By Kareem Saad, Director, Healthcare & Life Sciences Solution Partners and Global Biopharmaceutical Business Group Q: How will personalized medicine impact the delivery of care to patients? A: Personalized medicine allows doctors to look beyond the anecdotal evidence of a patient’s history, current symptoms and lab results to look directly at his or her genetic makeup and see specific mutations in the genetic code that may cause a disease or a reaction to a particular medication. Information...

By John Nicholls, Director Healthcare Business Development, Middle East Abu Dhabi has one of the fastest changing healthcare markets in the world today. In just two and half years, the city has initiated the privatization of healthcare, achieved universal health insurance for citizens, streamlined communication between health authorities and providers, and implemented a universal ID system. These are just the initial changes made as the government transitions from healthcare provider to healthcare...

By Angela Reed and Paul Rosenbluth Silos – that is the best term for the way many healthcare organizations currently operate. To tackle the newest Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements, it could get even worse as providers struggle to achieve the clinical quality measures (CQMs) that are tied to these six domains: · Patient and Family Engagement · Care Coordination · Patient Safety · Clinical Process/Effectiveness · Efficient Use of Healthcare Resources · Population/Public Health Fortunately, most...

A monthly digest of the latest news in the healthcare industry Facilitating Care during Natural Disasters - Happy Spring, and welcome to tornado season! With hurricane season just around the corner, it is comforting to know that public health officials can use electronic interventions to care for large groups of people during natural disasters. A recent report by the Institute of Medicine recommends and offers a framework for using a systems-based approach to distribute resources and deliver care...

By Steve Rich, Director, Advanced Solutions Group, Dell Healthcare & Life Sciences Question: How can the latest data center technologies enable innovation across the healthcare delivery model? Though virtualization may not be recognized as “the latest” data center technology, I see it as the foundation for enabling innovation in the healthcare arena. We are seeing more and more hospitals and hospital systems around the world taking advantage of the many benefits virtualization offers, including...

By Angela Reed and Paul Rosenbluth Meaningful Use has become the regulatory catalyst in healthcare to bridge the strategic gap between information technology (IT) tools and clinical quality outcome improvement efforts. Closing this gap is even more relevant now in order for caregivers to attain the proposed Meaningful Use stage 2 requirements. Long gone are the days of separating the IT functions from the clinical and quality realms of business. Stage 2 of Meaningful Use not only raises thresholds...

by Andrew W. Litt, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Dell Healthcare & Life Sciences Evidence-based medicine (EBM) represents a significant shift in how American providers deliver healthcare. While physicians have traditionally continued to increase their knowledge of health and disease throughout their careers from scientific journals, continuing medical education lectures, textbooks and individual experience, EBM elevates the focus on consensus-based approaches and meta-data analyses. EBM empowers...

A weekly digest of the latest news in the healthcare industry HHS Releases Final Rule on HIXs- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its final rule for state-based Health Insurance Exchanges (HIXs) under the federal health reform law on Monday. Under the law, states must create HIXs that provide coverage options for individuals and small businesses by January 2014. States may either run their own HIX, or ask the federal government to run it on their behalf. The 633-page final...

By Charlotte Hovet, MD, MMM, CPE, Physician Executive, Dell Services Healthcare & Life Sciences Question: Based on your past experience, how can healthcare organizations smoothly and successfully implement electronic health records (EHRs)? Answer: Understanding that an EHR implementation is much more than an IT project is the first step in ensuring a smooth and successful transition. Implementation and adoption of EHRs requires significant culture change that calls for the support and involvement...

By Dr. Robert Teague, Physician Advisor, Dell Services Healthcare & Life Sciences and Laura Waltrip, RN, Consulting Practice Director, Dell Services Healthcare & Life Sciences Foundational to leveraging the value of computerized medical records is the successful implementation of computerized provider order entry ( CPOE).  When done effectively, CPOE results in improved patient safety, improved quality of care, more predictable therapeutic outcomes and improved efficiency. In addition...

A weekly digest of the latest news in the healthcare industry Obama budget takes heat for Medicare cuts and sets aside $864M for healthcare law - President Obama’s $3.8T budget proposal that he sent to Congress this week is being widely debated. It includes a $360 billion cut in Medicare and other entitlements, while at the same time, setting aside $864 million to implement a law that requires that all 50 states have health insurance exchanges in place by January 1, 2014. The plan would create a...

by Andrew W. Litt, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Dell Healthcare & Life Sciences I hope, like me, you were able to physically and mentally spend the last 10 days away from work, taking time to relax and enjoy the holidays with your loved ones. Now, while maintaining your willpower to keep up your New Year’s resolutions and trying to find the time to pack up the holiday decorations before Valentine’s Day sneaks around the corner, you’re likely trying to prioritize your organization’s goals for...

by Jamie Coffin, Ph.D., Vice President & General Manager, Dell Healthcare & Life Sciences Ireland’s healthcare system has come a long way. Four years ago, the Euro Health Consumer Index report ranked it 11 th out of 31 countries – a vast improvement from its 26 th position in 2006. Ireland is catching up with the rest of Europe on other healthcare indicators, too. While Irish life expectancy had trailed behind the rest of the EU, today it stands at 80 years — two years...

A weekly digest of the latest news in the healthcare industry Biomarker Tool to Detect Alzheimer’s Disease Earlier- In a report from CMIO, Finland researchers have developed a new tool, PredictAD, that enables physicians to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease earlier through the use of decision support. The tool analyzes biomarker readings from a patient and compares these markers to other patient data in a secured clinical database. The markers are included in a mathematical model that creates an image...

Let’s look back to this year’s events on Capitol Hill their impact on the future of healthcare by Andrew W. Litt, M.D., chief medical officer, Dell Healthcare & Life Sciences Around this time every year, before I have to start seriously thinking about my New Year’s resolutions, I like to reflect on the events of the past year. In the past couple of years, with the many changes around healthcare reform, I also consider how the year’s events will likely affect the future of healthcare. The stage...

by Terrell Warnberg, Managing Director, Dell Services Healthcare Consulting and Annette Munson, RN, ICD-10 Project Manager, Dell Services Healthcare Consulting ICD-10 will offer a number of far-reaching benefits. Greater specificity of codes and enhanced clinical documentation will capture healthcare information more effectively. Better information will lead to better patient care and improved measurement of healthcare quality and safety. Better information will also lead to improved operational...

A weekly digest of the latest news in the healthcare industry Cancer Survivors Show Disinterest in Virtual Follow-Ups- According to a recently published study , few breast cancer survivors are interested in participating in “virtual” consultations online intended to reduce their cancer-related stress. The study surveyed 218 breast cancer survivors to determine their level of comfort in receiving virtual follow-up care. Face-to-face interactions were preferred over virtual care. In fact, 80 percent...

by Eric Browning, Team Lead Security Engineer, Dell SecureWorks Aside from death and taxes, businesses and healthcare organizations have one more inevitable situation to worry about: a computer incident. And when it strikes, you’d better be prepared. One of the best things any organization can do to prevent an incident is by using many layers of security and monitoring your network and logs continually for suspicious activity. Because 100 percent security can never be guaranteed, it is best to have...

By Robert Teague, M.D., Physician Advisor, Dell Services Healthcare & Life Sciences In a country where half of all hospitals, and virtually all primary care physicians, use a nationally networked electronic medical record (EMR)system, Denmark leads the rest of the world in digital care. As other industrialized countries are still catching up in many ways, Danish patients are starting to leverage the system personally through the use of telemedicine to replace weekly hospital visits with home...

A weekly digest of the latest news in the healthcare industry Patient Data Most Lucrative for Identity Theft- Cyber security experts have weighed in, and stolen patient data comes in as the most lucrative form of identity theft. MedPage Today reports that a patient’s electronic health record (EHR) can be worth up to $50 on the black market. That same patient’s Social Security number would only fetch a thief about $3, and their credit card would bring in only $1.50. Stolen EHRs can be used to create...

by Andrew W. Litt, M.D., chief medical officer, Dell Healthcare & Life Sciences Most healthcare leaders are aware that the deficit-reduction “Super Committee”, a bi-partisan group of 12 members of the House of Representatives and Senate, failed in their charge to agree upon ways to reduce the U.S. national debt by $1.2 trillion. This raises the certainty of across the board cuts in domestic and defense spending beginning in 2013. What is still not so clear is how this will impact the healthcare...

by Paul Rosenbluth, Specialist, Dell Healthcare & Life Sciences Though the HHS delayed the start date for Stage 2 of Meaningful Use, is there time to relax? In June of this year, I addressed the fact that the biggest hurdle providers faced in meeting Stage 1 of Meaningful Use was the strict timeline. Deploying Electronic Health Records (EHRs) haphazardly for the sake of meeting a tight deadline could, in the long run, negatively impact the patients they are intended to help. Last week, the Department...

A weekly digest of the latest news in the healthcare industry HIE Initiatives Score Low Says Industry CIOs- CIOs have lowly ranked current health information exchange (HIE) organization efforts according to a survey by healthsystemsCIO.com . Approximately 92 percent of respondents said regional, state and national efforts were duplicative or redundant, and an alarming 60 percent cited a “confused mess” when asked to describe their own state’s HIE initiatives. Much of the blame, according to the CIOs...

Will the Senate be more welcoming to Tavenner? Last week, the White House announced that Dr. Donald Berwick, who has been the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) since 2010, will resign his position on December 2 nd , which is four weeks before his recess appointment expires. Berwick was first nominated by President Obama in April of 2010, but the Senate, which is required by law to confirm the nomination, failed to do so. In fact, 42 Republican Senators, which is...

by Andrew W. Litt, M.D., chief medical officer, Dell Healthcare & Life Sciences In my career as a practicing neuroradiologist and hospital administrator, I was involved in many IT purchasing decisions. Each of those engagements began with a problem that needed solving. Though we often had a vision of where we needed to be, never once did we start with a solution and work backwards. Rather, our most productive engagements were those in which we collaborated with our partners to build customized...