Why healthcare is in the verge of a disruptive technology revolution ?

The Supreme Court has spoken. In a 5-4 decision unveiled Thursday, the court ended months of media-hyped, politically charged speculation and upheld President Barack Obama’s healthcare law.  Today though, as democrats celebrate and republicans vow to continue the fight, I would like to turn our attention to the one common ground in this battle – technology innovation – and the incredible progress that is being made amidst the partisan impasse.  The reason?  When it comes to healthcare technology, necessity trumps ideology.

The digital natives, people under 30 who have grown up on Xbox, Facebook and text messaging, are the doctors, nurses and technicians entering the healthcare workforce today.  They are the patients who are making decisions on their treatment today.  And their expectations around accessing and collaborating on information far exceed those of even 5 years ago.

The proliferation of smart phones, ubiquity of the internet and bandwidth of the cloud are just a few of the technological advances that are changing the healthcare game.  And the potential for further innovation is virtually limitless.  Healthcare is in the midst of a technology revolution, with significant implications for providers, and substantial benefits for patients and their families. Now, more than ever, hospitals, health systems and physician practices want to – and desperately need to – improve the way information is used, shared and stored, in order to provide better, more effective care.

In recent years, hospitals, largely considered laggards for their reliance on old-fashioned, paper-based systems, have made great strides towards becoming what Gartner refers to as Real Time Health Systems through the implementation and optimization of electronic health records systems.   The improvements cannot come too soon. Healthcare is in a state of chaos and the country’s system can no longer afford to continue doing business as usual.  The aging population, combined with exponentially escalating healthcare costs (18% of GDP today and projected to exceed 25% within the next several years) has created a crisis situation.

Automation in healthcare is the key. The mandate for the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) is one of the smartest and most effective pieces of legislation in years, not only in theory, but also in practice.  The technology shift, primed by billions in financial incentives provisioned in the HITECH Act, is fully underway and is fueling economies around the country, particularly here in Massachusetts.  Though the early adopters began digitizing patient records to support their own forward-thinking business plans, it is the meaningful use objectives that are motivating the majority of facilities to embrace technology as an engine of change and innovation in healthcare.

This transformation is enabling dramatic and much needed efficiencies in the care delivery process.  It is ensuring the protection of sensitive data.  And it is saving facilities money.  Most importantly, however, healthcare technology innovation is improving care. Instead, of data sitting in separate silos, facilities are aggregating and blending patient information from a variety of sources, giving busy healthcare professionals fast access to the information they need – from anywhere – to make rapid, accurate decisions about diagnoses and treatments.  There’s a new normal in healthcare.

Because of the meaningful use objectives, more than 100,000 providers now use EHR systems that meet federal government standards, and benefit from Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, according to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC).  More than 100,000 primary care providers and 10,000 specialists have partnered with Regional Extension Centers (RECs) to break down barriers to EHR adoption.

While the progress has been tremendous, the road ahead is long, and we have only scratched the surface. Continued success in this area will require its own consensus on a number of fronts:

• Providers, payers, government and public health agencies and technologists must collaborate to develop ways to access, store, protect and share patient information;
• Vendors must engage healthcare professionals and patients, designing solutions that fulfill their needs, not simply meet business requirements;
• Vendors must work with each other to create integrated, interoperable solutions;
• Healthcare professionals, patients and vendors must support government and private programs, policies and standards designed to facilitate health data exchange and the protection of patient information.

Those who have already taken great strides to implement EHRs and other digital solutions are to be commended and encouraged to continue to push the envelope; those who are behind need to get in the game and adopt now.

While we have a moment of relative calm before the battle rages again, let’s acknowledge the extraordinary accomplishments that are being made on the common ground of healthcare technology innovation.

From: Omar Hussain, Bostinno, July 02nd,  20102