HIMSS Preview: EMR/EHR, CDS and HIE

Mary Stevens, editor, CMIO

With the HIMS11 countdown dwindling to single digits, CMIO has kicked off our preshow coverage this week with a look at the top offerings for EMR/EHR, clinical decision support (CDS) and health information exchange (HIE) that will be featured throughout HIMSS11 in Orlando, Fla., next week. All three areas of health IT have taken the national spotlight in the past year, so it’s no surprise they’re front and center in Orlando, Fla., as well.

What’s interesting is their interdependence. For example, CDS and EMR/EHR implementation have a lot in common, according to David A. Collins, MHA, HIMSS Director of Healthcare Information Systems. “The more you learn about [adopting] CDS, it’s not far off from the same ‘steps for success’ that it takes to successfully implement health IT in general,” said Collins during an exclusive interview with CMIO. “It’s the leadership, it’s the buy-in, it’s the training, it’s the tweaking …

"Evaluating what is rolled out and providing that feedback to providers is also very important to buy-in and continued use and expansion. That’s so analogous to general successful EHR implementation.”

Collins predicted EHRs will evolve to be more patient-centric, with usability a bigger focus for vendors and physicians alike: “Usability as in ... what information is readily available and actionable, especially through widespread application of clinical decision support.”

To some extent, the HIE situation mirrors that of CDS and EMRs. “Right now, federal agencies are really in the driver’s seat, based on HITECH and what has occurred,” says Pam Matthews, RN, MBA, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, HIMSS senior director of regional affairs. However, in a couple of years, “the focus will be on the states HIEs,” as State-Level Cooperative Agreements will allow for broader data exchange than just the requirements for meaningful use. The common denominator is that meaningful use requirements may become a baseline of sorts, whether for CDS, EHRs or HIE.

Click here to see a slate of CDS sessions at HIMSS11; for a look at some of the top EMR/EHR-oriented content at the show, click here. Our HIE HIMSS11 preview is also on tap. If you’re not going to HIMSS11, check out CMIO.net’s daily coverage from the show floor for insight into CDS, EMR/EHR and HIE as well as the other hot topics in Orlando.

If you’re heading to HIMSS11, what do you hope to find? Let me know at mstevens@cmio.net

Mary Stevens,
Editor of CMIO