January 9, 2009

More money for healthcare IT, broadband could mean 700,000 new U.S. jobs
A $20 billion investment by the federal government to digitize health records and expand broadband access could ultimately create more than 700,000 new jobs for U.S. workers within a year, according to a report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). The government investment, which would come on top of another $30 billion in public and private in healthcare IT money already planned for 2009, would create nearly 500,000 jobs from development of high-speed Internet access and 212,000 from the computerization of health IT records, the Washington, D.C.-based ITIF noted. IBM Corp., which worked on the report with ITIF, added that much of the projected job growth will come from “network effects,” the anticipated economic activity from the creation of new services made possible by the monetary investments.  http://www.itif.org/files/roadtorecovery.pdf

Pfizer to lead new program to improve review of prescription drug side effects
Drug maker Pfizer Inc., and Boston-based Massachusetts General, and Brigham and Women’s hospitals are teaming up to determine whether electronic patient records can help federal regulators detect dangerous side effects of prescription drugs. Under the pilot project, 30 doctors at the two hospitals will report serious drug-related side effects to the Food and Drug Administration when they perform their usual electronic patient record chart duties. The program, if successful, could increase the number of such reports filed and improve their quality, according to Jeffrey Linder, the Brigham and Women’s physician overseeing the three-month pilot. Eli Lilly & Co. is sponsoring a similar pilot at Indiana University School of Medicine to see if the Boston program can be easily duplicated.    http://www.rwjf.org/qualityequality/digest.jsp?id=9267&c=OTC-RSS&attr=DI

New $60 million EHR project targets New York City’s lower-income neighborhoods
Nearly 1,000 primary care physicians are taking part in a $60 million effort by New York City’s mental health department to encourage doctors in the city’s poorer neighborhoods to use a bare-bones electronic health record system for patients. The project, being marketed primarily to residents of East and Central Harlem, South Bronx and North and Central Brooklyn, will collect information on the patient’s age, sex, ethnic background and medical history, and use that information to help convey recommended treatment options to doctors. City subsidies will reduce the cost of implementing the system, with most doctors paying between $10,000 and $24,000 instead of the usual $45,000 price. Physicians will also begin receiving report cards that measure their treatment efforts against those of their peers in April. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/csi/csi-detailing.shtml

Germany scales back implementation of national e-health smartcard
Efforts to implement a national e-health smartcard program in Germany are being scaled back – including electronic versions of prescriptions, emergency data sites and medication safety applications – due to problems encountered at the first seven pilot sites, according to a report by the plan’s implementation agency, Gematik. Gematik said the project’s key problems are related to use of PIN numbers, which the federal government requires for the smartcard. Early studies show that 70 percent of test cases forgot their PINs. Digital signatures were also less than successful, due to doctors’ complaints about the length of the electronic signature process. Gematik now plans to focus on the easier items first, such as electronic referral letters and insurance claims. The agency still plans to roll out the card system later this year. http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/4458/...

Health monitoring technology can help seniors live happily at home longer
Use of health monitoring technology, such as sensors, computers and communication systems, can help seniors live safely at home longer, according to a study by researchers at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. As part of the school’s ongoing “aging in place” program, researchers installed motion sensor networks in the homes of seniors living at a Columbia retirement community. The sensors detect changes in behavior and physical activity, including walking and sleeping patterns, which can prompt earlier healthcare interventions to prevent serious medical problems, according to Marilyn Rantz, a professor at the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. “Our goal is to generate automatic alerts that notify caregivers of changes in residents’ conditions that would allow them to intervene and prevent adverse health events,” Rantz said. http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/...

Iowa pharmacists to set up online database to stop drug ‘shoppers’
Iowa’s Board of Pharmacy is preparing to launch an Internet-based prescription tracking system to help identify drug addicts who “doctor shop” for medication. The goal, according to IBP, is to prevent drug abusers from being able to visit multiple doctors and obtain duplicate prescriptions for the same illness, then fill the prescriptions at various pharmacies. Under the new state system, pharmacists and doctors will be able to search a database to see what types of medications the patient is receiving from other physicians. Only healthcare providers will have direct access to the registry, according to pharmacy board administrator Terry Witkowski. The system should be online by early March. http://www.state.ia.us/ibpe/pmp.html

Hawaii Medical, American Well to introduce Internet house calls throughout state
The Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) plans to go live with its online care service that will make an Internet version of a house call available to everyone statewide as of Jan. 15. Online Care, the first program of its kind in the nation, will grant easier access to people who often have difficulty seeing doctors, according to Roy Schoenberg, Chief Executive of Boston-based American Well, the service provider. These include uninsured persons, rural individuals and people who do not want to spend time driving to a clinic. HMSA’s 700,000 members will pay $10 for the service; non-members may use the program for $45. Patients can use the service if they have a Web cam or with text chat. http://www.hmsa.com/mediacenter/... and http://www.hmsa.com/mediacenter/press/...

Self-reporting system throws Texas telemedicine usage numbers out of whack
Telemedicine services continue to be used by only a few Texas physicians, although that may in part be due to the way usage information is reported by healthcare providers, according to a report by the state’s Health and Human Services Commission. The commission’s end-of-year report shows that only 25 healthcare providers are using telemedicine as of fiscal year 2007, up from 16 in 2006. In that time, the number of patients served has tripled to 4,408, up from 1,444 a year earlier. But the report also notes that usage, which is tracked by the number of reimbursement claims sent in by doctors, is probably being thrown off by physicians’ failure to modify a billable procedure code when they submit a claim. “Because providers self-report using telemedicine services, and there are no mechanisms to enforce the use of the modifier, it is likely more providers are using telemedicine technology than is reported,” the report states. http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/reports/TelemedicineMedicalServices...

Czech Republic to implement e-prescriptions to combat forgery, speed service
The Czech Republic’s State Institute for Drug Control (IDC) plans to introduce a national e-prescription system by the end of March in an effort to speed up service and prevent doctors from forging prescriptions. According to IDC official Petra Kerkova, e-prescriptions will be used primarily for long-term prescriptions, such as drugs for allergies or contraception. But doctors will be allowed to e-prescribe anything except narcotics. “As long as the doctor doesn’t need to see the patient, everything can be arranged over the phone,” Kerkova said. The Health Ministry also hopes to get a better idea of what kind of drugs are prescribed and determine which ones tend to be subject to forgery. Doctors will not be required to use the new system, but “we assume that the patients will push them to use it,” Kerkova said. http://www.radio.cz/en/article/111926

Economic downturn could mean rocky financial waters for Maine’s new HIE
The nation’s tough economic times might hinder the launch of Maine’s new statewide health information exchange, HealthInfoNet, which is scheduled to start processing and transferring medical data this spring. The system, in development since 2006, requires a $6 million annual budget, most of which is from federal and state sources. Executive Director Devore Culver said he hopes that health information technology funding will be made available in the federal economic stimulus package being developed by lawmakers. Meanwhile, he will continue “piecing together” funding to get the project up and running. A study by the University of Massachusetts Center for Health Policy and Research determined that HealthInfoNet could cut Maine’s healthcare spending by $10.6 to $12.5 million this year and by up to $20 million in 2011. http://www.apria.com/resources/1,2725,494-869477-3,00.html

To stimulate preventive care, NY launches Web site on hospital admission rates
In an effort to encourage New York residents to get appropriate preventive care, the state Health Department has set up a new Web site on hospital admission rates for some of the most common and deadly diseases. The Prevention Quality Indicators site features data, by ZIP code, for conditions such as asthma, high blood pressure, pneumonia, and uncontrolled diabetes. The information is based on hospital discharge data for 2005 and 2006. State Health Commissioner Richard Daines said the information will also allow doctors, hospitals and public health officials to identify lapses in healthcare in various communities. https://apps.nyhealth.gov/statistics/prevention/quality...

Bangladesh to introduce nationwide telehealth care services
Telehealth care will be introduced nationwide in Bangladesh starting in February, as part of the government’s attempt to improve healthcare access to all residents. According to Md Abul Faiz, the nation’s Director General of Health Services, all public hospitals in the country’s 481 sub-districts will be given the equipment needed to set up a telemedical center. More than half of Bangladesh’s 144 million residents, who currently do not receive healthcare due to poverty and distance from medical facilities, are expected to “benefit greatly,” Faiz said. The telehealth system will also help make people aware of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The World Health Organization estimated that by 2010, NCDs would be responsible for 59 percent of the nation’s deaths, up from 40 percent in 1990, Faiz noted. http://www.cctv.com/english/special/techmax/20090108/101361.shtml