Most of us are too busy doing our current jobs to think about what would be our “ideal” next job, but it is a common question asked by executive recruiters. Recruiters are curious to find out if you are a fit for the position, but also to learn something about your dreams and aspirations for […]
Are You Ready for Whole Genomes in the EHR?
Clinical practitioners can now interactively produce and query a patient report for genetic tests spanning over 2000 inherited diseases from a single whole-genome sequence, using www.genetests.org (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/GeneTests/?db=GeneTests) as a valid guide. GenomeQuest (www.genomequest.com) , a company based near Boston, MA, which serves as the data management provider for most of the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, has […]
What if Facebook and Amazon Built an EMR?
Below are my screen mock-ups, based on Facebook’s and Amazon’s user interfaces. I borrow ideas from them because the metaphors fit healthcare quite nicely, but also because the user interfaces on today’s EMRs are abominable, and adoption rates are terrible (without financial coercion) as a result. People flock to Facebook and Amazon by the millions, without […]
The Rough Road to Interoperable Financials
How is your day going? If it appears to be going well, you may not be paying enough attention. Rome is burning, Nero is playing his electric fiddle, and nobody can remember where we left the garden hose. Here are a few observations just to get the juices flowing: The economy has patients postponing care […]
The Key to CPOE – Overcommunication
The Next National Coordinator Must Get Real
It appears everyone was surprised by the announcement from ONC HIT Coordinator Dr. David Blumenthal that he will be departing his government post to return to academic life. By all accounts he is a great guy and I wish him all the best. I would suggest that when Dr. Blumenthal is replaced, the administration should appoint someone that has a more intimate knowledge of the reality of health care IT operations and what it really takes to achieve healthcare IT objectives.
The Dash to ACOs Is Headed For a Brick Wall
Federal health care reform has generated immense interest in Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). In theory, improved quality and reduced cost will be gleaned by bundled payment of a health system and the physician. To attain this, however, and to improve quality and reduce cost, there will have to be good communication and a strong relationship, […]
Learning to Navigate the HIT World
The world of healthcare IT is ever evolving and changing. It is hard to explain the many acronyms and terminology to people who are not in healthcare IT. With rapid changes and new government programs, we may all fall behind in our knowledge. To the rescue comes the HIMSS11 – Healthcare IT Conference and Exhibition […]
True or False: Business Units Will Absorb More IT in 2011
A prediction that the biggest trend of 2011 will be the continued decline of the traditional centralized IT department was presented to me for reaction, based upon an online discussion forum on Tech Republic. Below is an excerpt of the dialogue. Reaction: I only partially agree with this. I’ve seen this cycle before and a totally decentralized IT function does not serve a company effectively when systems and applications must be managed and integrated across business units, especially at the workflow and data-content levels of integration.
The Meaningful Use Bait and Switch
Anyone who has gone through the rigors of college and advanced graduate studies can appreciate the value of cramming. Actually, this value is largely understood to be short-lived, with the crammer retaining the information — which has been so superficially absorbed — only until “pencils down” is called. While cramming may have its shortcomings, people […]