The major problems within the US healthcare system are summarized in three key terms: coverage, cost, and quality. Policy makers and health reformers struggle with how to solve the problems of providing coverage to all Americans at an affordable rate and with a consistent level of quality of care. Debate continues back and forth of what is the best or correct solution...universal healthcare or some other alternative?
It appears, though, that some of the debates are superfluous when open source health systems are a viable solution. Why argue continually with no progress about costs when health IT systems can be utilized at no upfront costs? Policy makers do take the time to weigh all scenarios, options, and sides before making decisions, which is needed. However, perhaps the simplistic approach is best with regards to lowering healthcare costs. The focus should be to act now in installing open source health systems to get everyone connected and sharing information. With this step, expedited progress can be made at greater rates of success because everyone is exposing their flawed, proprietary practices and ultimately working together, which is part of the overall problem.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
What to do with $5 million?
Having to answer an essay question for a healthcare related opportunity, I initially was overwhelmed at the thought of answering the question. The question, "If you were given 5 million dollars and could use it for only one purpose, what would you do with the money?" incorporates so many different possibilities in my mind. I could give the money to a friend who is working on a water purification project in Ghana, Community Water Solutions.
However, as much as I want to donate this hypothetical money to CWS, the project does not reflect my own passions, knowledge, or life intentions. It doesn't show the entrepreneurial, healthcare related thoughts that the admissions committee is looking for. Therefore, I continued to grapple with the concept of having to narrow an essay response to one meaningful project. Would I choose to donate to an AIDs clinic in Africa, give the money to impoverished children in India who cannot afford vaccinations and medications, or would I donate the money to Latino communities in the US who cannot access the healthcare system because they are working with green cards?
As I logged into my blog, the answer was quickly realized and seemed so easy. I would donate the money to have open source healthcare systems implemented at small clinics, family practices doctor's offices, and healthcare organizations in general that cannot afford to adopt an EMR system. These small clinics are truly the key to the successful automation of the entire US healthcare system. The large hospitals, insurers, and clinics can afford to implement healthcare systems and utilize a proprietary vendor who installs the software and provides the training. They can also brunt the cost of creating interoperable health information networks, so all of the large providers can "talk" to each other and share data.
However, the smaller healthcare providers can barely staff their clinics well enough each day. Healthcare IT systems are their last worry on a daily basis. They cannot afford to implement such a system nor can they dedicate staff members to training others on the new system. Without the systems, they are also left out of the sharing of invaluable health data on information exchange networks that provide better healthcare diagnoses and overall care to patients.
Therefore, the answer is clear now with what I would do with $5 million dollars. Utilize a team such as MedSphere to implement OpenVista in small, needy clinics across the country. The focus initially would be with clinics who cater to our system's children and elderly because these individuals are our future and most needy. Then, with a MedSphere team, the software implementation would cost ZERO dollars. The $5 million dollars would be used to pay MedSphere members to go in to implement the systems and train employees. Without the licensing fees, the $5 million dollars could go quite far in automating and digitizing our foundational healthcare organizations.
How far could the $5 million extend in covering the implementation/training costs? That is one answer that I am still unsure of. However, it is clear that this $5 million could go much further with an open source health system than with a proprietary health system. Our healthcare system should not based upon having the "best" system but rather on providing an interoperable health platform that all health organizations (big or small) can access. For that to happen, ALL health providers must have the foundational system implemented to connect to the platform. That is why open source makes this seemingly overwhelming task of implementing health systems in such a large, disaggregated US healthcare system much more feasible and affordable.
However, as much as I want to donate this hypothetical money to CWS, the project does not reflect my own passions, knowledge, or life intentions. It doesn't show the entrepreneurial, healthcare related thoughts that the admissions committee is looking for. Therefore, I continued to grapple with the concept of having to narrow an essay response to one meaningful project. Would I choose to donate to an AIDs clinic in Africa, give the money to impoverished children in India who cannot afford vaccinations and medications, or would I donate the money to Latino communities in the US who cannot access the healthcare system because they are working with green cards?
As I logged into my blog, the answer was quickly realized and seemed so easy. I would donate the money to have open source healthcare systems implemented at small clinics, family practices doctor's offices, and healthcare organizations in general that cannot afford to adopt an EMR system. These small clinics are truly the key to the successful automation of the entire US healthcare system. The large hospitals, insurers, and clinics can afford to implement healthcare systems and utilize a proprietary vendor who installs the software and provides the training. They can also brunt the cost of creating interoperable health information networks, so all of the large providers can "talk" to each other and share data.
However, the smaller healthcare providers can barely staff their clinics well enough each day. Healthcare IT systems are their last worry on a daily basis. They cannot afford to implement such a system nor can they dedicate staff members to training others on the new system. Without the systems, they are also left out of the sharing of invaluable health data on information exchange networks that provide better healthcare diagnoses and overall care to patients.
Therefore, the answer is clear now with what I would do with $5 million dollars. Utilize a team such as MedSphere to implement OpenVista in small, needy clinics across the country. The focus initially would be with clinics who cater to our system's children and elderly because these individuals are our future and most needy. Then, with a MedSphere team, the software implementation would cost ZERO dollars. The $5 million dollars would be used to pay MedSphere members to go in to implement the systems and train employees. Without the licensing fees, the $5 million dollars could go quite far in automating and digitizing our foundational healthcare organizations.
How far could the $5 million extend in covering the implementation/training costs? That is one answer that I am still unsure of. However, it is clear that this $5 million could go much further with an open source health system than with a proprietary health system. Our healthcare system should not based upon having the "best" system but rather on providing an interoperable health platform that all health organizations (big or small) can access. For that to happen, ALL health providers must have the foundational system implemented to connect to the platform. That is why open source makes this seemingly overwhelming task of implementing health systems in such a large, disaggregated US healthcare system much more feasible and affordable.
Friday, May 15, 2009
EHR Adoption Inhibited by State Level Privacy Laws
EHR adoption has encountered a great obstacle, the varying state level health privacy laws. Because each state has different laws, a standard off-the-shelf software cannot be utilized across the nation. Proprietary vendors, therefore, must customize each system to fit the needs of the health organizations in each state. This customization does not come without a high cost though. Consequently, the high price tags for customization can and are deterring many health organizations from adopting EHR's.
What's a possible solution? Open source health systems...Open source systems can be easily customized to fit the needs of the users at no or minimal costs. Therefore, open source becomes an even more viable solution for health organizations with tight budgets.
To read the study published by the Harvard School of Medicine and the MIT Sloan School of Management about the inhibiting factors for EHR adoption , click here.
What's a possible solution? Open source health systems...Open source systems can be easily customized to fit the needs of the users at no or minimal costs. Therefore, open source becomes an even more viable solution for health organizations with tight budgets.
To read the study published by the Harvard School of Medicine and the MIT Sloan School of Management about the inhibiting factors for EHR adoption , click here.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Security is Essential NO Matter the System Type
No matter if a system is proprietary or open source, health systems in general must place security at the forefront of its agenda items. Protecting personal health information should be the fundamental element of all health systems, no matter whether they are proprietary or open source. Recently, a hacker stole 8,257,378 patient records and a total of 35,548,087 prescriptions from the state of Virginia's health records system. This is a harsh wake-up call for the healthcare industry. Even though there is a dramatic push for healthcare providers to adopt health systems today, each healthcare provider must walk carefully and cautiously in its adoption of an electronic system. Security is essential and must be present in all health systems before adopting them. The debate between open source vs. proprietary health systems must be halted momentarily as a pressing need arises for all healthcare software providers to collaborate to guarantee the protection of American health records. There will be a severe backlash against any type of health system and their adoption if EHR's cannot be secured.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Support the Open Sourche EHR Bill
Please consider taking the time to help in the process of passing the open source EHR bill proposed by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV. This bill will enable rural communities to adopt health systems and not have to incur the dramatic costs of many proprietary software vendors. This bill enables the rural health providers to become part of a national health information network, which benefits the health of everyone by sharing information for best practices, cures, etc. It is understood the benefits of connectivity of healthcare providers, and this bill proposal makes this vision a true reality. Follow the information listed on Ben Mehling's blog on MedSphere.org to help support the passing of the bill.
Sun Microsystem Powering CONNECT
Sun Microsystem's open source software is one of the major components powering NHIN's CONNECT health system. Sun's open source mentality helped influence the actual platform that the NHIN would adopt in offering its government provided health information software, CONNECT. With Sun potentially being bought by Oracle, it will be interesting to see if the CONNECT platform will continue to remain open.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Open Source's Big Week
Last week was acknowledged by many as a big week for the open source health community. With Rockefeller's open source health bill proposal and MedSphere signing on to implement OpenVista for the Connecticut psychiatric hospital, much headway was made for open source becoming more mainstream and a truly viable source for health systems. Laura Landro of the Wall Street Journal expanded upon the week's events in her article entitle, "An Affordable Fix for Modernizing Medical Records." In the article, Laura highlights the major players of open source as well as the fundamental drive for implementing open source health systems. Now, it will simply be a matter of time before one can judge whether the implementation projects are successful and whether the bill passes. If either or both of these events occur, the open source health community will once again gain substantial grounds within the healthcare systems arena in the United States.
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