It is the challenge of these United States to develop and maintain advanced infrastructure on all fronts including superior medical technology and healthcare, but people don't ask for it, not all clinicians believe they need it and there is a lack of will to invest in it. The result is that an estimated 200,000 people die from medical errors in American hospitals annually.
It might be an obvious conclusion that since many medical practices use computers to record patient information, and since hospitals also use computers for such information, that these two worlds must be exchanging that information.
Unfortunately, while this has been a dream for many decades, it has yet to be realized in this country.
When co-Directors Kevin B. Johnson, MD, MS and Barry Simmons first started exploring the work being done to make The Health Information Exchange come togetherĄ about the pace of that workĄ they were astonished. As they went through the reasons why, it became clear what a difficult challenge the exchange of information was, although not the least bit because of technical issues.
The development of a true Health Information Exchange is a major challenge of the 21st century, one that needs to be overcome both technically and politically.
"No Matter Where" explores the complexities of the numerous issues that have to be addressed from the technology involved to the adoption of practice by participants all along the informational path. It is an overwhelming challenge and "No Matter Where" sheds great light on the status of the effort.
"No Matter Where" is the result of a few voices out of Nashville and the home of Vanderbilt University Medical Center; one of the top 15 ranked medical schools in the country.
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