CIO Magazine Provides Some Gartner Comment On E-Health Trends. PHRs Not Favoured.

The following appeared a little while ago:

Big Data, EHR Driving Healthcare IT Innovation

– Brian Eastwood, CIO

December 05, 2012 

Healthcare IT adoption in the United States today is largely defined by requirements to demonstrate the meaningful use of electronic heath record software by 2014.

Gartner says that EHR adoption is a "trigger" for data analytics, improved care management and other innovations. However, these initiatives will take time, the analyst firm notes in a recent report, "Hype Cycle for Healthcare Provider Applications and Systems."

Big Data Benefits Depend on EHR Systems Evolution

This type of innovation is not necessarily unique to the healthcare industry, says Vi Shaffer, a Gartner analyst and the hype cycle report's primary author. Retailers, for example, are also placing an increased emphasis on customer engagement and data processing technology. The difference, she says, is both the complexity of the data—think of an intensive care unit (ICU), where information about patient vital signs, drug dosages and even room temperature is constantly updated and sent to the computer at the nurses' station—and the fact that, until recently, all this information was only on paper.

----- Lots omitted including key trends to embrace

4 Healthcare IT Trends to Avoid

The following types of applications, however, may not be worth a healthcare CIO's immediate attention:

• Patient decision aids and personal health management tools. These appear largely in the form of interactive apps that educate patients or help them make care decisions, such as seeking treatment or undergoing surgery for a particular ailment. However, Gartner says their effectiveness is questionable and adoption remains low.
• Personal health records. The concept is attractive, as it gives patients ownership of their data, but poor usability and vendor disinterest have hindered adoption. Only with a government mandate, as is the case in Australia, does PHR adoption seem to catch on, Gartner says. Patient portals, which connect patients directly to their caregivers, are more popular.
• The patient-centered medical home. There's been much discussion of making this a reality, especially in light of the accountable care organization model touted by healthcare reform and examples such as the "granny pod," but information exchange challenges and a reimbursement model unfavorable to insurers hinder adoption.
• Patient self-serve kiosks. While these can streamline patient registration and payment collection, the ROI isn't there, Gartner says. Most organizations are better off focusing on meaningful use or the conversion to the ICD-10 code set, which must be done by Oct. 1, 2014.

.....

Read the full article here:

http://www.cio.com/article/722987/Big_Data_EHR_Driving_Healthcare_IT_Innovation

I especially found number 2 of the items to avoid interesting. Two points:

1. I am not sure Gartner is up to date on just how much adoption the PCEHR has achieved.

2. Again we have clear suggestions that the PCEHR is not what the patients want.

They are right however to have things like the PCEHR and PHRs as an avoid right now!

Oh well!

David.