The Next Big Wave is m-Health: Smart Phones in Healthcare

Peter Waegemann forecasts the role of cell phones in healthcare in the August edition of MRI's eNewsletter. He says that, "the new cell phone-based applications (also known as mobile health or m-Health) have the potential to become the single most effective driver for the health IT industry."

Before this can happen, Waegemann states that six conditions must be met:

1. A universal platform must be available that allows all kinds of cell phones to be used.
2. Such a platform has to work with all telecommunications carriers
3. There must be consensus on the data set
4. Storage and communication has to be safe and secure
5. Phones and systems must be user friendly (think of elderly people requiring special phones with large buttons, for example)
6. Consumers, patients, physicians, healthcare professionals must see the benefits of these applications, trust the systems, and like using the healthcare applications.
7. Software developers must provide an attractive, beneficial range of specific applications for cell phones.

How important do you think cell phones will be in the future of healthcare?

[read the full article here]

Incorporating HIT into Physician Practices

Dr. Eugenia Marcus shared her thoughts on health IT in physician practices in the August edition of our eNewsletter. Dr. Marcus has been a practicing pediatrician for more than 30 years. She is chair of the information Technology Committee for Massachusetts Medical Society, vice-chair of the Council on Clinical Information Technology of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and co-chair of the Child Health workgroup of CCHIT.

From the interview:

We installed an EMR in our office in 1996. Because of the installation, our office runs efficiently and we are improving our operations regularly with the increasing features of the EMR. We have less staffing. We can access the EMR from anywhere. No more lost charts. School and camp forms are generated at the click of a button.

Share you thoughts/questions/experiences on physician EMR/EHR implementations.

[read the full interview here]

Using Smartphones & PDAs in Emergency Medicine

In MRI's first eNewsletter, we interviewed John Pringle, program manager for electronic documentation for the city of San Diego Fire and Rescue department. Pringle has played an integral role in the development of TapChart, San Diego's PDA-based information capture system, which has been used by EMS responders in the city for the past decade. John spoke on this topic at TEPR 2008 and will be doing an update at TEPR+ 2009 as well as organizing presentations there on EMS implementations of electronic medical records.

From the interview:

Until 1997, EMS responders [in San Diego] recorded all patient encounter information on paper Scantron “bubble” forms, which were often lost, incomplete, or illegible. In response to these problems, the San Diego Medical Services Enterprise (SDMSE) – a public/private partnership formed between the city of San Diego Fire Rescue and Rural/Metro Ambulance – developed TapChart, software that allows responders to collect 9-1-1 emergency patient information electronically on handheld Palm smartphones. By transferring documentation to handheld devices, reports became more accurate, legible, faster and easier to complete.

The [development of TapChart] has proven that smartphones and PDAs can be very effective cost saving tools for emergency workers. After witnessing SDMSE’s success, many other San Diego area agencies have gone the route of implementing PDA based patient reports. TapChart has been so vital to SDMSE’s financial success that it has proven to be a necessary business practice for any future paramedic ambulance service in San Diego.

Does your community use a similar technology? Do you see greater benefits in the San Diego system? What questions do you have for John Pringle about TapChart's development and the pros and cons of its implementation?

[read the full interview here]