June 7, 2011
“Hoping to reduce medication errors and contain health care costs, policy makers are promoting electronic prescribing through Medicare and Medicaid financial incentives. Many e-prescribing systems provide electronic access to important information—for example, medications prescribed by physicians in other practices, patient formularies and generic alternatives—when physicians are deciding what medications to prescribe. However, physician practices with e-prescribing face challenges using these features effectively, according to a new qualitative study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
While most of the 24 practices studied reported that physicians had access to patient formulary information, only slightly more than half reported physician access to patient medication histories, and many physicians did not routinely review these sources of information when making prescribing decisions. Study respondents highlighted two barriers to use: 1) tools to view and import the data into patient records were cumbersome to use in some systems; and 2) the data were not always perceived as useful enough to warrant the additional time to access and review them, particularly during time-pressed patient visits. To support generic prescribing, practices typically set their system defaults to permit pharmacist substitution of generics; many practices also used other tools to more proactively identify and select generic alternatives at the point of prescribing. Overall, physicians who more strongly perceived the need for third-party data, those in practices with greater access to complete and accurate data, and those with easier-to-use e-prescribing systems were more likely to use these features consistently.”
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with e-health, Health technology, Prevention and control, Safety, Technology | No Comments
June 6, 2011
“Partnering to Heal is a computer-based, video-simulation training program on infection control practices for clinicians, health professional students, and patient advocates.
The training highlights effective communication about infection control practices and ideas for creating a “culture of safety” in healthcare institutions to keep patients from getting sicker. Users assume the identity of the following five main characters and make decisions about preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs):
- A Physician, Nathan Green, Director of a Hospital Post-op Unit, ready to start new prevention efforts in the unit;
- A Registered Nurse, Dena Gray, working to learn effective communications skills that could make the difference for her patients;
- An Infection Preventionist, Janice Upshaw, a new employee charged with using a team-based approach to reducing infections;
- A Patient Family Member, Kelly McTavish, whose father was just admitted to the hospital;
- A third-year Medical Student, Manuel Hernandez, who wants to gain confidence to make a difference for his patients.”
Posted in Multimedia, READ Portal | Tagged with Health technology, Infection control, Information technology, Patient-centered care, Prevention and control, Safety | No Comments
June 2, 2011
“Context:The association of an adult tele-intensive care unit (ICU) intervention with hospital mortality, length of stay, best practice adherence, and preventable complications for an academic medical center has not been reported.
Objective: To quantify the association of a tele-ICU intervention with hospital mortality, length of stay, and complications that are preventable by adherence to best practices.
Conclusion: In a single academic medical center study, implementation of a tele-ICU intervention was associated with reduced adjusted odds of mortality and reduced hospital length of stay, as well as with changes in best practice adherence and lower rates of preventable complications.”
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Health technology, Information technology, Mortality rates, Technology | No Comments
May 13, 2011
“Members of the Consumer Partnership for eHealth (CPeH) have been working for more than five years to advance patient-centered, consumer-focused health IT (information technology). We believe our nation is at a pivotal moment for transforming our health care system with the support of better information. This platform outlines a vision for how health IT can help patients, and how consumer groups can work alongside other stakeholders to improve health outcomes.
Consumers are the most significant untapped resource in health care. We are eager to be partners in advancing and using technology — which empowers us in so many areas of our lives — to participate more actively in matters of health. As we move toward new care delivery and payment models, the collection and sharing of information with all stakeholders, and especially consumers, will be paramount. Health IT is a critical enabler of the kind of information sharing that is crucial for continuously improving the health of individuals and populations, as well as the nation. Achieving better care, healthier communities, and more affordability will require the utilization of all our collective resources, and consumers have critical assets to bring to policy making tables and individual decision making process”
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Benchmarking, Health technology, Information technology, Technology | No Comments
May 9, 2011
“EMR adoption and upgrades take a massive toll on a hospital’s IT staff and infrastructure resources. Storage virtualization will be transformational in terms of helping hospitals and healthcare systems function with greater efficiency, improved patient care and less impact on the environment.”
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with e-health, Health technology, Hospital administration, Technology | No Comments
May 5, 2011
“The objective of the report was to review the evidence on the impact of health information technology (IT) on all phases of the medication management process (MMIT) (prescribing and ordering, order communication, dispensing, administration and monitoring as well as education and reconciliation), to identify the gaps in the literature and to make recommendations for future research.
(The results show) physicians were more often the subject of evaluation than other participants. Other health care professionals, patients, and families are important but not studied as thoroughly as physicians. These nonphysicians groups often value different aspects of MMIT, have diverse needs, and use systems differently. Hospitals and ambulatory clinics were well-represented in the literature with less emphasis placed on long-term care facilities, communities, homes, and nonhospital pharmacies. Most studies evaluated changes in process and outcomes of use, usability, and knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Most showed moderate to substantial improvement with implementation of MMIT. Economics studies and those with clinical outcomes were less frequently studied. Those articles that did address economics and clinical outcomes often showed equivocal findings on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MMIT systems. Qualitative studies provided evidence of strong perceptions, both positive and negative, of the effects of MMIT and unintended consequences. We found little data on the effects of forms of medications, conformity, standards, and open source status. Much descriptive literature discusses implementation issues but little strong evidence exists. Interest is strong in MMIT and more groups and institutions will implement systems in the next decades, especially with the Federal Government’s push toward more health IT to support better and more cost-effective health care.”
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Cost effectiveness, Health care costs, Health technology, Technology | No Comments
April 8, 2011
“Health information technology (HIT) holds promise for facilitating vast improvements in care and, ultimately, in the health of Americans but achieving that potential remains a daunting task… Although EHRs laudably provide immediate access to patient data and electronic messaging functions, clinicians have been frustrated by the difficulty of using them to support care delivery and coordination. Transforming EHRs into effective clinical tools rather than a means of capturing information primarily for documentation and billing purposes will require progress on multiple fronts.”
Progress in this field includes integrating care, effectively implementing electronic health records, developing cross-specialization standards, creating functional teams, and more. If these progressions are implemented then healthcare providers can benefit from the many advantages that health technologies offer.
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with e-health, Health technology, Technology | No Comments
April 6, 2011
This article looks at some of the many problems that still exist with the implementation of electronic medical records. Issues such as cross-compatibility between systems, differences in record keeping standards, and operator error stop electronic health records from reaching their full potential. Additionally, the author reviews concerns about patient privacy due to the sharing of confidential health information and the potential of theft of records.
Despite the problems associated with electronic health records, however, they still have the ability to be a force of improvement within a healthcare setting. They reduce waiting times associated with print records, ensure ease of access across multiple facilities if implemented correctly, and reduce work time for practitioners as they have instantaneous digital access to information, including best-practice standards in similar patient cases.
Posted in Mass Media Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with e-health, Efficiency, Health technology | No Comments
March 22, 2011
“In Chapter 1 we understand why health information should be made available directly to patients and why electronic information is the best means of information sharing. A few important aspects related to these issues are laid down: trustworthiness and comprehensibility. Information should be available to patients in all languages so that when faced with such information, all patients can have the opportunity to understand it with the maximum level of responsibility and data security.
Moreover, another feature of modern technologies is technical interoperability, which should be seen as a future ‘must do’ so that information becomes not only mobile but accessible. In light of this, e-health should bring with it the simplification of administrative procedures and should be a source of education and evaluation for the medical profession, facilitating the patient-doctor relationship.
Chapter 2 tries to answer just that, explaining why we are so sure that e-health is a tool that empowers citizens. It will deliver key services such as rapid access to medical records, making it possible that a chronic disease could even be remotely monitored or that 5 million yearly prescription errors could be avoided. Thus, it improves the management of healthcare and what is essential to remember is that we know it works. A similar program has already been implemented in Sweden and people there could tangibly feel that it delivered on its promises. In addition, Malta, Germany, Slovenia and Slovakia have developed ID cards where health and illness information is accessibly stored.
Chapter 3 then explains two aspects about ICT technologies: that projects such as the Virtual Physiological Human were a success and that in spite of being an advanced technological tool e-health is still in its infancy and has even greater potential for innovation. Hence, this chapter explains in specific terms what e-health does and most importantly what it could do in practice.
Last but not least, Chapter 4 puts the topic into perspective, telling of present and future challenges that affect the medical profession and overall, the EU and its patients. The two articles both recognize that under the pressure of an ageing population phenomenon, healthcare services need the digitisation that could be brought by e-health investments. In this sense, the main points voiced refer to training professionals in the best way possible, facilitating for them both hardware and software material.”
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Benchmarking, e-health, Efficiency, Forecasting, Health technology, Information technology, Medical records, Patient-centered care, Technology | No Comments
March 14, 2011
“Mobile, touchscreen technologies are knocking down hospital walls, but security concerns and skeptical physicians slow its advancement.” This article reviews some of the huge benefits of implementing mobile technologies while also describing the risks and obstacles to their mass adoption in a healthcare setting. Additionally, it provides a description of five of the most recent digital technology innovations that have the ability to change how healthcare practitioners operate.
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Health technology, Information technology, Technology | No Comments
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