HIMSS Survey And Institute Of Medicine Report Spark Debate As To Effectiveness Of Health IT Communication
By John Oncea, Editor
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Reports indicate communication and lack of continuity of care are primary contributors to medical errors
HIMSS recently posted a discussion on Linkedin focusing on the results of a series of Institute of Medicine reports that “propose inadequate communication and lack of continuity of care are primary contributors to medical errors.” HIMSS conducted its own survey of clinicians to explore health IT’s role in inter-professional communications and the results of 2013 iHIT Study suggest use of health IT and related tools will lead to improved communication and enhanced quality care.
The invitation to participate in the Linkedin discussion quotes Joyce Sensmeier, HIMSS Vice President of Informatics as saying “The use of health IT to support communication processes, data, and information is a recent phenomenon. But it is clear from this study there are key opportunities for improvements in workflow and communication between colleagues through use of health IT tools and informatics competencies.”
The results of the survey are summarized in this infographic provided by HIMSS, but the key findings are:
• HIT improves clinician's ability to assume care for patients admitted or transferred to their care
• HIT supports clinical processes, including the ability to provide quality care
• HIT helps clinicians process data and improves access to information needed to provide safe patient care
• HIT helps clinicians to be more problem focused in their communications
The discussion on Linkedin was spirited to say the least as the following sampling of comments suggests:
While the Linkedin discussion resulted in a number of differing opinions, HIMSS remains firm in its assertion that the importance the value of health IT, JoAnn Klinedinst, VP of Professional Development noted as much when recapping HIMSS13 in this this article, writing “an attendee couldn’t help but discover new insights about the value of health IT” and “through all our initiatives, we’ll continue to substantiate the value of health IT as evidenced by clinical, financial, and efficiency measures.”