With everyone from pre-teens to great-grandparents and everyone in between using cell phones these days, the issue of radiation continues to be in hot debate. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the first and largest study focused on whether cell phone exposure affects brain activity. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study found that 50-minute cell phone exposure was associated with increased brain activity in regions close to where the phone antenna is held against the head. However, what this means is not clear - it is not known whether these changes have any effect on a person’s overall health. While this study is preliminary and does not address any potential health issues, it definitely will ramp up the debate about radiation safety and will likely result in additional research and studies conducted on the safety of cell phones. Interestingly, according to the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse – the authors of the study - if there aren’t negative long-term effects, cell phones have the potential to be used as a non-invasive method to therapeutically stimulate parts of the brain for treatment for conditions such as depression. We’ll keep our eyes on this hot topic and report updates.
Unnecessary Surgical Breast Biopsies Being Performed
While medical guidelines state that surgical breast biopsies should only occur 10 percent of the time or less, a study found that 30 percent of the breast biopsies conducted in Florida between 2003 and 2008 were surgical. These results would likely be replicated in other areas of the country which according to the New York Times translates into more than 300,000 women a year having unnecessary surgery at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. The study published in The American Journal of Surgery found that other methods can be used such as needle biopsies which could lead to a reduction in unnecessary operations in women, improved patient care and a reduction in breast health care costs. While a needle biopsy requires only numbing with a local anesthetic – not sedation or general anesthesia like with surgery –and uses a tiny incision and carries less risk of infection and scarring, the increased use of surgery is not known. Some surmise that it is because some physicians may not be keeping up with the latest medical advances or may not want to refer patients to a radiologist. Interestingly, some hospitals are starting to put in place a surgical biopsy ban unless they are truly necessary and many doctors are telling women that if they are told they need a surgical biopsy they should ask why and consider a second opinion.
The Schwartz Healthcare IT Practice opened up their digital services to the HIMSS exhibitors with a Twitter contest. In less than 140 characters, companies tweeted why their technology was compelling to @SchwartzPRx and YourNurseIsOn.com was the chosen winner! Hear how CEO and Founder Matthew Browning turned the YourNurseIsOn.com concept into an award-winning, innovative software as a service (SaaS) platform that provides instant staff communications and open shift fulfillment to hospitals and healthcare facilities nationwide.
Throughout the week we’ve heard from some of the industry’s leading innovators. These companies, a few whose executives we interviewed on Wednesday, are working to bring to market new solutions that will truly address healthcare cost and delivery issues, and help healthcare providers improve patient care.
No one, though, has a greater commitment to patient care than U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA. In a ‘Views from the Top’ session, Dr. Benjamin recounted her experiences at the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Alabama. The clinic and its patients met adversity head on, three times, after the clinic was damaged by floods and then destroyed by a fire. Dr. Benjamin spoke about her motivation to rebuild and the strength she gained from her patients. Implementing an electric health record (EHR) when the clinic rebuilt last year, Dr. Benjamin’s experience highlighted an important benefit of EHR implementation that isn’t often promoted: disaster recovery. With an EHR in place, clinics and hospitals can secure and preserve patient information so physicians have access to it whenever they need it. The U.S. Surgeon also reminded the audience that, “one person can make a difference in medical policy and medical practice.”
One person can also reach many – especially now through social media channels. In our final wrap-up video, Healthcare IT News Managing Editor Mike Miliard, explains that social media is a hot topic in healthcare. The video also includes commentary from executives from DiagnosisOne, Boston Software Systems and OmniCell.
Omnicell, a leading provider of medication management systems to healthcare facilities, joined the HIMSS11 Interoperability Showcase this week. The Schwartz Healthcare IT Practice caught up with the company's product manager for interoperability, Ray Vrabel, PharmD to hear more about Omnicell's interoperable standards-based technology solutions.
With HIMSS11 buzz continuing to spread across the blogosphere and Twitter, it came as no surprise that much of the attention on Wednesday focused on the back-to-back keynote speeches given by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and National Health IT Coordinator David Blumenthal, MD.
Sebelius stressed health IT’s important role as an economic growth engine for the country and asked the health IT community to push more aggressively on making headway.
“We need you to be a part of the conversation to improve health in the country," she said. "Healthcare reform needs IT, but health IT needs healthcare reform. We need you to be more than advocates for the technology. We need you to be advocates for the healthcare system that makes these systems have the most impact."
Meanwhile, Blumenthal’s speech focused mostly on the ONC’s achievements during what he dubbed as “The Age of Meaningful Use,” including establishing RECs, IT education programs in community colleges, funding for state HIEs, and EHR incentive payment programs under Medicare and Medicaid. There were no hints as to who will replace him as the ONC leader when he steps down this spring, but he did give some indications on the ONC’s plans for Stage 2 meaningful use criteria, which will center on more specific requirements for interoperability.
With HIMSS activities winding down, the spotlight today will no doubt be on Michael J. Fox’s keynote address. Tweets have already been floating around this morning about his talk. Taking a look back at the hot topics from this year’s conference – healthcare reform, meaningful use, interoperability, privacy and security – health information exchange seems to take the Oscar for the biggest buzz. While the impact of the new healthcare reform law on health information exchange remains uncertain, it is apparent from the many conversations around this topic that health IT leaders across the industry are making it a top priority for the year to come.
As attendees bid farewell to Orlando and rest their sore feet, they return to renewed inspiration and most importantly, a clearer vision of where health IT needs to be heading. The industry is moving quickly, and it will be interesting to see how things pan out as developments in meaningful use progress.
The Schwartz Healthcare IT Practice spoke with Boston Software Systems VP Technical Services, Thom C. Blackwell, about the launch of Cognauto, the company's next generation platform for workflow automation and systems integration.
Phreesia, the leader in patient check-in solutions, spoke with the Schwartz HCIT Practice about the new Phreesia Payment Scheduler. The application enables practices to offer payment plans for patients at check-in and check-out, ensuring that doctors get paid on time and in full.
iNTERFACEWARE CEO Eliot Muir discusses Iguana v5, the latest version of the company's powerful HL7 interface engine which includes a new approach to custom integration.
As of Tuesday, HIMSS11 officially has broken records with more than 30,000 attendees. That’s a lot of people with, undoubtedly, some pretty sore feet.
As my colleague Brenna Hagy predicted in a previous post, meaningful use, interoperability, electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchange (HIE) and mobile solutions all continue to dominate many of the discussions and training sessions on the show floor.
Tuesday morning kicked off with several speaking sessions focused on meaningful use, including one with Dr. Thomas Yackel, chief health information officer at Oregon Health & Science University, on the “Future of Meaningful Use and Care Coordination: Stage 2.” Dr. Yackel outlined how healthcare organizations can prepare for the move from meaningful use stage 1 to care coordination in stage 2 and 3, while stressing the importance of health information exchange.
In addition, we got our first glimpse at the results of the HIMSS 22nd Annual Leadership Survey, which shed light on why meaningful use continues to be a much buzzed about topic at the conference this year. In an online survey completed by 326 IT executives and information officers at hospitals across the country between December 3, 2010 and January 31, 2011, half named meaningful use requirements for electronic health-record systems as their top IT priority for the next two years. That’s an increase of 8 percent over last year.
Another interesting session from Tuesday touched upon ICD-10. Is it a scary topic for healthcare IT professionals? Mark Williams, partner, Health Industries, PricewaterhouseCoopers, doesn’t think so. At this point, most professionals in the industry are aware of the upcoming ICD-10 conversation deadline. In the education session,“Conversion Countdown: Jumpstart Your ICD-10 Project,” Williams helped ease concerns by discussing benchmarking progress, identifying any problem areas, and plans to kick them into high gear while minimizing disruptions.
Something to keep our eyes on: HIMSS officials announced yesterday their partnership with a new healthcare conference, CollaborativeCARE Conference (C3). Yes, that’s right, a new healthcare conference will be debuting this November in Long Beach, California, aimed at educating physicians and patients through regional collaboration. Get excited for the fall!
What to expect today? Look out for continued discussions on healthcare information exchange and privacy. Also expect to hear more about money for health IT investment, as nearly 30 billion dollars has been set aside in healthcare reform laws to support health IT initiatives. Keynote speakers today will include Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health IT. As Blumenthal recently announced he will be stepping down from his position in the spring to return to Harvard, we expect lots of hype leading up to his speaking session today. Will he announce his successor? We’ll have to wait and see.
With Day 2 in the books, we were all pleased to leave the show floor by 6:00 p.m. with the sun still shining and 80 degree weather. To our colleagues back in Boston and San Fran, we swear we’re not gloating.
athenahealth and Microsoft announced a strategic alliance today with plans to launch an electronic health solution. The TriZetto Group also announced that it will acquire Gateway EDI, which will create a new payer-provider connectivity to drive enhanced work-flow processes and cost reduction across the industry. These announcements really speak to a general theme that resonated on the show floor: We continue to see consolidation and collaboration among HIT vendors as healthcare organizations look to deploy best-of-breed solutions, packaged together, and in some cases even integrated, to meet their health information management needs. This consolidation presents PR challenges and opportunities. Through partnerships and acquisitions, vendors are expanding their value propositions and can tell a better benefits-driven story. But, it’s important for those vendors to highlight their own differentiators, making sure key features and benefits of their stand-alone products and services don’t get lost in the mix. Another hot topic at the show is the inevitable transition to ACOs and the forms they may take: hospital-based, physician-based or both.
HIMSS has historically been a great venue for conversations between potential partners. But let’s not forget about the great educational sessions. One of the best presentations we've seen was from Miramont Family Health, a 15,000-patient group in Colorado. The presentation, "Xtreme EHR," detailed the group's implementation and use of an EHR to transform their processes and patient care. They provided a blizzard of stats. One that stood out was the weekly shredding of paper records--so many that it's now totaled more than 300,000 lbs. That's about the weight of a 747. It freed up a room large enough to use as offices for several people, reducing rent. We know the true goal of EHR adoption is improving patient care, but that type of tangible cost savings may be the immediate ROI that an organization needs to make the transition.
Check out our second HIMSS wrap video, where we caught up with Anthony Guerra of HealthSystemCIO. He’s got his finger on the pulse of what CIOs are thinking. We also talked with executives from INTERFACE Ware and GE Healthcare. Watch the video here.
The Schwartz Healthcare IT Practice spoke with NaviNet on the HIMSS show floor to hear more about NaviNet Mobile Connect, a care communications platform that enables the delivery of intelligent, actionable patient-related information to physicians via handheld devices, helping to close care gaps, enhance care management and coordination, and improve treatment plan adherence.
Circadence spoke with the Schwartz HCIT Practice at HIMSS 2011 to share how their innovative technology is breaking ground in the medical imaging and EMR/EHR industries.
In our continued coverage from the HIMSS show floor, the HCIT practice interviewed Russell Olsen, VP of Product Management at Phytel about the company's Comprehensive Care Coordination and philosophy on population health and their patient-centered care model.
Announcements coming out of the largest annual healthcare IT conference promise to check off the list of meaningful use requirements within the healthcare industry one by one. Check out a few “game changers” so far here, here and here.
In a recent post, my colleague Mercedes Carrasco wrote about the key terms that are most prominent on the HIMSS11 schedule. Some of the hot topics we have seen so far, and some themes we will be sure to hear more about at HIMSS this year include:
Interoperability is as enormous a topic as ever, and a number of vendors are showcasing how well they can exchange data. Who will be the first to seamlessly interoperate? Has this company done it? Let the games begin…
In recent articles about whether electronic health records are capable of improving the quality of care, EHRs have taken quite a few hits. Despite the efforts and expense of installing EHRs in practices, they are not improving overall quality as much as expected, according to researchers. Keep an eye out for the company that will come out with the “It” EHR that will truly improve quality of care. Perhaps this company is on the right track by improving training for doctors so they will have more successful EHR deployments.
Mobile solutions are a major player at HIMSS this year. One product announcement describes a solution that arms doctors with the ability to obtain complete patient health information on a mobile device at the point-of-care. Doctors will be able to e-prescribe, complete pre-certification and eligibility, as well as have the patient’s complete medical records literally in the palm of their hands. Don’t worry if your doctor is on his iPhone or iPad while in the exam room. He isn’t playing “Angry Birds,” he’s just filling the prescription for your allergy medication.
There was a pre-HIMSS rumbling that there would be a free health information exchange (HIE) solution unveiled at the show. The rumors proved to be true: This new system will be cloud-based and will allow healthcare providers across the country to exchange information quickly and securely for FREE.
Healthcare IT vendors from across the care continuum met for a day packed with educational sessions, demos, meetings and more.
EHR adoption and benefits still dominate conversations as healthcare visionaries and the ‘mavens’ who’ve already adopted full-service EHRs talk to the benefits they’ve achieved. In her presentation, “Dr. No: The Response to HITECH,” Health Affairs Editor in Chief Susan Dentzer made a convincing case for EHR adoption. She admits that adoption certainly isn’t easy and upfront costs, which range from about $37,000 to $58,500, are significant. (But less than then cost of a Mercedes, which Dentzer says she often sees MDs drive!) Dentzer says, “Let’s get real.” Potential benefits from improving quality and population health to engaging patients, better coordinating care and improving security (plus the some $44,000 in incentives), is more than enough to get physicians on the right path. Dave Close caught Robert Reich’s keynote, which he says was compelling and at times even funny. At one point Reich gave the economic perspective that in recent decades (since the '70s) the economy has doubled in size while wages stayed flat "where did the money go? Healthcare…or at least a lot of it." Reich ended by saying that the people in the room would be the ones to help alleviate the problem of growing healthcare spending, "and we're counting on you to do a good job."
To get a sense of the HIMSS from a media perspective, the Schwartz team talked to Greg Gillespie of Health Data Management. See what he has to say about EHRs and health information exchange. We also talked to several Schwartz clients to find out what trends they’re watching: Big in 2011? Expect to see the way we think about healthcare communication changing and a greater focus on quality, accountability and security.
Here is a recap of some of the top health stories of the week:
Lap Band Surgery for the Not-So Obese
The FDA approved this week the wider use of Allergan’s Lap-Band stomach-restricting device for moderately obese people who fail to lose weight by alternate methods such as diet, exercise or drugs. As reported in the New York Times, more than 26 million Americans will likely now be eligible for the surgery, compared to the 15 to 18 million eligible under the previous standard. Experts believe that this expanded approval will drive more moderately obese people to consider surgery, especially since a number of diet pills have been failing to get FDA approval of late and the drug Meridia was withdrawn from the market. With these new guidelines, people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 with an associated health condition are now eligible for surgery. Until now, people had to have a BMI of 35 if they had obesity-related health problems.
Genzyme Purchased by Sanofi-Aventis for $20 Billion
The world’s fourth-largest drug maker, Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis purchased Genzyme for $20.1 billion this week. The announcement comes after months of back and forth between the companies after the deal was originally met with reluctance by the Cambridge-based company to a takeover. As discussed in the Boston Globe, this deal underscores the new pharmaceutical landscape as companies that are plagued by patent expirations are seeking ways to replace these drugs with new revenue streams. In fact, medications worth more than $30 billion in annual sales will begin competing with low-cost generic drugs for the treatment of common diseases such as arthritis, diabetes and asthma. Genzyme’s drugs fall largely into the orphan drug class, meaning they are developed specifically to treat rare medical conditions and are given extra patent protection. Sanofi says that it is committed to Genzyme’s development of complex drugs to treat rare diseases and as a reflection of this commitment, the president traveled to Cambridge to meet with the head of Genzyme instead of simply making the announcement from its headquarters in Paris. This deal underscores the expanding life sciences industry in Massachusetts. With the nation’s top universities like Harvard and MIT and research hospitals in Boston developing new breakthrough therapies, Massachusetts is cementing itself as the hub for scientific research and talent, and large pharma is taking notice!
Watson Asks: What is Healthcare?
It’s hard to miss any stories about Watson – IBM’s advanced computing system that went against Jeopardy! pros this week – and now the analytical technology will be used to provide unprecedented clinical information and analytical technological advancements to the healthcare field. Partnering with Nuance Communications, the companies have signed a research and technology agreement to combine Watson’s technology with Nuance’s speech recognition and clinical language understanding solutions. The goal is to leverage Watson’s ability to analyze the meaning and context of human language and quickly process information to find correct answers, and assist physicians and nurses in finding information often buried within huge volumes of information and offer answers they may not have considered. Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Maryland School of Medicine are working with the companies on this collaborative effort to study diagnostic evidence. The first commercial offering is expected to be available in 18-24 months.
Not interested in any of those? How about queuing up for "The Holy Land Experience" (home of the “Goliath Burger”), Titanic – The Experience, "NFL Experience" or Richard Petty Driving Experience (surprisingly, no “Jimi Hendrix Experience” - but there is an extravaganza titled "Bob Marley – A Tribute to Freedom"). Or zip over to catch some "Gator Wrestlin’" at Gatorland: The Alligator Capital of the World, go indoor skydiving in a vertical wind tunnel (SkyVenture), see “an actual human shrunken head” at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium and finish off the day at Disney's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show, an “all-you-care-to-eat, family-style luau featuring hula dancing and fire knife dancers.”
For the music fan, there’s B.B. King’s Orlando, House of Blues Orlando and Hard Rock Live (Orlando’s “Coliseum of Rock” features upcoming shows by Gipsy Kings, Scissor Sisters, Tom Jones, Earth, Wind & Fire and Jeff Beck).
For those looking for spectacle, there's Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba....Or, just a few blocks north of the Convention Center (and HIMSS 2011), those pining for Boston’s arctic chill will feel right at home at ICEBAR, which is constructed out of “50 tons of carved ice.” It’s housed right next to Fire Lounge, home of the “Martini flight.” For upscale cocktails, try the Bösendorfer Lounge and for those seeking a bit of culture, there’s the Orlando Museum of Art – and, with a day trip to St. Petersburg, the Salvador Dali Museum.
Lots more on things to do in Orlando and opportunities to get discounted tickets here.
And, while you’re at HIMSS, stop by and visit Schwartz Communications at booth #3319 at the Orange County Convention Center!
A core component of effective communication strategies for healthcare companies almost always involves identifying and promoting patient success stories. Drug, device, diagnostic or treatment, there is always greater success creating awareness when courageous patients step forward, willing to share their stories of triumph of how innovative medical technology helped them identify or conquer their medical challenges.
Dr. Chen’s recent story in the New York Times provides evidence that this methodology really works. Storytelling from one patient to another is an effective way to motivate people to get healthier:
“Now The Annals of Internal Medicine has published the results of a provocative new trial examining the effects of storytelling on patients with high blood pressure. And it appears that at least for one group of patients, listening to personal narratives helped control high blood pressure as effectively as the addition of more medications.”
Throughout my years in PR I have spoken to upwards of 100 patients facing all kinds of conditions including menorrhagia (excessive menstrual bleeding), obstructive sleep apnea, epilepsy, depression and several types of cancer. It has always amazed me at how willing these brave souls are to share their stories for only one reason: to help others who may benefit. On behalf of everyone living healthier lives because of this selfless act, thank you for sharing.
There are a zillion resources online where patients can read the personal stories of those going through similar medical challenges. For example, Accuray, the maker of the CyberKnife System, updates its website regularly with fresh stories of patients facing a variety of cancers as well as benign tumors. Another great source to check out is patientslikeme, an online community for people with life-changing conditions. Patients share their personal health data with one another so the information can be available to help the public-at-large.
Here is a recap of some of the top health stories of the week:
Listen Up!: Survey of Docs and Patients On How to Have a More Productive Relationship
The March issue of Consumer Reports features the results of two surveys that look at the relationship between physicians and patients — what’s going well? What makes each group tick? Targeting more than 49,000 of the magazine’s subscribers, one survey found that while three-quarters of patients were highly satisfied with theirdoctor, they still had complaints — ranging from lengthy waiting room visits to ineffective treatments. On the physician front, 660 primary-care physicians were surveyed about professional challenges and what patients could be doing better, with noncompliance being a big issue. Both patients and doctors cited respect and professionalism from each other as key for a successful relationship.Not surprisingly, online research was a hot topic – with patients being big proponents about looking up their condition and treatments on the Internet while doctors were more skeptical of it being helpful. Bottom line: check out reliable sites like the CDC, FDA, NCI and the Mayo Clinic. And while we’re on the subject, the New York Times Magazine had an interesting story on where consumers get medical information: if you want unbiased information on a health condition that simply doesn’t provide links to pharmaceutical companies that it has a relationship with, check out the Mayo Clinic’s site.
Lymph Node Study Changes Thinking on Breast Cancer Treatment
Long thought to be a standard course of treatment—the removal of cancerous lymph nodes from the armpit of a patient with early stage breast cancer - a new study finds that for many women with early breast cancer, this painful procedure is not necessary. The study appearing in JAMA and reported in the New York Times found that for about 20 percent of breast cancer patients taking out cancerous nodes has no advantage and in fact, can cause complications like infection and lymphedema, a chronic swelling in the arms that can become disabling. These new findings along with results from similar studies will likely change medical practice for many patients, with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan already changing its practice.
FDA Launches Innovation Pathway to Speed Up Approval of Potentially Life Saving Medical Devices
The FDA announced a plan that would speed up the approval of medical devices that have the potential to dramatically improve patients' lives. Long a sore spot by medical device companies on how long it takes to secure FDA approval, the FDA’s Innovation Pathway would aim to review first-of-a-kind devices in five months, which is half the time currently spent reviewing most new devices. The New York Times recently wrote about how medical device executives and investors are afraid the U.S. is losing its competitive edge because companies are now seeking approvals in other countries, rather than go through the arduous and lengthy FDA review process in the U.S. As we reported earlier, the FDA is undergoing a multiyear effort to overhaul its system for approving medical devices, which has been the subject of increased criticism by industry officials and public safety advocates
Our president Bryan Scanlon opined in PR Week yesterday on the wildly popular, or you could argue, unpopular, topic of crisis communications. He talks about the need to not only ensure you have a crisis communications plan ready to go but to actually walk through real-world exercises with your entire staff. Use lessons learned from others to guide your preparedness.
Jim Weinrebe, an executive vice president and co-leader of our healthcare practice here at Schwartz, recently spoke about this same issue at a Master’s Institute Program held by the Publicity Club of New England. Jim shared his thoughts on crisis communications relative to his own vast experience in healthcare communications.
How many can truly say they have a crisis protocol in place? OK, maybe a plan, but how many have thought about the utility of the latest and greatest social media tools as communication vehicles? Social media tools have an undisputable place in a crisis.
If you haven’t considered the benefits, press pause and do so. Even if you have yet to embrace the world of social media in your strategic communications programming consider these tools as a way to expeditiously respond and inform your constituents in the event of a crisis.
At HIMSS 2009, there was a great deal of buzz about personal health records, web services platforms for personal health data from Microsoft (HealthVault) and Google (Google Health), decision support and privacy issues. There was also energy and optimism in the air caused by the prospect of billions of dollars of stimulus funding for healthcare IT.
Soon after, in March 2009, President Obama selected David Blumenthal, M.D., to serve as the national coordinator for health information technology to speed the healthcare system's switch from paper to electronic records. This created quite a buzz in the HCIT world and started a swirl of news and predictions about how this would pan out. President Obama said the country needed to take serious steps to modernize the technology in our healthcare system to improve the health of all Americans, bring down costs and ensure sustained long-term economic growth. Greatly expanding the use of electronic health records is a key component of that effort, and the federal government would help fund that expansion.
HIMSS 2010 was all Meaningful Use, all the time, as well as EHR/EMR and health information exchange-related topics. A year after the HITECH part of the stimulus bill was passed, vendors had tailored products and programs (or at least their marketing) to take advantage of the opportunities. But now things have changed once again. The “enthusiasm and opportunity phase” is behind us and it appears that we’re moving into a “doubt and regret” phase.
Last month, Anthony Guerra at healthsystemcio.com wrote a brutal piece in InformationWeek in which he said, “Meaningful use is a brakeless train heading for a solid mountain.” Guerra illustrated how his view is at odds with that of the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), where Dr. Blumenthal sees a more upbeat scenario. Additionally, CHIME’s survey of CIOs shows that confidence is waning among hospital CIOs hoping to qualify early for EHR stimulus funding.
On the other hand, in his letter titled, “EMR Adoption is Set to Soar,” Dr. Blumenthal says the proportion of primary care physicians who have adopted a basic electronic health record increased from 19.6 percent in 2008 to 29.6 percent in 2010. And in his blog EMR Straight Talk, Evan Steele writes, "The program is at the precipice—its launch is just underway and the first attestations of meaningful use are expected in April I.”
The irony of all of this is that last week, Dr. Blumenthal announced he will be leaving his federal post this spring to return to his teaching job at Harvard University. Dr. Blumenthal’s office developed many of the rules for healthcare providers to qualify for incentive payments to automate their records. Congress allocated $27 billion for these payments in the 2009 economic stimulus measure, and the first checks were sent to doctors in January. Now more people are speaking out about the value and direction of health reform.
Maybe it isn’t so ironic or “odd,” as Mr. Steele says.
In a Washington Post article, Linda Fishman, senior vice president for public policy at the American Hospital Association, said, "He has served the cause very well.” But she said that less than two percent of hospitals qualify for the incentive payments because of stringent rules aimed at making sure the technology helps improve patient care.
Kaiser Health News quoted David Merritt, executive vice president of the Center for Health Transformation, Newt Gingrich’ Washington think tank: "There's still a heck of a lot of heavy lifting yet to go with implementing the federal incentives for health IT.”
Whatever the reason for Dr. Blumenthal’s early departure, this is a pivotal time for healthcare, punctuating uncertainty and opportunity. And Dr. Blumenthal’s departure from the ONC offers further evidence that the effort to expand EHR/EMR adoption through incentives is sliding down the hype cycle and is taking some punches. While it seemed like Dr. Blumenthal had healthcare providers across the country on the right track, his departure, ongoing debate about healthcare reform and the challenges healthcare providers are having in efforts to receive incentives makes the situation even more tenuous. Perhaps Dr. Blumenthal felt someone else will be better suited to take the next steps.
Discussions around meaningful use, EMR/EHR use and reimbursements will continue at HIMSS 2011. Time will tell in which direction these issues will turn. This will be a good time for companies to engage in the health reform process.
The million dollar question is: Who will be the next person to take on the challenge to champion electronic medical records adoption and overseeing the Federal incentive distribution?
If you have these and other questions, I hope you will have the chance to ask Dr. Blumenthal yourself during his keynote with The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius on February 23 at 8:30 a.m.
Download our HIMSS Tip Sheet for advice on how to maximize visibility in Orlando. Schwartz Communications will be sending several members of our HCIT practice group to HIMSS. Stop by our booth (#3319) or give us a call at 781-684-0770 to set up a time to meet.
Posted by Davida Dinerman on February 8, 2011 at 2:18 PM
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Here are some of the health news stories we read this week:
FDA approves injectable drug to prevent preterm birth
Great news for pregnant women at risk of preterm birth. The FDA approved the drug Makena, (hydroxyprogesterone caproate) to help prevent preterm labor before 37 weeks. Preterm birth is a prevalent problem (about half a million babies are born prematurely in the US alone) and puts preemies at risk of death and lifelong health issues. The drug was approved for women who had a previous preterm birth. Makena will be sold by KV Pharmaceuticals, once the worldwide rights to the drug are transferred from Hologic (HOLX).
New study says kids need more sleep to avoid obesity
A new study in Pediatrics says that kids who get more sleep nightly, are less likely to become obese. We all know that kids who don’t sleep enough can be cranky. But this study, which evaluated 300 kids between the ages of 4 and 10, found that those who got less sleep or irregular sleep, were at significantly higher (4.4 times) risk of obesity and diabetes. Kids in the study got 8 hours of sleep a night. The study says that those who sleep 9 or 10 hours a night have their risk considerably decreased. The good news: making up sleep on the weekends works to offset the lack of sleep during the week. So if your kids want to sleep in and miss those Saturday morning cartoons, go for it.
Gates Foundation wants to eradicate Polio worldwide
Bill Gates appeared on The Daily Show earlier this week, telling Jon Stewart about the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to eradicate polio in Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Some are criticizing Gates for diverting attention from other health issues, and stating that his goal is unrealistic. The editor of the Lancet, Richard Horton, tweeted, that "Bill Gates's obsession with polio is distorting priorities in other critical (Gates Foundation) areas. Global health does not depend on polio eradication." There was an interesting post in the Washington Post’s Light on Leadership column, where Paul Light defends Gates’s mission. Shouldn’t you always strive to change the status quo? And how else can you really make change if you don’t shoot for the top? As Light notes, “Great social movements demand great ambition.”
Less than three weeks until the show. Flights and hotel rooms are booked; now on to firming up schedules of meetings while trying to squeeze in time join as many sessions and keynotes as possible. What key terms are most prominent on the HIMSS ’11 schedule? In a recent post, we looked at key terms in HCIT blogs. This week, we thought it would be interesting to compare key words on HCIT blogs with web content on the HIMSS conference site to determine if show content maps to the issues that healthcare providers, payers, vendors and industry executives are discussing.
While there is some overlap with “patient,” “providers,” and “clinical” – the terms on the HIMSS site and web pages promoting executive sessions and education sessions suggest that event presentations will offer attendees professional development opportunities (see “career”), networking opportunities and case studies that outline best practices for technology in healthcare organizations (see “strategies, “practices,” and “objectives”).
Further, “meaningful” is larger on the HIMSS site content cloud. This could be a skewed since the blogs offered more content for evaluation, but Meaningful Use is still a buzzword for providers and healthcare organizations. It is likely that sessions outlining best practices to achieve Meaningful Use will very popular.
The “interoperability” pop up in this cloud is small. However, if you’re attending HIMSS, be sure to stop by the HIMSS Interoperability Showcase™ to see HCIT vendors demonstrate interoperability between systems, still regarded as one of the leading barriers to widespread HCIT adoption.
“Information” is dominant. This corresponds to the trends in EHR, security and data, similar to those in our previous blog post cloud. Information is the foundation for not only helping clinicians make better care decisions, but also for consumer empowerment and patient engagement.
We will take another read of HCIT blogs in the next few weeks. Expect a spike in vendor news announcements the week of the show. And our digital video team will be busy filming our clients, a few of our top HCIT journalist friends and maybe even you to help us spice up our Schwartz PRx blog.
Planning big news of your own? Download our HIMSS Tip Sheet for advice on how to maximize visibility in Orlando. Schwartz Communications will be sending several members of our HCIT practice group to HIMSS. Stop by our booth (#3319) or give us a call at 781-684-0770 to set up a time to meet.
Yesterday, the Senate voted on the House-passed repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Senate, which was considering the bill as an amendment to the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act, failed to gain the 60 votes needed to pass the amendment, with a vote tally of 47-51.
Recently, four District Courts have ruled on the constitutionality of the law, and two have decided the law’s mandate on individuals to purchase health insurance in unconstitutional. The next step is for these cases to be considered by the federal appellate courts, however, there are efforts to have the matter resolved more quickly. Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican attorney general of Virginia, and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson have both asked that the Supreme Court bypass federal appeals courts and take up the case, and this week, Sen. Nelson introduced legislation to expedite this request.
Mr. Cuccinelli said he will ask the Supreme Court to review his state’s challenge to the overhaul before it has been fully litigated in the lower courts. “Regardless of whether you believe the law is constitutional or not, we should all agree that a prompt resolution of this issue is in everyone’s best interest,” he said.
While the future of the Healthcare law is uncertain, one thing is certain: the debate will continue in the coming months.
Another interesting session from Tuesday touched upon ICD-10. Is it a scary topic for healthcare IT professionals? Mark Williams, partner, Health Industries, PricewaterhouseCoopers, doesn’t think so. At this point, most professionals in the industry are aware of the upcoming ICD-10 conversation deadline. In the education session,
Something to keep our eyes on: HIMSS officials announced yesterday their partnership with a new healthcare conference, CollaborativeCARE Conference (C3). Yes, that’s right, a new 
