A Hard Look at Health Care IT

Poorly designed and poorly implemented information systems are worse than useless, worse than a waste of those millions and billions of dollars. As you go through rapid, serious changes in health care, poor information systems will strangle your every strategy, hobble your clinicians, kill patients and actually threaten the viability of your organization. Clem McDonald, MD, of the National Institutes of Health, a true pioneer in pushing for electronic health records over the last 35 years, has called the current implementations a "disappointment," even a "tragedy." He is far from alone in this assessment. Care coordination is the whole idea behind ACOs. According to eHealth Initiative's CEO, Jennifer Covich Bordenick, the cost of interoperability can be prohibitive for many organizations. It cost you millions to billions to get into this mess. It will cost as much, maybe more, to get out of it. It's time to quit digging the hole you are in, toss what does not work, start in again and do it right.