This is a summary of the HIT Trends report for April 2011. You can get the current issue or subscribe here.
Europe. European progress reports on HIT show us that it’s evolving along many similar lines to current US efforts. One report highlights beacons of e-prescribing in Sweden and Estonia where scripts are stored centrally and available from any pharmacy. European states are also pursuing funding national centers of excellence in HIT. They are implementing EMR-like systems mostly less comprehensive than the US (34 countries); telehealth, most notably in the UK; and ID cards (24 countries). Governments are funding and because of that, also assessing results.
There are also success stories in cross-border health information exchange on a new website that gives us a comprehensive view into European HIE activities. There’s a report by the European standards community exploring barriers to personal health device interoperability, an issue that is holding back the world’s telehealth market. And CSC announced it is buying iSOFT, a subcontractor that’s been struggling, in hopes of faster progress in the UK’s National Programme for IT.
Incentives. Provider incentives have been in the news. CMS released a report on its quality (PQRI/PQRS) and e-prescribing (MIPPA) incentive programs for 2009 with providers earning $5,000 on average. Disincentives for the e-prescribing program begin in 2012 and the quality program in 2015. Quality data will be available over time on the CMS Physician Compare website.Continue reading…