Healthcare IT News - August 2008 - (Page 26)

26 The HIMSS Insider s August 2008 www.himss.org n the May/June 2008 issue of Health Affairs, mentioned last month, that indicated higher Don Berwick and colleagues from the levels of per capita healthcare spending in Institute for Healthcare Improvement posit different regions of the country did not result there are three essential targets necessary to in better outcomes. In Health Affairs, Karen Davis et. al. reported an inverse reform and improve healthcare. Termed “Triple Aim,” the three STANDARDS relationship between state spending on healthcare and are: improving the experience of quality measures. Brenda individual care, improving the Sirovich et. al. showed that health of populations and while physicians in the bottom reducing the per capita costs of quintile of utilization interhealthcare. They see these aims by Ed Larsen vened 24 to 80 times less per as interdependent, requiring balanced and simultaneous efforts in order to 100 patients for measured conditions, they optimize all. They argue most participants in followed evidence-based guidelines at the our fractured healthcare and payment system same rate as physicians in the highest quintile are pursuing one or, at the most, two of the in utilization. Given such data, how would aims. Providers, for example, tend to optimize one go about simultaneously balancing and the care experience and services, public health optimizing the Triple Aim? In another Health Affairs article from a year and policy makers to improve population health and payors to reduce or control costs. ago, there was a conversation between David Eddy and Sean Tunis about Evidence-Based Few focus on all three. The authors identify three preconditions as Medicine (EBM) and its role in informing necessary to pursue the Triple Aim. These are: policy and ensuring quality. Mr. Eddy makes an integrator, such as Kaiser Permanente, a the point EBM, science-based judgment, is specific population of concern and external only half of the component in decision makpolicy and budget constraints. While their ing, whether at a macro policy level or for outlook for convergence of efforts might be individual care. The other half of the equaoptimistic, it is an interesting dynamic frame- tion is the preferences and value judgments work within which to consider healthcare of the actual decision-making patients and transformation. Health Affairs itself provides a physicians. These value decisions are outside wealth of material to fit into this Triple Aim the domain of EBM itself. framework. If Mr. Berwick and colleagues are right in We begin with the findings of Dr. John defining this complex, interdependent set of Wennberg and the Dartmouth Atlas team, goals that must be attacked simultaneously, I Taking Triple Aim INSIGHT we have a way to go. To the extent a policy addresses just one of the aims, such as universal coverage of the population, a new Balanced Budget Amendment or reduction in the variance in care preferences through aligned incentives, it is likely to cause a destructive imbalance in the others. Can we pursue expanded access without controlling per capita costs? Can we pursue controlling costs without influencing individual value judgments? How do we encourage large scale integrators to take clinical and fiscal responsibility for outcomes for populations without limiting individual choice of provider? How do we set explicit limits on spending if political will and consensus are absent? These are hard questions. We in the IT industry can offer data, clinical decision support and system interoperability. We can enable and sometimes inform choices, but we can't solve the fundamental policy questions or make value judgments for society. We need to contribute to a real political debate and consensus building first as stakeholders in the nation's health and then as vested interests offering technology solutions. s For the complete article including the specific Health Affairs references, see the full August Standards Insight on the HIMSS Member start page. Ed Larsen is an independent strategy consultant who tracks interoperability standards for HIMSS. Comments or questions can be sent to erlarsen@erlinc.com. PUBLICATIONS STAFF VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS Fran Perveiler MANAGER, PUBLICATIONS Nancy Vitucci SENIOR MANAGER, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS Joyce Lofstrom SENIOR MANAGER, PUBLIC POLICY COMMUNICATIONS Sharolyn Rosier Hyson SENIOR EDITOR Matt Schlossberg COORDINATOR, COMMUNICATIONS Cari McLean BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR Charles E. Christian, FCHIME, FHIMSS Director, Information Systems/ Chief Information Officer Good Samaritan Hospital VICE CHAIR Liz Johnson, RN, MSN, FHIMSS Vice President, Applied Clinical Informatics Tenet Healthcare Corp. CHAIR ELECT Barry P. Chaiken, MD, MPH, FHIMSS Chief Medical Officer DocsNetwork, Ltd. VICE CHAIR ELECT Liz Johnson, RN, MSN, FHIMSS Vice President, Applied Clinical Informatics Tenet Healthcare Corp. John H. Daniels, FACHE, CPHIMS, CHPS, FHIMSS Chief Information Officer Evolvent Technologies Inc. David Finn Vice President/Chief Information Officer/ Privacy and Information Security Officer Texas Children's Hospital C. Martin Harris, MD, MBA, FHIMSS Chief Information Officer and Chairman, IT Division The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Executive Director eCleveland Clinic Joy G. Keeler, MBA, FHIMSS Principal Health Information Technology The MITRE Corp. Holly D. Miller, MD, MBA, FHIMSS Vice President and Chief Medical Information Officer University Hospitals Carol R. Selvey, MHSA, FHIMSS Principal The Revere Group Jay Srini, FHIMSS Chief Innovation Officer UPMC Insurance Services Division Jonathan M. Teich, MD, PhD, FHIMSS Chief Medical Informatics Officer Elsevier Health Sciences Charlene S. Underwood, MBA, FHIMSS Director, Government and Industry Affairs Siemens Medical Solutions ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS HIMSS Launches Healthcare IT Grant Support Program T his month, the Society introduced The Grants Advantage: A Funding Intelligence Service to empower HIMSS Members to advance healthcare IT funding initiatives by providing tools and resources for all aspects of the grants management life cycle. Developed in collaboration with Grants Office LLC, HIMSS Grants Advantage allows subscribers to save time and money by accessing a single, trusted, reliable resource for valuable and timely healthcare IT grant information from a variety of funders. HIMSS Grants Advantage also provides education, mentoring and collaboration that spans from identification to submission to receipt of award and to closure. Other features of HIMSS Grants Advantage include an exclusive toll-free phone number for support; monthly Webinars featuring topics of interest and best practices among grantees in the industry; a moderated listserv to facilitate discussion among subscribers; a report suite of weekly updates; a quarterly e-newsletter; a SharePoint portal for additional collaboration; and a 30 percent discount for grants writing services. Further, subscribers may choose to participate in an annual meeting at the Annual HIMSS Conference for networking in person. For more information and to subscribe to HIMSS Grants Advantage, contact HIMSS Senior Director of Healthcare Information Systems JoAnn Klinedinst, PMP, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, at jklinedinst@himss.org. s New U.S. Hospital IT Data Released for Research Purposes by Dorenfest Institute T he Dorenfest Institute for Health Information Technology, Research and Education, managed by the HIMSS Foundation, released U.S. health IT market and updated 2006 data from HIMSS AnalyticsTM Database. The Dorenfest Institute provides a variety of detailed historical data, reports and white papers about information technology use in hospitals and integrated healthcare delivery networks at no charge to universities, students under university license, U.S. governments (local, state and federal), and governments of other countries that will be using the data for research purposes. In the last 12 months, for example, 70 applicants were granted access to the Dorenfest Database. Of these, 89 percent were associated with universities. Applicants used the data for academic research papers, grant research, master's theses, doctoral theses, white papers, etc. The newly released 2006 data from the hospitals and integrated healthcare delivery networks. The release of the 2006 data expands the current library of the Dorenfest 3000+ Databases™ and Dorenfest Integrated Healthcare Delivery System Databases™ for the period 1986 through 2006, as well as many publications on IT use in the healthcare industry during that same time period. The 2007 Annual Report of the U.S. Hospital IT Market, also now available in PDF on the Dorenfest Institute Web site, www.himss.org/dorenfestinstitute, presents the state of the U.S. hospital IT market. The report examines hospital budgets as well as financial, technology and department environments, and presents key findings on IT investment and enterprise resource planning. The data is from HIMSS Analytics™ Database. The 2006 and 2005 reports are also available on the site. “These updated data and market reports, along with the legacy of the Dorenfest healthother editorial experience. Additionally, individuals must detail their areas of expertise and indicate any conflicts that would prohibit them from reviewing submissions. Reviewers selected for this year's peer-review process will be offered HIMSS AnalyticsTM Database covers IT use in care IT databases, support the critical research that is needed to improve outcomes from healthcare IT investment projects,” said Sheldon I. Dorenfest, president/CEO of the Dorenfest Group in Chicago. The Dorenfest Group is a leading consultant and source of knowledge about the healthcare information technology industry. The Dorenfest Institute was formed in January 2005 to further the interest in and benefits associated with ongoing research in health IT. This followed a generous donation of his company and its http://www.himss.org http://www.himss.org/dorenfestinstitute http://www.himss.org/dorenfestinstitute http://www.himss.org/dorenfestinstitute http://www.himss.org/education http://www.himss.org/education

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Healthcare IT News - August 2008

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