Is Healthcare IT doomed?

Link: The Difficulties of Health IT.

Dr. Silverstein presents some interesting perspectives on Health IT in his post on the Drexel University site.

What I find interesting about some recent discussions of Health IT on various sites (not necessarily Dr. Silverstein's), is that there are conflicting viewpoints on the value of Health IT. Simply stated, there are some who believe that the U.S. government should spend its limited financial resources on other areas besides Health IT.

I agree that we have numerous issues to address and resolve in the U.S. Healthcare system, but I also believe we should keep both short-term and long-term objectives in mind. There is no "silver bullet" - Healthcare delivery is complex.

With any investment, ROI should be evaluated. So what is the ROI (value) of Health IT? Well, I haven't done the analysis to confirm my thoughts, but I believe that an investment in Health IT and its adoption, will prove valuable (ROI) toward efforts to reduce costs associated with healthcare inefficiencies. With any ROI estimation, however, it will take time to achieve benefits. I concur that there are also other important aspects of U.S. healthcare that need to be addressed, perhaps concurrently.

When thinking about ROI on Health IT, consider that when medical information is unavailable, or takes too much time (hours/days) to obtain, and is needed to support diagnoses and treatments, there may be significant medical costs related to missed diagnoses, redundant treatments or diagnostic tests, etc.

In a previous post from an article in the Online Journal of Nursing about the benefits of EHRs, it describes a triage situation where patient care could be enhanced with the appropriate technology that provides rapid availability of a patient's records.

With any move toward enabling Health IT, one must remember that it is not THE technology that provides the benefit, but rather HOW it is used. ...and the "How" is most often accompanied by culture change.

 

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Comments

[S Silverstein]

Thanks for posting a link to my academic site.

Actually, as my site says, I believe that HIT can achieve its goals - but only if done properly - in design, implementation and lifecycle management. There is an enormous body of hidden complexity behind the word "properly."

If not done properly, HIT difficulties, failures, cost overruns, etc. will dampen the enthusiasm for the technology at a time of increasing financial duress in healthcare.

The time to "get it right" is now. Simple "best practices" common in the business IT world are inadequate to achieve that goal in clinical IT.

Awareness and ability to manage "worst processes" of various stakeholders that negate any best practices employed, and deep knowledge of the nuances required for HIT success (which usually requires cross-disciplinary education and experience) are essential.

Also see the "other resources" tab at my website for more on these issues.

Best regards,

Scot Silverstein, MD
Drexel University