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HITECH
The State-of-the-Art of Care Management Software: Disconnected
Care management software is intended to help patients make critical connections across the health care delivery system. Today it’s used primarily by 3rd party care managers who are typically either employed directed or indirectly by payers. While not surprising, the state-of-the-art of care management software is that it continues to function as disconnected islands of information.
The  2010 Health Information Technology Survey (available at no charge) provides an insightful yet sobering snapshot of care management software. The study was sponsored by TCS Healthcare Technologies, the […]
Status Report: HITPC and Workgroup Activities on HITECH Stages 2 & 3
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OK, let me be the first to admit that today’s “just-the-facts-ma’am” post might be a little dry…but trust me, its really important stuff to know in understanding the process of how the Health IT Policy Committee (HITPC) and its workgroups are approaching formulating recommendations for HITECH Stages 2 and 3.
At this point at least two different workgroups are involved in developing recommendations for HITECH Stages 2 and 3.
A newly formed Quality Measures Workgroup. This group will “produce initial recommendations on […]
Megatrend Spotting: Health Plan Role of Having “Best Data About YOUR Medical Conditions” is Up for Grabs
Who has the most comprehensive data about YOUR clinical conditions?
For most people, the answer today is “your health plan”, but it’s not at all clear that health plans will continue to have this role in the future.
As physicians and hospitals adopt EHRs, it’s foreseeable that clinical data about patients will be far more available and accessible.
Will patient data become:
A jockeying point for control and business advantage between health plans and care providers,
A collaborative opportunity to optimize clinical care and care […]
Overview: Here Come Stages 2 and 3 of HITECH!
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We’ve spent the past year creating the MU (meaningful use) requirements for Stage 1 of the HITECH act. As shown by the diagram above, Stage 1 focuses on Data Capture and Sharing. Now it’s time to begin to focus on Stage 2 (Advanced Clinical Processes) and Stage 3 (Improved Outcomes).
The current generation of EMRs (electronic medical records) were designed primarily to assist care providers with clinical documentation, billing, and maximizing revenues. They were not designed to enable care coordination and […]
Is HITECH Working? #7: Where’s Plan B? Congress and ONC need to address major flaws in HITECH.
by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA
Pop quiz: Among early-stage companies that are successful, what percentage are successful with the initial business model with which they started (Plan A) vs. a secondary business model (Plan B)?
Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen studied this issue. He found that among successful companies, only 7% succeeded with their initial business model, while 93% evolved into a different business model.
So let’s take this finding and reexamine our human nature. In light of these statistics, […]
Is HITECH Working? #6: HITECH and Health Reform Objectives are Synergistic
by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA
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….or to be more specific, HITECH is synergistic with payment reform that could come from the recently passed national health care reform legislation — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
We’ll keep this post fairly short and try to avoid many of the more divisive aspects of this topic. The need for healthcare payment reform is well understood on both sides of the aisle:
Realizing the full potential of health IT depends in […]
Is HITECH Working? #5: “Gimme my damn data!” The stage is being set to enable patient-driven disruptive innovation.
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by Dave deBronkart (e-PatientDave), Vince Kuraitis, and David C. Kibbe
So far this series has looked at HITECH participation by hospitals (grumbling but in the game) and physicians (wary, on the sidelines), kudos for ONC’s three major policy points, and how HITECH is already moving the needle on the vendor side. Today we’re going to look at the reason the whole system exists: patients.
It’s possible to look at the patients issue from a moral or ethical perspective, or from a business […]
Is HITECH Working? #4: While most attention has been focused on demand side incentives (will doctors and hospitals buy EHRs?), the supply (vendor) side of HIT is already transforming.
by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA
Most of the press coverage and attention to HITECH has been to the “buy” side of the market: The central question here has been: “Will doctors and hospitals buy and use EHR technology?”
Meanwhile — and much more quietly — the sell (vendor) side of the EHR market is already dramatically different than it was a year ago. We observe change occurring at at least three levels:
HITECH […]
Is HITECH Working? #3: ONC got it right on the 3 major policy interpretations: Meaningful Use, Certification, Standards
We concluded our last post in this series with a blunt prediction that “key physicians will sit on the sidelines” and that clinician non-adoption of EHR technology is a potential “deal-breaker for the success of HITECH”.
While this might sound like a criticism of the way HITECH has been implemented, it’s not intended that way — it’s a commentary on 1) the complexity and scope of change that will be required to make HITECH successful, and 2) the level of protective entrenchment existing American […]
Is HITECH Working? #2: Key physicians will sit on the sidelines (at least for now).
(click on any of the above graphics to be linked to the orginal source)
by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA
In the previous post in this series on “Is HITECH Working?”, we straightforwardly noted that hospitals are playing in the HITECH game. The issue of whether physicians will play is MUCH thornier.
As the headlines above succinctly convey — we conclude that for now there is too much fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) to expect significantly increased EHR technology adoption by […]