Doctors are Going Digital to Save Lives

Doctors are going digital to save lives Let's face it. We live in a digital world. While most of us are using our devices to play games or to get from point A to point B, health care systems around the world are taking advantage of our technological age. As of 2013, U.S. medical systems have electronically: Filed 190 million+ prescriptions. Shared 4.3 million+ summaries Sent patients 4.6 million+ copies Reminded 13 million+ patients Performed 40 million+ checks on medication and drug interactions. among colleagues when patients changed doctors. of health-related of checkups, required tests or appointments. information. Physicians are beginning to digitize their practices. 91% actively use electronic medical records in office, hospital or clinic settings. 4/5 use in their practice: smartphones • tablets 47% • apps routinely access clinical data via their PCs. Comparative use around the globe 69% 54% 49% 45% The U.S. ranks fourth when Spain it comes to physicians who routinely use healthcare IT in their practices. England Singapore U.S. Electronic Health 78% Records (EHRS) of office-based physicians in the U.S. used some type of EHR system in 2013. An EHR is a digital record containing pertinent information - medical history, medications, test results, allergies and family health history. It can be easily transmitted electronically to any and all necessary healthcare outlets. Federal funding: $24 billion U.S. allocation as of March 2014 to promote the use of EHRS. Health Information Exchanges (HIE) Electronic Health Information Exchanges let patients and medical professionals quickly access critical medical records. Inefficiencies go down while savings go up. Length of hospital stays / adverse drug side effects = † $15.5 M ↑ = f $9.4 M Department efficiency / nurse retention How HIES helped Sentara Healthcare reduce its costs* ↑ = f $7.5 M Outpatient procedures = f $5 M IT maintenance Reduced practice inefficiencies costs | Transcription = † $3.2 M expenses A Increased practice efficiencies = † $2.4 M = † $2M Medical records staffing expenses Increased I savings (U.S.) Medical records supply costs ↑ Health plan cost savings = f $1.9 M *Sentara Healthcare is an 11-hospital network in Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina. Digitizing medical information makes sense. Sharing medical information using digital platforms reduces readmission rates, medication errors and duplicate testing while improving diagnoses. USA Today, David Jackson, 9/23/13. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/07/16/obama-electronic-health-care-record-keeping/2521217/ DELL Information Week, 10/21/11. http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/80--of-doctors-use-mobile-devices-at-work/d/d-id/1100880 iHealthBeat, 3/21/14. http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2014/3/21/desalvo-says-24b-already-spent-through-meaningful-use-program cdc.gov, Chun-Ju Hsiao, Ph.D., and Esther Hing, M.P.H., 1/14. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db143.htm healthit.gov http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/benefits-electronic-health-records-ehrs USNews, Neil Versel, 11/5/13. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of- tomorrow/articles/2013/11/05/taking-a-close-look-at-electronic-health-records healthit.gov http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/benefits-electronic-health-records-ehrs