Ohio Health Policy Review

Disability rights organization claims that two AHIC decisions discriminate against persons with disabilities

The American Association for People with Disabilities (AAPD) sent a letter dated April 25th to HHS Secretary Leavitt opposing recent actions taken by the American Health Information Community (AHIC) (Source, "HHS Federal Advisory Group Eliminates Disability Accessibility in Health IT Recommendations," JFA Activist Blog, April 28, 2008). In the letter, AAPD, the largest cross-disability national membership organization, criticizes AHIC for eliminating two recommendations from its consumer empowerment workgroup regarding accessibility for persons with disabilities to using personal health records.  The two recommendations eliminated were:

--"coordinate to ensure that Personal Health Records (PHRs) sponsored by the federal government are consistent with accessibility standards found in the Rehabilitation Act;" and

--"HHS should develop and accommodate to technological applications that can be used by persons with disabilities...."

AAPD states in its letter that "Without these recommendations, there may be distrust by persons with disabilities, and their families and representatives, of health information technology initiatives, and likely excessive costs to retrofit in the future to ensure persons with disabilities have accessibility to and usability of electronic health records."

Clark and Champaign Counties Health Information Exchange launched

HealthBridge announced in a press release today that the Clark and Champaign Counties Health Information Exchange (CCHIE) is now operational.  This exchange uses the infrastructure of HealthBridge to help foster exchange of health information among providers in Clark and Champaign counties, along with providers in these counties and others participating in HealthBridge.  According to Marty Larson, executive director of CCHIE, “We are excited about the partnership with HealthBridge that has enabled our community to start sharing health information among physician practices and hospitals much sooner and more comprehensively than we could have done building it from scratch.” 

Northeast Ohio hospital system selected as pilot site for Health Information Literacy Research Project

Lake Hospital System in Northeast Ohio is one of only nine hospital libraries across the country selected to participate in the Medical Library Association's Health Information Literacy Research Project.  Funded through a $250,000 two-year contract from the National Library of Medicine,the project hopes to boost health literacy nationwide by evaluating "hospital-based health care providers' awareness and understanding of health information literacy and its value in support of patient care." Based on the results of this research, hospital librarians will develop health information literacy education classes to be given to their local health care providers.  Details of the project are available from the Medical Library Association.

Gov. Strickland to host telehealth video resource meeting on April 16

Governor Ted Strickland will host a group of international experts to discuss the needs and opportunities to create a Telehealth Video Resource Center in Ohio on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at the Ohio Supercomputer Center in Columbus. The meeting will be a one-day working session and is co-sponsored by the World Bank, Internet2 and the Ohio Supercomputer Center. For more information or to register, go here.

OSU Medical Centers places performance info on its website

The Ohio State University Medical Center has placed its death rates, response times, and other performance information on its website. (Source: "OSU hospital stats online," Columbus Dispatch, March 25, 2008.) The hospital is the first in the Columbus area to post this information online, although the other major hospital systems said they plan to do the same in the coming months. In the last year lawmakers have been pushing nonprofit hospitals to include more of this information on their websites. The Federal government also provides access to hospital-specific performance information here.

Toledo aims for Federal electronic medical records project

Because doctors in small and medium-sized primary care practices are "hesitant to spend $20,000 to $40,000" to install electronic medical records, the federal government is launching a demonstration project in a dozen communities to encourage the switch from paper records. (Source: "Feds pushing electronic health files for patients," Toledo Blade, March 19, 2008.) Toledo is one of up to 50 communities expected to vie for the project. The dozen winning demonstration sites, involving up to 1,200 practices and 3.6 million patients, will be announced in June, with the project aiming to start next year.

"Toledo's effort is being headed by Dr. Ronald McGinnis, medical director of the University of Toledo Medical Center, formerly Medical College of Ohio Hospital. He said the local application's reach could expand beyond doctors in northwest Ohio. Advancing to electronic health records should band together doctors in an otherwise competitive health-care market, he added."

Individual participating primary care doctors would receive up to $58,000 through the project, while practices could receive up to $290,000. The higher amounts would be given to doctors who meet usage and reporting requirements. The project hopes to demonstrate that the widespread use of electronic health records will reduce medical errors and improve the overall quality of care for patients.

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Microsoft accepting grants for research and development of online tools that improve health

From the Greater Cincinnati Health Watch comes news that the Microsoft HealthVault Be Well Fund is accepting grants around the research and development of online tools that improve health. "Eligible applicants included nonprofit, U.S.-based academic institutions and research or health institutions. Private-sector organizations may partner with these institutions. Proposals must use the Microsoft HealthVault platform, a free web-based platform designed to put people in control of their health data." Grant amounts will range up to a maximum of $500,000 and the deadline is May 9th.

Website features comparison data on Cincinnati hospitals

"A new Web site allows users to find out how individual Greater Cincinnati hospitals compare on performance measures related to heart attack, congestive heart failure and pneumonia." (Source: "Web site allows Cincinnati hospital comparisons," Business Courier of Cincinnati, Feb. 27, 2008.) The website's data was collected is part through the Hospital Quality Improvement Project initiative of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council and the Ohio Hospital Association. While hospitals were not required to participate in the effort, at least 20 of them did. To access the website, go to www.gchchospitalquality.org.

Google to store Cleveland Clinic medical records

A long-awaited test of Google's medical record storage service will involved between 1,500 to 10,000 volunteer patients at the Cleveland Clinic. (Source: "Google to store Cleveland Clinic patient records," Associated Press, Feb. 21, 2008.) These patients will have their medical records electronic transfered into Google's new service, which won't be open to the general public. "Each health profile, including information about prescriptions, allergies and medical histories, will be protected by a password that's also required to use other Google services such as e-mail and personalized search tools. Google views its expansion into health records management as a logical extension because its search engine already processes millions of requests from people trying to find about more information about an injury, illness or recommended treatment." However, privacy watch groups have raised concerns about Google's expansion into the electronic medical record business.

Electronic prescription errors raise concerns

The Ohio State Board of Pharmacy is investigating reports of pharmacists catching errors--including wrong drug names, wrong doses and incomplete directions--in their electronic prescription systems. (Source: "Doctors' orders might be muddled," Columbus Dispatch, Feb. 16, 2008.) While errors with electronic prescriptions are extremely low, experts say any medication error is cause for concern. No one knows if these mistakes arise as a result of human error or software glitches in doctors' offices and pharmacies. However, part of the problem could be that 37 different electronic prescription programs are in use in Ohio. SureScripts, a Virginia company that links doctors and pharmacies electronically, says e-prescriptions total about 2% of total prescriptions each year. According to Tim Maglione of the Ohio State Medical Association, the fear of error and the lack of uniform standards for software programs are some of the reasons that physicians are slow to embrace electronic prescriptions.

"Industry officials estimate that 74 million electronic prescriptions are filed each year, and that number is expected to grow. A bill in the U.S. Senate would require doctors who accept Medicare payments to write electronic prescriptions by 2011."