Industry Research Center

- Healthcare

IT professionals in healthcare are in a unique position to witness the interplay between technology and people. To deal with this high-pressure environment, gain advice on key issues like HIPAA, bedside care technologies, and electronic medical records.

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Articles: Governance
September 23, 2008	Disaster Recovery in Healthcare Organizations: Part II Healthcare organizations continue to face increased regulatory burdens as well as internal and external threats to information security. The ability to restore access to information systems after a major calamity requires a comprehensive Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP). As the second of two notes, this research note will provide the template for a DRP that meets HIPAA guidelines and ensures clinical continuity.
August 26, 2008	Disaster Recovery in Healthcare Organizations: Part I Establishing a comprehensive Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is very important in any industry, but particularly necessary in healthcare due to the degree of regulatory scrutiny. Securing the safety and flow of information in all its various forms should be the foundation of any DRP. Make certain that all elements of a distributed information technology environment are accounted for within the overall plan.
May 6, 2008	Personal Health Records Put Patients in the Driver’s Seat Personal Health Records (PHRs) will grow in popularity as patients become more proactive in managing their own online healthcare experience. Take a proactive stance on PHR technology and launch both internal and external awareness programs as soon as possible.
November 6, 2007	Case Studies: How to Comply with HIPAA Security Rules HIPAA security audits are finally here. To help guide IT leaders, Info-Tech interviewed five healthcare clients about how they’re implementing HIPAA security measures. Learn from these experiences and take prioritized, practical steps that emphasize end-user training.
October 9, 2007	Before Healthcare M&A: Solidifying Your Formidable Organization In healthcare, a CIO must assume that an M&A event is inevitable and build an IT organization based on that premise. Start by looking inward and assessing areas of strength and weakness. Make the necessary changes as quickly as possible. This will help ensure the IT department’s and the CIO’s survival when faced with an actual transaction.
September 11, 2007	HIPAA Audits Loom: The First Is Underway The first-ever HIPAA security audit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could be the first step towards mandatory audits of healthcare organizations. This won’t happen tomorrow, but hospitals, clinics, and other HIPAA-covered entities should get ready now for full compliance.
August 14, 2007	Special Report: Critical Budget & Staffing Trends for 2007-2008 Info-Tech Research Group regularly polls IT decision makers about their staffing and spending decisions. This information is used for IT Budget and Staffing reports that provide benchmark data for nine industry sectors. The 2007 IT Budget & Staffing Reports drew on a sample of 1,712 IT decision makers. The results include a broad representation of enterprise sizes ranging from small to mid-sized to large.
July 3, 2007	Before Healthcare M&A: Build a Formidable Organization A CIO must assume that an M&A event is inevitable and build an IT organization based on that premise. Start by looking inward and assessing areas of strength and weakness. Make the necessary changes as quickly as possible. This will help ensure the IT department’s and the CIO’s survival when faced with an actual transaction.
April 24, 2007	Best Practices for Healthcare M&A: A CIO Playbook Because technology is embedded in all facets of healthcare delivery, CIOs must assume a leadership role in preparation for the threats and opportunities of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The first step is to be involved in the M&A strategy development.
April 10, 2007	FCC Program Slashes Internet Costs by 85% for Rural Healthcare Providers Saving money on Internet access is good. Savings that also elicit collaboration amongst healthcare providers are even better. Apply to the FCC's Rural Health Care Program to take advantage of the available government funding.
February 27, 2007	HIPAA Over-Compliance Detrimental to Hospitals and Patients With proper training and knowledge of the facts, there is no reason to go overboard with HIPAA compliance. Ensure that patient privacy is aligned with the law, but also with corporate revenue goals and customer satisfaction.
January 30, 2007	How to Define Ownership in a Health Data Exchange Data-sharing between hospitals is the way of the future for healthcare IT. Begin preparations for governance, data ownership, privacy, and security standards in order to meet head on the challenges that lie ahead.
January 2, 2007	An In-Depth Look at Spending in Healthcare Approximately 12% of Info-Tech's clients are in the healthcare industry. Our research shows that many of these healthcare organizations' IT departments are operating without any peer interaction or benchmarking data. This Trends & Predictions research note is dedicated to IT budget and staffing survey results from 1,600 healthcare respondents.
November 28, 2006	Nurse Buy-In Vital for Technology Adoption Studies show that nurses are willing to learn new technologies but are often not being given the proper training opportunities. Ensure that IT provides adequate training to front-line staff when deploying technology solutions in a healthcare environment.
September 19, 2006	Health Providers Need HIPAA's NPI to Get Paid Another HIPAA deadline is fast approaching, with implications for all healthcare IT departments. Apply now for the National Provider Identifier (NPI) number in order to meet the compliance mandate.
June 27, 2006	Leverage Six Sigma to Improve Healthcare Processes Healthcare IT aims to improve patient care while delivering cost savings. The least acceptable outcome for any hospital technology implementation is the status quo. Six Sigma is a process improvement discipline that focuses on defect reduction. Transform the enterprise by using Six Sigma to improve the quality of the customer experience.
April 18, 2006	Healthcare: Sound Process Trumps Tech in Patient Care Healthcare is perhaps the only industry where IT is literally a matter of life and death. When implementing systems designed to replace manual, paper-based processes with digital processes, use Business Process Management (BPM) best practices to reduce error rates and improve patient care.
February 21, 2006	HIPAA Has No Teeth With only a single conviction since its inception in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a failure. Too little oversight and too much uncertainty surround HIPAA and cloud the real issues at hand.
December 13, 2005	Exercise Caution When Hiring JCAHO Consultants Most healthcare organizations must comply with JCAHO requirements every few years, while a high percentage of community health centers pursue JCAHO accreditation to secure state funding. Carefully evaluate decision criteria before hiring a consultant to assist with JCAHO-related technology implementations.
November 29, 2005	HIPAA Security Holes Still Abound Despite a recent deadline and renewed calls for security, a large proportion of healthcare providers still haven't complied with HIPAA's security rules. Avoid the risk of criminal penalties by employing information security practices now.
November 1, 2005	HIPAA Awareness Low Amongst Hospital Staff It's a simple equation: hospitals must comply with HIPAA privacy rules or else risk severe penalties. Yet many healthcare organizations still have not implemented even basic HIPAA awareness training for staff. Close this gap by reiterating to caregivers HIPAA's requirements for the non-disclosure of patient information.
July 12, 2005	ePedigree Safeguards Drug Supply State legislation is beginning to emerge that mandates a chain of custody in pharmaceutical drug distribution and logistics. In order to reduce theft of high-value commodities, learn about new ways to track drugs along the supply chain.
May 12, 2004	Disaster Recovery: A HIPAA Mandate Disaster recovery, a major component of contingency planning, has shown its value within the health care industry, becoming a crucial component of HIPAA. If you are a covered entity, make sure that your DRP (Disaster Recovery Plan) initiatives comply with HIPAA requirements.
December 10, 2003	Healthcare IT SWOT Analysis Use this SWOT analysis tool to devise an e-health opportunities and initiatives program to support your overall strategic objectives.
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Articles: Technology
July 29, 2008	Small Healthcare Snapshot: Staffing and E-mail Infrastructure Small healthcare firms will use this snapshot of a small healthcare insurance provider to start discussions about e-mail infrastructure and staffing. A companion note discusses application and operating system choices from a small healthcare firm perspective.
July 1, 2008	Small Healthcare Snapshot: Applications and Operating Systems Small healthcare firms should use this snapshot of a small healthcare insurance provider to open discussions about server and operating system choices. A companion note will offer a snapshot of a small healthcare firm's staffing choices and e-mail architecture.
June 3, 2008	Health Care: Take Two Tablets and Call Me in the Morning A growing number of health care providers are deploying tablet PCs to ensure clinicians have access to current patient information during house calls. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of tablet use to determine if it can benefit the organization.
May 6, 2008	Personal Health Records Put Patients in the Driver’s Seat Personal Health Records (PHRs) will grow in popularity as patients become more proactive in managing their own online healthcare experience. Take a proactive stance on PHR technology and launch both internal and external awareness programs as soon as possible.
April 8, 2008	SharePoint in Healthcare: A Case Study The business benefits of SharePoint are greatly reduced if end users refuse to accept it. Analyze the challenges encountered by one healthcare organization to avoid falling in the same trap.
March 11, 2008	Healthcare Providers: Take a Daily Dose of Telemedicine Telemedicine has the potential to fill expertise gaps and create potential sources of new revenue. Present telemedicine as an option to your healthcare organization's management team to reap the benefits already enjoyed by so many other healthcare providers.
February 12, 2008	The State of SOA in Healthcare Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) adoption in healthcare is a matter of slow pace, rather than lack of interest. Learn from the experiences of other healthcare enterprises before embarking on an SOA initiative.
January 15, 2008	Specialty EMR Solutions Fill Niche Healthcare Needs Given the high dollar investment of electronic medical records (EMR), healthcare organizations must choose the right solution in order to achieve desired benefits. Select a specialty EMR if a generic EMR does not meet the needs of individual medical practices.
July 31, 2007	Visibility Systems Track Patient Throughput, Improve Performance Patient visibility systems (PVS) consolidate many aspects of hospital workflow processes in order to give a single view of patient status. However, the radio frequency identification (RFID) aspect of PVS solutions may prove to be too much, too soon for the majority of hospitals.
June 5, 2007	Bedside Point-of-Care: Improve Patient Safety, Reduce Risk Implementation and utilization of Point-of-Care (POC) technologies simultaneously improves patient care and can save clinicians valuable time. Hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities that fail to deploy POC technologies are in danger of falling behind the curve for patient care and risk losing competitive advantage.
May 8, 2007	Radiology Information System (RIS) Vendor Selection Matrix Hospitals should focus on commercial Radiology Information Systems (RIS), given their affordability and maturity, rather than develop one from scratch. This tool will help IT managers create an RIS vendor selection strategy that will enable them to get past the vendor hype and choose the best solution for their enterprise.
May 8, 2007	Selecting the Right Radiology Information System Hospitals should focus on commercial Radiology Information Systems (RIS), given their affordability and maturity, rather than develop one from scratch. Use Info-Tech's evaluation criteria to select the right RIS.
March 27, 2007	BI a Competitive Mandate for Healthcare Payers The implementation of Business Intelligence (BI) is becoming mandatory for healthcare payers to remain competitive. A critical success factor for BI is to make sure the data is clean.
February 13, 2007	Radiology Information Systems Viable for Mid-sized Hospitals The cost of RIS has dropped, making it a viable alternative for healthcare organizations with more than 100 beds. Consider investing in an RIS to streamline the operation of the radiology department.
January 2, 2007	Modernize Old Anesthesia Equipment to Improve Patient Safety Advances in information technology have significantly contributed to the large decline in mortality rates resulting from poor anesthesia administration. Today, one in every 250,000 anesthetics administered results in death. This figure can be further lowered through the implementation of an AIS solution.
December 12, 2006	Vendors Make a Play for the All-Digital Hospital Healthcare organizations that implement digitally-advanced health platforms stand a much greater chance of achieving cost savings and competitive advantage. Although the concept of an all-digital hospital holds significant promise, it also introduces a significant number of IT projects that could take years to deploy from the ground up.
November 14, 2006	Data Exchange Standards Enable Electronic Medical Records The success of important initiatives, like the Electronic Medical Record (EMR), relies on systems that can easily exchange data with internal and external sources. The way to achieve that is through industry data connectivity standards, such as HL7, SNOMED, and LOINC. IT managers of healthcare organizations that haven't implemented EMR must ensure that these standards are properly implemented in any system they build or buy.
October 31, 2006	Bigger Hospital Web Presence Brings Bigger Dollars Many hospitals and health practices are failing to capitalize on the growing number of customers seeking health information on the Web. Enhance brand awareness, customer confidence, and revenues by improving the hospital's online presence.
October 17, 2006	Lab Info Systems: Buy Trumps Build A Laboratory Information System (LIS) provides fast and reliable delivery of lab test results, saves money, and helps labs to comply with industry regulatory requirements. Use Info-Tech's evaluation criteria to select the right LIS.
October 3, 2006	Save Money and Strengthen Patient Safety with Lab Info Systems A Laboratory Information System (LIS) provides fast and reliable delivery of lab test results, saves money, and helps labs comply with industry regulatory requirements. Info-Tech recommends LIS both for labs that haven't automated their operation, and for those that have an in-house solution that isn't meeting the current needs of modern labs.
September 5, 2006	Healthcare: Ease the PACS RFP Process Selecting a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) is a critical purchasing decision for a healthcare organization. Create a PACS Request for Proposal (RFP) to guide the acquisition process and ensure that the solution meets clearly defined needs.
August 22, 2006	Sound Security Architecture Boosts RHIO Participation CIOs are reluctant to join a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO), citing that sharing patient data with local hospitals could compromise privacy. New standards are taking shape to ensure secure data exchange between hospitals in a RHIO. Investigate how these standards can ease a hospital's transition into a fully-functioning RHIO.
August 8, 2006	Surgical Suites Reduce Patient Safety Risks In traditional operating rooms, physicians and their staff often have to roll carts with heavy equipment and plug in devices while performing surgery. This is distracting, affects productivity and, more importantly, creates patient safety risks. Surgical suites eliminate these problems and enhance patient care while reducing operational costs.
July 25, 2006	PACS Before RIS: An Impractical Idea Many healthcare enterprises believe that a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) can be implemented before a Radiology Information System (RIS). While true a decade ago, this type of thinking can place a PACS deployment at risk. Hospitals seeking to deploy PACS without a functioning RIS in place should rethink implementation sequencing.
July 11, 2006	Mobilize Patient Charge Capture for Fast ROI Hospitals and physicians are losing large amounts of money by failing to capture inpatient visit charges in an accurate and efficient manner. Implement a mobile charge capture system to eliminate this problem.
June 13, 2006	CPOE Promises Health Savings When Done Correctly Every prescription error adds $3,000 to a patient's hospital stay due to administrative overhead. Should the patient suffer ill effects, that number can grow significantly. Evaluate Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) systems to reduce medical errors, improve operational efficiency, and reduce costs.
May 30, 2006	RHIOs Gain Some Traction with New Guidelines Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) promise savings for the government and hospitals, while improving patient care. However, many technological and political barriers remain that could stall progress. Fortunately, a new framework provides guidelines and technical advice for developing and standardizing RHIOs.
May 16, 2006	PACS Outsourcing Not for the Faint of Heart Buying a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) is a key acquisition for any hospital whose goal is to become an all-digital enterprise. Early in the process, the decision must be made whether or not to outsource PACS operation. Carefully weigh criteria for hosted PACS to avoid costly mistakes.
May 2, 2006	BPOC Systems Reduce Medication Errors by Up to 86% There are more than 770,000 preventable medication errors per year in the U.S alone. Hospitals can reduce this figure by up to 86% with the implementation of technologies that prevent Adverse Drug Events at the point of medication administration. Implement Bar-coded Point-of-Care systems to reduce medication errors while enhancing hospital's productivity.
April 4, 2006	Medical Kiosks Reduce Patient Wait Times Medical kiosks save money, reduce wait times, and significantly enhance the patient experience. Info-Tech has identified seven ways to use medical kiosks in healthcare and the recommended steps for a successful implementation.
March 21, 2006	EMR Adopters: Scan Docs Near Point of Origin To comply with HIPAA, healthcare providers are implementing Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and document imaging. Early adopters of EMR are distributing the scanning of documents throughout the organization. Implement distributed scanning as close to the place of document origin as possible to reduce costs and improve document availability.
March 7, 2006	Bad Processes a Big Risk for Medical Technology Implementation A December 2005 report from a children's hospital in Pittsburgh demonstrated a sharp rise in child mortality rates after the implementation of a commercially sold Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) system. Despite these tragic findings, hospitals should not view this study as a sign to abandon CPOE implementation.
February 7, 2006	Formalized Project Team Eases PACS Acquisition Selecting a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) is a critical purchasing decision for a healthcare organization. Form a PACS acquisition team to guide the RFP process and ensure that the solution meets defined needs.
February 7, 2006	BI Insight a Matter of Survival for Pharmaceuticals Market trends are driving the need for pharmaceutical organizations to more effectively analyze their information by using Business Intelligence (BI) technologies. IT leaders in the pharmaceutical industry must understand that implementing BI is a matter of survival for their organizations.
January 24, 2006	BI Supports Hospital Business Decisions IT professionals within the healthcare sector are continually plagued with requests for information regarding the organization's performance, quality, and costs. Capturing and presenting this data has proven problematic in the past. Hospital IT departments faced with this dilemma should explore Business Intelligence (BI) software.
January 10, 2006	Interface Engines an EMR Must-Have Interface engines are a primary technology for linking together disparate hospital IT systems to form an integrated Electronic Medical Record (EMR) or Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform. Carefully select the right interface engine to ensure that healthcare systems properly share patient data.
November 15, 2005	Free EHR Software Available for Clinics Smaller healthcare practices have been dragging their feet when it comes to going digital. However, free EHR software from Medicare is about to change the way private clinics do business.
October 18, 2005	Document Imaging: The First Step to EMR Info-Tech has discovered that most hospitals - whether by promises of quick ROI or by government mandate - are planning to go paperless within the next five years. The first step towards Electronic Medical Records (EMR) is document imaging. Adopt a coherent document imaging strategy to ensure the ongoing competitiveness of your hospital.
October 18, 2005	Document Imaging Worksheet In addition to delivering cost savings and process improvements, document imaging is a critical first step in deploying EHR across healthcare organizations. It’s often left up to IT to not only select and implement a document imaging solution, but also to establish a clear ROI and implementation strategy with future Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS), Medication Order Entry (MOE) systems, and patient data integration with other hospitals. Use this template to map out a high-level view of your document imaging strategy.
October 4, 2005	EMR Selection: Practice Strict Due Diligence Selecting an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system is a process that hospitals must approach with great deliberation. Use this purchasing advice to narrow your EMR vendor list and choose the right solution for the enterprise.
September 20, 2005	Electronic Prescriptions Gaining Ground Healthcare organizations that want to reduce prescription error rates and boost productivity would do well to investigate e-prescriptions (eRx) now.
September 6, 2005	Dealing with EMR Culture Shock For right or wrong, healthcare workers are slow to adopt new technologies. IT must address cultural changes in order to achieve successful Electronic Medical Records (EMR) implementation.
August 9, 2005	Track Critical Healthcare Assets with RFID Cisco has released new technology that proves there are far more uses for RFID than simply tracking pallets along the supply chain. Find out how RFID can bring real asset tracking benefits to healthcare organizations.
July 26, 2005	Supply Chain Management Optimizes Healthcare IT professionals in healthcare are overlooking Supply Chain Management (SCM). Hospital IT professionals must plan to implement SCM as a cost-savings measure to weather the dearth of healthcare funding.
June 28, 2005	IT Needs to Be in the PACS Loop PACS is now a must-have technology in healthcare. Unfortunately, IT is usually left out of the selection loop, and is only called upon after the PACS is in place. Don't play second fiddle: get involved in the PACS discussion and use this opportunity to secure technological advantages.
November 26, 2003	Telemedicine: A Healthy Dose of TV Telemedicine is significantly improving the access of patients in small and remote hospitals to cost-effective healthcare while maintaining diagnostic accuracy. For these hospitals, telemedicine offers a tremendous opportunity to deliver superior, cost-effective healthcare by linking up with tier-1 hospitals and research centers.
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