New Focuses Emerge with National Health IT Week’s Tenth Year

October 05, 2015 - Is health information technology (health IT) silently advancing the world of medicine? As the tenth anniversary of National Health Information Technology Week from October 5-9, 2015 begins this week, such a viewpoint is confirmed by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Trailing on the heels of "historic" ICD-10 implementation, this week serves as a cooperative forum and virtual awareness week where fundamental healthcare constituents come together with a primary objective “to elevate the necessity of advancing health through the best use of information technology,” says HIMSS.

As EHRIntelligence.com reported last year, 2014’s National Health IT Week focused on a slew of topics, including EHR Incentive Programs and certified EHR technology (CEHRT) advancements, ICD-10 deadline preparation tactics, and how EHR adoption is especially beneficial to the promotion of safety within the health IT space.

Such a week of reflection, discussion, and analysis is imperative because current discussion about health IT-related endeavors is usually focused on the wrong areas, confirms Matt Patterson, MD, AirStrip President in a press release.

"This is not a technology problem. The technology we need already exists, but the challenge will persist if policymakers continue to focus on minimum bar sets of variables as a way to define interoperability," says Patterson.

Communication, he says, is essential for adequate progress. "Instead, we should demand and enforce how healthcare technologies must communicate: the specific vocabularies, document types and transport mechanisms that all vendors, especially EMR vendors, should be required to accept both inbound and outbound to access all data and rules. If we can clear that hurdle, then we will see a wave of workflow innovation that improves lives for caregivers and consumers,” he adds.

Keeping the dialogue going, says Patterson, will help patients, healthcare providers, healthcare payers, and vendors put improved patient care at the forefront of their endeavors. "This movement needs to be driven by consumers and healthcare providers, in a way that forces siloed industry players to rethink their approach," Patterson explains. "There is room for all when we collectively focus on care collaboration, and patients will reap the benefits."

CMS talks Clinical Quality Measures during National Health IT Week

Other healthcare groups and organizations are offering their own insights and reflections in terms of where health IT currently stands and where new emphasis needs to be placed to make improvement tangible.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is kicking off National Health IT Week by providing advice and assistance to healthcare providers in relation to various healthcare IT initiatives.

Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs), and others incorporated by the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, maintain effective, trustworthy, appropriate healthcare delivery, confirms CMS. CQMs, the electronic specifications of which are updated annually by CMS, monitor quality levels within the healthcare space to ensure services proved by healthcare providers and hospitals are of top-notch quality.

“Measuring and reporting CQMs helps to ensure that our health care system is delivering effective, safe, efficient, patient-centered, equitable, and timely care,” CMS states, in reference to measures such as patient safety, adherence to clinical guidelines, health outcomes, care coordination, and the efficient use of healthcare resources. CMS “strongly encourages” application and utilization of revisions to CQM’s electronic specifications, as confirmed within the Stage 3 rule for the 2025 EHR Reporting Period. Such updates, says CMS, contain the latest codes, logic corrections, and clarifications.

Some noteworthy events/highlights as the week begins

• HIMSS announces its Public Policy Summit this week in Washington, DC, from October 7-8. Keynote speakers, congressional panels, and technology and interoperability showcases are among some of the featured events slated to take place.
• Hundreds of health advocates participating with Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) will gather in Franklin Lakes, NJ this week, confirms a PR Newswire press release. Focuses include social media discussions about health IT’s significance and the launch of a new health-IT-based website.
• The ECRI Institute celebrates this week’s overarching theme of “One Voice, One Vision, Transforming Health and Care,” with a focus on health IT safety issues, confirms a PR Newswire press release.
• HIMSS calls for online submissions of stories this week via the shared hashtag #IHeartHIT. Says HIMSS, “Your stories can inspire a collective discussion on how to realize the full potential of health IT and health information exchange to improve access to quality care, more effectively engage patients and achieve better health outcomes.”