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February 28, 2002
ADOPTION OF
E-HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES--THE PACE OF A TURTLE, THE INTENSITY OF A
STEAM ROLLER
"Taking the Pulse: Physicians and Emerging Information Technologies"
Deloitte Consulting, Deloitte & Touche; January 2002
Major Themes:
Time is Money. ...the
rate of adoption of information technology by practicing
physicians is dependent on the relative impact on productivity
and, by extension, on the economics of their practice.
Point of Care
Information Technologies Remain Elusive (For Now).
Infrastructure
Matters. ...Value creation occurs when front-end applications and
tools are integrated with robust backbone
infrastructure--transaction systems and core databases.
Still Room to Master
the Basics. ...there is an abundance of "low hanging fruit" in the
category of administrative applications and functionality that
must be addressed before the industry can move on the next stage
of advanced services and applications.
Growing Prospect of a
"Not-So-Gentle Outsider Push". The slow pace of adoption of
automated tools and applications among physicians and the overall
health care industry raises the possibility of intervention on the
part of leading purchasers (government and employers).
The Challenge of
Overcoming Multiple Fragmented Markets. The fragmented nature of
the physician marketplace contributes significantly to the lack of
robust technology infrastructure and the relatively low usage of
emerging information technologies for core practice management.
Inch-By-Inch,
Physician Adoption Will Take Time. ...there is no silver bullet.
"Strategy and e-Health: How to Harness the Power of the Internet for
Competitive Advantage in Health Care"
Deloitte Consulting, Deloitte & Touche, Fulcrum Analytics; January
2002
Strategy Principles for Enhancing Organizational Performance:
1) Every aspect of a health care
organization's activity chain is a candidate for "Internet
integration."
2) Successfully capturing and
leveraging intellectual capital serves to empower employees and
improve their productivity.
3) The low cost and self-service
nature of e-learning technologies are well-suited to health care
settings.
4) Migration to internet-based
technologies is made simpler by first undertaking efforts to
simplify business practices such as provider and purchases
contracting.
5) Industry collaboration is
preferable to development of proprietary systems for transmitting
administrative, clinical, and financial information.
Strategy Principles for Responding to Consumerism:
1) The physician-consumer
relationship cannot be omitted from any e-Health "play."
2) Health care consumers/patients
value convenience above other value-added services.
3) There is more to consumerism than
just the Internet.
4) The ability to earn and retain the
trust of consumers, patients and health plan members can be an
e-Health competitive advantage.
PRESIDENT BUSH'
HEALTH POLICY SUPPORTS INNOVATIVE DISEASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
Fact Sheet --
"Agenda for Improving Health Security"
The White House, February 2002
The President's framework would give seniors better health care
options, including:
...Giving more reliable private
health care options for seniors who prefer the lower out-of-pocket
costs and innovative benefits like "disease management" services
available in such programs.
Commentary:
Disease management is one topic that Bill Clinton and George Bush
can agree on!
CONFERENCE -- THE
HEALTHCARE OUTSOURCING CONGRESS
The Center for Business Innovation (TCBI)
presents
THE HEALTHCARE OUTSOURCING CONGRESS
March 7-8, 2002, Hyatt Regency New Orleans, New Orleans, LA
The Premier Conference & Exhibition
for Leaders and Key Decision-Makers from Hospitals, Health Systems,
Physician Groups and Managed Care Organizations. For additional
information click here.
As an E-CareManagement News
subscriber, you are entitled to $300 off the applicable registration
fee (this discount cannot be combined with any other discounts).
Please register by phone only (310-541-5932) to receive this special
low rate and mention keycode BHT.
GARTNER'S TOP 10
LIST FOR HEALTHCARE
"The Hottest IT Issues Facing Healthcare Organizations in 2002"
Gartner, Inc., January 2002
Gartner provides advice on:
1) Computerized physician order entry
(POE)
2) Healthcare web initiatives
3) Application service providers (ASPs)
4) IT's (information technology's) contribution
5) Maximizing value from IT standards
6) Customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives
7) Impact of attention to homeland security
8) Decreasing costs through enterprise resource planning (ERP) and
supply chain management (SCP)
9) Mobile health care devices
10) Meeting HIPAA deadlines
Commentary:
Succinct, to-the-point perspectives....just needs a few more
acronyms.
CHRONIC CARE
LEGISLATIVE REALITIES FOR THE 107th CONGRESS
"Targets of
Opportunity in Chronic Illness Care Policy"
National Chronic Care Consortium (NCCC); February 4, 2002
Discusses newly honed NCCC legislative strategies for the upcoming
year:
Congress will talk
about but not enact major Medicare reform legislation.
One or more of seven
NCCC provisions could get folded into emerging bi-partisan
legislation.
A listing of
principles to maintain focus and maximize chances for success.
AN EVALUATION OF
WEB-BASED DIABETES MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
"A Framework for
the Evaluation of Internet-based Diabetes Management"
Journal of Medical Internet Research, January-March 2002
Results and Conclusion:
The results of the evaluations indicate that LifeMasters is a
more-complete solution than myDiabetes in all dimensions except
information, where both sites were equivalent....The framework is
based on the recognition that the management of diabetes via the
Internet is based on several integrated dimensions: monitoring,
information, personalization, communication, and technology.
AN EVALUATION OF
WEB-BASED PERSONAL HEALTH RECORDS (PHRs)
"Personal Health Records: Evaluation of Functionality and Utility"
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, March/April
2002
Conclusions:
Currently available PHRs demonstrate limited functionality.
CHRONIC CONDITIONS
CHALLENGE LOW INCOME AMERICANS
"Triple Jeopardy: Low
Income, Chronically Ill and Uninsured in America"
Center for Studying Health System Change, February 2002
At least 7.4 million working-age Americans with chronic
conditions--including diabetes, heart disease and depression--lacked
health insurance in 1999, according to a new HSC study. And
two-thirds also had low incomes, putting them in triple jeopardy.
"Options for Expanding
Health Insurance for People with Chronic Conditions"
Center for Studying Health System Change, February 2002
SENIOR PROFILES
"A
Profile of Older Americans: 2001"
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on
Aging, January 2002
Includes topics on 1) Health, Health Care, and Disability, and 2)
Computer and Internet Access
WORTH REVIEWING
"The Coming E-volution in Health Care"
Washington Post; February 12, 2002
"A Nation
Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use Of The Internet"
U.S. Department of Commerce, February 2002
Joint
Commission Awards First Disease-Specific Care Certificate In Nation
"Bedside Visits, on the Telephone"
New York Times; February 17, 2002
Disclosure -- No clients were
mentioned this issue.
E-CareManagement News is an
e-newsletter that tracks a major change in health care and managed
care—the paradigm shift from “managing cost” to “managing care”.
This e-newsletter is brought to you by Better Health Technologies,
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management, and patient health information technologies.
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