E-health Delivering Healthcare Processes Everywhere

E-health Definition: The application of Internet and other related technologies in the healthcare industry to improve the access, efficiency, effectiveness and quality of clinical and business processes utilized by healthcare organizations, practitioners, patients, and consumers in an effort to improve the health status of patients »Source: Marconi, Jennifer. (May, 2002) E-Health: Navigating the Internet for Health Information Healthcare, Advocacy White Paper. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

Dimensions of E-health Deliver key information to healthcare partners Provide health information delivery services Facilitate the integration of healthcare industry- related business processes Support local and remote access to healthcare information Connect employers and employees, payors and providers, suppliers and customers Enable healthcare delivery beyond the walls of the facility

E-health Boundaries E-health is not a surrogate for the clinician –Provides means to extend the reach of the provider beyond a face-to-face patient encounter E-health does not force interaction –Assist clinician collaboration through file sharing, and electronic medical record systems E-health does not replace existing infrastructure applications –Facilitates processes to expedite delivery and improve the quality of the services provided both locally and remote

E-health Boundaries (cont’d) E-health is not the routing hardware or the networking software –It uses those to deliver the information needed to improve health status E-health is not limited to providers –It empowers those involved in health-related activities to directly participate in their care and work efforts

u Demand for health/disease information u Maintain and grow market share u Improve quality of care u Desire to seek efficiencies throughout health value chain u Need to leverage economies of scale u Reduce administrative cost of health services u Improve Disease state management u Empower employees u Create more efficient and effective internal processes u Increase retention u Growth solutions to increase market share u Desire to Save Time u Revolutionize the care delivery process u Improve quality of care Clinician Focused Employer/Employee Support Business & Trading Partners Health Consumerism Integrated Health System E-health Connectivity B2P B2C B2E B2B Source: Cap Gemini/ Ernst & Young

E-relationships BusinessProviderConsumer (Patient ) GovernmentEmployee Business (Insurer, Supplier, Employer, Heathcare Facility) B2BB2PB2CB2GB2E ProviderP2PP2CP2G Consumer (Patient)C2CC2G GovernmentG2G EmployeeG2E

More Examples of E-health Services Teledermatology –Delivery of images (video and fixed) to multiple separate locations for diagnosis Inter-facility PACS Systems –Immediate access to x-rays and CAT scan on-line Home Care Support –Remote retrieval of patient history, orders, prescriptions and documentation Self-Reporting Services –Patient sends results of insulin or other tests electronically through telephone lines

E-health Issues Privacy of Patient-specific Information Quality and currency of information delivered Appropriateness of care Legal Issues Provider Compensation and Liability Availability of equipment and resources to all socio-economic groups Education level of patients Standards for interchange of information

E-health Areas for Future Study Identifying Barriers and Solutions to Delivery of Care Ranking methods for e-health solutions Improvements to physician/provider acceptance Establishing reimbursement processes and valuation for e-health care Simplifying delivery of services Developing GUIs to improve patient adoption and use Identifying value-add applications for the various relationships (P2E, etc.)