If you’re a healthcare CIO, technology isn’t the only thing on your mind. Policies and regulations play a major role in how new health IT is implemented. Deloitte has pulled together a list of the top five things that should be on your mind in 2012. Take a look:
ICD-10 implementation. ICD-10, the medical classification system for coding diseases, injuries and such, is undergoing a revision and the implementation date has been pushed back. Again. Deloitte says healthcare CIOs should expect ICD-10 implementation to be “complex in size and scope, including a potentially extensive update of their electronic infrastructure.”
Meaningful use. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have filed stage 2 guidelines outlining the “meaningful use” of electronic health records. It’s 455 pages but there are summaries if you need a quick overview. These latest guidelines are open for public comment, meaning there could be tweaks. But what it will mean for CIOs and their organizations is they’ll need to be ready to make technology and operational tweaks of their own.
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Accountable care solutions. Deloitte says that today’s healthcare technology can be transformative, unifying fragmented pieces and moving the industry from fee-for-service to value-based payment models. CIOs will need to make sure that their technology investments improve healthcare quailty and also contain costs.
Analytics. Healthcare organizations are swimming in information. Think Big Data. More data could improve decision making, performance and the bottom line. But CIOs will need to maintain an IT infrastructure that allows them to easily gather and analyze information throughout their organization.
Security and privacy. The use of electronic health records is only going to increase. That will be accompanied by the need to maintain security and privacy over that data. While EHRs will generate operational efficiencies and lower costs, CIOs still need to make sure they comply with security and privacy standards.
[Image from www.healthit.hhs.gov]
