Movin’ Out!

We are outta’ here!

….and moving to our new location on our website – www.mtuitive.com/blog/

There we’ll have our opinions about the latest from the world of surgery, pathology, evidence-based medicine, structured data, synoptic reporting, and a whole host of other issues. There will be more writers covering more areas of discussion. So please head on over to learn more about us (although it may take a few days for it to stop looking so wonky).

www.mtuitive.com/blog/

A Useful Meaning for Meaningful Use?

Image via HealthITBlog

While the march towards universal EHR adoption continues, some resistance to implementation has emerged, including from inside the medical community. Some of the hesitation is based on safety issues and privacy concerns – people worry that the personal content of health documents could be viewed by anyone or that opportunistic hackers could easily gain access to our most intimate details. I’ve written about this argument before and concluded that, while I agree it’s important to proceed cautiously and intelligently, we must proceed nonetheless.

One of the biggest impediments to electronic health record adoption has been the lack of concrete definition of “meaningful use.” But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. In order to receive government funding/aid in the form of incentive payments from Medicare and Medicaid, facilities have to demonstrate that their electronic health record serves or provides “meaningful use” to the practice and physicians. The definition for meaningful use has been murky and vague; a subjective and fleeting characterization that made many physicians and health facilities reluctant to commit to any electronic solutions for fear of not being reimbursed or not qualifying as “meaningful use.” Luckily, this issue has been resolved – mostly – thanks to the definition put forth by the Office of Health and Human Services. So what is the definition and what does this mean for health information technology?

Interview with Dr. Jared Ament: A New Way to Tell an Old Story

Dr. Jared D. Ament recently completed clinical research fellowships at Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) and at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center (UMass) in surgical outcomes. He has worked with Dr. Dohlman (MEEI) and Dr. Black (Brigham and Women’s Hospital) for 3 years now and with Dr. Richard Moser (UMass) for the last year. His MD is from the Medical School for International Health, a collaborative initiative between Ben-Gurion and Columbia Universities. His MPH is from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is adjunct faculty at Harvard Medical School’s department of Population Health and Epidemiology and has specific interests in cost-effectiveness research, international surgery, surgical outcomes, and medical education. He is currently a surgical resident at UMass.

How did you become interested in medicine?

I was a kid who was fascinated by the workings of the body. I was also very involved in martial arts and interested in the inherent mechanics and physiology. And then, as a teenager interested in culture and public health, I traveled extensively to non-industrialized countries, volunteering in all sorts of public health efforts. I guess I just found a niche where working with people from many cultures, coupled with my fascination for human physiology, struck a cord. The left side of the equation seemed to equal “medicine” on the right.

And how did you decide on being a surgeon, specifically?

Many people just know; for a select minority, however, it’s a struggle between the operating rooms of surgery and the diagnostics and offices of internal medicine (and its specialty fields). I always loved surgery and truly knew that the operating room was where I belonged. Yet, I struggled, as the detective work and thorough understanding of bodily functions was tantalizing. My conclusion, however, was that a good surgeon should, first and foremost, be very strong, clinically. They are, too, diagnosticians, physicians, empathic healers, that have dedicated significant time and training to perfecting a tactile skill in addition to, and very much in parallel with, their medical skills. I am still in training but truly enjoy both the clinic and operating room. I need both. I enjoy the time with my patients; the interaction; the teaching and learning that takes place (bi-directional); collaborating with colleagues (surgical and medical); and hold the operating room, the unconscious patient and the delicate work to be performed with the utmost of respect.

Standardization – It’s Not Just for Reporting Anymore!

Via Digistan

While developing mTuitive OpNote, we’ve used the knowledge and experience of many physicians to help shape the form of our postoperative report. As we’ve noted elsewhere, there is no standard form for postoperative reports. There are suggestions and basic requirements put forth by Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) and each specialty’s own association (like American Society of Breast Surgeons, etc.) usually has its own idea of what’s important to capture in the reports for procedures that fall under its purview. But while debate about and progress in creating standardization for postoperative reports, there are other aspects of Health IT generating their own sets of standards.