Our June Health TechNet meeting focused on the challenges faced by physicians in implementing the health information technology (HIT) innovations mandated by the Stimulus Bill and Healthcare Reform Legislation. Which physicians are against the rush to HIT, and why?
The meeting featured presentations by Dr. Neil Chawla, an emergency room physician with the Inova Health System and on the topic of physician concerns about the implementation of Health Information Technology, Ryan Bosch, CMIO of Inova Fairfax Hospital and Robert Tennant, MA, Senior Policy Advisor to the Medical Group Management Association, who described MGMA's concerns with the meaningful use regulations as they affect the physician community. Drs.Chawla and Bosch discussed the range of practice settings, and observed that while many physicians are embracing movement to electronic medical records, CPOE, and other data acquisition and analytics, many are finding it hard to cope with these innovations for a variety of practical and financial reasons. Others claim the benefits of such tools are exaggerated and that they can even be harmful to patient care under certain circumstances. HIT implementation was also discussed.
Also, we had a brief presentation from our members, Amy Walker and John Speakman on a new program relating to cancer research and treatment. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has developed the caBIG® (cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid®) initiative to speed research discoveries and improve patient outcomes by linking researchers, physicians, and patients throughout the cancer community. This presentation will outline the caBIG® program, identify ways in which its free and open infrastructure can be used to facilitate biomedical research, and explore the program’s potential to revolutionize translational research and accelerate the adoption of personalized medicine. John is the Associate Director for Clinical Products and Programs, and Amy is President is of Optimize IT Consulting, Contractor, CBIIT Program Office Representative.
The presentations of the speakers were followed by an active discussion among our members.
Presentations of the speakers are attached.