Health information technology: A new world for pharmacy

AUTHORS: Lisa Webster, BPharm, MS, and Rachelle F. Spiro, BPharm, FASCP

Activity Preview

This article provides a primer on Health Information Technology (HIT) for pharmacists, including the current state of HIT, future expectations, and strategies to ensure success.

Learning Objectives After participating in this activity, the pharmacist will be able: List at least five ways in which health information technology (HIT) is predicted to improve patient care. Provide at least five ways in which patient care might be at risk as a result of the adoption of HIT. Discuss six actions that pharmacists can take to help prevent patient harm related to the implementation and use of converging technologies. List four reasons for physician resistance to HIT implementation. Name six organizations involved in the development of HIT standards. State seven ways in which HIT is expected to benefit U.S. patients.

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A nice, straightforward Continuing Pharmacy Education (CPE) activity from The American Pharmacists Association directed towards educating practicing pharmacists about the importance of HIT.

Because people generally see leadership as synonymous with decisiveness — recall Harry S. Truman's "the buck stops here" — the notion of embracing opposing ideas can seem wishy-washy. It's easy to think: "Just decide! Is it security or ideals? Do you love the banks or hate them? Are we for unity or diversity?" However, I side more with F. Scott Fitzgerald's view of intelligence:

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise."

It is Obama's inclination to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time that explains why he took the time to articulate the opposing view rather than simply say: "Come on; let's be bi-partisan." He carefully laid out the conflicting models: on one hand, we are ideologically opposed and are expected to act that way (and represent our bases); on the other hand, we are expected to move America forward. These responsibilities are opposed but is there a way to overcome the tension between them?

He consistently lays out the opposing models, not to set up an either/or choice, but to begin the thinking process toward an integrative solution. This process may feel a bit messy to observers, who would prefer not the see the sausage-making process up close and personal, but I am heartened by Obama's thinking pattern. It is the harder approach — to attempt to overcome apparent trade-offs — but it is the form of intelligence that can produce breakthrough solutions that move an organization or a country forward.

An interesting article on intelligence and leadership. I feel this may explain why some citizens prefer to support a leader like Bush, who is known for his purported decisiveness, versus a leader like Obama, who takes a different approach to analyzing strategy and tactics.

In the largest national survey of its kind, researchers from UCLA and the University of California, San Diego, measured medical students' attitudes and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and found that three-quarters of them felt conventional Western medicine would benefit by integrating more CAM therapies and ideas.

"Our research suggests that persuading doctors to integrate CAM will require investment in the types of clinical research that form the backbone of Western medicine," Abbott said. "Even now, medical schools have the opportunity to train the next generation of medical practitioners in health care systems outside of conventional medicine. Core values of CAM can help students develop a more holistic and individualized approach to patient care."

"Although the content of integrative medicine programs remains controversial, medical schools across the country are moving forward with ambitious new programs to teach the next generation of health care leaders," said Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, the Wallis Annenberg Professor of Integrative East-West Medicine at UCLA, founder and director of the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, and chair of UCLA's Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine. "Through the Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine, UCLA has become one of the nation's leading academic centers for integrative medical education. UCLA offers training programs for health sciences students and residents, as well as fellowships for clinicians and researchers."

Hui added that the importance of integrative medical education is increasingly being realized outside of UCLA. Forty-four highly esteemed academic medical centers are now part of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, which was established to advance the principles and practices of integrative health care within academic institutions. It provides a community of support for academic missions and a collective voice for influencing change. The consortium also helps disseminate evidence-based information on CAM, informs health care policy and supports medical education.

Encouraging information which lends evidence to the opinion that we should be focusing our energies towards complementary and integrative medical practice. The patients want this. The providers want this. What is holding us back?

"Truth has no path. Truth is living and, therefore, changing."
Bruce Lee

To test the EHR-savvy of nearly 190 fourth-year medical students who haven't participated in a formal class, the school set up a mock patient encounter in the summer and fall of 2009.

In addition to grading individual students' performances, the results provide baseline data on how well students, on average, handle the EHR during a patient encounter

Not surprising conclusion considering the state of healthcare informatics education in medical, pharmacy or nursing curriculum. The study will be interesting to review once it is published in a peer-reviewed journal.