Opinion: Healthcare IT useful only if interoperable

张琨

Opinion: Healthcare IT useful only if interoperable
Technology can promote greater patient safety in WNY region
By John RodgersPublished: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 12:56 PM EST
We all know that technology has greatly advanced diagnostic treatment in our health system. These advances in medical technology are still evolving as research and development to better diagnose and treat patients continues to be a national priority of our medical system.

There is an additional requirement to ensure the best use of technology and that is building a reliable network in which health care entities can not only share patient information but also have the capability to exchange this information from provider to provider. One such example is e-prescribing.

Starting this month, physicians throughout Western New York and nationally are eligible to receive bonuses from the federal government for "writing" electronic prescriptions. The use of e-prescribing has the potential to provide considerable cost savings in our health system.

First and foremost, e-prescribing can enhance patient safety by reducing and hopefully someday eliminating dangerous and costly medication errors because of illegible handwriting. Secondly, an e-prescribing system can also identify potential drug interactions at the time of prescribing thus minimizing this serious problem area. According to the Institute of Medicine, at least 1.5 million preventable adverse drug reactions occur annually throughout the United States costing billions of dollars to the health system. The cost to the health system ranges in the billions of dollars because adverse events often result in emergency care and hospitalizations that otherwise could have been prevented.

There are other benefits of e-prescribing, including better monitoring in making sure patients are actually taking their prescribed dosage. Patients, especially the elderly and disabled who are taking multiple medications can be monitored by their physicians to better ensure they are taking their medications as prescribed. There are also alerts inherent in e-prescribing systems, including notifications about allergic reactions to medications or contraindications to use, such as in pregnancy.

Unfortunately, too few physicians nationally are currently utilizing e-prescribing and related technology. As such, the federal government is providing an incentive to encourage physicians to utilize e-prescribing technology. Starting in 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services will be awarding incentives to Medicare physicians based on their e-prescribing compliance. However, the federal government will not provide incentives for too long because in 2012 physicians will begin to be penalized if they continue to handwrite prescriptions.

The biggest challenge for physicians at the moment is the cost to convert to e-prescribing. While most physician offices have high speed Internet capabilities, there is still a cost to exchange the information with pharmacies, between physician offices and other health care entities, especially hospitals and diagnostic laboratories. Another challenge is in rural communities where high speed Internet access may not be readily available.

In Western New York, there is a program through HEALTHeLINK, the Western New York Clinical Information Exchange that various physicians are participating in which includes an e-prescribing component. The program which has been running since November 2007 is close to being rolled out to the broader physician community in Western New York and the potential benefits related to e-prescribing are very encouraging. As an added benefit to the physician, there is no cost for using the HEALTHeLINK program. It is enhancing communications among the physician office and the pharmacy and most importantly benefiting the patient.

E-prescribing though is just one component of a larger information sharing and exchange network that has great potential to transform our health care system. There are challenges, but continued collaboration among a wide range of health care entities throughout Western New York will lead to positive results for all of us.

John Rodgers, RPh, MBA, is chief marketing officer at Independent Health and chairman of the HEALTHeLINK Pharmacy Sub-Committee. He is also a licensed pharmacist.