Mostashari reflects on 50th HITPC meeting
“It’s just remarkable to look back at where we were four years ago and take stock as measured through these meetings how far we’ve come and the complexity of the policy issues we’ve had to consider to reach our goals,” reflected Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, national coordinator for health IT, during the July 9 Health IT Policy Committee meeting—the 50th meeting to date.
Mostashari's remarks came shortly after his fourth anniversary of joining the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
Noting that four years ago 90 percent of physician offices used paper records, and 90 percent of prescriptions were paper-based, he said that the dramatic rise of health IT and EHR adoption occurred during a time span that in the healthcare industry usually “is a blink of an eye.” He cited a report published that same day in Health Affairs in which the authors found that 72 percent of physicians had adopted some kind of EHR system.
“As a country, it’s a testament to how much creativity, hard work, diligence, grit and partnership can accomplish,” he said, adding, “We haven’t slayed all the dragons but we’ve made a dent.”
Noting that adoption rates are uneven, particularly among rural hospitals and small practices, he said, “it is within our purview that the benefits of information technology works for all—not just those who can afford it.”
Looking to the future, Mostashari said there is much work ahead in pushing the boundaries of interoperability and exchange, enabling the coordination of care and “making sure we look and learn from data, to see what is working, learn of emerging trends and issues and where to adapt policies.” Population health management is particularly critical, he said, to find out who is not getting the treatment they need. Unlike four years ago, physicians now can pull up lists of patients with chronic illnesses, like diabetes, to improve care, he said.
“Coordination of care and patient engagement are the next set of challenges that meeting [Meaningful Use] Stage 2 will require. We need the ability to engage patients, work with them as partners and get their help to achieve better health outcomes,” Mostashari said.
Also, changes in payment models that move toward value-based purchasing and bundled payments show that the “demise of fee-for-service is inevitable."
With the “daunting tasks” ahead of handling interoperability issues and a cultural change in the practice of medicine, he said now is the time to “listen and adapt.”
“I look forward to next 50 Health IT Policy Committee hearings,” he said. “Look, we’ve come a long way.”