Much of the U.S. health system is antiquated, inefficient and overly expensive. Many have written about what is wrong with our system, and how important is the process health reform. However, relatively little has been written about what it takes to improve care for all Americans, and how we can reach solutions disturb both our current system of care, and replace it with improved approaches. One thing is certain is that any changes we make will depend on our ability to use information technology and computer use intelligence systems to reform and transform our environment and processes of patient care.

Clayton Christensen, in a recent ground breaking book, "Recipe of the innovative", has argued that disruptive innovation is now needed in our industry health and that this is composed of three elements. The first requirement is of sophisticated technologies to streamline the processes of health, the second is for the business models that offer more affordable and patient-focused solutions, and the third is a commercial infrastructure and information to act as a value added network.

For this vision applied to a practical level, their model requires strong leadership and the formation of a significant number of health informatics and specialists in the implementation changes to make functions of transformation within our health system.

Let's see how this model might work for the university medical center average American now seeking to offer a full range of sophisticated medical services while using our outdated and exponential increase in payment for cost model services, and publishing a series of regional centers for primary care.

The first element is the application of sophisticated technologies to streamline health processes. This includes a comprehensive electronic medical records, access to patients and clinicians, available anytime, anywhere, exchange data with competitors systems, fully available for research and clinical trials and includes a sophisticated set of decision rules to help to all users. This would have wide academic center telemedicine and internal and external communication systems, online platforms for all types of education permanent, and active virtual community profile and a social networking program. All technologies that continuously improve and evaluated by a team of computer specialists Health, part of whose function is to train their colleagues and the next generation of specialists implementing changes.

The second element is to transform the clinical and cost-approach taken by the medical center that will focus on specialized areas of strength internally recognized to be, as noted Christensen, a "Workshop Solution" in their areas of strength, while no longer providing a full range of all types of medical and surgical services. This may mean some types of care fall completely, and the negotiation of specialized services to be delivered at another hospital instead. It can mean the establishment of community clinics with specialist capitation payment models. This is certainly going to do more of what it does well, and less of what is not seen as core activities clinics. This means taking on services already efficient and technologically compatible, and adding value to these services through technological innovation and clinical research. This second element requires both business and technical expertise.

The third element in the model of Christensen is developing what it calls "network provided" which he defines as companies in which people exchange things with others. This is where the academic center could decide to partner with the former competition, promote pre-paid preventive health approaches, support for savings accounts for health related to employer groups and encourage all patients to have personally controlled health records. All these activities are based on the need to have extensive knowledge in health informatics – a discipline which is, above all others, needed to transform care U.S. healthcare.

So the question is, can a modern academic medical center in the U.S. afford not to have a strong program of health informatics, as it moves forward in this era of health reform?

And the answer?

A resounding "No".

About the Author:

Peter Yellowlees MD has recently published “Your health in the Information Age – how you and your doctor can use the Internet to work together” – available at most online bookstores and from http://www.informationagehealth.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Health Informatics specialists are essential to reform and transform our health system

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