e-Health -- it's time to decide!

Nothing brings home the saying "There's nothing new under the sun" better than realizing your so-called novel and brilliant idea has been in action for some time.
Such was the case this last weekend with regards to a PBS documentary pertaining to health care in some areas of the U.S., such as Washington State.


To set the scene for the above, you may recall from my previous blogs that I'm a die-hard advocate for LHINs managing their health care providers in terms of availability, remuneration, efficiency and the like.
Well, there I was doing the relaxation thing last Saturday when the TV announcer stated: "Coming up next, a discussion on health care in the US" -- you know I had to have a look-see, and it was very impressive indeed!


Basically, the documentary profiled companies such as Group Health Cooperative whose business model is firmly centred around the patient; here are some examples:

• EMR technology is the de facto method used to store and manage patient data
• all health care providers (HCPs) are salaried
• all HCPs are housed under one roof
• all patients have the same Internet access to their records as HCPs
• drug company reps have one single point of contact into the organization -- the latter is responsible to vet the suitability of all new pharmaceutical products

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my idea has already been proven -- which ties this discussion into a couple of items that have been prominent in the news recently here in Ontario, namely: the Provincial budget and the Drummond Report (DR).
Although we keep hearing the "they advise, we decide" comments from Premier McGuinty and his team, I feel residents of Ontario are cognizant of the fact that the biggest cuts/savings must come from the big-ticket items such as health care.
No doubt the process will be painful -- in fact recent events at the The Scarborough Hospital  (TSH) attest to that, for example:

• lay-off news: registered nurses being laid off
• consolidation news: The Scarborough Hospital considers an alliance and the LHIN's reaction

One could posit that TSH won't be the only hospital trying to reduce personnel costs or forge alliances in light of the DR -- they may just be a little ahead of the curve!

The above-mentioned TV program offers options to our Government officials -- in fact, the hospital executives interviewed have gone on record stating that savings of up to 30% have been realized.

Surely that's worth investigating, at least!

Ernest A. James


President & CEO
Regal Informatics Inc.