Morning Headlines 5/30/13

Why Some Doctors Don’t Lean On EHR

A new study published in the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association concludes that EHR adoption has less to do with how tech savvy a doctor is and has more to do with how much uncertainty — an accepted and universal attribute of medical practice — a doctor is comfortable with.

Repeated EHR Alerts Desensitize Clinicians

A case review published in the journal Pediatrics suggests that unimportant CPOE alerts negatively impact patient outcomes, possibly because they cause clinicians to miss important warnings.

Software That’s Hard on Hospital Readmissions

A local North Texas station reports on population health systems being implemented to reduce readmission rates at Texas Health Resources.

With Money at Risk, Hospitals Push Staff to Wash Hands

The New York Times covers efforts being employed by hospitals to increase hand hygiene compliance, including a number of technology advancements that include RFID tracking of physicians coupled with video surveillance and ID badge-enabled soap dispensers that track whether soap has been dispensed and alert the clinician as they approach the bedside if it hasn’t. An unannounced 16-week video monitoring trial at North Shore University Hospital revealed hand hygiene rates at less than 10 percent. Once clinicians were made aware of the video system and were sent weekly e-mails with their performance, the numbers jumped to 88 percent.