Health IT's place in the election debate over healthcare
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| Mary Stevens, Editor Image source: TriMed Media Group |
The report updates the 2009-2019 national health spending projections by payor, which were initially published in February. In this update, the authors found the net impacts of key PPACA and other legislative provisions on total national health expenditures would be moderate, but the underlying effects on payor spending levels and growth rates are much more pronounced and reflect the PPACA’s changes to healthcare coverage and financing.
These projections assume that the PPACA is completely implemented and isn’t derailed by political considerations. However, with election season upon us, the rhetoric around healthcare reform is amping up. And attempts to reform U.S. healthcare have been a big target since their inception—making some "reform of healthcare reform" a possibility.
Political forces won’t likely rip up the infrastructure that’s already in place with regard to the Nationwide Health Information Network, state and regional health information exchange projects and expanded broadband access, to name some efforts. However, the spotlight will be on the federal and state funds that fuel most of these iniatives.
There is some evidence that ARRA has had a stimulus effect for some EMR vendors, according to a report from healthcare market research firm KLAS. After sales slumped to a seven-year low in 2008, EMR purchases by large hospitals nearly doubled in 2009, reflecting the increased attention on EMR systems from ARRA.
The clinical information systems (CIS) market report garnered data from more than 1,600 acute care hospitals with more than 200 beds in the U.S. and Canada. The news is better for some vendors than others: Nearly 70 percent of the purchases by large hospitals in 2009 were Epic- or Cerner-integrated technology.
It might be hard to put a price tag on the value of information exchanged, but that doesn’t make these efforts less worthwhile. Indiana this week announced it has become the first state to use the NHIN framework to convey public health information to the CDC. De-identified information on influenza, pneumonia and influenza-like illness from 76 emergency departments (EDs) across the state was sent to CDC by the Regenstrief Institute on behalf of the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH).
In Spokane, Wash., the VA announced a regional pilot program to partner with Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS) HIE to exchange EHR information using NHIN as a next step toward implementation of the historic Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER).
Getting the gist of these projects into 30-second sound bites isn't easy, but these and myriad other health IT initiatives deserve a seat at the healthcare reform debate because they'll be integral to better healthcare whether or not reform remains intact.
Mary Stevens, editor
mstevens@trimedmedia.com