Personal Pediatrics= House call Pediatricians

Are physicians and hospitals on track to meet President Bush's goal of making electronic health records (EHRs) available to most Americans by 2014? No, say authors of a new study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and HHS's Office of the National Coordinator for HIT. "24% of physicians are now using some sort of EHR technology," said Ashish Jha, M.D., study co-author and assistant professor at Harvard School of Public Health, at an Oct. 11 news conference. "However, when examining the adoption rate of EHRs with features that truly make a difference such as CPOE [computerized physician order entry] and clinical decision support tools, that number drops to 10%." Only 5% to 10% of hospitals have EHRs that incorporate these tools, he added. Providers in a solo or partner practice are less likely than ones in large-group settings to adopt the technology, according to the report. That's a problem, said David Blumenthal, M.D., report co-author and director of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners HealthCare System, since half of all physicians in the U.S. practice in a solo or partner setting. So what needs to happen to "speed up" adoption of EHRs? Besides addressing the financial restraints and disruption of care concerns when implementing a system, more patient involvement and education is needed, said Myrl Weinberg, president of the National Health Council. "Without patient engagement and demand for this technology, EHRs will not succeed," she said. The report, "Health Information Technology in the United States: The Information Base for Progress," appeared in the Oct. 11 Web edition of Health Affairs and is also available at the foundation's Web site.

This is an interesting study done by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. There is interest among the heathcare IT industry to know what things are going to SPEED UP the adoption of EHR's? Read- So we can make craploads of money off our investment in these software companies producing the EMR technology. I'll tell you why the sales cycle for selling stuff to doctors is so terrifically long ( 18 months) Physicians are so caught up in the treadmill of patients since their insurance contracts have so extensively devalued their time and services delivered. Consumers are lost in this shuffle, paying Blue Cross Blue Shield 13.5 grand a year for an hour wait in a busy office to see the nurse for five minutes. Are they going to pay BCBS 15 grand in 2008? I don't think so. There is essentially no incentive for an in network physician to fork out the dough in the short term for the EMR because it's expensive. It's a means to become even MORE "efficient" see more patients, receive less and EVEN LESS dough for each patient farmed through the office. Why not enable pediatricians to provide a service for their families that is SO extraordinary that is makes all the competition in healthcare IRRELEVANT!? Personal Pediatrics is an administrative support system enabling pediatricians to return to a simpler form of practice, the house call. Our system is proliferating since consumer directed plans which link to an MSA make our out of insurance network fees tax deductible. What mother wouldn't want personalized in home care for her new baby, minimizing the exposure to viral infections of the office? What pediatrician wouldn't want to utilize this patented system of hardware and software to free oneself from the office and it's outdated systems and overhead?? Take a look at www.personalpediatrics.com and watch our story as it unfolds!!