Major initiatives in Health IT in 2013

As the push for infusing information technology into the healthcare space continues, each year is expected to have its own share of activities and initiatives which get implemented. All of these are finally expected to synergize and lead to a highly efficient and cost effective healthcare system in the future. Each such initiative has a starting time keeping in mind the change it is expected to bring about and the contribution it would make to the system over time. Also, all such initiatives are expected to have certain gestations periods to start offering real benefits. However, the build-up years are bound to result in certain levels of uncertainty and heartburn amongst all concerned stakeholders – owing to major changes affecting the status quo at any point in time.

Year 2013 saw some such Health IT initiatives getting implemented. A few of those were in response to concerns arising on the way and a few with the foresight of where the industry wants to reach. The important wants are as follows:

The HIPAA Omnibus Rule:

As an expansion to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountable Act, four new rules have been implemented. Contractors, subcontractors and other business associates of healthcare entities who deal with patient data are now expected to protect it as otherwise a provider would. There are penalties in place as well for cases of non-compliance. Also, how patient information is to be used for marketing purposes and for raising funds have defined guidelines to follow no. In short, no patient information can be sold without the required permission in place. With the digital world in a perennial expansion mode, the new rule is expected to protect patient privacy and safeguard patient health information.

Guidance for Mobile Medical Application:
This was provided by the Food and Drug Administration after an almost 2-year wait. The guidelines are enforced only on a certain percentage of apps which pose a threat to patients if they fail to perform what they intend to. Thus, only a small subset of the overall app market falls under its purview. In its current state, the oversight is on all those mobile medical applications which are aimed at being used as accessories to regulated mobile devices or which are likely to transform mobile platforms into regulated medical devices. The agency has been very particular to apply those regulatory standards which it otherwise applies to medical devices. This clarity is also very relevant to the developer community as they build newer and more effective solutions. There were some omissions in the guidelines which include:

• definition of what are regulated i.e. how to determine what requires regulation and what necessitates enforcement discretion
• defining the levels of risk for mobile devices & their accessories
• disease intended uses compared to unregulated, wellness intended uses
• exact meaning of an accessory to a medical device

Meaningful Use Stage 2 deadline extension:
Senators may have asked for a reboot of the system, some senior leaders might have questioned its true benefits; MU is here to stay. However, there is widespread consensus on some of the issues which stand as hurdles in its implementation - with the major one concerning the timeline. As a response to this, CMS proposed Meaningful Stage 2 implementation to be extended through 2016. This will result in the roll out of stage 3 getting pushed to 2017. There has however not been a shift in the start date resulting in drawing flak from some CIOs. They are not convinced about the intent of such a move – that of allowing time for fine tuning for the next stage by extending the deadline and not bring in flexibility in the start date which seems to be the need of the hour. Effectively, it means that those providers who do not start on time will miss out on a payment cycle.

Use of Big Data:
It might be early days for big data usage in healthcare systems; providers who have started using them for their clinical and administrative work have already started noticing the benefits. From reducing mortality rates, bringing down instances of readmission to performing evidence-based budgeting, there are predictions already of saving close to $450 billion in healthcare costs if the right usage of big data is made. People from some sections of the industry are however not overtly excited in jumping to such conclusions although they acknowledge the positives which are visible.

What will be new in 2014? Healthcare testing services would be in demand. Because of the large number of initiatives being rolled out and newer changes affecting healthcare, testing would peak during the year. Certified testing team would help you stay in line with your business goals while ensuring delivery of accurate healthcare solutions.

We provide healthcare software development services. If you would like to hire EMR software developers from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

Will Computing take over the main tasks of Physicians?

Is it possible to automate a doctor-patient interaction with machines and algorithms handling 80% of the work? It might sound a bit outlandish but a reputed Silicon Valley investor feels it is quite a possibility. The person feels that general checkups can easily be handled by computer algorithms as well as an average physician. They may also have a lot of utility in recommending people for a physical visit to a doctor (when there is an actual need) after analyzing vital inputs shared by them and in the process save effort, time and money. Suggestions from these systems would also be based on history of illness, test results, symptoms etc. just like actual physicians would do.

Not many leaders from this field quite agree with this thought though. The argument broadly put across by them is in the lines of replacing human beings with robots. What a computer can replicate is the analytical and logical thinking which a physician would put in while treating a patient. However, it will fall short when qualities like creativity, experience and most importantly empathy comes into play. All these are adequately used by physicians when they arrive at conclusions related to a certain course of action for treatment. Also, another valid point to be taken into account is that each patient is different from the other; not necessarily reflected in terms of readings from tests, medical devices measuring vitals etc. This has led to the second school of thought by another bunch of healthcare leaders who take the middle path. According to them, the current state of affairs requires technology to permeate more into the healthcare domain but not so much so as to reduce the importance of physicians for making decisions. Ultimately physicians should have a role to play in validating technological inputs.

If the focus were to be shifted to the positives that technology has to offer, the list will be a long one. In fact, all the push from the Federal government for Health IT implementation under Obamacare is result of it. At an elementary level, technology in healthcare has led to marked improvement in provider adherence to clinical guidelines. At a more complex level, it has led to the process of “hot spotting”. This results in identifying problems in patients and making required interventions before a flare up happens; thereby saving high treatment cost and lives. Use of mobile devices like smartphones, tablets and other devices is also transforming the way healthcare delivery is taking place.

If we take a long-term perspective of the industry, within a few years from now there will be humungous amount of electronic healthcare related data created. Efforts are now being directed towards preventative care, population health, implementation of health insurance exchanges and a general shift from quantitative to qualitative healthcare. However, reaching a stage where disparate systems start talking to each other and are able exchange data will not be enough. There will be a need to have systems in place to mine the data available and come up with solutions to assist physicians in decision making – from suggesting the best treatment methods to other areas of decision making .These will become all the more relevant to the new healthcare delivery models e.g. ACOs which are emerging.

Thus, technology is proving to be very important in helping doctors to provide quality care. But expecting it to delivering the care outright would be a long shot. Also, the industry as a whole will improve only if the people at the core of the business i.e. the physicians are motivated to make a difference. Research done in this field has indicated that Physicians like to be given a certain level of autonomy in structuring their clinical activities and high control over the pace and content of patient care. The recent changes in terms of the compliance rules and regulations seems to be taking a toll on them as it indirectly reduces the time they get to spend with their patients . This problem is expected to be resolved over time as their familiarity with using new info systems and workflows gets better.

Leveraging newer technologies and building applications and systems which help make the tasks easier for physicians is the need of the hour and fortunately is on the rise as well. Healthcare software developers with solid domain expertise and strong technical know-how are making this a reality.

We provide medical software development services. That includes software development and independent software testing. So if you are looking at hiring certified software development experts for building healthcare applications, please feel free to speak to one of our developers or healthcare software testers at Mindfire Solutions and you will be glad you did.