The healthcare IT field is rapidly developing and changing. Emerging technology and updated regulations put pressure on healthcare providers and health plans to stay ahead of the curve. Perficient creates a monthly list that explores some of the current topics and issues in health IT. This list examines the most talked about issues and technologies that are currently affecting the industry.
Consolidation and Mergers
Healthcare entities, both payers and providers, have been making an increased effort to capture market share and dominate their geography. Smaller players are being picked up by larger players, consolidating physician practices and health plans. These mergers have driven digital strategy projects and paperless environments, with an increased interest in advertising and public facing websites to try to attract market share.
- Changes in Hospital Finance Drives Flurry of Mergers
- Partners-South Shore merger review grows
- Cadence Health plans to merge with Rockford Health System
- Blue Cross of NEPA, Highmark exploring ‘stronger’ partnership
- Area hospitals promise transparent merger
Extending Your EMR
Healthcare professionals have been very vocal about the challenges that come along with electronic medical record systems. The workflow in many EMR systems was created by a programmer and works the way it was programmed, not the way healthcare professionals work. Several technology tools were made to extend or approve upon EMRs without ripping the code apart, often by putting it into a browser or allowing it to be mobile.
- EHRs can’t do everything
- 9 Reasons Doctors Hate Their EMR
- Docs blame EHRs for lost productivity
- So much data-gathering, so little doctoring
- How connected is EHR user satisfaction to vendor choice?
Security and Privacy of PHI
The further we develop our technology, the more security risks we’re introducing at the same time. BYOD and wireless networks increase the mobility and sharing of data, which is helpful for diagnosis and storage but risky for protecting PHI. There is a delicate balance between how much security is enough and when security will make it impossible for us to manage the system.
- Addressing BYOD security at a large medical research center
- Factoring healthcare BYOD policies into network security
- 3 tips for proactively protecting PHI
- Sloppy Handling Of Patient Data Always A Danger
- Data Security Added to Worries About Website
Fragmentation of Health Records
While interoperability is a key trend in healthcare, the cost of care is driving us away from this goal. In order to save money, patients are now going to several different pharmacies and stores to get discounted prescriptions where they can, fragmenting their health records. If the only time these medications are reconciled is when patients visit their primary physician, that’s not often enough to prevent adverse drug reactions.
- Why Healthcare Tech will save your life …and your wallet
- Interoperability: A critical mess
- Connecting a new world of care: why interoperability is vital for the NHS
- Health IT can improve care coordination for complex conditions
- Docs can prevent adverse drug reactions by looking up info on mobile phones
FDA Oversight
In September, the FDA revised its guidelines on what mobile medical applications need to be regulated and what are harmless to consumers. Now the FDA is wading into the issue of what else they need to regulate and what they don’t. This week they decided t to block 23andMe for providing medical advice without a physician involved. The FDA will battle where the concept of ensuring accurate medical information will start and stop.
