning for capital expenditures.

Live from HIMSS: Take Advantage of Stimulus Money

The question of timing to get HITECH Act reimbursement is on everyone's mind. On the one hand, the federal government is saying to hurry up to get the maximum reimbursement by Jan. 1, 2011. At the same time the government is also saying to wait until at least the end of the year before the regulations come to clarify what a "qualified EHR" or a "meaningful user" means. 

For the full story, click here.

AHA voices support for health care privacy amendments to H.R. 1

The American Hospital Association on Feb. 5 expressed support for health care privacy amendments proposed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. AHA said Klobuchar’s amendment would protect the quality assurance activities of hospitals, which must be able to make appropriate use of patients’ medical information to continually improve the care they deliver.

“Activities like infection surveillance, disease management, and care coordination are essential and could be adversely affected if patient information were de-identified or if prior written consent were required for each quality activity,” AHA wrote. Kohl’s amendment would require the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to consider the cost of complying with the legislation’s “accounting for disclosures” provision and provide flexibility in applying the effective dates for moving to this expanded reporting, which AHA called “a necessary addition given the schedule for developing standards and issuing regulations.”

House Energy and Commerce Committee Approves Bill To Promote Electronic Health Records

The House Energy and Commerce Committee recently voted to approve a customized version of a bill (HR 6357) meant to entice hospitals, physicians and other health care providers to adopt a nationwide electronic health record system, according to CongressDaily. The bill was revised to clarify measures related to patient privacy protections and uses of the medical records, based on concerns from stakeholders in the health care, technology and consumer advocacy sectors (Noyes, CongressDaily, 7/23).

The legislation would approve grants and loans to hospitals and physicians, particularly those with small practices, to purchase health information technology equipment, CQ Today reports. The bill also would require the federal government to develop standards for EHRs. In addition, the bill would require the federal government to begin implementing EHRs in its health programs as it replaces current equipment.

Click here to access this story.

[Via Kaiser]

Health care coalition pushes for e-prescribing legislation

Physicians and pharmacy software companies have adopted technical measures necessary to establish a national electronic prescribing system, according to a letter sent to lawmakers from a coalition of health care providers, insurance companies, academics and pharmacies (CQ HealthBeat). The letter stated that while additional standards could allow for more developed functions and features, "they are not preventing any physician, pharmacist or patient from realizing the substantial and measurable benefits associated with e-prescribing today" (Cooley, CQ HealthBeat). The letter's authors included SureScripts, WellPoint and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, CQ HealthBeat reports. Implementation advocates for an e-prescribing system say it would benefit the existing system and help save lives.

During a forum sponsored by the Brookings Institution's Engelberg Center for Health Reform, American Medical Association discussed standards physicians would accept for an e-prescribing requirement under Medicare. AMA board member and emergency physician, Steve Stack, called on lawmakers to ensure that CMS releases a final rule for e-prescribing standards by the end of 2009. In April, the agency issued three standards and intends to release three more. Stack stated physicians should be allowed at least two years to implement e-prescribing technology before subjection to Medicare payment reductions and exceptions for physicians with small practices, rural physician offices and emergency cases. AMA also called for the deletion of a Drug Enforcement Administration rule which would ban e-prescribing of controlled substances (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/12).

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) sent a separate letter to the Senate Finance Committee, which stated that e-prescribing is a "necessary tool that will improve patient safety by reducing medical errors, decrease adverse drug events, reduce hospitalizations, improve patient adherence and increase patient satisfaction." The letter urged Congress to move forward with the nationwide adoption of an e-prescribing system by the end of 2011 but they did state lawmakers should allow exceptions for physicians with small practices, rural physician offices and emergency cases. According to CQ HealthBeat, ACC officials already have asked HHS to develop the final three rules for e-prescribing standards by the end of 2009, in addition to the standards announced last month. (CQ HealthBeat, 5/23).

[VIa Kaiser Network]

Task force sets sights on e-prescribing

Allyson Schwartz

A congressional task force made up of moderate Democrats—part of the New Democrat Coalition—with an eye toward passing “doable” health care legislation said it would push for the passage of an electronic-prescribing bill that gives doctors financial incentives to adopt such systems.

Reps. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), a former nurse, Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.), a former health care administrator, and Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), a one-time hospital executive, officially debuted its health reform agenda on Capitol Hill. Health information technology is one part of a broader mission, which the lawmakers said would also include efforts to better coordinate chronic-disease care and bolster pay-for-performance and comparative effectiveness programs.

“The U.S. invests more resources in health care than any other country in the world,” Schwartz said in a written statement. “Yet, more than 45 million Americans remain uninsured, and our health care delivery system is too often inaccessible and inefficient.”

Schwartz co-sponsored a bill last year that would provide a one-time incentive of several thousand dollars to each qualifying physician as a means to help them purchase and implement e-prescribing. The bill would also offer bonus payments for each Medicare prescription that is written electronically while penalizing those who don’t e-prescribe after 2011.

[ via Matthew DoBias, Modern Healthcare's Daily Dose ]

Senators introduce health IT bill

Sens. Deb Stabenow (D-MI) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) on May 16 introduced legislation that would provide grants and other incentives to speed the adoption of health information technology. They said their Health Information Technology Act would establish a five-year, $4 billion competitive grant program for information technologies and services needed by hospitals, physicians, skilled nursing facilities, community health centers and community mental health centers.

Among other provisions, they said the bill would increase Medicare payments to providers who use health IT to improve the quality and accuracy of clinical decisions for patients with chronic conditions.

[ via AHA News Now ]

Report examines CPOE implementation at five community hospitals

A new report prepared for the Massachusetts Hospital CPOE Initiative examines lessons learned from five U.S. hospitals that have successfully implemented computerized physician order entry. The report, by First Consulting Group, includes interviews with project managers and physicians at the hospitals: Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, MA; Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, MO; Newport (RI) Hospital; Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, MA; and Summa Health System in Akron, OH.

Supported by the Massachusetts Hospital Association, the initiative was launched last year by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and New England Healthcare Institute with the goal of implementing CPOE in all of the state’s hospitals within four years. "This technology holds great promise for improvements in patient safety and administrative efficiency,” said MHA President and CEO Ron Hollander. “That is why we are working so closely with leaders in business and government to bring the benefits of CPOE to every patient, caregiver and hospital in Massachusetts. We need help to remove the financial barriers to achieving this in 100% of our hospitals."

[ via AHA News Now ]