Insights on health information technology from 2011 AHCJ Annual Conference in Philadelphia.
Last week, I had the honor of joining hundreds of health journalists from across the country at the 2011 Association of Health Care Journalists’ (AHCJ) Annual Conference in Philadelphia. The verdict is in: the future of health journalism looks bright and the stories these journalists have to tell of patients, doctors and policymakers – and the technology that brings them together – mark a “perfect storm” in the history of our nation’s healthcare system. My attendance at the conference followed Practice Fusion’s New York media tour with CEO Ryan Howard celebrating the announcement of the company’s $23 million Series B financing round led by Founders Fund.
This is not your mother’s CM
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CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick’s “Newsmaker Briefing” on day 1 held great promise for change and openness in health policy with its overview of the Health Indicators Warehouse (healthindicators.gov), a new web portal that houses an array of HHS data including 1200 health indicators from over 170 different data sources. Health indicators are measurable characteristics that describe the health of a population such as life expectancy, mortality, or disease incidence. Depending on the measure, a health indicator may be defined for a specific population or geographic area. The site was designed to support researchers, developers, and policymakers in their work.
Discussion of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), one of the government’s key strategies to address the rising cost of healthcare, was omnipresent. Its goal of saving overall health care costs by keeping people healthier means that innovative, affordable and scalable technology must be available to shepherd the change.
My favorite panel featured Dr. David Blumenthal, the outgoing National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. With goals as visionary as Practice Fusion, he asserted “The challenge of EHR adoption will absolutely be overcome. Effective [health information] exchange is the next step. The hurdles are economic, social and cultural – not technological.” He noted that, to date, 36,000 providers have registered for meaningful use EHR incentives. There are 800,000 physicians in the US and Practice Fusion is right on track with helping primary care providers pocket their EHR incentives at zero cost to them. We’re free. No big deal.
In the same panel, Allen L. Gee, M.D., a neurologist in rural Wyoming noted his use of the right web-based EHR system has reduced his costs by 3 percent and increased his revenue by 6 percent.
Mobile Apps, iPads and Data-driven healthcare – OH MY!
By far, the best insights were shared in the lobby of the Society Hill Sheraton Hotel where, in one instance, I found myself in a conversation with Eric Whitney, health reporter at Colorado Public Radio and Practice Fusion ally, Dr. Joseph Kim – respective moderator and panelist for day 2 panel “Going mobile: The new telemedicine.” I gain a sense of grave relief from engaging reporters that understand the potential of high-tech to transform healthcare. With the advent of iPads, mobile health apps and rapid emergence of cloud computing, healthcare is changing at lightning speed. Today, developers can utilize health data from open EHRs to do everything from analyzing trends to providing information to patients. Health journalists will soon gain a whole new vernacular around APIs, data-driven healthcare and portable devices straight out of science fiction.
Notable trends from AHCJ around health information technology:
- Open APIs to drive patient data between the right channels – New API platforms are stepping to the stage with mobile devices that enable patients to share important health information with their doctors, caregivers and peers.
- Health data visualization gets a makeover – Gone are the days of health data collection and analysis taking years to compile and share. In addition to CMS’ Health Indicators Warehouse, AHCJ’s expanding data collection can help reporters filter, sort and analyze their way to story ideas. Practice Fusion Research Division’s free dataset on the Windows Azure DataMarket can give researchers and reporters the tools they need to create sophisticated graphics that communicate the complexities of nationwide health trends.
- Web-based healthcare business models cut costs – Web-based approaches to healthcare will help small medical practices which can’t afford the huge price tag of traditional client server EHR systems. Scalable, web-based models will bring new product features and updates to users at a rapid pace.
The Practice Fusion story is an epic tale and I am inspired to see reporters that are ready to dive head first into the “rabbit hole” to tell the story. Our promise of modernizing physician offices through technology, combined with our goal of using de-identified patient data to help inform public health studies and identify health trends, will ultimately improve the standard of care for patients everywhere.
Special thanks to bona fide journalists Scott Hensley (Shots- NPR’s Health Blog), Chris Seper (MedCity Media), Charles Ornstein (ProPublica) , Robin Lloyd (Scientific American), Maryn McKenna (Wired) and WCG’s Brian Reid for their expedient (to say the least) use of social media at the conference and throughout. I owe you folks for many “teachable moments.”
