Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Mission: Healing October 11, 2011

PGY 39, Day 103

Should we call it the HIT Parade?
Easy now, don't jump on the bandwagon. Think first; jump later? Think and walk? Better yet, StepWisely(R)

This is my latest comment with regard to Health Information Technology flaws and fixes.

Happy Monday! I will try to post on your blog (DONE http://biomedres.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-on-hits-impact-on-dr-patient.html?showComment=1318263890772#c2930562617135789482) and will go to my blog as well.

Thanks again for including me in your conversion(s). It is good to know that some are thinking (actually thinking) about doing the right thing in regard to HIT.

BUSINESS OF MEDICINE vs PROFESSION OF MEDICINE vs HEALTHCARE

Regrettably, as with all things medical over the last couple of decades, there are many (THIRD PARTIES) out there who would be happy to take some $$$ out of this pot ... without regard to impact on patients and patient care. In other words, most (if not all) of these systems are a great source of income for the vendor and I venture that ALL would FAIL the scrutiny of cost benefit analysis, if they were in the mix of new products and services being examined. DON'T give them the money! Make them prove that it is worth it!

But, everyone has (without good reason) jumped on the HIT train ... and it is being pushed full speed ahead ... before the tracks are laid. Sure, I like the data to play with, but is it worth compromising patient care to get it? And, the prices you are paying are a RIP OFF! 

My advice? If you don't want to waste money on HIT, 1. Don't buy anything before you test it! 2. Better yet, make it yourself and run pilots before you spread it around like fertilizer ... cough ... cough ... sputter. 3. Don't waste your time negotiating with 3rd party HIT vendors. Make them prove their systems by loaning trial hardware and software for testing on site!

Seems as if Governments are in a good position to help develop a SECURE INTERNET that runs parallel to, but separate from the existing hardware and software. Over this INTERNATIONAL HEALTH NET, Personal Health Information could be shared (Standardized Data on OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE that each patient and provider has) between providers and patients anywhere in the world. Open source, Non Profit COOPERATIVE makes the most sense, because NOBODY should profit (over and above a reasonable wage) from Healthcare. Like ($$$) banks, the information would be held by each patient and provider, but not in central data banks.

Just my opinion:)
To be continued ...
Dr. Mike
Michael F. Mascia, MD, MPH
dr.mike@ihealsolutions.com"

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2 comments:

  1. Hi Dr. Mike, the UK taxpayer has certainly been ripped off to the tune of several billion it would appear - and this has been confirmed by the government's own internal audit!

    Totally agree that the balance of power needs to be tipped in favour of the patient and not vendors - that said, not all the vendors are bad guys - there are a host of clued-up small and medium sized business over here run by ex- or existing medics but they often don't get a look in due to current procurement practices - which see contracts going to the bigger organisations

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