Chuck Grassley’s Questions for Health IT – He Should Use Social Networks As Most of His Answers Can Be Found There

Financial incentives may be an area though not covered by Social Networks but after reading the rest of the requests, people are not shy on Social Networks and if one of the software companies blew it, it’s all over the place. All you have to do is a quick scan on Twitter for starters or for that matter use a search engine and find a few issues that way.

I truly love the question about training, and perhaps Mr. Grassley should experience a little bit of this first hand as until you have been there, you don’t get it. Number one, getting the commitment from staff is a chore in itself as they all do not want to be there, but it is a part of the entire process.

We are talking MDs in many instances with high levels of degrees and years of experience in the clinical area and nobody wants to admit that a PC with some software installed can kick their butt, that is the literal translation here with discussing training methodologies. It happens all the time and you get some resistance, cranky doctors and in the end you usually end up with a pretty well trained group after you pass those stages. It’s not a bowl of cherries.

Hold Harmless, again check the Social Networks, nobody is held harmless there. Do these companies have a system to track complaints, another strange question as all these folks are in the data base business with full CRM software programs that store all of this and have it available with a couple clicks. Companies in the data base business are experts at this, as it is their business.

Perhaps Mr. Grassley could benefit by being outfitted with a Fitbit and get his own PHR established to manage his health and maybe that would save some of the questions posed of all these companies in the Health IT business. How about it, we need some Congressional Role Models with managing our own healthcare?

Participation and curiosity is knowledge and those that participate tend to have a bit more knowledge. BD

Chuck Grassley — the Senator who spent years asking questions about doctors’ ties to the drug and device industries — has some questions for the health IT industry.

In letters sent earlier this month to 10 companies, Grassley says that he’s “received complaints” about systems that allow doctors to enter medical orders by computer. (Here’s a copy of the letter.) This is a big deal these days because the stimulus bill provides billions of dollars in federal incentives to encourage doctors and hospitals to start using these sorts of systems.

Chuck Grassley Has a Few Questions for the Health IT Industry - Health Blog - WSJ