Advocates of increased IT spending in the healthcare industry point to the benefits of electronic record keeping, but improving treatment and reducing errors are ultimately more important uses of technology, panelists said during a healthcare event sponsored by IBM Monday.
IBM convened the event to bring physicians interested in technology together with technology providers looking to cash in on the untapped potential of the healthcare market. Several presenters during the conference at IBM’s Almaden research facility in the hills above San Jose agreed that the U.S. needs a national healthcare IT network, but that network needs to do more than just connect patient records to convince doctors and hospitals to embrace IT, according to the discussion.
However, that’s where a national health network will start, said Dr. Richard Hassett, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at Matria Healthcare in Marietta, Ga. Matria teaches employers how to manage diseases among their high-risk employees in order to reduce their healthcare expenses.
Those employers are looking for IT projects that will show a clear return on investment (ROI), Hassett said. One way to do that is to use data mining software to comb patient records and look for trends or patterns that can help employers prevent disease among their employees, he said.
“Technology is key to that. Even in today’s environment, I don’t think leveraging technology needs to wait until we’ve figured out the circuitry,” Hassett said, alluding to the differing opinions on how to build a national healthcare network. Some presenters argued for a top-down approach involving the government, while others feel individuals must demand IT investments in healthcare before anything can happen.
Often lost amid the discussion of technology is the patient, said Dr. Alasdair Honeyman, clinical advisor to the Capital Care Alliance in the U.K.’s National Health Service. The U.K. has already taken several steps toward creating a national healthcare network, providing physicians with greater access to a patient’s medical history and moving some medical transactions online, despite some cost overruns and project delays.
“It’s not just an information transfer, it’s about how you manage the journey of a relative dying. I worry about fantasizing about technology that gets in the way of the human thing,” Honeyman said.
But IT can play a vital role in helping overworked doctors properly diagnose and treat patients, said Dr. Jody Pettit, director of the Oregon Health Information Infrastructure Committee.
“It’s impossible to practice competently without good information,” Pettit said.
