| News for professionals interested in health care information technology |  |
- Experts: Practice setting changes needed to get HIT benefits
Health care IT won't improve costs and care without a change in practice environments, experts said during a forum sponsored by the Brookings Institution. Carol Diamond, managing director of health programs with the Markle Foundation, says that health care IT should be viewed as a tool rather than a goal, and that success should be measured by improvements in clinical outcome rather than the number of practices adopting health IT. Modern Healthcare (free registration)
(11/25)       
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| | Is your data secure?
The vast majority of data leaks are accidental — a thumb drive left on a desk after work, or patient information uploaded to an unsecure computer or work station. Using a data loss prevention (DLP) application can help ensure that your data stays secure throughout its lifetime. To learn about data loss prevention technologies and individual DLP product strengths and weaknesses, download this free Gartner Report. | |
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| Hospitals |  | |
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- Intermountain consolidates imaging systems
Intermountain Healthcare is using Agfa Healthcare's IMPAX 6.3 picture archiving and communications system to integrate the imaging systems used in all of the hospitals and clinics that it serves into a single, central PACS. The centralized PACS will enable radiologists at any Intermountain location to review patient images and data, a specialist said. Healthcare IT News
(11/25)
 | It's time to get strategic about hiring.
Reach thousands of engaged professionals with SmartBrief Jobs.
Need to find the best and the brightest? SmartBrief Jobs will deliver your openings directly to the people who matter the most.
Start your focused recruiting campaign now. |
| Providers | | |
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- Few U.S. physicians use e-prescribing, nonprofit finds
Only 2% of valid U.S. prescriptions are sent electronically to pharmacies, according to data from the nonprofit eHealth Initiative. To promote e-prescribing, the federal government in January is set to start a 2% bonus for doctors under Medicare who adopt the system. Though the technology is designed to avert medical mistakes, a pharmacist raised concerns about the improper use of online prescriptions and delayed transmission because of jammed computer servers. The Washington Post
(11/25)
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- Tenn. Blues Medicare Advantage members get PHRs
Medicare Advantage members of Tennessee's BlueCross Blue Shield will have access to free PHRs with personalized medical and pharmacy claim information in January. Members who decide to participate can give their provider permission to access the record and take advantage of prescription refill reminders, symptom checkers and care guides. Health Data Management
(11/25)
| Technology Trends | | |
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- HL7 offers four new implementation guides
Health Level Seven has released four new implementation guides for clinical-document architecture that provide guidelines for diagnostic imaging, quality reporting and home health reporting. "While many healthcare standards are detailed and somewhat rigid, CDA is a generic standard that was designed with flexibility in mind," said Bob Dolin, chairman-elect for HL7. Healthcare IT News
(11/24)
- Wikipedia entries lack important drug info, review shows
An evaluation of Wikipedia data on 80 drugs found authors made few factual errors but left out important information on adverse events and potentially harmful drug interactions. Researchers found Wikipedia provided answers to 40% of 80 different questions on eight drug categories, compared with 82.5% for the peer-reviewed Medscape Drug Reference. Reuters
(11/25)
- Cyberchondria common in those seeking health information
Microsoft researchers found that one-third of people who troll the Web for information about their health symptoms escalate the search to explore more serious illnesses, even though it is unlikely they have a major disease. Also, a survey of more than 500 Microsoft employees found that more than half admitted that online searches related to a serious illness had interrupted their daily activities. Researchers say cyberchondria -- when online users jump to the worst possible conclusions -- is just part of people's tendency to think the worst. NYTimes.com
(11/24)
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| The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS)
HIMSS - True Interoperability is Possible
Physician practices, large clinics and IDNs, small and large hospitals can participate in an HIE without major modifications to their legacy systems. A single connection versus costly point to point interfaces is all that is needed to achieve interoperability. "The ability to seamlessly connect our HIE...more
Interested in learning more about advertising in eHealth SmartBrief? Contact Aaron Kern at (202) 407-7813 or akern@smartbrief.com.
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| Regulatory/Legislative | | |
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| International | | |
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- Charity uses e-mail to link sick patients to specialists
From her 16th-century farmhouse in England, retired nurse Pat Swinfen sits at her computer matching critically ill patients with health care specialists around the globe. Physicians in 140 hospitals and clinics in 39 countries use the telemedicine charity, the Swinfen Charitable Trust, to link sick people in remote areas with specialists in some of the world's best hospitals. The Washington Post
(11/24)
| Editor's Note | | |
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SmartBrief will not be published on Friday
In observance of Thanksgiving in the U.S., SmartBrief will not be published on Friday, Nov. 28. Publication will resume on Monday.
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 | Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Halftimes take 12 minutes. This is not coincidence."
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