The New York Times reported that the city is providing financial incentives to providers to harness the benefits of electronic health records. They report that about 1,000 primary-care physicians have adopted EHRs as part of a $60 million health department project. The project has been called "the ABCS of preventive medicine: Aspirin (to prevent heart attacks), Blood Pressure, Cholesterol and Smoking."
Public health benefits of the city's health project for providers and patients include:
- Monitoring disease frequencies
- Cancer screening and substance abuse
- Anti-smoking promotion
- Promotion for restaurants to post calorie counts
- Bonuses to providers who help patients hit targets such as blood pressure and cholesterol control
- Diet issues
- Medical tracking
- Compliance with treatment plans
- Alerts when insurance companies decline coverage
- Patient access to personal health records from their home, including the ability to make appointments electronically, check lab results or other monitoring opportunities of important health conditions
They also report that in April, doctors who participate in the program will receive report cards on their preventative efforts compared to peers. The city's system will also track the spread of flu, real-time.
HMOs elsewhere in the country are using similar efforts, but New York is also seeking to connect medical practices to provide enhanced information and to help promote preventive medicine with subsidies for physicians to adopt into the system.
Also, the system will prompt physicians when reminders are needed for routine tests and vaccinations, advising them on various treatments for medical conditions and finally, to enable e-Prescriptions.
This is wonderful news and it brings hope for a truly Happy 2009! I look forward to hearing more about this and other initiatives across the country. In order to provide better care for patients, better information is needed, and better use of that information is essential.
This article presents a clear view of the benefits of EHRs and should be noted on your "must read" list.
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