Health IT Law Blog : Health IT Law Blog : Post & Schell: Law Firm : HIT & Electronic Health Records

On April 13, 2010, the Wall Street Journal published two fascinating articles on health information technology issues.  In "Can Technology Cure Health Health Care?" author Jacob Goldstein examined the complexities and major risks of adopting electronic medical records.  Goldstein also suggested a few high-level policies necessary to combat such risks, including designing the software with patient care in mind (rather than focusing on billing and other administrative tasks); customizing the software to fit the unique needs of one's organization; and taking the time to implement the EMR in a carefully crafted, staged manner. 

The last recommendation seems to be indeed crucial to a successful EMR implementation, but it will likely put many healthcare providers trying to capitalize on HITECH incentive payments in a peculiar situation.  Such providers must carefully balance their need to achieve "meaningful use" in a short time frame, while preventing as many disruptions to patient care as possible.

In "Breaking Down the Barriers," Laura Landro examined the state of regional health organizations (RHIOs) and health information exchanges (HIEs). While RHIO/HIE's are still rare, the number of such electronic patient data exchanges grows every day.  In fact, according to the Journal, the number of RHIO/HIE's increased by 57% since last year.  Such exchanges are also likely to benefit from HITECH Act funding distributed by HHS. 

There is an interesting nexus between these two articles:  interoperability and exchange.  A successful widespread adoption of EMR technology seems to depend upon different EMRs talking to each other, and different - including competing - healthcare providers exchanging patient information.  While EMRs may only marginally improve patient care in each individual hospital, they are likely to have a far greater impact as part of a nationwide health information exchange.

"Can Technology Cure Health Care?" Wall Street Journal (April 13, 2010).

"Breaking Down the Barriers," Wall Street Journal (April 13, 2010).

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• After what has become a rather typical breach of patient privacy for Southern California, Kaiser Permanente fired fifteen employees (and disciplined eight additional employees) for looking at the medical records of Nadya Suleman, the mother of octuplets commonly referred to as "Octomom".  Previously, similar breaches occurred at UCLA when that medical center's staff leaked celebrities' medical records to the tabloids.  (MercuryNews.com, via AP, March 30, 2009.)
• Wall Street Journal reported last week that HIT stocks, especially smaller companies, like eClinicalWorks (which provide the software component of Wal-Mart's new EHR package) will benefit greatly from the billions of dollars in HIT funding included in the stimulus bill.  Also, in another sure sign of a growing industry, Quality Systems, the maker of the NextGen EHR software, is "beefing up its sales force." ("Stimulus Funds for E-Records Augur Big Windfall for Small Health Firms", Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2009.)

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