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Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs)
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Best of Fit or Best of Breed? The Choice is Yours
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Data Definitions
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Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security: Taking the Confusion Out of Commonly Misused Terms
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Decision Support Systems
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HIT Standards: What are they and who develops them?
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Interoperability: What Does It Mean?
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HIT vs. EHR vs. EMR
Friday, July 10, 2009
Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) (9:08 AM)
Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs)
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P
ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
The exchange of health information often begins at the local level through community-based efforts. According to Margaret K. Amatayakul in Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, “RHIOs are generally conceived to be regional or local/entities/groups of healthcare stakeholders, such as physicians, hospitals, insurers, patients, and community members, that oversee and support the exchange of electronic information at the local level to support care.”
RHIOs, also referred to as Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) take many shapes and forms depending on the community in which they are in. Some are very small and focus on a limited area in a city or town, or they can be encompass an entire state or region.
Practices should consider learning about existing RHIOs and HIEs, or efforts to develop them in their area, to ensure their specialized needs are being considered.
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P
ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
The exchange of health information often begins at the local level through community-based efforts. According to Margaret K. Amatayakul in Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, “RHIOs are generally conceived to be regional or local/entities/groups of healthcare stakeholders, such as physicians, hospitals, insurers, patients, and community members, that oversee and support the exchange of electronic information at the local level to support care.”
RHIOs, also referred to as Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) take many shapes and forms depending on the community in which they are in. Some are very small and focus on a limited area in a city or town, or they can be encompass an entire state or region.
Practices should consider learning about existing RHIOs and HIEs, or efforts to develop them in their area, to ensure their specialized needs are being considered.
Labels: health information techonology, HIE, HIT, RHIO
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Best of Fit or Best of Breed? The Choice is Yours (2:02 PM)
Best of Fit or Best of Breed? The Choice is Yours
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P
ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Most practices will need to make a decision about whether to use multiple vendors or a single vendor for all of their health information technology (HIT) system needs. For example, some vendors have products in their suite for e-prescribing and electronic health records (EHR), where other vendors might offer only an EHR product or e-prescribing product.
According to Margaret K. Amatayakul, author of Electronic Health Records: A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, "[b]est of fit, or single source, is a scenario in which the products in one vendor's suite of products are integrated or fit well together and it is difficult to introduce other vendors' products. Best of breed is a situation where the best products are selected from various vendors. Unless best-of-breed products are open source, meaning the source code is readily available, is technology neutral, and does not restrict use of another software, it can be difficult to get them to communicate with one another."
There are several case studies available on the internet that discuss how different healthcare organizations decided between best of fit or best of breed.
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P
ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Most practices will need to make a decision about whether to use multiple vendors or a single vendor for all of their health information technology (HIT) system needs. For example, some vendors have products in their suite for e-prescribing and electronic health records (EHR), where other vendors might offer only an EHR product or e-prescribing product.
According to Margaret K. Amatayakul, author of Electronic Health Records: A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, "[b]est of fit, or single source, is a scenario in which the products in one vendor's suite of products are integrated or fit well together and it is difficult to introduce other vendors' products. Best of breed is a situation where the best products are selected from various vendors. Unless best-of-breed products are open source, meaning the source code is readily available, is technology neutral, and does not restrict use of another software, it can be difficult to get them to communicate with one another."
There are several case studies available on the internet that discuss how different healthcare organizations decided between best of fit or best of breed.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Data Definitions (8:36 AM)
Data Definitions
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
Data are defined as the dates, numbers, images, symbols, letters, and words that represent basic facts and observations about people, processes, measurements, and conditions. A data element is an individual fact or measurement that is the smallest unique subset of a database. The word “data” is often used in conjunction with other words like accuracy, granularity, etc. These additional data-terms are defined below.
· Data accuracy is the extent to which data are free of identifiable errors.
· Data availability is the extent to which data are accessible whenever and wherever they are needed.
· Data comprehensiveness is the extent to which health care data re complete.
· Data consistency is the extent to which healthcare data are reliable.
· Data currency is the extent to which data are up-to-date.
· Data granularity is the level of detail at which the attributes and values of healthcare data are described
· Data integrity is the extent to which healthcare data are complete, accurate, consistent, and timely. It is also a security principle that keeps information from being modified or otherwise corrupted either maliciously or accidentally.Data precision is the extent to which data has the values they are expected to have.
· Data relevancy is the extent to which healthcare-related data re useful for the purpose for which they were collected.
Labels: consistency, currency, data relevancy, granularity, Health Information Technology, HIT, integrity
Monday, June 15, 2009
Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security: Taking the Confusion Out of Commonly Misused Terms (1:22 PM)
Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security: Taking the Confusion Out of Commonly Misused Terms
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
In discussions about health information technology (HIT) and electronic health records (EHR), the terms confidentiality, privacy and security are often misused. An excerpt from Health Information Management Technology, An Applied Approach by Merida L. Johns, PhD, RHIA, provides a clear explanation:
…[I]n the healthcare context, privacy is usually understood to mean the right of individuals to limit access to information about their person…[c]onfidentiality…refers to the expectation that information shared by an individual with a healthcare provider during the course of care will be used only for its intended purpose…Security can be defined as the protection measures and tools for safeguarding information and information systems.
Reference: Health Information Management Technology, An Applied Approach by Merida L. Johns, PhD, RHIA
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
In discussions about health information technology (HIT) and electronic health records (EHR), the terms confidentiality, privacy and security are often misused. An excerpt from Health Information Management Technology, An Applied Approach by Merida L. Johns, PhD, RHIA, provides a clear explanation:
…[I]n the healthcare context, privacy is usually understood to mean the right of individuals to limit access to information about their person…[c]onfidentiality…refers to the expectation that information shared by an individual with a healthcare provider during the course of care will be used only for its intended purpose…Security can be defined as the protection measures and tools for safeguarding information and information systems.
Reference: Health Information Management Technology, An Applied Approach by Merida L. Johns, PhD, RHIA
Labels: confidentiality, EHR, HIT, privacy, security
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Decision Support Systems (9:44 AM)
Decision Support Systems
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
LaTour and Eicenwald-Maki, in their text, Health Information Management Concepts, Principles and Practice, describe decision support systems as interactive computer systems that intent to help decision makers use data and models to identify and solve problems and make decisions. In the clinical setting, these systems are known as clinical decision support systems (CDSS) and assist physicians and other healthcare providers in applying new information to patient care through the analysis of patient-specific medical/clinical variables. CDSS can be as simple as providing alerts, reminders and access to medical literature.
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
LaTour and Eicenwald-Maki, in their text, Health Information Management Concepts, Principles and Practice, describe decision support systems as interactive computer systems that intent to help decision makers use data and models to identify and solve problems and make decisions. In the clinical setting, these systems are known as clinical decision support systems (CDSS) and assist physicians and other healthcare providers in applying new information to patient care through the analysis of patient-specific medical/clinical variables. CDSS can be as simple as providing alerts, reminders and access to medical literature.
Labels: CDSS, computer, Decision Support Systems, EMR, HIT
Friday, June 5, 2009
HIT Standards: What are they and who develops them? (2:57 PM)
HIT Standards: What are they and who develops them?
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
An excerpt from Margaret K. Amatayakul in her text, Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, explains that
HL7 is one of several American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited SDOs operating in the healthcare arena. Most SDOs produce standards (sometimes called specifications or protocols) for a particular healthcare domain such as pharmacy, medical devices, imaging or insurance (claims processing) transactions. HL7s domain is clinical and administrative data. HL7 is not only the name of the SDO, but also the standard it has produced. The HL7 standard consists of rules for transmitting demographic data, orders, and patient observations, such as lab results and H&P exam findings, in addition to rules for appointment scheduling, referrals, problem list maintenance, and care plans. HL7 continues to be revised and new versions are released so it can remain relevant in the digital age.
The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) has recommended HL7 as the core standard. More information about HL7 can be found at http://www.hl7.org/.
References:
Health Level Seven, http://www.hl7.org/
Electronic Health Records, A Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition by Margaret K. Amatayakul, MBA, RHIA, FHIMSS
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
An excerpt from Margaret K. Amatayakul in her text, Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, explains that
Within healthcare, standard protocols that support communication between
applications are often referred to as messaging standards, also called
interoperability standards or data exchange standards. Messaging standards
provide the tools to map proprietary formats to one another and more easily
accomplish the exchange of data. Some of the standards development organizations
(SDOs) also are incorporating semantic interoperability into their standards.
This means they are making accommodations for embedding standard vocabularies as well as standard syntax in their messages.
However, because the standard protocols developed to date have often had a lot of optionality, full interoperability has not always been possible. When this occurs, or when a vendor does not use a standard protocol in its application development, an
interface must be written to achieve interoperability between the two
applications….[i]nterfaces can be costly to develop and depend on cooperation
from the often-competing vendors of both applications that are attempting to
exchange data.
HL7 is one of several American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited SDOs operating in the healthcare arena. Most SDOs produce standards (sometimes called specifications or protocols) for a particular healthcare domain such as pharmacy, medical devices, imaging or insurance (claims processing) transactions. HL7s domain is clinical and administrative data. HL7 is not only the name of the SDO, but also the standard it has produced. The HL7 standard consists of rules for transmitting demographic data, orders, and patient observations, such as lab results and H&P exam findings, in addition to rules for appointment scheduling, referrals, problem list maintenance, and care plans. HL7 continues to be revised and new versions are released so it can remain relevant in the digital age.
The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) has recommended HL7 as the core standard. More information about HL7 can be found at http://www.hl7.org/.
References:
Health Level Seven, http://www.hl7.org/
Electronic Health Records, A Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition by Margaret K. Amatayakul, MBA, RHIA, FHIMSS
Labels: ANSI, EHR, HIT, HL7, NCVHS, Standards
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Interoperability: What Does It Mean? (8:02 AM)
Interoperability: What Does It Mean?
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
As explained by Margret K. Amatayakul in Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, basic interoperability is the ability of software and hardware on different machines from different vendors to share data. However, interoperability has been further defined in healthcare by the Office of the National Coordinator(ONC), Connecting for Health, and others to mean:
· The ability to exchange patient health information among disparate clinicians and other authorized entities in real time and under stringent security , privacy and other protections (ONC 2005b)
· The ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, to exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently, and to use the information that has been exchanged (NAHIT 2005)
· The ability of health information systems to work together within and across organizational boundaries in order to advance the effective delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities (HIMSS 2005)
· At the application level, interoperability means the capacity of a connected, authenticated use to access, transmit and/or receive/exchange usable information with other uses (Connecting for Health 2005)
Emily L. Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
As explained by Margret K. Amatayakul in Electronic Health Records, A Practical Guide for Professionals and Organizations, Third Edition, basic interoperability is the ability of software and hardware on different machines from different vendors to share data. However, interoperability has been further defined in healthcare by the Office of the National Coordinator(ONC), Connecting for Health, and others to mean:
· The ability to exchange patient health information among disparate clinicians and other authorized entities in real time and under stringent security , privacy and other protections (ONC 2005b)
· The ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, to exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently, and to use the information that has been exchanged (NAHIT 2005)
· The ability of health information systems to work together within and across organizational boundaries in order to advance the effective delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities (HIMSS 2005)
· At the application level, interoperability means the capacity of a connected, authenticated use to access, transmit and/or receive/exchange usable information with other uses (Connecting for Health 2005)
Labels: EHR, EMR, HIT, Interoperability
Monday, June 1, 2009
HIT vs. EHR vs. EMR (9:39 AM)
HIT vs. EHR vs. EMR
Emily Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
According to Kathleen M. LaTour and Shirley Eichenwald-Maki, authors of Health Information Management Concepts, Principles and Practice, Second Edition, health, or healthcare information technology (HIT) is a term that encompasses the technical roles that process health data and records, such as classification, abstracting, retrieval, and so on. LaTour and Eichenwald-Maki define Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) as a form of computer-based health record in which information is stored in whole files instead of by individual data elements and a computerized record of health information and associated processes, respectively.
Emily Graham, RHIA, CCS-P, ASCRS/ASOA Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs
According to Kathleen M. LaTour and Shirley Eichenwald-Maki, authors of Health Information Management Concepts, Principles and Practice, Second Edition, health, or healthcare information technology (HIT) is a term that encompasses the technical roles that process health data and records, such as classification, abstracting, retrieval, and so on. LaTour and Eichenwald-Maki define Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) as a form of computer-based health record in which information is stored in whole files instead of by individual data elements and a computerized record of health information and associated processes, respectively.
Labels: EHR, Electronic Health Record, Electronic Medical Record, EMR, Health Information Technology, HIT, Ophthalmology
