The healthcare industry is at a unique crossroads in regards to innovation. Has the urge to innovate accompanied with the consumerism of care driven us down a path that could impact clinical quality? Perhaps. At least that is what American Medical Association’s (AMA) CEO James Madara, MD cautioned in his original and expanded comments regarding digital health technologies as the 21st century’s “digital snake oil.” These three little words generated strong reactions on both sides.
HIMSS, PCHA and many others agree that misleading technologies guised as clinically valuable applications have no place in healthcare. But we must be careful not to lump all digital health technologies under one umbrella as many have already had a positive impact on people’s lives and our healthcare system as a whole.
Let’s celebrate how far digital health has come
Digital technologies have already improved care delivery in a number of areas. Organizations such as the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) have implemented digital technologies that provide warning alerts for patient deterioration; in the program’s first year, UPMC clinicians prevented 132 intensive care unit visits for children and $5 million in savings. Missouri Health of the University of Missouri Hospital demonstrated the power of clinical decision support with catheter removal procedures as they reduced their Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections by 25 percent (rates went from 6.0 to 4.5 in one year). For the full article click here
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