Survey Report Is Available at www.TCSHealthcare.com AUBURN, Calif., Aug. 20
AUBURN, Calif., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A new survey released today
documents current trends in how health care professionals are leveraging
health information technology (HIT) systems to support care management
interventions. The survey results highlight the need for many HIT applications
to offer more functionality, standardization and interoperability to optimize
clinical and financial outcomes for patients.
Rob Pock, TCS Healthcare Technologies Founder and CEO, notes "survey
respondents report a wide variety of HIT platforms in use with different
orientations and attributes. Medical management organizations appear to
implement and use a number of approaches to optimize workflows that are
developed both in-house and through vendor applications. For example, 64
percent of the respondents report using multiple systems in contrast to 17
percent who rely on one system. Not surprisingly, just 20 percent indicated
that their system is fully integrated and interoperable with other external IT
applications."
Pock elaborated too that "the survey findings warrant follow-up discussion
by health care thought leaders regarding: 1) the lack of standardized
information technology platforms currently available that support the care
management process; and 2) the need to define better ways to popularize
successful strategies. On the positive side, we are pleased to note that a
period of remarkable innovation is emerging."
Cheri Lattimer, RN, BSN, CMSA Executive Director, observes that "although
the practice of nursing and medicine has been transformed with the advent and
adoption of electronics and computers, the application of health IT systems as
a tool to support care management is still evolving. As a result, leveraging
technology to improve medical management intervention strategies should remain
a high priority in terms of both public health and reduced medical costs.
CMSA is pleased to have participated in this important study which focuses
attention on these important public policy issues."
Pat Stricker, RN, M.Ed., Vice-President of Clinical and Client Services at
TCS and one of the principle researchers for the study, notes that
"satisfaction levels appear to be mixed in terms of how the survey
participants rate their experiences with care management software applications
and electronic health record (EHR) systems. Surprisingly, only 22 percent of
the survey respondents reported that their care management software
applications allow them to spend more time with their patients."
TCS Healthcare Technologies (TCS) sponsored this survey with support from
the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians,
Inc. (ABQAURP) and the Case Management Society of America (CMSA). Over 500
individuals participated in this survey, which featured 30 detailed questions.
The respondents represented a comprehensive cross-section of healthcare
professionals: one-third are practicing clinicians; one-third are
administrators; and roughly half work for a care management organization
(CMO).
A complimentary copy of the survey analysis entitled "2008 Health
Information Technology Highlights: A Review of How Technology Is Changing the
Practice of Case Management," is available for download at
www.tcshealthcare.com. The White Paper is co-authored by Stricker, Garry
Carneal, JD, MA, former President and CEO of URAC, and Jeff Fraiter, RN, BSN,
CCM, CMSA's President.
TCS Healthcare Technologies (www.tcshealthcare.com) is a leading provider
of software and clinical solutions that improve medical management (UM/CM/DM)
performance and effectiveness for health plans, insurers, providers, third
party administrators, medical management companies, and others , who serve the
private and public sectors. For more information about TCS, call
(530) 886-1700 ext. 211 or go to www.tcshealthcare.com.
SOURCE TCS Healthcare Technologies
