This is just the tip of the iceberg.  Just the beginning of the data storm that is going to revolutionize health care.  Is anyone familiar with hospitals, medical records, pharmacies, physician orders, nursing notes etc., surprised that the more we link data, codify it and share it among member of the health care team, that care improves?  I am not.  Medicine has been lagging sadly behind other fields (banking and financial sector for example) in using the power of the web, electronic data storage and other e-tools to transform and streamline care delivery.  Hopefully, this article and others will spur improvements in funding and compensation for implementation of these types of solutions . . . jomaxx

The more “wired” a hospital is, the lower its rate of patient deaths, study suggests

The more ‘wired’ a hospital is, the lower its rate of patient deaths and complications according to a new study. Researchers, “compared inpatient death rates, complications, length-of-stay, and cost associated with greater and lesser levels of automation in 41 Texas hospitals,” eventually looking at “more than 167,000 individuals over the age of 50 who were hospitalized between Dec. 1, 2005, and May 30, 2006. The level of automation was measured by physician interactions with the system, using a tool that takes into account how well the physician is trained in the system, the usability of the system, and other factors.” They found that “a 10-point increase in the computerization of notes and records meant a 15 percent decrease in the death rate. This translated into a 1.4 percent mortality rate among those with the highest scoring on notes compared with a 1.9 percent rate among those with the lowest scores, or five fewer deaths per 1,000 patients.”

read more @ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a0_Nonz7joYE&refer=us

read the original article @ http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/169/2/108