The goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to reduce costs while improving quality. I believe those of us in healthcare IT maintain a similar goal.
Delivering high-quality clinical care is impossible without the support of strategic, integrated, and agile IT systems. Today, aligning clinical care with technology requires IT systems and staff to improve an organization’s ability to adhere to the requirements of the ACA, which is separate from achieving Meaningful Use. For those of you who confuse the ACA with the HITECH Act, I recommend this article by my colleague Dick Taylor on the subject.
There are 10 titles within the ACA. Title I — Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans — has received the most press attention and scrutiny. Here, I will examine three other titles that complement much-needed healthcare IT (HCIT) reform.
1. Title III: Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Health Care
There are more than 100 sections under this title, but I will focus on just a few and analyze their influence on healthcare IT.
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Hospital value-based purchasing program: Healthcare IT needs to support a model that measures the value of the work being done. Too many health systems treat IT as a sunk cost, instead of seeing it as part of the organization’s strategic vision and realizing the high value it can yield. For example, some recent HIMSS Davies Award winners show how disciplined healthcare IT can improve an organization’s clinical quality and ROI.
Hospital-acquired conditions reduction and hospital readmissions reduction programs: These areas focus on holding organizations accountable for avoidable complications. We have already seen this accountability requirement in healthcare IT, most acutely regarding HIPAA violations. We believe accountability in healthcare IT will continue to increase, and as healthcare systems get larger, it will be important to learn from mistakes quickly to prevent issues from occurring chronically.
Establishing community health teams to support the patient-centered medical home: As defined by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, “The patient-centered medical home is a way of organizing primary care that emphasizes care coordination and communication” for improved outcomes. That concept is endorsed in the ACA. In healthcare IT, this can translate to strong governance and great customer service that is focused on today’s rapidly transforming environment.
I have worked with healthcare IT groups that listen to the loudest voice in the room, as opposed to addressing organizational priorities. This behavior often leads to inefficient processes and even louder voices clamoring for attention and resources.
Date: Feb 10, 2014