Health Information Technology (HIT) is certainly in the stage of infancy but on the verge of immense growth. The development of wearable health technology and phone applications that track the number of steps taken, caloric intake, and sleep patters reflects our society’s call for more accurate and transparent data regarding a patients’ health. The development these innovative health apps exist and thrive mainly the private market, which emphasizes the lack of the patient-facing technology in doctor’s offices, public hospitals, and nursing homes. These disparities have even been gaining political momentum: policymakers see HIT as the silver bullet to improving access and quality healthcare in the U.S. (Blumenthal, 2006). However, the literature …show more content…
In nearly every other sector, organizations rely heavily on technology to improve efficiency and quality—this in not the case with healthcare. One reason for the lack of HIT expansion is that there is no economic incentive for technological advances, especially in fee-for-service reimbursement plans. Hospitals may actually benefit from lack of coordination in a fee-for-service model by duplicating or performing extra tests that could be prevented through electronic medical records (EMRs) (Blumenthal, 2006). A pay-for-performance model, on the other hand, may better facilitate the growth of HIT more effectively since physicians and hospitals are driven by quality instead of the number of procedures …show more content…
Expanding health technology has been a political hot topic since the conception of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). While innovative health technology can certainly improve quality and efficiency of care, it has it limitations. What is important to take away from these conversations about HIT, however, is that politicians realize the breadth of technology in our healthcare system and the desperate need for policy reform. As previously mentioned, one major implication associated the expansion of health technology is simply the ambiguity in the outcomes from HIT initiatives. Especially since the implementation of PPACA, there has been a push for evidence-based medicine and health technology is no exception. The critiques that surround the HIT literature are valid, but it ultimately calls for further
Also, these studies question those who are effected; in this case, those who are most effected, is everyone. Doctors and nurses spend the most time working within these systems, but the information that is put into these systems effects every individual in America, because it is their information. Because nurses are often considered “both coordinators and providers of patient care” and they “attend to the whole patient,” their opinion is highly regarded (Otieno, Toyama, Asonuma, Kanai-Pak, & Naitoh, 2007, p. 210). It is clear that the use of these new systems is much debated, and many people have their own, individualized opinion. This information suggests that when there is a problem in the medical field, those who address it attempt to gather opinions from everyone who is involved before proceeding. It has been proven by multiple studies that this system of record keeping does in fact have potential to significantly improve patient health through efficiency, and it is because of this that the majority of hospitals have already completed, or begun the transfer from paperless to electronic (Otieno, Toyama, Asonuma, Kanai-Pak, & Naitoh,
Pay-for-performance (P4P) is the compensation representation that compensates healthcare contributors for accomplishing pre-authorized objectives for the delivery of quality health care assistance by economic incentives. P4P is increasingly put into practice in the healthcare structure to support quality enhancements in healthcare systems. Thus, pay-for-performance can be seen as a means of attaching financial incentives to the main objectives of clinical care. However, reimbursement is a managed care payment by a third party to a beneficiary, hospital or other health care providers for services rendered to an insured or beneficiary. This paper discusses how reimbursement can be affected by the pay-for-performance approach and how system cost reductions impact the quality and efficiency of healthcare. In addition, it also addresses how pay-for-performance affects different healthcare providers and their customers. Finally, there will also be a discussion on the effects pay-for-performance will have on the future of healthcare.
The healthcare industry, as a whole, has made great strides towards improving access to he...
“An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users.” (healthit.gov) The EHR mandate was created “to share information with other health care providers and organizations – such as laboratories, specialists, medical imaging facilities, pharmacies, emergency facilities, and school and workplace clinics – so they contain information from all clinicians involved in a patient’s care.” ("Providers & Professionals | HealthIT.gov", n.d., p. 1) The process has proved to be quite challenging for providers. As an incentive, the government began issuing payments to those providers who “meaningfully use certified electronic health record (EHR) technology.” (hhs.gov) There are three stages that providers must progress through in order to receive theses financial incentives. Stage one is the initial stage and is met with the creation and implementation of the HER in the business. Stage two “increases health information exchange between providers.” ("United States Department of Health and Human Services | HHS.gov", n.d., p. 1) Stage three will be the continuation and expansion of the “meaningful use objectives.” ("United States Department of Health and Human Services | HHS.gov", n.d., p. 1) The hospital, where I work, initiated the HER mandate many years ago. In this paper, I will discuss the progression and the challenges that my hospital encountered while implementing the EHR mandate.
When walking into a hospital, nursing home, or physician’s office, electronic devices are used everywhere. The doctors have pagers, drugs are released from an apparatus similar to vending machines, and the patients are connected to intravenous pumps and monitors, while they lay on beds that move with the touch of a button. Everything seems to be electronic, except for patient charts. A new system, called eHealth, was devised that would make these patient charts electronic. The goal for electronic health is to unite all healthcare by making patient records available to all providers in order to improve the quality of care patients receive. eHealth can be adopted into hospitals, physicians’ offices, and even ambulatory services. A 2006 study found, “Ambulatory EHRs improve the structure of care delivery, improve clinical processes, and enhance outcomes” (Shekelle 61). With professionals working together, procedures, scans, tests, and even visits to the hospital can be eliminated and in turn reduce the hospital’s expenses. However, this reduction may not add up to the investment the facilities will have to make. Adopting this system will cost more the some facilities are able to spend. However, investing in eHealth is a risk hospitals should take to improve patient care. eHealth has to become affordable to all providers for healthcare to reach its full potential.
Haddad,M (2010).Technology helps track healthcare providers. Health Management Technology, 31 (5), 24-25. Health Source-Consumer Edition
The rising cost of health care is creating a shift toward new care models that promote health prevention and wellness. This shift focuses on changing the way health care is delivered as well as where delivery occurs. Mobile health technology has served as a catalyst for this transformation enabling care delivery in the outpatient setting while keeping individuals linked to health professionals. Mobile health technology reduces health care costs via monitoring and intervention before conditions become acute preventing associated complications and hospitalization. Sensor technology and mobile applications facilitate knowledge and empowerment creating a patient centric care model focused on health improvement. Mobile health is poised to alleviate
In the 2004 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush stated “within the next 10 years, Electronic Health Records (EHRs) will ensure that complete health care information is available for most Americans at the time and place of care (U.S. Government)”. In order to encourage the widespread implementation of EHRs and to overcome the financial barrier to doing so, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 set aside $27 billion in incentives to be distributed over a ten-year period for hospitals and healthcare providers to adopt the meaningful use of EHRs (Encinosa, 2013). In 2011, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) implemented the Meaningful Use (MU) Incentive Program. In order to qualify for incentive payments under MU, providers must attest to meeting specific quality measures thresholds each year consisting of three stages with increasing requirement at each stage.
Advances in technology have influences our society at home, work and in our health care. It all started with online banking, atm cards, and availability of children’s grades online, and buying tickets for social outings. There was nothing electronic about going the doctor’s office. Health care cost has been rising and medical errors resulting in loss of life cried for change. As technologies advanced, the process to reduce medical errors and protect important health care information was evolving. In January 2004, President Bush announced in the State of the Union address the plan to launch an electronic health record (EHR) within the next ten years (American Healthtech, 2012).
The health care industry has changed drastically in the last 10 years in aspect to preventive services, facilities that provide services to the underinsured or uninsured, and perspective health care professionals entering into health care. The use of technology
Hospitals are always looking for ways to cut costs, improve quality and become more efficient. The Joint Commission implemented its Agenda for Change in 1986 to improve the systems, processes, and, ultimately, the outcomes of care. Andel, Davidow, Hollander and Moreno (2012) state there has not been widespread adoption of these principles, in part because the incentives were not substantial enough to overcome the inertia of many hospital cultures and the US payment system. Since 1986, those hospitals that fought through the initial uneasy struggles that coincided with the agenda have seen great growth in not only quality, but performance, patient safety and satisfaction as well. Moreover, proving that there is no progress without struggle.
We are living in electrifying times. Mobile health (mHealth) technology is changing every facet of the way we live. Possibly no area is more imperative or more reflective than the improvements we are observing in healthcare (Fox & Duggan, 2012). In current years, there has been an increase of wearable devices, social media, smartphone apps, and telehealth, and each has immense promise for the future of organized health care (Fox & Duggan, 2012). With the capacity to assemble and interpret patient-made data, these mHealth tools keep the assurance of changing the way health care is provided, proposing patients their own customized medical guidance (Manojlovich et al., 2015). Health care availability, affordability, and quality are
Nesvisky, M. (2013). Does Health Information Technology Reduce Costs? NBER Digest, 4-5. Retrieved December 10, 2013 from Pubmed database http://www.nber.org/digest/oct01/w8359.html
Topol, Eric. "How Technology Is Transforming Health Care." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 12 July 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
From state and federal levels, the healthcare industry has come a very long way, experiencing changes along the way. The development of advanced technology that has enhanced the quality of healthcare delivery systems will help all patients to be able to benefit. Doctors are able to access patient records at a faster rate and respond to their patients in a much more timely fashion. E-mail, electronic transfer of records and telemedicine will give all patients and physicians the tools needed to be more efficient, deliver quality care and deliver quality telecommunication at a faster pace than before.