HHS Committee Urges Genetics Education Effort – Whoa Slow Down a Bit – How Many More Carts Are You Going To Place In Front of That Horse (aka the MD)

Education is not at all a bad idea but have the folks at HHS look at what they are immersing doctors with in such a short amount of time? Of course none of the committees that recommend and devise all of these reports are the ones responsible for using them so it’s a bit of a “fantasy world” existence. Getting genetic information to physicians is not a bad idea at all but if we had some “hybrid” personalities that had training and expertise in more than one area at a time perhaps some of this would mesh better at the creation level.

Personal Health Records (PHR), I don’t do technology said the CEO, “it’s for those guys over there”

Don’t forget we have patients too exploring this area and they need help and guidance too and current news articles show what a very slop adaptation of personal health records and other health items have. What do you expect of doctors and patients at this accelerated level? Is there not anyone around of a “hybrid” level of expertise than can bring some of this back down to earth?

One Hell of a Training Program Needed – The Bottom Line to Success in Health IT

What it takes for this type of knowledge to permeate is to spend time with physicians in the field and watch their daily work flows, and I don’t mean at the few high tech offices and hospitals that are well along their way, it’s the other folks you need to bring up to par and again with lack of anyone in leadership with any “hybrid” input, let alone their own participation, this is what we get, more stuff “for those guys over there”. This is common sense but we need committees now to tell us this? Again, if you don’t get out and spend time with your sleeves rolled up and participate yourself, this is what we end up with and no wonder doctors and patients are frustrated. We have no coordination and not enough Health IT implementation individuals at the top.

One other item to keep in mind is that training takes time and how much time do doctors have and can some afford to take time away from seeing patients that is producing money that puts food on the table. The link below shows the person on the street asking about PHRs, and this could have easily been done at high leadership levels and received the same results I feel.

Do You Know What a PHR is? Heck No, Do I Need to Know - Video worth 1000 Words

Here’s a post from a few days ago that sums it up pretty good and the folks at the top don’t get this at all. We have no role models available and the same old attitude of “its for those guys over there”.

HHS National Plan to Improve Health Literacy – Not Going To Happen Until We Focus on Using Technology (The Tool for Literacy) Which Includes Role Models at HHS And Other Places in Government

Now to make this point further, I looked around the web and do you think I could find a picture with Kathleen Sebelius with a computer – not at all. I looked and couldn’t even find a picture with her with a cell phone! Does she use technology? Heck we can’t even get the Medicare PHR program off the ground as everyone sits and talks about it and does little except throw stimulus money around that people are having a hard time understanding how to get it.

Tell this young doctor in this video she needs genetic training! HHS is completely out of touch with the real world. Actually this video is a scene from a new documentary called “The Vanishing Oath” and I have watched the trailers and have not seen the entire movie myself but will, but just the clips make a big enough impact and hopefully show everyone what the reality is for doctors out there today. When the doctor gets done with her part time job she has at Blockbuster (so she can have her own health insurance) you think there’s time for genetic training dumped on top of an already exhaustive schedule.

Perhaps soon HHS will learn the act of balance here and perhaps they might get lucky enough to find some valuable “hybrid” individuals to help us out as the current plan overall is going nowhere in a hurry and I attribute this largely to a huge gap of non participants and lack of participation on their own part, and if they did a little bit of that, heck we could have less committees and save a ton of time and money too. People at top levels that live in “tech denial” and that don’t participate are deadly to the rest of us with a daily dose of “its for those guys over there” and “this is good for you” and “this will help you”.

As transparency moves forward everyone is beginning to not only recognize this but it is creating an insurmountable era of resentment too. BD

The Vanishing Oath (excerpt) from Lisa Molomot on Vimeo.

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Advances in genomics and personalized medicine are moving genetic tests into doctors' practices and patients' lives, but steps should be taken to keep healthcare professionals, doctors, and consumers educated and prepared to understand the results of these tests, according to a new report from a US Department of Health and Human Services' committee.

The Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society has issued a new draft report with proposals aimed at enhancing genomic medicine education and training for doctors and patients.
The report offers proposals concerning a number of issues, including a workshop that would develop ways to integrate genetics into clinical care; development of new training and teaching models; using family health histories in new ways; and proposing reimbursement for the time healthcare providers spend with patients discussing genetic test results and collecting family histories.

First, the task force has recommended that HHS convene a workshop to identify innovative education and training approaches to integrate genetics and genomics into clinical care. The workshop would aim to identify new education and training guidelines, find new funding streams to pay for new initiatives, plan to enhance the content of genetics and personalized medicine education, offer ideas for developing new and relevant educational standards, consider appointing an ongoing advisory panel, and develop a plan to monitor the outcome of its efforts.

HHS Committee Urges Genetics Education Effort | GenomeWeb Daily News | GenomeWeb