Report from the IT Summit

Hardly a day goes by when some head of state is not summiting with another. So it goes with the health IT crowd. Change is happening so fast that you are likely to miss the headlines if did not read the communique after the event. So, here's the report from a recent one:

1. Patients are demanding the same online experience in sick care they get from every other commercial vendor and , gradually, providers are responding.
2. Securing medical devices is a clear and present danger
3. 20% of change is technological. The rest is dealing with people.
4. There are ways to reduce the burnout effects of EMRs. Most improvement, though, comes from workflow transformation and documentation requirements.
5. Clinical communication systems based on the iPhone continue to expand. That is, until the iPhone becomes obsolete.
6. The pace of technology adoption is accelerating. So much so that it is creating innovation and change fatigue.

7. Patient experience professionals are finally getting technologists, providers, marketers and patients into the same "war room" to create, test and deploy products and services. They even invite nurse informaticists every now and then.

8. Figuring out how much all this reduces the cost of care is elusive

9. The EMR has been in development for over 40 years. Creating a whole product solution remains elusive

10. 10% of all HIT apps are downloaded 90% of the time. Appoptosis is pervasive.

11. Prescriptive analytics is quickly changing into predictive analytics, incorporating social determinants and patient reported outcomes.

12. Progress has been made in how data is presented to decision makers in the way they want it.

Be sure to sign up for next week's HIT summit for more news you can use. Or, not.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs