Transforming Health Care: The Financial Impact of Technology, Electronic Tools and Data Mining
Over the past two decades, digital technology has revolutionized how business is done in every major industry, but one is lagging: health care. Ironically, or tragically, health care is the one industry for which the introduction of such technologies could have the most profound impact on cost, quality, and our nation's health. Yet it remains inexplicably mired in a strictly pre-digital way of doing business.The number of hospitals and doctors that have digitized their patients' medical records in at least the most basic way has increased over the past eight years. Still, very few have anything approaching the caliber of an electronic records system capable of integrating patient records, prescriptions, and test results. The figures are even less impressive when it comes to the number of U.S. health care systems that have made significant strides toward integrating electronic medical records into systems that would allow doctors, hospitals, and patients to collaboratively share and analyze information.But, as a leading national expert in health IT, Phil Fasano explains in this important book that there is good cause for hope. Following the lead of visionary organizations such as Kaiser Permanente, the Cleveland Clinic, and the health care systems of Denmark, the Netherlands, and other forward-thinking nations, and supported by progressive government initiatives in Washington, U.S. health care providers are beginning to get on board the technology train. Soon, new and emerging technologies will radically transform health care delivery and enrich our lives in nearly unimaginable ways.Offering a compelling glimpse of that future, Fasano describes a world where patients use mobile phones to take blood pressure readings during video chats with their doctors; where nutritionists analyze texts of what their clients just ate for lunch; and where medical breakthroughs come, in real time, through the instantaneous exchange of information between researchers and clinicians around the world.But Philip Fasano does more than paint an alluring picture. Citing numerous examples, he explains that there is, indeed, a financial return for savvy, patient-centered investors and entrepreneurs who are prepared to mine the rich veins of opportunity opening up with the dawning of the high-tech health care revolution.Seamlessly combining discussions of health care, technology, and finance, he explores the full range of financial and logistical issues surrounding the integration of new technologies, such as cloud computing and social media, with health care systems. And he makes a cogent argument that, while health care reform may be laying the groundwork, the free market is the engine that will drive the health care revolution.Featuring numerous case studies and real-life examples, insights from a top industry insider, and valuable suggestions for finance, business, and health care professionals who want to get in on the ground floor of the health care technology revolution,Transforming Health Careis a must read for health care providers, investors, and entrepreneurs.