AJMC Special Issue on Health Information Technology: Will the 'Data Revolution' Deliver Better Care?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 25, 2013

AJMC Special Issue on Health Information Technology: Will the ‘Data Revolution’ Deliver Better Care?

Guest Editor Dr. Farzad Mostashari Opens Issue with ‘Hopeful’ Prediction on HIT’s Promise

PLAINSBORO, N.J. — Health information technology, a field that covers everything from electronic health records to new ways of measuring how well hospitals care for patients, is transforming the way medicine is being practiced in the United States. HIT is no longer a luxury; the mandate to move to electronic formats is tied to how physicians and medical institutions are paid.

With this in mind, The American Journal of Managed Care today publishes the first articles of its special issue: Health Information Technology (November 2013, Volume 19, Special Issue No. 10). Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM, the former National Coordinator for Health IT, US Department of Human Services, served as guest editor of the special issue. Dr. Mostashari, now a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institute, is among the nation’s leading authorities on HIT and was featured in Modern Healthcare’s August 2013 list of the Top 100 people in healthcare.

“This issue of AJMC provides many reasons to be hopeful that the combination of changing incentives and new data tools can indeed deliver better care at lower cost,” Dr. Mostashari writes in his opening essay, “The Data Revolution Comes to Healthcare.”

Today, AJMC publishes four Web-only articles from the special issue; the full issue will be published in print and online December 6. Among the articles in the issue:

• An account of the rapid acceptance of a health information exchange in a large public healthcare system, by David C. Kaelber, MD, PhD, MPH; Rehan Waheed, MD; Doug Einstadter, MD, MPH; Thomas E. Love, PhD; and Randall D. Cebul, MD.
• How the tension between pushing the envelope and following the rules will affect what HITECH-certified ambulatory health record products are available, by Marsha Gold, ScD; Mynti Hossain, MPP; Dustin R. Charles, MPH; and Michael F. Furukawa, PhD.
• Marsha Gold also contributes, “Employing Health Information Technology in the Real World to Transform Delivery,” which discusses how bringing HIT into practice will take time and support.
• A review of two strategies, based on practice size, for improving physician productivity with HIT, by Julia Adler-Milstein, PhD; and Robert S. Huckman, PhD.

Stories being published today include an account of a successful management plan for reducing readmissions and an article on the five essential elements needed for electronic health records (EHR) to trim adverse drug reactions, thus achieving savings. Web-exclusive content from AJMC’s special issue on HIT can be found by clicking here.

“Once again, The American Journal of Managed Care is a leader in advancing discussion on the most important issues in transforming our healthcare delivery system,” said Brian Haug, president of Managed Markets. “The most pressing questions in health information technology are all in one place.”

CONTACT: Nicole Beagin (609) 716-7777 x 131

nbeagin@ajmc.com

www.ajmc.com Follow us on Twitter @AJMC_Journal