Monday, May 7, 2012

Health Systems Spending Billions To Prepare for the 'Last War'


From the opinion: "Health care IT departments have focused much of their attention on the $19 billion portion of the stimulus package allocated for the meaningful use of electronic health records. While this is logical given the available money, it is paying for health IT systems that are optimized for the "do more, bill more" model of reimbursement. However, that model is rapidly being replaced by a focus on value and outcomes -- a 180 degree shift.

On the one hand, it's hard to argue against modernizing health care systems. Thousands of lives are saved as a result of this modernization (e.g., avoiding deadly prescription errors). On the other hand, most companies benefiting from the stimulus package have two significant shortcomings that will need to be addressed for health systems to thrive in the new environment they are facing.
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