HIMSS news in brief: Monday

HIMSS11 may be a nexus for eHealth and mHealth news and introductions this year, in a way that wasn’t true in 2010.

mod-36016_screenshotPalomar Pomerado Health System, California’s largest public health system has introduced a self-designed Android mobile application, in conjunction with Cisco. Called MIAA–Medical Information Anytime Anywhere–it was demo’d Monday. Its significance is as a mobile health information exchange, enabling accessing and sharing EHR data between different organizations and caregivers. It also incorporates real time vital signs from wireless body area network (BAN) platforms. Release

Sprint enters AT&T territory…partnering with Canada’s IDEAL LIFE to include embedded wireless monitoring devices. Both will cooperate to develop and certify a wireless version of IDEAL LIFE’s hub. Partnering the way to go, and ’bout time for both. Release.

EHRs still get no respect…AthenaHealth, the practice management (and EHR company), and the Sermo medical online community took a survey of 500 doctors, and unless they are all having a bad day, they are even less enamored of EHRs than before.

• Compared to 2010, 7% fewer (64%) physicians in 2011 said they believe that the financial benefits outweigh the costs, and 5% fewer (68%) said they believe that the patient care benefits justify the financial cost.
• Physicians were less likely to agree that EHRs can help them:

–Reduce medical errors (from 71% in 2010 to 64% in 2011),
–Improve efficiency (from 47% in 2010 to 42% in 2011 ), and
–Decrease costs (from 41% in 2010 to 37% in 2011)
See the release for a swimming pool full of cold water on EHR hype.

More tomorrow!