Harsh economics dampen appetite for healthcare IT

Time is running out on Medicare, said economist Alan Greenspan in a keynote address to a capacity crowd at HIMSS09. Nearly 7000 attendees of the conference heard the former Fed Chairman explain how political expediency going back more than two decades ago led to the present-day inadequately funded federal healthcare program. Greenspan tagged healthcare IT as a possible means for getting out of this trouble.

The weakened U.S. economy is slowing the pace of growth in healthcare IT, according to a survey conducted by HIMSS. Only a little more than half (55%) of the 304 respondents participating the 20th annual HIMSS Leadership Survey said their IT budgets would increase, compared to 78% last year. This year about 42% said their staffing levels would increase, down from 68% last year.

It was designed as a showcase for the nexus of standards and IT, a testament to the ability of divergent systems to work together in a health information exchange. This “interoperability showcase,” an island on the HIMSS09 exhibit floor of kiosks, employed various clinical scenarios to demonstrate the potential of IT to deliver information that can make a crucial difference in the care of patients.

There’s no more natural way to convey information than speech and arguably no more difficult interface or a computer to capture. Agfa has come up with a couple new twists to help. Viztek takes a swing at tighter integration between PACS and EMRs, while IT specialists include first responders in the chain of medical communications and refine ways for providers to keep on top of their financials.

Even if you’ve never been hustled at pool, you’ll appreciate the slick tricks at the Iatric HIMSS booth.

The Federal government is pushing medical practitioners toward the use of integrated electronic information systems. The hope is that these systems will improve the efficiency of medical care and reduce errors, thereby cutting costs and improving healthcare.

Hospital-associated infections are a growing concern for hospitals. Some 1.7 million people pick up infections each year while in hospitals. More than 99,000 die. While these infections may come from several sources, studies have shown that computer keyboards are a leading contributor. With the introduction of their first product, a self-sanitizing keyboard, Seattle-based Vioguard hopes to eliminate the keyboard as a vector of infection in hospitals.

In the boom leading up to sequencing of the human genome, genetics and legal experts debated the ownership of the data contained within the double helix. Now, as the U.S. readies for a surge into healthcare IT, a similar debate has broken out over EMRs. The outcome could be critical to making the best use of the huge amount of electronic medical information that the Obama Administration’s stimulus funding will create in the next few years.

The debate over “meaningful use” has begun. At stake is nothing less than the success of President Obama’s initiative to turn paper into electronic medical records.

Newly christened AccelaRAD unveiled at HIMSS 2009 a service that allows patients unprecedented control over their medical images. The service, called SeeMyRadiology.com, is designed to provide patients the opportunity to create personalized libraries of images in a centralized location. Using this service, patients own their digital medical images, choosing which ones to easily and securely share with whom, particularly physicians.