Back to writing about HIMSS today.
Nobody wins any prizes for guessing that the hot topic at this event is meaningful use. Vendors see this a great opportunity to win business and their customers are here in huge numbers to see what the future holds. But, I'm astonished by the way that everybody has their own interpretation of the U.S. government's criteria. Disclosure here - I work for a healthcare IT vendor myself - but to me the criteria are pretty clear. Maybe that's a job that we, as vendors, should do even better. If we know the rules, we shouldn't be afraid to correct customers whatever the impact on our own business.
No surprises then that so many vendors are putting forward an HIE solution. It's the perfect way to position yourself as a 'meaningful use' supplier. But there has to be proof as well. So my message to customers is simple: Don't hold back, challenge vendors until you're blue in the face and make sure you get the evidence, the site visits and more.
David Blumenthal's packed keynote speech today also stressed the importance of evidence and accountability. The National Coordinator for Health IT is, after all, responsible for the dispensation of billions of taxpayer dollars. So while we heard how "information is the lifeblood of medicine and HIT is the circulatory system", and that "we can't afford to keep using the same records management formats and processes that Hippocrates used in 400BC", this was a speech that returned again and again to the pragmatic issues at the heart of healthcare today in the U.S. and further afield.
We heard lots about measurement and standards. We were reassured that performance metrics will be set up and monitored for all HIT initiatives, and that NHIN is a "critical element of the future of health information exchange". Above all I was struck by the emphasis on change being driven from the community upwards, even by patients themselves. This is a government that is prepared to build the framework, but believes that change is the hands of the people at the front line. I was also impressed by his infectious, confident approach. "Healthcare IT will be as important as the stethoscope, the ECG and the X-ray for physicians."
Like the event itself, this was an upbeat performance and you could feel the sense of purpose in the exhibition halls immediately afterwards. Two phrases above all stick in my mind. "The future is with hospitals and healthcare workers who choose to adopt the technologies" and "the last year we spent on policy. We now begin our work to implement."
No one should be in any doubt about the determination of this administration to bring healthcare right up to date in the twenty-first century.