Information technology adoption throughout healthcare is one of the keys to improving health outcomes, while ultimately reducing the amount of our gross national product applied toward healthcare. Last week I wrote that we need to redesign systems as part of an IT revolution, not just to automate outdated processes. One of the key design criteria should be to move toward the integration of care. It is only through this integration of the whole continuum of care that great improvements in outcomes, effectiveness and efficiency of care can be accomplished.
The stimulus bill should reward early adopters of IT in integrated delivery. Take some of the best, and use them as pilots on what works and what doesn’t. Throwing money at organizations not prepared for the job will just delay, rather than accelerate, the use of IT.
Twenty-five centers of excellence spread around the country would be a great first step. Henry Ford in Michigan; Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin; Geisinger in Pennsylvania; Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Minnesota and Florida; and GroupHealth of Puget Sound in Washington are exactly these “best” places that could jump start such an IT revolution.