Kolodner Describes Relationship Between IT and Care Quality
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference’s Payor Symposium was kicked off with a speech from Dr. Robert M. Kolodner, who serves as the National Coordinator at the Office for the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Health Imaging reported on his comments.
Dr. Kolodner started off his speech by noting that healthcare workers, including payers and providers, should consider the perspectives of patients. He insinuated the personal involvement in the situation in terms of the quality of care both deserved and expected. He particularly described the benefits of information technology as a tool to improve overall healthcare quality. An additional benefit of such is that it provides the means to bring people together.
He described the formula that healthcare will take in the future, which is focused on how care is delivered to patients. Care delivery can be placed into three categories: prevention efforts, coordinated care, and self-care. Notably, all three of these require increasing involvement by patients themselves. To support the endeavor, providing patients with the highest level of choices and information possible are key.
Dr. Kolodner pointed to a number of different information technology tools to support patients; electronic health records and personal health records, public health information, security considerations about data, and technical standards. An additional tool are the systems to support an interoperable health information exchange.
He further noted that these tools alone cannot change the system, but they do create an environment ready for transformation. He suggests that healthcare payers and providers, through efforts to increase transparency, can further support a new iteration of the healthcare system wherein quality is paramount.