If you are tracking progress regarding the Electronic Health (or Medical) Record you should check out this site for the promotion ideas contained therein.

I await the day where we see this community embrace concepts of collaboration more formally – the Record is necessary but not sufficient. Collaboration in the system – across health care providers and groups is essential in making the system more effective and efficient.

It seems that a number of physicians in this health network were not keen on the new egalitarian roles presented by the hospital network. Physician roles (indeed all health provider roles) are key to any successful integration across the system. It is not sufficient to mandate integration in IPC.

In a nutshell, this article provides links to research and cases where the promise of electronic health has not been realized. It is always good to see the other side.

Here is the concept in a nutshell:- information, used effectively, can act to facilitate integration inside and across organizational boundaries; information binds organizations together (glue) and acts (like plumbing) as a mechanism for communications and the exchange of ideas. Communications in this case, can be transactional (e.g. EDI) or conversational (as a means of exchanging ideas and negotiating shared understanding).

Looking for an example? Consider the electronic health record (EHR) and all of the work being done in many jurisdictions to reach this holy grail. One of the opportunities that the EHR affords or provides (or, I should say, “should” provide) is the opportunity to bind the various organizations (physicians, hospitals, pharmacies, long term care facilities, etc.) that exist across the spectrum of care to coordinate and collaborate for the benefit of the patient. The EHR is not only a place where we ‘store’ information but is a vehicle for exchanging / sharing information about a patient.

Thoughts?