#Medlibs Twitter Chat Countdown

Medlibs Twitter Chat TONIGHT, July 26th, Thursday, at 9pm EST

Tonight is the night that I am honored to lead the #Medlibs Twitter Chat on EMR, Meaningful Use, HITECH, CMS Incentive, CMS quality measures, and how medical librarians can get involved.

Twitter chats typically have a set of questions/topics to go through, but then again it is also a fluid conversation. I cannot guarantee we will discuss all of the topics below but these are some items I thought would be great to discuss. So what are some of the items we might be discussing?

1. Introduction: name, title, organization
2. If you are involved with EMR, CPOE, EHR, Clinical Informatics or other aspects of Meaningful Use please explain briefly.
3. How did you get involved?
4. Why should medlibs get involved? In other words why is this so important to organizations?
5. Tips/advice for other medlibs on how to get involved?
6. Why is EBM(evidence based medicine) important?
7. How can medlibs help integrate EBM (evidence based medicine) into EMR/EHR/CPOE?
8. How can medlibs help with providing consumer/patient information?
9. Do you think medical librarians could be Clinical Informatics? Why or why not?
10. Do you see a place for medlibs to be knowledge managers (organizing the data)? Are you doing this?
11. What other ways does the government changes impact medlibs?
12. Anything else as we wrap up?

As we have done previously each item will be posted as Topic #1 and responses should lead with T1 and include the #medlibs hashtag. This will make it easier to follow the conversation. But then again remember this is a fluid discussion. So we could do away with the rules completely. Just think back to Mark Funk’s Janet Doe Lecture at MLA and imagine yourself in a coffee shop with a good cup of coffee to get the ideas flowing. Of course as in previous weeks drinks of all kinds are allowed to help encourage the fluid network!

Note: If you have specific items you think should be addressed in the discussion please leave a comment below or email me.

Following the Twitter chat the transcript will be posted on the Medlibs chat blog. In addition follow-up questions will be addressed here and on the Medical Informatics Section LinkedIn Forum.

A special thank you to Nikki (@eagledawg) for getting the Twitter chat started! Let’s keep the conversation flowing tomorrow tonight (opps!).

Medlibs meaningful Twitter use

Medlibs Twitter Chat July 26th, Thursday, at 9pm EST

Medlibs have been busy tweeting away on Thursday nights on several topics. This week I am honored to lead the discussion on EMR, Meaningful Use, HITECH, CMS Incentive, CMS quality measures, and how medical librarians can get involved.

I am fortunate to be involved with several of these new government efforts at my institution, and to be asked by my fellow medlibs to share some of my experiences. As the chair-elect of MLA Medical Informatics Section we have been brainstorming on how to start discussions with medlibs on these topics and Clinical Informatics. This Thursday we will dive right into the conversation. Following the Twitter chat the transcript will be posted on the Medlibs chat blog. In addition follow-up questions will be address here and on the Medical Informatics Section LinkedIn Forum.

So what will we be discussing?

We will dive into how HITECH and other government initiatives are changing healthcare, how Medical Librarians can and should get involved, and how medlibs fit into the Clinical Informatics role.

On Thursday I not only want to share how I became involved but also encourage hear how others in the field are participating. So if you are involved in the new initiatives in your organization or if you just want to learn more join us at 9pm EST on Thursday July 26th.

If you have specific items you think should be addressed in the discussion please leave a comment below or email me.

A special thank you to Nikki (@eagledawg) for getting the Twitter chat started! Let’s keep the conversation flowing tomorrow night.

When EMR’s need a Doctor

I recently visited my ophthalmologist to discover some new and exciting changes. I entered the door and filled out my return visit postcard. The postcard is mailed out as a reminder when it gets close to your next appointment. This is not new and could use some changes.

What was new was how I filled out my personal health information. I was handed a netbook to enter all of my personal health information instead of writing it on a clipboard. I will not this was the first time I had seen this in any local doctor’s office; however, I do not know how much of an improvement it was or if it helped at all.

Filling out information on a small netbook is not easy. The screen was tiny and the writing even tinier. I found myself secretly wishing it was an iPad so I could easily check boxes and not have to use the horrible mouse pad on the netbook.

Then I thought about those less savvy with technology and/or those with low health literacy skills. A simple link in key terms to MedlinePlus or a pop-up with more information about the term would have been very useful. I wonder how many people did not fill out the information completely or accurately because they did not understand and where too afraid to ask? Providing links as the person is completing the information could greatly improve health literacy.

The situation only worsened when I saw my doctor. My ophthalmologist knows I am a medical librarian and that I have been working on our hospital’s EMR. So our conversation quickly turned to the EMR, its quirks, rewards, and issues. I quickly learned how unsatisfied my doctor was with their EMR system. He lamented it was increasing the workload, costing the office more, and did not look like it would pay off. I said, thinking about my recent experience, well it can take time but he stated the new system had been in place for over a year. Not good if he was still frustrated to the point if giving up completely.

It made me think about the countless number of physician offices, hospitals and other healthcare facilities rushing to implement a new EMR system to meet the government’s requirements. How many are in this same predicament? How many systems are being thrown together and sold just to capitalize on the huge funds healthcare is spending on these systems? If I was frustrated with this system just with the brief interaction on the netbook then I can only imagine the frustration of those who use it daily. So how many will give up in a few years?

Will we reach the HITECH goals if offices are implementing systems that are broken? What about those who decide to no longer accept Medicare or Medicaid because they do not want to have to deal with a complex EMR system?

Why is it so difficult for healthcare to implement EMR systems? Is it the systems themselves? If a restaurant can move to an iPad system why not physician offices? The restaurant in Atlanta is using iPad to not only improve service, and improve accuracy of orders but it is marketing in bathrooms and creating a community online. Could something similar, while still abiding by HIPAA laws, be done in healthcare settings?

Dr. Chrono to the rescue. The iPad will see you now.

I discovered this company the other day and it looks very promising. The only concerns I have are the monthly payments over the life of the system becoming too much, who owns the data entered into the system, perpetual access to the data, and security. Of course I also wonder if you can integrate consumer health information so it is just a click away.

I do not know if Dr. Chrono or similar systems could help but it would be at least be vast improvement over my ophthalmologists current system. Maybe we need more innovations like Dr. Chrono to make this succeed. Or maybe we need to look outside of healthcare to see how others are making this work when so many in healthcare are failing miserly.

Check out the video about Dr. Chrono and weigh in the discussion in the comments below.