A 2011 healthcare IT year-in-review mashup - FierceHealthIT

This time of year there are at least 1 million (or so) year-in-review stories--and it would probably take the better part of 2012 to get through them all. So here's a mash-up of the best of the "looking back at the year in Health IT" lists. Think of it as our New Year's present to you: we did the reading so you don't have to.

Integration

The most obvious trend in 2011 was the push for better integration of health IT systems to improve patient care and safety, according to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

The professional organization listed 12 trends--one for each month in 2011. The list is heavy on electronic medical records and Meaningful Use, of course, such as the hidden costs of EHRs, for example. But there also are links to stories on other hot topics of 2011, including the role of accountable care organizations (ACO) and emerging technologies in fostering integration.

Telehealth

Five years from now we'll look back at 2011 as "a pivotal time in the evolution of telehealth," according to this telehealth year in review published by Government Health IT.

"We saw a continued trend of federal funding that provides direct incentives for the use of telehealth technology, and promising results from major pilots in the field. But most importantly, there were significant developments in the regulation of telehealth technology and coverage of telehealth-enabled care. These game-changers will lower the barriers to entry and accelerate the adoption of telehealth," the article notes.

The article touches on a number of 2011's telehealth milestones, from updated reimbursement policies and rates for doctors who deliver remote healthcare to improved guidance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for mobile medical applications to the efforts underway to use technology to improve quality and access to care in rural areas.

Government

Dr. John D. Halamka, chief information officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, touches on federal and state HIT initiatives in his well-informed 2011 roundup. He notes that the drive toward Meaningful Use stressed many organizations and chides EHR vendors for poor communication as they scurried to add the features necessary for certification, "resulting in 'haste makes waste' lack of usability and workflow integration.

On the other hand, he notes, IT departments worked "productivity miracles" with limited staff and budgets. And since many organizations will deposit their Meaningful Use payments into general operations and not IT department accounts, the sacrifice of IT staff will in many cased go unrecognized.

On the state side, Halamka touches on healthcare information exchanges, Beacon Communities, research programs and HIT grants.

Health and medical apps

Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of 2011 healthcare apps roundups this year--perhaps because there are so many of them now that to sort through them all to come up with a top 10 list would be nearly impossible.More at ..'via Blog this'