Have you heard of the Health Story Project? Have you heard about CDA4CDT? Perhaps you have heard about the +20 billion dollars (and likely more) set aside for health IT as part of the stimulus package for economic recovery and healthcare reform? Maybe you have heard that the EHR is targeted for nationwide implementation by a goal date of 2014? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then every MT will want to learn more about the Health Story Project. Here's why.
One of the objections to narrative text in the EHR is that it is not searchable or minable for data research. Because currently, it is in free-form without an established standards and formats it does not lend itself well to easy tagging for search processes (more). A shift to templated systems or point and click technology alone cannot capture the relevant details and unique circumstances of each patient admission. Something that we can all agree on is that the potential to improve patient care, reduce costs, eliminate redundancy in testing and to gain efficiencies via e-prescribing absolutely exists by migrating to electronic records. The best way to do that and keep the details present, to ensure that DRGs continue to be optimized and to ensure that patient safety comes first, Health Story provides that process.
The Health Story Project by way of CDA4CDT (clinical documentation architecture for common document types) is a process that allows narrative text to be translated in the EHR as searchable, retrievable text. Since more than 80% of physicians prefer dictation and transcription as the method of choice for documenting patient encounters, this process is the way to ensure that the continuation of dictation and transcription will be able to deliver the structured text research outcomes while providing a level of granularity and detail that can only be captured through the dictation medium.
What you can do? Urge your MTSO employer to join the Health Story Project and the many MTSOs who are using this process to enable full functionality of hospital EHR systems while still allowing physicians to record patient encounters in the method that is their preference and the one that allows them more patient care time. Don't work for an MTSO? No problem, talk about it at your hospital - and if your hospital outsources any of their work, ask them to include a request for CDA4CDT in their RFPs.
The time has come for us to take an active role in our future and beginning to have conversations about relevant strategies to help ensure your success and career are here today. Click here to learn more from a physician's perspective.
2 comments:
I never really understood this
CDA4CDT stuff. I appreciate the explanation. I am definitely interested now and will follow along.
I have read much discussion about trying to get members "engaged" and active. My feeling is that the AHDI leadership may not be very open to members who may not conform to the "usual ways" of the association. When a member suggests something different, is leadership open to discussion about the suggestion, even if it is not something they are in favor of? Or does the association prefer members who just play along without question? Do you prefer the quiet members who never speak up? Do you belittle members who often comment and make suggestions and raise questions? Do you show appreciation for your members or just a handful of members? Long ago, I remember that members were recognized for the number of years of continuous membership. Is this still done at the annual convention? I recently read an article about member appreciation and an award that was called the "Giraffe Award," which was given to members who stuck their neck out for the association, maybe trying something new or always making suggestions regardless of any criticism received, etc.
Hi Anon - Thanks for your comments. I appreciate the questions, they are excellent. Let me try to answer each one. About suggestions - our board is extremely open to suggestions and in fact we invite your recommendations for initiatives to work on. We don't have all the answers and count on members to help us understand what challenges you are facing and how our work can provide solutions. Questions are the core of constant improvement, so we value input in the form of questions or if you have information that we may not, we really appreciate research or other data to be sent our way. We value all types of members - some like to speak up and do so often, some we don't hear from. You can find the quiet type and the participative type in every organization and they all bring value to the whole. We would never be critical of members who bring forth their honest thoughts whether they come in the form of questions or comments. We appreciate all our members and we make an effort to say it regularly and demonstrate our appreciation in looking for new ways of finding value for our members. I do not beleive there is a special recognition specifically for length of membership at the annual conference. I have never seen that on the agenda, however, we certainly work hard to welcome all attendees and do all we can to ensure they have a great conference experience whether it is their first time (which we do a special first-timers welcome) or their 30th conference. I really love the notion of the "Giraffe Award" that is something really unique and will pass that along to our awards committee for consideration. Again, thank you for your great questions and for posting on my blog. I hope you will visit often. Best wishes, Susan
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