Hypatia Releases New Research: "What Healthcare CIOs Need to Know About ARRA & EHR Solutions"

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep 17, 2009 -
BOSTON, MA ---Hypatia Research, LLC today released a report entitled "What Healthcare CIOs Need to Know About ARRA & EHR: Healthcare Technology Solutions & Service Providers" outlining  current developments, major adoption challenges, business case justification and an assessment of more than 30 EHR vendors that meet government standards for certification and funding programs.

This comprehensive 50+ page report [http://www.hypatiaresearch.com/images/HypatiaResearch_ARR...],  complete with client case studies, and figures delves into:

Benefits of Electronic Records: Efficiency and Access:

Beyond the obvious value of centralized access to patient data, Hypatia Research found that electronic records systems provide health providers with multiple benefits:

1.   ACCURACY& ERROR-CHECKS:  Automated alarm systems to notify physician when a prescription drug is contraindicated due to other drugs or diet that the patient is on.
2.   REPORTING & SECISION-SUPPORT:  EHRs provide templates and formats for nurses and doctors to use in compiling data, and may be used to analyze data to spot trends.
3.   MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE-BASE: Advanced EHRs may pull medical literature into a compact form for physicians and nurses to stay abreast of changes in medical protocols, and in key developments in their field and related fields.  
4.   NEAR-TIME & ACTIONABLE INSIGHT:  Intelligent EHRs may provide actionable insight into care protocols or diagnostic issues.  Some intelligent health records systems (IEHR) take advantage of advances in natural language processing [NLP] and semantic analytics that allow unique clinical data to be aggregated and analyzed for physicians, researchers, and public safety officials in near-real time.

Select Cost Savings & Improvements in Patient Care Efficacy:

Hypatia Research interviewed dozens of healthcare providers and found that EHR supported significant improvements in patient care. Examples include:

•   Increased compliance in diabetics from 8.6% to 28.5%
•   Reduced errors in patient charting for allergy information from 36% to 11% via electronic reminder alerts for prescribing clinicians
•   Increased the percentage of women over age 42 receiving mammograms from 24.5% to 49.4%
•   Avoiding approx. 42 potential anti-coagulant overdoses as a result of duplicate prescriptions

According to senior analyst and co-author Sue Hildreth, "EHR isn't a cure-all for the healthcare industry's ills. While the upfront costs of adoption are significant, EHR does have the potential to significantly reduce paperwork and administrative overhead, as well as improve the speed and accuracy of both medical care and medical claims processing." Hildreth added, "The key to attaining EHR benefits is through successful user adoption--which is heavily dependent on selecting the right EHR solution and training hospital employees adequately."



Contact: Dr. Zvi Ruder
781-354-0344
ZGR@HypatiaResearch.com
Research@HypatiaResearch.com

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/10344568/1