The Amazing (Health IT) Race
By
John Pulley
Yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre is one way to start a riot. Yelling "free candy" at the concession stand is another. The chaos is just as disruptive. Hence the potential for the mother of all chocolate messes as health care providers stampede to gobble up billions of dollars in federal sweeteners cooked up to promote greater use of health IT.
Yelling "fire" in a crowded theater is one way to start a riot. Yelling "free candy" at the concession stand is another. The chaos is just as disruptive.
Hence the potential for the mother of all chocolate messes as health care providers stampede to gobble up billions of dollars in federal sweeteners cooked up to promote greater use of health IT. "Federal officials are forcing health care systems to roll out disjointed technology just so they can qualify for federal reimbursements," writes Lucas Mearin, for Computerworld.
In a 4,000-word, two-part essay, Mearin and a collection of experts conclude that "the quality of e-health systems might be at risk because of unrealistic deadlines and confusion ... [that] sacrifice quality ... [and] lead to administrative complications, formatting problems, errors and interoperability glitches."
If Mearin is correct, sugar rushes and rushed IT both result in debilitating crashes.
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