EMRs on the iPhone: The Canadian Lesson

Let's take a good look at what can be achieved when a practical approach to technology is applied. I keep hammering on the subject of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) because it is an aspect of George C. Halvorson's strategy that really resonates with me on a personal level.

In the wake of Hurricane Gustav, we saw one major advantage that the ongoing discussion rarely touched on: having backups of paper records destroyed in a natural disaster. Now it is time to take a look at portability and accessibility in the age of the iPod and iPhone.

Via Briony Smith at ITWorld Canada:

The paramedics can now use an iPhone to access the patient’s history, courtesy of Raven, a program from Calgary health-care integration and collaboration software vendor Coalese that was rolled out earlier this year. Next January will see the region’s health-care providers take the application bi-directional, and update information in the patient’s file that could benefit the person’s primary care. “That way, if the paramedic sees that Granny hasn’t been taking her meds or needs to note procedures done in the ambulance, the primary care physician can see that in their record right away,” said Coalese president Andrzej Taramina.

To get everyone on the right footing, paramedics and doctors from local clinics and hospitals gathered together to determine what information they needed to access on the go. “Confidentiality was one issue, but, with the iPhone, nothing is stored there. It’s the (Web-based) program that accesses the records,” she said.

The iPhone is ubiquitous; every day you see more and more people carry them or their near cousin the iPod Touch. Both devices have been gaining ground along with a whole new generation of wireless devices. Using these portable devices to access medical records "on the fly" is a logical extension of EMRs that is not often discussed.

In an increasingly mobile and digitally connected society, this makes perfect sense. Health care pros could access full patient records almost instantly from the scene of an accident. Allergies could be determined before administration of medication. Current treatments added to the record while en route to hospital treatment could allow a doctor to be up to the minute on what has been done to the patient on the way.

As we get more and more people on board for EMRs, we really need to look at the potential for wireless devices. I think the Canadians are dead on the money with this one!

SOURCE: "The iPhones Could Save Your Life" 10/10/08
photo courtesy of William Hook, used under its Creative Commons license

System vs. System: Canada and the U.S.A.

In a new Op-Ed for the Healthcare Financial Management Association, George C. Halvorson analyses the differences between the U.S. and Canadian health care systems as well as their attendent costs.

Americans are increasingly asking why the United States is the only western industrialized country that has not managed to achieve universal healthcare coverage for all of its citizens. They also are wondering why we don't learn from our neighbors to the north and move the current Canadian universal coverage approach south. That's an interesting and important question.

[...]

Most people who know that Canada spends less money on health care believe that the cost difference is almost entirely due to the lower administrative costs that result from Canada using a “single-payer” insurance model. Is that true? No.

The truth is that Canada now spends about $2,600 per resident per year less than we spend on healthcare costs in the United States because-very simply-Canadians spend less money on the actual purchase of care.

What follows is a lucid and detailed analysis of the various contributing factors including, but not limited to:

• The Canadian Pricing Model


• Prescription Drug Coverage


• Adminstrative Costs

There is much talk of the Canadian health care system in the media as more and more Americans are drawn to the health care reform debate. This article is a wonderful source of hard numbers for anyone who is interested in the Canadian aspect of the discussion.

SOURCE: "Understanding the Trade-Offs of the Canadian Health System" 10/17/07
photo courtesy of striatic on Flickr under its Creative Commons license

Canada As Model for U.S. Reform?

In Friday's The Salt Lake Tribune, Sally C. Pipes wrote an editorial analyzing Canada's health care system based on her own firsthand experiences. According to Pipes, both her uncle and mother were denied adequate health care.

Pipes writes about fewer new drugs introduced in Canada compared to the United States, Canadian doctors making less than half of what American doctors are paid, and the long wait for many Canadian citizens to see a doctor.

Indeed, over 800,000 Canadians are currently on waiting lists for surgery and other necessary treatments. Many Canadians can't even find a doctor - about 10 percent are currently seeking a primary care physician. Canada now ranks 24th out of 28 countries in the number of doctors per thousand people, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. When the government took over the health-care system in the early '70s, Canada ranked second.

Pipes is President and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, which is partially funded by the health care and pharmaceutical industry.

SOURCE: "Most Canadians Scoff at Portrayal of Their Country as a Health-Care Paradise" 08/10/07