Two of most successful EHR programs (Department of Veteran Affairs and Kaiser Permanente) has come together to form a partnership.

The VA is the largest integrated health system in the country and a longtime leader in health information technology. The VA’s partnership with Kaiser could pave the way for other public-private health record sharing programs, officials of both organizations said…

The VA-Kaiser initiative will be launched in San Diego, providing a “gateway” for clinicians from the VA and Kaiser to share patient health information including condition, medications, and allergies, among other data. Patients must authorize sharing of their information between physicians.

Sharing data between two disparate system is a non-trivial task.  A lot of engineering efforts and time will be required in order for this to happen.  However, without data sharing, the data stored in individual silo will be useless if a patient moves around the country.  This is definitely a step in the right direction for EHR by the of the leaders in its industry.

The definition of meaningful use is one of the key aspects of stimulus funding going into 2010.  In order for a physician to receive funding, the EHR software must be declared “Meaningful Use”.  While the definition has not been clearly defined, based on a survey most health care provider believed that their EHR will qualify

About 85% of health care providers believe their electronic health record products will help them qualify for “meaningful use” under the federal economic stimulus package, according to a new survey from research firm KLAS, Healthcare IT News reports.

For the report, KLAS interviewed more than 1,400 health care providers about their experiences with EHR products from 26 vendors. The survey asked the providers whether they thought their EHRs would meet the preliminary meaningful use recommendations issued by the Health IT Policy Committee in July (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 1/6).

I am a voracious reader when it comes to technology sector.  There is an article on PC World called Will Technology Change How Doctors Treat You in 2010.  The case in point is that EHR provides a near real time access to the data.  As a result, health care professionals can better monitor health issues and take immediate action.

Monitoring a patient’s condition in real time and using the information to develop a more detailed medical history could eliminate the need for some emergency treatment or hospital re-admissions by heading off health problems early.

The emergence of consumer health electronics such as portable ECG devices, blood pressure monitors or weight scales can allow the seamless capture and sharing of patient information from home, at work or even on the road. Portable ECGs, for instance, weigh just 3.5 ounces and allow outpatients to record electrical heart signals and transmit the results to doctors who can monitor them for trouble down the road. Advances in microprocessors will allow such devices to connect wirelessly with home computers, mobile phones or even remote Internet applications.

Score one for the positive benefit of using an EHR system.

I just finished reading this article called Doctors for sale on Nashville post.  The basic idea is that it is becoming harder and harder for doctors to be working solo and as a result more and more doctors are choosing to join hospitals instead of flying solo.

Faced with declining reimbursements, closed-off revenue streams, capital investment pressures and the changes of health care reform, many doctors are turning to hospital and health system employment to safeguard their financial and lifestyle stability…

But declining physician incomes aren’t the only problem. Like so many entrepreneurs, doctors face pressure to spend on new equipment and technology. In particular, physicians are mulling the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s provision to reimburse doctors and hospitals for part of the cost of implementing electronic health records — if they show they’re meeting certain usage benchmarks and thus help lower administrative costs.

The cost of maintaining an EHR system is definitely a burden on doctors that would much prefer to fly solo.  If an independent physician implements an EHR system in his clinic, he would need to hire an technical administrator just to keep the system up and running.  In this regard, there should be a push for SAAS based EHR system in which it can help lighten the cost for independent clinics.  If not, hospital will be the only place where you will be seeing your doctor.

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!