Health IT Vendor in Australia Assignment Help
What is EHR?
An electronic health record (EHR) is an evolving concept defined as a systematic collection of electronic health information about individual patients or populations. (Gunter T.D., Terry N.P., 2005)
Several studies call into question whether EHRs improve the quality of care. (Gabriel, Barbara, 2008). However, a recent multi-provider study in diabetes care, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found evidence that practices with EHR provided better quality care. (Cebul, Randall. “Electronic health records and quality of diabetes care.”. New England Journal of Medicine.)
EHR Australia:
Australia is dedicated to the development of a lifetime electronic health record for all its citizens. PCEHR – the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record – is the major national EHR initiative in Australia, being delivered through territory, state, and federal governments. This electronic health record was initially deployed in July 2012, and is under active development and extension. The record can be found at www.ehealth.gov.au
Barriers to adopt EHR:
Start-up costs
In a survey by DesRoches et al. (2008), 66% of physicians without EHRs cited capital costs as a barrier to adoption, while 50% were uncertain about the investment. Around 56% of physicians without EHRs stated that financial incentives to purchase and/or use EHRs would facilitate adoption.( DesRoches, C. M.; Campbell, E. G.; Rao, S. R.; Donelan, K.; Ferris, T. G.; Jha, A.; Kaushal, R.; Levy, D. E. et al. ,2008).
Maintenance costs
Maintenance costs can be high. Miller et al. found the average estimated maintenance cost was $8500 per FTE health-care provider per year. (Miller, R. H.; West, C.; Brown, T. M.; Sim, I.; Ganchoff, C., 2005).
Training costs
Training of employees to use an EHR system is costly, just as for training in the use of any other hospital system. New employees, permanent or temporary, will also require training as they are hired. (Parish, Colin, March 20, 2006).
- Medinexus
Technology they provide:
Webportal and integration of radiology images and reports back to referrers patient management system. Capacity for online collaboration by viewing images and report with other practitioners.(http://www.medinexus.com.au/product.htm)
What do doctors practice?
Presently, the doctors utilize records of patients maintained centrally. The IT department of the cloning maintains records of patients which are accessed by doctors upon request.
Changes expected in doctors’ practices by these technologies:
The technologies are based on the concept of EHR, that will help the doctors better communicate with each other regarding patients’ information as they have an access to full and updated record of every patient all the time.
Functionalities/ services:
The Medinexus solution is Australia’s only full managed secure ehealth messaging solution for the Radiology and Pathology sector that integrates the delivery of diagnostic reports and images so that they are accessible to referring practitioners whether they wish to access them from the patient record of their clinical system, from a web browser, Ipad or mobile phone. (http://www.medinexus.com.au/product.htm)
- Easy online delivery of reports and images to referrers. Anytime. On any device
- Compatibility with PMS, Web, Mobile , Tablet, Dicom
Benefits for doctors:
- Creation and maintenance of patients’ data
- Access to updated data by doctors
- More accurate treatment of patients
- More effective communication
Benefits for patients:
Patients can have great benefit as not only do their practitioners have immediate access to reports and images their records are stored online for easy access by themselves and anyone else that has a need to see them.
Vendor’s support:
- Installation of equipments
- Technical support
- Customer service
Risks associated:
- Cost of equipments
- Cost of installation, maintenance and training
Vendor clientele:
There are over 16,000 referring practitioners across Australia who have used Medinexus with over 140 sending facilities made up of radiology facilities, pathology laboratories and public hospitals. In addition there are thousands of patients who are able to access their reports and images securely every day. (http://www.medinexus.com.au/product.htm)
Security:
- Video surveillance, 24/7 hour manning and fire detection/prevention systems provide physical protection of the infrastructure.
- Dual power feeds to each server from independent grids, battery backup and diesel generators guarantee 24/7 power availability.
- Two redundant internet connections, protected by a business grade firewall guarantee connectivity whilst sophisticated backup systems ensure data integrity and quick restores in the event of a system failure
(http://www.medinexus.com.au/product.htm)
The infrastructure strategy:
Common business functions that Medinexus will consider include:
- Patient registration
- Appointment scheduling
- Staff and provider scheduling
- Utilization review
- Medical Audits
- Patient’s history
- Tracking of immunizations rates
- Patient tracking/recall
- Patient referrals
- Case management
The IT evaluation will address the following major issues, before implementation.
- Upgradation of current IT hardware and /or installation of entirely new hardware
- The IT training of clinic workforce
- The clinic’s ability to gather, save and retrieve clinical and administrative data.
