Clinical Decision Support

It was fascinating to read a recent account in the July/August issue of “Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare” about a Six Sigma project around improving perioperative outcomes and processes. Not only was the case study a worthwhile read in itself, it clearly had implications for healthcare IT leaders.

Compared with some industries, mobile computing came late to healthcare. But now, the revolution is accelerating—both on the clinician end-user side, and in the arena of clinician-patient communications and care management. How are IT leaders engaging clinicians and helping clinicians engage patients, in the emerging healthcare? CIOs and CMIOs are figuring out how to help their organizations survive--and thrive--in the emerging world of mobility.

The number of patient care organizations across the U.S. in which physician mobility is moving forward is growing daily. Among that throng is the 15-physician Vanguard Medical Group in northeastern New Jersey. In the case of Vanguard, participation in a statewide patient-centered medical home program, and creating its own visiting nurse program, spurred development of a mobile computing strategy.

In May, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) announced it was creating a Center for Digital Health Innovation (CDHI) to move forward with individualized precision medicine. With such a massive endeavor come challenges and questions, and HCI Assistant Editor Rajiv Leventhal was able to speak with UCSF Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) Michael Blum, M.D., who has been tapped to lead the CDHI.