Systems

Microsoft to Take-On the Ultimate Operating System

Jeff O'Connor — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 00:02:00 GMT

Microsoft Tackles Bioinformatics
April 4, 2006

Stacey Lawrence / Ziff Davis Internet

Microsoft on April 4 announced the formation of the BioIT Alliance, a cross-industry group created to enhance the ability to use and share biomedical data, at the Life Sciences Conference and Expo in Boston.

The working group will take on a series of "proof-of-concept" projects to understand how Microsoft's platforms can enhance the integration of the life sciences and IT.

"Advances in our understanding of the human genome promise to revolutionize medicine and open the door to therapies that are tailored to individuals," said Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft, in a statement...

Life sciences companies have unique technical challenges that often stymie existing pre-packaged and homegrown software solutions, such as the need for more comprehensive data integration solutions, better technical collaboration and stronger knowledge management capabilities.

For example, at least 15 percent of life sciences research is a duplicate of existing studies largely because all of the most appropriate references can't be found. This is one of the issues the alliance is working to address, according to Microsoft platform strategy advisor Don Rule. "We have just one customer who estimates spending $350 million a year duplicating research that already exists."

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Global Strategies for Clinical Trial Information

Jeff O'Connor — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 16:12:00 GMT

In 2003 the World Health Organization (WHO) began a series of conferences to address the issue of establishing a mechanism for conducting and reporting on clinical trials in a consistent, universally-accessible manner. Based upon internationally recognized scientific and ethical principles, the resulting program - the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform - seeks to achieve the following:

ensure that all clinical trials are registered and thus publicly declared and identifiable
ensure that for all trials, a minimum set of results will be reported and made publicly available
establish a complete and readily searchable register of clinical trials – overseen by an objective international body with the input of stakeholders
assist in making treatment decisions
help increase public trust in clinical research

These lofty goals - among others - will be achieved through a public Web portal intended to serve as a “one-stop-shop“ for clinical trial information from all over Earth! How cool is that?

For an overview of this incredibly exciting and worthwhile effort, check out the Webinar series being conducted by BetterManagement.com.

Motown is Abuzz About E-Prescribe - Here's Why You Should Be

Jeff O'Connor — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 14:27:00 GMT

The woes of the Big Three have been national news for a while now, and despite DiamlerChrysler's recent increase in buzz and market share they're not out of the woods either. What's dragging GM, Ford, and DCX down, especially with GM and Ford thriving in overseas markets and all three collectively controlling nearly half of the lucrative North American market?

Among other things the rising price of healthcare for their current and retired employees, particularly the cost of prescription drugs. The Henry Ford Health System and Health Alliance Plan's E-Prescribe system is interesting enough on its own because, as I alluded to in my previous post, the automation of mundane tasks frees-up resources so that healthcare professionals can engage in more esoteric - and arguably more important - types of work.

As I heard and read more and more in the local media about the importance of E-Prescribe to the automobile industry, it began to dawn on me that there's an even more important synergistic effect that should be considered. It's been said that the American automobile industry is linked in one way or another to one out of every six jobs in the United States. That's roughly 17% of the entire U.S. economy. All things considered that makes the Henry Ford Health System's E-Prescribe program much more than a local success story of healthcare process improvement through automation; it makes it a model for lowering healthcare costs and expanding coverage worthy of national study.

Electronic prescriptions paid big dividends for Detroit hospitals
WWJ Newsradio 950, 2.23.2006 (BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT)

MATT ROUSH reporting:

With the Great Lakes IT report, I'm Matt Roush, technology editor, WWJ Newsradio 950.
A year ago Henry Ford Health System and Health Alliance Plan launched an electronic prescribing initiative at the request of the Big Three automakers. A year later the online e-prescribing system has hit the 500,000 prescription mark and there have been big payoffs. More than 80,000 of the prescriptions were changed or canceled due to drug interaction alerts and messages alerted doctors to more than 6,000 potential allergic reactions.
Also, more than 50,000 prescriptions were changed to increase the use of generic drugs; that will save more than $3 million a year in healthcare costs. The e-prescribing system started with a 60-doctor pilot, it's now in use with 300 primary care doctors at 24 Henry Ford Medical Centers. All doctors at Henry Ford will be using e-prescribing by the end of the year.
With the Great Lakes IT report, I'm Matt Roush, technology editor, WWJ Newsradio 950.

I Have Seen the Future and it is E-Prescribe!

Jeff O'Connor — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 22:32:00 GMT

Here's an excellent example of automating a vital but somewhat mundane aspect of medicine in order to free up resources for more challenging, hands-on tasks...

E-Prescribe lowers drug costs, errors
Henry Ford, HAP tout its benefits

Katie Merx / Detroit Free Press

More than 80,000 prescriptions were changed or canceled due to drug-interaction alerts.
e-Prescribing messages alerted doctors to 6,500 potentially allergic reactions.
More than 50,000 prescriptions were changed or canceled due to formulary alerts, which increased the use of generic drugs.
The use rate of generic drugs by Henry Ford Medical Group improved 7.3%, the equivalent of $3.1 million in pharmacy costs over one year.

Source: Henry Ford Health System

Henry Ford Medical Group filled more than 500,000 prescriptions electronically in the last year through a program launched at the request of American automakers to cut prescription costs and reduce medical errors.

Health Alliance Plan and Henry Ford Medical reported Wednesday that the year-old program, e-Prescribe, already has helped avoid potential drug complications and saved money by reducing adverse drug effects and increasing the use of generic prescriptions.

Here's how it works:

Every time a doctor enters a pricey brand-name drug into the e-Prescribe system, the computer stops him or her and suggests a less-expensive generic version. It also checks for potentially harmful drug interactions and allergies.

The doctor doesn't have to choose the generic, but already, e-Prescribe has resulted in doctors switching 10% -- more than 50,000 -- of all the medicines they prescribed from the proprietary option to a generic alternative. And that means bottom-line savings to the patient, the employer and the health plan.

"Every percentage point increase in the generic use rate saves about $800,000 in drug spending," said Matt Walsh, associate vice president of purchaser initiatives at HAP.

The generic use rate by the Henry Ford Medical Group improved by 7.3% since the program began, Walsh said. That's the equivalent of $3.1 million in pharmacy costs over one year.

The numbers released Wednesday don't say how many times doctors were prompted to try a generic and didn't.

But Henry Ford Medical did report additional benefits to the new program that not only save money, but lives, time and aggravation.

In the first 12 months:

More than 80,000 prescriptions were changed or canceled due to drug-interaction alerts.
e-Prescribe messages alerted doctors to 6,500 potentially allergic reactions.

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A Cautionary Tale: Why I Called it the "Healthcare Information Systems" Blog

Jeff O'Connor — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:36:00 GMT

I didn't name this blog The Healthcare Information Technology Blog because focusing on technology, especially in the backwards arena of American healthcare, is too limiting. The fact is, all technology does is speed-up processes (or systems if you will), which is where the real opportunities for making improvements - and the real dangers of blind faith in automation - lie.

A lot people - myself included - believe that information technology can solve many of the problems facing our healthcare system and alleviate the crisis that we're in. However, as this Detroit News article illustrates, there's much more to be done than simply throwing PCs and PDAs at healthcare providers and telling them to join the rest of the working world in the 21st Century:

The Detroit Medical Center is on course to post a sizable profit for the first time in nearly a decade without financial assistance from the state -- the latest sign of a dramatic turnaround at the state's third largest health system...

The DMC made $9 million in the first half of 2005 after years of multimillion-dollar losses that threatened to shutter city hospitals and leave thousands of residents without care, according to filings with the state...

Duggan credits an increase in patients for much of the boost. DMC's well-publicized 29-minute guarantee for speedy emergency room service, as well as the recruitment of some high-profile specialists, has attracted patients, he said...

Walter Zuskan checked himself into DMC's Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Commerce because he was suffering this week with digestive problems. He used to go to Beaumont Hospital but didn't like the long waits...

Duggan now plans to turn his attention toward streamlining services in the operating rooms... (emphasis mine).

I'd be disingenuous if I didn't say that a healthy amount of cost-cutting, including layoffs, were involved in the DMC's turnaround. Still, you don't honor a 29-minute guarantee for ER services unless you've taken a long, hard look at what's actually going on in the emergency room and addressed shortcomings in the processes. Sometimes all that's required is simply automating what you have, but more often than not real improvement involves change, especially when you bring new technology to bear.