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Full-Text Articles in Health Law and Policy
Telehealth: Into The Mainstream?, Lisa Sprague
Telehealth: Into The Mainstream?, Lisa Sprague
National Health Policy Forum
Teleheath, and its subset telemedicine, extend across a range of technologies allowing patients to seek diagnosis, treatment, and other services from clinicians by electronic means. Telephone, videoconferencing, iPads, and apps are all employed. In its most established form, hospitals and medical centers use telehealth to reach patients in underserved rural areas. Proponents of telehealth suggest it can relieve medical workforce shortages; save patients time, money, and travel; reduce unnecessary hospital visits; improve the management of chronic conditions; and improve continuing medical education. But telehealth also faces ongoing challenges. States require physicians to be licensed in each state where they treat …
Health Information Technology Adoption Among Health Centers: A Digital Divide In The Making?, Adil Moiduddin, Daniel S. Gaylin
Health Information Technology Adoption Among Health Centers: A Digital Divide In The Making?, Adil Moiduddin, Daniel S. Gaylin
National Health Policy Forum
This background paper describes the current status of efforts to implement health information technology in community health centers. It summarizes the benefits experienced by health centers that have pioneered the use of information technology and examines the challenges that have hindered wider adoption. The paper identifies a range of policy options that have been considered to promote broader use of information technology by health centers.
Personal Health Records: The People's Choice?, Lisa Sprague
Personal Health Records: The People's Choice?, Lisa Sprague
National Health Policy Forum
Information technology (IT), especially in the form of an electronic health record (EHR), is touted by many as a key component of meaningful improvement in health care delivery and outcomes. A personal health record (PHR) may be an element of an EHR or a stand-alone record. Proponents of PHRs see them as tools that will improve consumers’ ability to manage their care and will also enlist consumers as advocates for widespread health IT adoption. This issue brief explores what a PHR is, the extent of demand for it, issues that need to be resolved before such records can be expected …
Health Information Technology In The United States: The Information Base For Progress, David Blumenthal, Catherine M. Desroches, Karen Donelan, Sara J. Rosenbaum, Timothy Ferris
Health Information Technology In The United States: The Information Base For Progress, David Blumenthal, Catherine M. Desroches, Karen Donelan, Sara J. Rosenbaum, Timothy Ferris
Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications
Health information technology (HIT) has the potential to advance health care quality by helping patients with acute and chronic conditions receive recommended care, diminishing disparities in treatment and reducing medical errors. Nevertheless, HIT dissemination has not occurred rapidly, due in part to the high costs of electronic health record (EHR) systems for providers of care—including the upfront capital investment, ongoing maintenance and short-term productivity loss. Also, many observers are concerned that, if HIT follows patterns observed with other new medical technologies, HIT and EHRs may diffuse in ways that systematically disadvantage vulnerable patient populations, thus increasing or maintaining existing disparities …
The Electronic Health Record In Practice: Why, How, And What Next?, Lisa Sprague, Sally Coberly
The Electronic Health Record In Practice: Why, How, And What Next?, Lisa Sprague, Sally Coberly
National Health Policy Forum
This local site visit was intended to allow participants to observe the electronic health record (EHR) as used in practice by two U.S. leaders in technology and quality, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Kaiser Permanente (KP). The VHA has employed an EHR system since 1997; KP is in the process of implementing a standard system for all clinicians nationwide. The site visit was designed to provide an opportunity for participants to explore both the expected benefits from EHR adoption and the specific lessons these two large, integrated delivery systems have learned in their transition from paper to electronic records. …
Electronic Health Records: How Close? How Far To Go?, Lisa Sprague
Electronic Health Records: How Close? How Far To Go?, Lisa Sprague
National Health Policy Forum
This paper looks at the central role of the electronic health record (EHR) in health information technology. It considers the extent to which EHRs are in use and initiatives designed to increase their prevalence, as well as barriers to the widespread adoption of EHRs and efforts to surmount them. Particular attention is given to such obstacles as cost, the professional culture of physicians, standardization, and legal questions.
Physician Connectivity: Electronic Prescribing, Robin J. Strongin
Physician Connectivity: Electronic Prescribing, Robin J. Strongin
National Health Policy Forum
This issue brief focuses on physician connectivity — the electronic linking of physicians with online resources such as clinical databases and sophisticated formulary systems. As physician connectivity increasingly allows physicians to prescribe online via a handheld computer complete with formulary information as well as patient data and drug information, this issue brief examines the issues raised by this technological advance within the broader context of online prescribing.