Wired Hospitals Save More Lives

The following article certainly demonstrates how a shared communication system regarding patients can improve outcomes in hospitals. It can also be done at the community level though integrated electronic case management systems like Sectorlynx. So maybe we have to get the hospitals on line first and then move out into community through the clinics and disease specific management organizations and then work our way into the other organizations working on the other social determinants of health.

Anyway, check out the article from Technology Review....

The more wired the hospital, the better off its patients: there are fewer deaths and complications, and lower bills. That's the conclusion of a large study of Texas hospitals released earlier this week. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of hospitals and doctors' offices in the United States are wired, and the country lags far behind other developed nations in implementing such systems. However, legislators and health-technology specialists hope to change that with a $20 billion cash influx, part of the U.S. government's proposed stimulus bill. ....more