Technology

With new models of care delivery, reformation of outdated fee-for-service payment systems, and collaboration of groundbreaking provider-payer partnerships, the changing landscape of the healthcare industry is irrefutable. Yet, the integration of health information technology (HIT) continues to be an area of deliberation for many managed care professionals.

While more than 75% of hospitals are participating in the federal electronic health record incentive program, small hospitals and Critical Access hospitals lag behind.

"I think it's a really exciting time from a technology perspective," said George Van Antwerp, VP, Product Development, InVentiv Medical Management.

As people increasingly depend on electronics and technology to exchange information, it seems only logical that physicians would embrace electronic health records (EHRs) in favor of their paper predecessors.

We assessed Regional Extension Centers' (RECs') progress in promoting EHR adoption among providers in rural and health professional shortage areas and found that RECs are achieving much success in enrolling these providers.

Primary care teams implementing medical homes experience professional role confusion and interpersonal conflict, and require effective administrative leadership to ensure success during this transition.

Policy makers should not expect public sector electronic medical record investments to yield substantial short-term improvements in publicly reported measures.

Although there are contentions regarding its mechanisms, health policy and managed care authorities agree that the ultimate goal of healthcare reform is to increase access, improve quality, decrease costs, and measure progress. The initiative of further integrating digital health systems and implementing health information technology continues to receive substantial support and growth in a positive direction.

This framework suggests new meaningful use measures and guidance for prioritizing implementation of different health information technology functionalities, based on their expected financial effects.