Technologies to modernize patient care, such as electronic medical records, have been available for decades, but much of the healthcare industry has stubbornly resisted an IT transformation. That resistance may finally be waning, several industry experts Tuesday said in a panel discussion on the future of healthcare, held at IBM’s PartnerWorld conference.
Technologies to modernize patient care, such as electronic medical records, have been available for decades, but much of the healthcare industry has stubbornly resisted an IT transformation. That resistance may finally be waning, several industry experts Tuesday said in a panel discussion on the future of healthcare, held at IBM’s PartnerWorld conference.
“We believe there’s a tipping point,” said IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences General Manager Carol Kovac – a sentiment echoed by physician David Collier, a general partner with San Francisco venture capital firm CMEA Ventures. Collier said he too sees an industry approaching a flash point of major changes, a situation that’s sparking increased interest from investors.
The list of reasons healthcare organizations haven’t been rapid adopters of new technologies is long, but panelists kept circling back to two top ones: the reluctance of physicians to change their ways, and cost. Now, changing conditions may finally catalyze a shift. A younger generation that has grown up with computers is replacing older doctors, while the skyrocketing cost of healthcare forces major players, including providers and government policy makers, to consider drastic reforms.
“I haven’t seen George W. Bush in front of a camera within the last five to six weeks without talking about the electronic health record,” commented Rose Harr, CEO of Cadillac, Mich., medical software developer BlueWare.
The lack of industry-wide standards poses a major, oft-cited challenge to creating large, shared electronic patient information repositories. The issue is at last being championed at a high level – David Brailer now serves as the United States’ first national health information technology coordinator – but even tech-savvy organizations face steep costs and logistical challenges in unifying data. The renowned Mayo Clinic runs different electronic health record systems in each of its three locations.
The divergence was the result of happenstance. Each branch adopted the technology around a decade ago, but at different times and to fill different needs, according to physician Nina Schwenk, a clinic consultant and board of trustees member. Creating data standards and a centralized repository is a complex, expensive process that the Mayo Clinic began two years ago and will need several more years to complete.
Schwenk is sensitive to the obstacles posed by legacy systems – and to the difficulty of keeping any diverse group of organizations working in tandem. “With (a number of) established practices and hospitals, the cost of saying ‘we’re all going to go in one direction’ is enormous. And how long will that last before they start to diverge again?” she asked.
Still, she thinks that within 10 years some of the promises of technology-enabled personalized health care will begin to become realities. BlueWare’s Harr also sees worldwide electronic health record adoption coming to fruition in the near future. Companies that wouldn’t talk to BlueWave a decade ago about the technology are now seeking out IT solutions, she said. IBM’s Kovac credits the growing importance of technologies like the Internet in day-to-day life with finally pushing the health care industry past its technology aversion.
“Three, four years ago I had to seek people out,” Kovac said. “Now I’m inundated with people who are seeing this as the next big thing.”
