A Cause That's A Cure: Electronic Medical Records (Consulting Magazine)
Published: Wednesday December 3, 2008
Categories: In the News
Before the economy took a nosedive, there was one key issue on all U.S. voters’ minds: healthcare. While both presidential candidates held similar positions on the importance of getting Americans’ healthcare records online and accessible, with Barack Obama’s win, that vision may now be on the fast track to reality. That’s why Consulting sat down with Jim Lewis, one of four founders of Cumberland Consulting, which specializes in the healthcare technology implementation space. The firm has seen aggressive growth in its five years; it now has about 50 consultants on its team and is going head to head with the likes of First, Accenture and IBM Global Business Services. Consulting’s Managing Editor, Jacqueline Durett, spoke with Lewis about his firm’s role in the healthcare technology space, specifically electronic medical records (EMR) and the implications of the election.
How does the election affect your work now?
Lewis: Both candidates had very aggressive plans as it relates to the future of healthcare. There are going to be a number of things that our customers are going to need to react to [now]. We’re going to be in a situation in which the implementation of technology and efficiency improvements in the healthcare business are going to be called for more than ever. There’s a real solid consumer demand out there for improvements and efficiency in healthcare delivery.
Has there been much political support for EMR specifically?
Lewis: Both candidates advocated beneficial change for consumers through IT solutions to drive efficiency and quality improvements in the delivery of healthcare. There has been a growing chorus of bipartisan calls for increased use of electronic medical records over the last four years. [President-elect] Obama has been [very] vocal on his plan for grants and loans to promote EMR adoption among physician practices, [and] we anticipate that specific positive action for broader deployment of EMR and other health IT initiatives will occur early in [his] administration.
EMR is a pretty big industry issue. Are you seeing much controversy around it within the healthcare space?
Lewis: I think clients are very receptive to the idea. Adoption within a client organization is always going to be a big issue, but I also think that it’s getting easier. The biggest problem I think with EMRs is really the difficulties and complexities with implementation, and, of course, that’s something that is a big part of our business plan. Very complex organizations that are dealing with these problems are finding a lot of value with what we do.
How has the concept of EMR changed since Cumberland launched five years ago?
Lewis: I think that the rate of adoption of EMRs by healthcare providers has really grown in the five years that we’ve been in business. And part of that is the quality of the products out there [and] the technology to run the products, but it’s also, I think, just a recognition and the beginning of sense of inevitability by the providers that this is the way of the future and something that they need in order to be effective in their business.
What kind of domino effect is EMR having?
Lewis: One thing that is related to EMR that we’re finding interesting is a situation in which there’s increasing interconnectivity between providers. And that kind of manifests itself in two places. One is we’re finding that there’s lots and lots of communities in which there’s one or two anchor hospitals in the community and most of the physicians in that community are associated with the hospitals.
What we’re finding is a real increase in interest on the part of the hospitals to align the physicians in the community to them through deploying an EMR or practice management system tool. And there have been several recent government changes in regulation, particularly around [the] Stark [law]. There were previously regulations that prohibited hospitals from providing things to physicians in the community because it was viewed as potentially a kickback. Stark has opened up the door to providing technology with the help of interconnectivity.
How so?
Lewis: Basically it allows it through making sure that it’s true to the deployment of technology, that there’s an appropriate physician contribution to it [and] that it’s applied evenly throughout the community, that sort of thing.
That’s kind of exciting [because] if this trend continues and it goes to its logical conclusion, it’s going to be a situation where you go to a hospital and the hospital’s going to have controlled access to your electronic medical record through your individual physician. Now of course there’s also regulations to make sure that’s appropriately protected.
But on the other hand that’s also really the groundwork of what it’s going to take to get what they call personal health records out there, in which individuals will have a lot more control over building a database about their health, their relationship with physicians, their medical history. So wherever they go, and wherever they’re looking for care, that record’s going to be accessible.
Is there an accepted industry standard format for EMRs?
Lewis: There’s a variety of formats, particularly as it relates to personal health records. But it’s very much a growing trend, and I would expect, like intercommunication of health information between providers and payers, which has gotten very standardized in the past 10 years, that [standards for] these health records will be emerging pretty quickly.
That’s very exciting because it really brings in an entirely other level of these health organizations reaching directly out to their consumers. I think it’s a great opportunity for us, but it also bodes very well for the future of healthcare in the country.
