Why Is Analytics Important To Health Informatics

Over the next decade, significant advances were made on the technology front, and in 2009 president Obama signed into law The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). The HITECH Act introduced the concept of “meaningful use” as a way to

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the application of biomedical informatics in many aspects of the healthcare system. This is due to an increasing recognition that a stronger healthcare information system is crucial to achieve a higher quality care at lower costs1. Biomedical informatics is defined as “the scientific field that deals with biomedical data, information and knowledge-their storage, retrieval, and optimal use for problem solving and decision making.”2Biomedical informatics plays significant roles in the healthcare system and it has been applied in various ways in the healthcare system, specifically in the aspect of health care information system such as electronic medical record (EMR), personal health record (PHR), computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems, bar-coding medication administration systems, telemedicine, telehealth, and administrative information systems 2.

The EHR article explains the progress and the adaption of rates of EHR systems over the years. The article states there has been a slow participation in the EHR incentive program, but there has been a shown continue increase in implementation in provider settings of EHR in 2014. As for Physician and Hospital, there has not been a fast implementation. Many of these facilities are at only stage one of the meaningful use in 2014 about one out of five hospitals and only 38% of hospitals is at the second stage of meaningful use. There have been gains in the implementation of new EHR systems in 2014 there was a 75% adoption rate in 2014 compared to 61% in 2013 for hospitals and for physicians 62% plan to participate in the EHR

Considering the great advances in technology, EHRs prior to January 2009 were underperforming. Often the EHR simply resembled the provider’s unique approach to healthcare. The technology existed, however the healthcare industry was not ready embracing the capabilities of the EHR. EHRs require standardization and each hospital had its own version of practicing medicine. It became apparent healthcare providers were going to continue business as usual; therefore the benefits linked to the capabilities of the EHR went unrealized. Indeed it is interesting the amount of time and legal maneuvers it took to spark the use of EHRs in hospitals. It was apparent government intervention to jump-start the EHR was inevitable. On January 9, 2009 passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health legislation (HITECH) opened the gateway to technology and implementation of the EHR.

The Health Information Technology for economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 was developed to respond to a growing need for the establishment of an electronic health record, which would enhance service delivery across the nation. One of the most important reasons for the need to establish a health information exchange was to reduce the level of duplication in patient data in different health care institutions, which resulted in poor coordination across facilities. Thus, there was an increased need for all health care facilities to adopt electronic health record and share these records in a data interchange that would be

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act is part of the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act (ARRA) signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The HITECT Act introduced the concept of ‘meaningful use’ which incentivized the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) for the overall improvement of healthcare. This act authorized payments to qualified provider groups that meet the 'meaning use ' requirements that are paid out over five year. According to data from the National Ambulatory Medical care Survey, 57% of office based physicians’ utilized EHR system as of 2011 and 52% of this physician plan to apply for the meaningful use incentives in same year. This is a 11% increase from the year before.

With the advent of electronic health records (EHR’s) and The American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, electronic health records have become main stream and a requirement for healthcare providers who treat Medicaid and Medicare patients. An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart (Health IT, n.d.). EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. A portion of ARRA provides reimbursements to providers that have EHR’s that are certified for meaningful use. Certified EHR’s meet meaningful use requirements by meeting the government the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH)

Prior to the federal mandate of EHR, research continued to show the fallacies of the healthcare system like the report published from the Institute of medicine, stating that “medical errors are the 8th leading cause of deaths in the U.S. and cost approximately forty billion dollars a year” (Overview, 2012). This was one of many indicators that healthcare needed to be reformed and in 2009, the president signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or HITECH Act, which mandated that all healthcare providers must comply and begin to transition to electronic medical records (EMR) and demonstrate “meaningful use.” This act set up a timeline, which established that practices and hospitals needed to be up and running with EMR in order to continue receiving reimbursements from federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

The answer to collecting patient health information and having it available throughout the network of facilities is ultimately the Electronic Health Record (EHR). Without the EHR, the MCO is still a combination of different facilities that try their best to achieve efficient communication ibn real time. The HITECH Act, a component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was signed into law to provide incentives to physician’s practices and other health care organizations for the implementation of EHR. The benefits of EHR include better health care by improving all aspects of patient care, including safety, effectiveness, patient-centeredness, communication, education, timeliness, efficiency, and

The HITECH Act supports the concept of electronic health records - meaningful use, an effort led by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS ) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). HITECH proposes the meaningful use of interoperable electronic health records throughout the United States health care delivery system as a critical national goal. Meaningful Use is defined as the minimum U.S. government standards for using electronic health records (EHR) and for exchanging patient clinical data between healthcare providers, between healthcare providers and insurers, and between healthcare providers and patients. Its rules, known as meaningful use measures or meaningful use criteria, determine whether a healthcare provider may receive federal funds from the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program or both, in cases of "dually eligible" practitioners (EP) and eligible

The driving for of HIT is the HiTech Act which will result in EHRs use instead of paper medical records to maintain patients’ health information. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, a component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, represents the Nation’s first substantial commitment of Federal resources to support the widespread adoption of EHRs. With more complete patient information, providers improve their

The ARRA includes the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which pursues to improve American Healthcare and patient care through an extraordinary investment in Healthcare IT (HIT). The requirements of the HITECH Act are precisely designed to work jointly to provide the necessary assistance and technical operation to providers, enable grammatical relation and organization within and among states, establish connectivity in case of emergencies, and see to it the workforce is properly trained and equipped to be meaningful users of certified Electronic Health Records (EHRs). These computer software products are designed collaboratively to intensify the footing for every American to profit from an electronic health record (EHR) as part of a modernized, interrelated, and vastly improved grouping of care delivery.

Legislation such as the Health Information Technology for Economics and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act promoted meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR) to provide better patient outcomes (CDC, n.d.). Meaningful use is regulated by CMS and National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and is based on five goals including: improving quality, safety, efficiency and reducing health disparities, engage patients and families in their health, improve care coordination, improve population and public health,

The road to patient-centered care was paved with the passing of the HITECH act, which authorized incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they use EHRs privately and securely to achieve specified improvements in care delivery. If providers do not become meaningful users of EHRs by 2015, penalties will be triggered through reduced Medicare payments. These provisions aim to create a nationwide electronic health system that is efficient and secure to improve health outcomes and lower the cost of healthcare. To accomplish these goals, the federal government allotted $19.2 billion of funding to promote the adoption and meaningful use of interoperable health information technology and electronic health records (EHRs).

In the last decade of USA medical history there have been little to no change in medical errors in regards to improvement of care. Meaningful Use, Electronic Health Records and Health Information Technology are practices and programs that can be possible solutions for this issue. The goals of meaningful use include improving quality, safety, efficiency, and to reduce health disparities, improve care coordination and ensure adequate privacy and security of personal health information (Hoyt,2014). With meaningful use, there are three stages: stage one begins the process of capturing date and sharing the information. Stage two is advancing the data processing and sharing and building off of the first stage. Stage three is the examination of the outcomes. Meaningful Use is defined under the Center of Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and is essentially an incentive program through the government to create a health system that is run electronically and provides higher quality of care through technology. Since the goal is to create safer and higher quality through HIT by providing an incentive for EP’s to further develop their use of the technology there must be a time line in place in order to know whether the Ep’s hitting the requirements. This year, 2014, is originally a major year for Meaningful Use however, with changes in the time line, the cost of HIT, and the increasing of objectives can lead to major complications in the initial timeline created.