Mostashari: 'We have the wind at our backs'

“If we thought healthcare was just fine, we wouldn’t be here today,” said Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, national coordinator of health IT, speaking at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) annual meeting on Dec. 12.

He relayed his experience when his mother had knee replacement surgery. Upon arriving at the hospital for the procedure, a clinician asked if she had stopped taking aspirin as she was supposed to. She hadn’t gotten any reminders, so she had not stopped taking aspirin. The OR was booked, however, so they proceeded with the surgery. She wound up developing vascular complications and eventually cardiac complications.

“The excellent, caring clinicians weren’t talking to each other,” he said. “I couldn’t help. Healthcare can and must be better. Delivering better care and better health at a lower cost—that’s our goal.”

Mostashari then turned his talk into more of a pep rally for health IT. There is truth in data and information and information is power, he said. “Change is good and every disruptive innovation that ever happened happened because of improvement in the technology that enabled it. We’re bringing that all together. That’s why we’re here. That’s why I’m so proud to be called the national coordinator for health IT.”

That change will occur through openness, transparency, being accountable and holding each other accountable, he said. He wants ONC to remain open to letting others help and be inclusive. “We don’t have all the answers. We can do together what none of us could do on our own.”

Eighty-one percent of U.S. hospitals are registered for the Meaningful Use program, he said. Almost two-thirds of eligible professionals have signed up and half have already been paid. “What we have to do is make it meaningful. It’s not enough for us to have adoption of systems or to have certified products or to have attestations to Meaningful Use. It’s about culture and leadership. Every one of you has an opportunity to influence in whatever organization you’re with.”

Now what? Mostashari asked. “We have the wind at our backs. Technology is on the move. Payment systems are shifting. Are we done? No! We’re barely started. I’m sorry to say we’re barely started. We can get so much better. We have to get so much better.”

There are challenges, he conceded, “in changing the culture, expectations and clinical leadership, in fusing technology with new payment models, in incorporating patients as partners, figuring out workflows and ensuring the privacy and security of information. If you believe that healthcare can be better, I want you to stand with us.”