Health Care Business

The implementation of electronic medical records (EMRs) in healthcare practices will enhance the efficiency of hospital systems and reduce the chances of errors in medical offices.

Analysis from Frost & Sullivan’s research finds that although large healthcare practices prefer client-server based EMR systems, web-based EMR solutions are gaining popularity with small-sized healthcare practices and private physician offices.

"EMRs are poised to improve patient care, reduce healthcare expenses and fundamentally change the way in which medicine is practiced,” said Technical Insights Senior Research Analyst Darshana De. "Government incentives are expected to increase the effective implementation of health IT adoption; the most significant drivers include the United States’ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and Australia’s $450 million e-health effort."

Too clever by half?

...But the main reason innovations do not spread is that the NHS has no mechanism for ensuring they do, or for rewarding the inventive. The service is centrally funded and emphasises the universality of its care rather than its results. Such a system is likely to prove better at controlling costs than at encouraging good ideas to thrive. Countries with more private providers may be more welcoming to innovations that offer a competitive advantage. Insurance-based systems often do better at prodding hospitals to show better care than competitors, for lower cost.

ALL human life can be seen at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, much of it precariously in the balance.

In the Netherlands the association of physicians, the patient association and the vault of Health Insurance company's cooperate at the national agenda for implementation of Ehealth, together with the Ministry of Health.

I think it is essential that these organisations not only co-operate but also co-create with local/regional organisations/institutions to do so. And, I do hope they are familiar with the differences between these two, which go beyond just a new name for traditional cooperation efforts.
(If not, I would be happy to oblige to prevent  disappointments  ;-).. )

Zorgverzekeraars Nederland, artsenfederatie KNMG en patiëntenorganisatie NPCF gaan samenwerken om e-health breed geaccepteerd te krijgen in Nederland.

Ottawa Hospital’s groundbreaking decision to equip its doctors with iPads is already improving patient care, the hospital says.

The hospital has deployed about 1,900 of the Apple tablets to doctors since 2010.

Doctors use the devices to:

* access the latest patient records and test results while doing their rounds in hospital

* access test results

* order X-rays from a patient’s bedside, improving 'the efficiency of the process and patient confidence in the level of care'

Later this year, Ottawa Hospital's healthcare professional will be able to"

* order lab tests

* order medication

* match medication bar codes with bar codes on patients’ wristbands, reducing the risk of error

Future plans include:

* secure messaging between care team members.

The introduction of iPads and other Apple mobile devices is part of a larger strategy the hospital calls “back to the bedside,” says Chief Medical Information Office Dr. Glen Geiger.

“Over the past 10 years or more, many of our clinical teams have become computer-centric as opposed to being patient-centric. People are always gravitating back to our nursing stations where the computers are to get information.” By introducing iPads and other mobile devices, he says, “we’re trying to free up our clinicians’ time so they spend more time with the patient.”

While it takes longer for doctors to complete their rounds using iPads, “it’s better care for patients,” Geiger says. “I’ve been able to explain very complex things to family members in sometimes very desperate circumstances where images or lab tests have indicated how severely ill the relative was.”

As a result, patients feel more empowered and engaged with their care, Geiger says.

Widespread adoption of mobile technology in healthcare is now viewed as inevitable in both developed and emerging markets around the world, but the pace of adoption will likely be led by emerging markets and lag consumer demand, according to a new global study conducted for PwC Global Healthcare by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

* Roughly one-half of consumers predict that within the next three years, mHealth will improve the convenience (46 percent), cost (52 percent) and quality (48 percent) of their healthcare.

* 59 percent of emerging market patients use at least one mobile health application or service, compared with 35 percent in the developed world.

* Nearly half of consumers said they expect mobile health will change the way they manage chronic conditions (48 percent), their medication (48 percent) and their overall health (49 percent).

* Six in ten consumers (59 percent) expect mobile health to change the way they seek information on health issues and 48 percent expect it to change the way they communicate with physicians.

* Among consumers who already are using mobile health services, 59 percent said they have replaced some visits to doctors or nurses.

The top three reasons consumers want to use mobile health are:

1) To have more convenient access to their doctor or healthcare provider (46 percent)

2) To reduce out-of-pocket healthcare costs (43 percent)

3) To take greater control over their health (32 percent). 

Sixty percent of consumers said they believe doctors are not as interested in mobile health as patients and technology companies are.

'A human-centered healthcare service delivery system that corresponds to the real needs of patients and their relatives and that guarantees accessible healthcare for all in an ever more constraining environment.'