The 21st Century Intelligent Health System

In a report by MD NetGuide, the transformation of the current healthcare system into The 21st Century Intelligent Health System is discussed. In order for the US health system to withstand future challenges, a new model must be created. This new model will depend heavily on health information technology.
From the report:

As Speaker Gingrich likes to say, “Paper kills. It is that simple.” Our current system is taking a tragic toll in American lives. With as many as 98,000 Americans still dying due to preventable medical errors every year (www.iom.edu/Object.File/ Master/4/117/ToErr-8pager.pdf), ridding the system of paper based records and quickly adopting health information technology will save lives and-at the same time-save money
This is not just speculation. Examples abound of the dramatic benefits of health information technology. The Indiana Heart Hospital in Indianapolis built a new facility that is totally paperless, and they reduced medication errors by 85% (www.ihealthbeat. org/index.cfm?Action=dspItem&itemID=10 9819). If we could achieve the same results nationwide, we would save nearly 6,000 Americans every year, since medication errors kill more than 7,000 citizens annually, according to the Institute of Medicine (www. iom.edu). These new systems also reduced physician administrative time by 30%, meaning the Hospital’s doctors can now spend more time with their patients and provide them with higher quality care.
Another example is the Central Utah Multi-Specialty Clinic (www.cumcmds .com). Allscripts built an ambulatory electronic health record system for this clinic, which has 70 physicians at 11 locations, and serves more than 300,000 patients. In the system’s first year of use, the Clinic saved $1 million through improved efficiencies and automation (www.allscriptsidx. com/_docs/CentralUtahClinicCaseStudy.pdf); five-year savings are projected to be more than $8 million. That is real money that can be put back into the Clinic to hire more doctors and nurses or buy new equipment. This can directly increase consumers’ access to care and dramatically advance the quality of care they receive.

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