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by Debi Warner, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Librarian, Anthelio Healthcare Solutions

Folks in the Rio Grande Valley are getting used to the idea of evacuations in case of weather-related disasters such as hurricanes, floods, etc.  The National Weather Service has shared maps and photos of what Brownsville might look like when the “big one” comes.  Hospitals would be flooded and patients would have to be moved inland.

What you might not know is that all participating Trauma Regional Advisory Council (TRAC V)  hospitals currently have access to Intermedix EMtrack. This proven technology has been in use for 3 years now in the RGV area and is used throughout state of Texas.  This software connects the emergency rooms of the hospitals so that they can transfer patients from one hospital to another without the loss of critical information.   READ MORE

RGV HIE Needs your support now!

A well-structured health information exchange (HIE) could save lives by enabling people and healthcare providers access to patient information – securely – whenever and wherever it’s needed.

If your practice or yourself as a physician would also like to benefit and receive the maximum incentive payment for eligible Medicaid and Medicare providers, please fill out the Statement of Interest two page form found on the link below.

RGV HIE Statement of Interest

This statement of interest does not represent a binding commitment; but you or your practice would be interested in utilizing the services of RGV HIE to support the vision for statewide health information exchange (HIE) in Texas. To get the maximum incentive payment, Medicaid and Medicare eligible providers and hospitals must make “meaningful use” of the EHR’s by exchanging clinical health data across secure networks.

The necessity to have hospitals and  physicians commit to an HIE derives from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt/community/healthit_hhs_gov__home/1204).

Therefore, we are obligated to meet these criteria despite the fact that it may feel uncomfortable for many.

by Debi Warner, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Librarian, Anthelio Healthcare Solutions

Cameron County, Texas, however briefly, was the epicenter of the US epidemic of the HINI influenza virus in April 2009.  Dr. Joseph McCormick, Regional Dean of the School of Public Health in Brownsville, TX and volunteers from the school and community were instrumental in helping the local health officers figure out who was affected, how the virus was spreading, and what might happen next. READ MORE

by Debi Warner, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Librarian, Anthelio Healthcare Solutions

So, I think I’ve finally figured out a couple of ways to spell HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) correctly. The easiest is that it isn’t like hippo – it doesn’t have 2 “p’s”.   The better way is that HIPAA is “patient-centered” – that is, it only has one “p” in the middle.

The national news has had a lot of information lately on breeches of HIPAA.  Everything from lost hard drives to Rep. Gabrielle Gifford has been in the news.  Some of the breeches have been huge – resulting in the notification of thousands of people.  Some have been brought by a single person. READ MORE

by Debi Warner, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Librarian, Anthelio Healthcare Solutions

I remember the first hospital I worked at had a rabbit hutch on the top of the building. The rabbits were used for pregnancy tests.  When the rabbits were no longer needed by the lab, the library used the hutch for storage of old journals. Today, in the age of home tests and instant results, no one even gets the old joke about the rabbit dying.

Information from laboratory testing supports about 70 % of clinical decision-making.   We know that.  Our providers always tell us to come back for the results of our tests.  Even then, many patients don’t go back, so the provider fails to follow-up on the results.  A study showed that even with abnormal results 7 of 100 were not communicated to the patient.* READ MORE

by Debi Warner, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Librarian, Anthelio Healthcare Solutions

A project in Rome, Georgia plans to approach their HIE differently — through patient health records.  Other states have developed projects based on hospital, doctors, or other provider exchanges, but this one will be more customer-focused.  The original grant was made to the Georgia Cancer Coalition and the Georgia Department of Community Health. [1]

“The grant will be used to develop information technology that focuses on improving patient-provider communications and care coordination through the secure use of personal health records. The goal is to develop patient-centered technology and processes that will give patients access to, and a degree of control over, their health information as an essential, central partner on their healthcare team. This health information exchange will be developed by the healthcare providers in Rome (Floyd County), initially focusing on serving their cancer patients.”  [2] READ MORE

by Debi Warner, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Librarian, Anthelio Healthcare Solutions

A few posts ago, we posed this question:

She said that if she couldn’t log on to the Internet anywhere she is and find out the current situation with her bank account, she would be frustrated and even angry.  She asked why she couldn’t do the same for her health information.

Yesterday, a very intelligent man from Washington, D.C. told me the answer!  Michael Glickman, our keynote speaker from the HIE symposium, visited us again yesterday to talk about standards.  Michael has a delightful sense of humor, “The one thing I like about standards,” he said, “is that there are so many to choose from.” READ MORE

by Debi Warner, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Librarian, Anthelio Healthcare Solutions

In episode # 2907 of the Woodwright’s Shop, Roy Underhill takes viewers on a tour of a Steam-powered Sawmill.  You can watch it here: http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/2900/2907.html.  Go ahead, I’ll wait…..

What was fascinating about this was the interoperability.  The mill took the steam power from a piston and converted it many ways.  A belt mounted in a figure 8 could convert a wheel turning clockwise into one turning counter-clockwise.  A twist in another belt turned horizontal motion into vertical motion.  The different size and formation of gears could make wheels move slower or faster as needed.  READ MORE