One Voice, One Vision: Transforming Healcare by Michelle Paster

According to HealthIT.gov, The primary care physician has been expected to act as the central hub for all patient medical records, including laboratory results, tests and records sent from other doctors. But sometimes - when a patient changes doctors, when providers have out-of-date information, or simply when procedures aren't followed correctly - this system can break down. Health information technology (health IT) offers a better way of establishing that hub.

The above quote so clearly encapsulates the healthcare world in which so many of us have lived for so long and the healthcare vision we are moving to achieve. For far too long providers have been hindered by the industry's inability to easily and consistently connect episodes of patient care. Patients, particularly those with more complex diseases and diagnoses, are forced to navigate through a web of systems, facilities, providers and specialties to get the comprehensive treatment they need with little assurance their corresponding paper trail of prior symptoms, treatments, and recommendations will accompany them through the continuum of care. This disconnect in information creates gaps in what should be a comprehensive patient record and increases the risk of health issues being overlooked or misdiagnosed, tests and treatments being duplicated, and patients enduring the frustration of reliving the same conversations OVER and OVER when all they really want is to see and feel a progression in care.

It is these very pains that have triggered the transformation of the healthcare industry and spurred the vision for fully electronic. By creating an environment where all providers and facilities store, manage, and access information in a format that is unhindered by physical or geographic location, the healthcare industry is essentially laying the foundation for improved information sharing and ultimately better patient care. Admittedly this transformation is a work in progress and converting to electronic is just the first step. The protocols that govern the data, the process by which it is managed, and the technologies in which it resides still lag behind the quickly advancing expectations of the industry but as more and more providers move to electronic records, the call for advancement will grow and these things will naturally evolve to meet demand.

As this evolution progresses, the undeniable value of this unprecedented transformation will come into clearer view. Compartmentalized pockets of information will be transformed into comprehensive patient records easily and readily available to practitioners at the point of care regardless of facility or location, a significant reduction in the costs and pains associated with duplicate tests and treatments will be realized, and, perhaps most importantly, the industry will have gained access to a wealth of population-specific information that can be sliced and diced to identify new diseases, treatments, and cures.

Take a read at what Frost & Sullivan has to say about Managing Data Growth and Access: The Security and Access Speed of On-Site Data Combined with the Efficiency of a Cloud Solution.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2013/industry/healthcare-information-man...
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