A new study conducted by the
Ponemon Institute and reported by USA Today’s “CyberTruth”,
finds that hospitals are absorbing an estimated $8.3 billion annually due to
outdated technology. The losses are due to lost productivity and increased
patient discharge times caused by the old technology.
According to the study, clinicians waste an
average of 46 minutes per day waiting for patient information. Specifically, 37
minutes of the average discharge time of 102 minutes is due to waiting for
hospital staff to respond with information necessary for the patient's release.
Other lost time is due to inefficient pager systems, no Wi-Fi access, and bans
on the use of personally owned devices.
As NAHAM News has previously reported, the Obama
administration authorized $19 billion in 2009 to promote the use of electronic
medical records. The program reimburses doctors and medical facilities for
expenses that can provide “meaningful use” in advancing medical technology at
their facility.
Some facilities are adopting technologies like secure
text messaging systems that staff can download to their personal phones. One program
in particular encrypts text messages that it sends, and stores the messages so
that they can be audited. Other technologies include the implementation of a
virtual desktop system so staff only has to remember one password to log onto
terminals anywhere in the hospital.
Unique challenges within the healthcare industry
may prevent rapid implementation of new technology and cause the lag in technology.
Security and privacy policies mandated by law, for example, must be taken into
account for any upgrades. Competing electronic health record vendors and the
lack of a national EHR infrastructure further complicate matters.
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