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I saw this article this morning and it definitely points to the need for better security when it comes to the  health care related technology.

More than 80,000 patients  are at risk for medical identity theft after an employee lost a USB drive containing flu clinic records, including patient names, addresses, phone numbers and health card numbers. Despite a 2007 order from the province’s privacy commissioner to encrypt personal health information (PHI) on any mobile device, the USB drive was encryption-free.

I can’t even comprehend how the device can be allowed to be encryption free.

Obama’s stimulus fund requires EHR to be meaningful use in order to receive the stimulus funding.  However, the definition of meaningful use is very unclear.

Although the measures for meaningful use are becoming more apparent, it is also clear that the industry has a long way to go to implement many of them.

Providers have many questions: How will the metrics of meaningful use be measured? What level of implementation is realistic? And what is clinically sound?

Hopefully next year brings a clear picture to the EHR system.

Wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holiday.  2010 will be a crucial year for EHR systems and the health care system in general.  Here is to a good 2010!

Very interesting survey I see on business wire.  According to the survey:

Study Shows 96 Percent of Doctors Concerned About Losing the Unique Patient Story with Transition to Electronic Health Records

Also Shows Less Than 10 Percent of Doctors Are Confident that Federal Government’s Health IT and Reimbursement Standards will Lead to Higher Quality Patient Health Records.

It looks like most physicians don’t have too much faith in EHR systems even though Obama admission is pushing hard for EHR adoption.

Never have I thought I would see a contest to win an EMR system but I would be wrong.  I always believed EMR is technology that requires careful evaluation and decision planning instead of software that you just implement.  That said, there is currently a EMR contest (The Tech Rx Transformation) where the winner will receive a technology solution package including hardware and EMR software, which officials said is valued up to $50,000.

Three finalists will be selected to participate at the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society’s  2010 Annual Conference in Atlanta, Ga. where a grand prize winner will be announced.

See the official rules here.

Here is a survey conducted by Pfizer regarding primary physicians and how likely they are willing to report drug safety information through EHR.

Of the 300 physicians surveyed, two-thirds utilized some form of an EHR system and one-third used a paper-based system. Half of all respondents and 60 percent of fully-functional EHR users reported that they would be much more likely to submit information about adverse events using an EHR system. Of those still using paper-based systems, 80 percent cited cost as a deterrent to investing in an EHR system.

Plus one for EHR implementation even though the true cost of implementing an EHR is still largely unknown.

The poor are being impacted by the economy more than anyone and now it looks like the poor are being turned away from free cancer screening.  From Yahoo:

ALBANY, N.Y. – As the economy falters and more people go without health insurance, low-income women in at least 20 states are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings, according to the American Cancer Society‘s Cancer Action Network.

In the unofficial survey of programs for July 2008 through April 2009, the organization found that state budget strains are forcing some programs to reject people who would otherwise qualify for free mammograms and Pap smears. Just how many are turned away isn’t known; in some cases, the women are screened through other programs or referred to different providers.