Comments on: Getting Spanked by Car Maker CEOs: Even Detroit Thinks Healthcare’s Innovation and Productivity are Bad

By: ITObserver

ITObserver — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:46:31 +0000

Re: Dave Dillehunt – Your comments are perfectly on target. I 100% agree!!!: We can’t go through life making poor decisions about diet, exercise, drug and alcohol use, and absurd volumes on our car stereos and then expect someone else to pay for us to get better. There is no amount of technology (or insurance) that is going to solve the real problem. The thing is, no one is really talking about the real problem.

Accountable health plans where patients who do their part get a break and those who refuse pay big. Hit the pocket book and you will change behaviors.

Everything else is just a distraction at this point.

By: Dave Dillehunt

Dave Dillehunt — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:10:05 +0000

Sadly, I do not believe that the solution to our healthcare problem will be found in technology, nor do I believe that providing insurance to everyone will fix it. (Not to say that we shouldn’t try to improve on those, which my career is dedicated to doing.) But the only solution that makes sense is for everyone to take responsibility for their own health.
We can’t go through life making poor decisions about diet, exercise, drug and alcohol use, and absurd volumes on our car stereos and then expect someone else to pay for us to get better. There is no amount of technology (or insurance) that is going to solve the real problem. The thing is, no one is really talking about the real problem. We’re all focused on the costs, not the root cause. Listen to all the candidates speeches and tell me I’m wrong.

By: B McGoff

B McGoff — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:09:39 +0000

Great editorial – I think it hits the mark in a lot of ways.

There are some sub-topics that can be drawn out of the comment that SW does not automatically bring increase productivity. When used as directed – it does. One example is Enterprise Health Analytics. These solutions can increase productivity, improve quality and save lives when integrated into information based management practices. EHA solutions are much more effective today than in the past and with the pervasiveness of EMR systems at all levels of providers have more data accessible than ever before.

The major roadblocks day to day is that executives still don’t manage using analytics – They don’t make decisions based on all the information – rather some or most of it. This comes from a recent trend in forcing the implementers & IT evaluation teams to focus too much on technology acquisition costs vs. long term value of solving the problems at hand. They spend a lot of time and energy creating a disparate silo analytics environment and loose of sight of a true population based view of their patients that would allow them to make real change happen where it’s needed.

The key to improved outcomes starts with having clean, synchronized (time dimension) longitudinal patient records available to your analytics environment. It is very possible to reduce medical errors, improve patient quality and aid doctors in their ability to improve treatments when the right criteria are established in developing the foundation for these systems. It’s time to focus on providing the right data, at the right time and in context. It’s time we stop the focus on how cheap you can acquire solutions and get back to how well they fit for the long term needs of the hospital and keep the medical community (users) involved in the decision making process.

My bet is that this will become more important (or apparent) to providers when Medicare and Private Payors are able to determine medical errors using their analytics- and not pay for them. It won’t be long before CMS or the Blues can prove incidents of Community acquired infection or trauma caused by improper safety measures in radiology were the result of a claim and make the hospital foot the bill.

Stay tuned!

By: Dan Amato

Dan Amato — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:03:42 +0000

That editorial was awesome! I agree with everything, except that their is no software out there that is going to cut cost and make more money. Physicians & Hospitals can make more money and save the Healthcare Industry money at the same time. Keeping patients healthier and getting paid for your servie is he key and we have developed the web-based knowledge software that can do it. The industry needs a culture change and that is what we are all about. Love to talk to you about!!!!