The Data Journey Begins with Health Information Technology Implementation

H Stephen Lieber
iHealth Connections, 2011;1(1):10–1
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Abstract

This article is a brief review of how business and clinical analytics can benefit healthcare delivery. It is not intended as an all-inclusive summary, but rather as a snapshot of why implementation of health information technology begins the journey toward the goal of better patient care for all.
Disclosure The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.
Correspondence: jlofstrom@himss.org

Adoption of health information technology continues to evolve for some, but not all, nations across the globe. Implementation of electronic health records is widely seen as an essential first step in an industry-wide effort to improve patient and population health outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of healthcare delivery. Once pervasive adoption of interoperable electronic health records (EHRs) is a reality, healthcare organizations will have access to retrospective, dynamic and predictive data to aid in diagnosis, prevention, and overall mitigation of disease as part of emerging and integrated care delivery processes.

Global Health Information Technology Implementation

Any discussion of business or clinical analytics must begin with a review of health IT implementation and use.

• Fifty-five US, non-governmental hospitals (January 2011), out of the more than 5,000 hospitals tracked by Healthcare Information and Management Systems (HIMSS) Analytics, operate in a fully paperless environment as a Stage 7 hospital, according to the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption ModelSM,1 or electronic medical record adoption model (EMRAM), developed to track electronic medical record adoption progress at hospital and health systems on a scale of 0–7.
• 29.6% of primary care physicians in 2010, compared to 19.8% in 2008, have already adopted a basic EHR, a 50% increase in just two years, as noted in survey data from the National Center for Health Statistics.2
• Global leaders in the use of EHR systems by primary care physicians include Sweden (with an adoption rate of 100%), Finland (99%), the Netherlands (98%), and Denmark (95%). Scandinavian countries also lead in EHR systems in hospitals, with Finland (100%), Sweden (88%), and Denmark (35%), according to a 2009 report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.3

References:
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  2. National Centre for Health Statistics, News release. Available at: www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/01/20110113a.html (accessed March 28, 2011).
  3. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. Explaining International IT Application Leadership Health IT. Daniel Castro, 2009: 9–11. Available at: www.itif.org/files/2009-leadership-healthit.pdf (accessed April 14, 2011).
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