AATP Interactive

Connected Healthcare

A number of facilities and communities begin the process toward a creation of a larger national health information infrastructure. Santa Barbara County and several other communities this summer begin the connected EMR. The point of the data exchange will let hospitals, clinics, payers and laboratories exchange information on a central, peer-to-peer networking system that operates in much the same way as online music sharing service Napster. Authorized users, including patients, can access clinical records. The project began in 1998 with the help of CareScience, a unit of software company Quovadx, and a $10 million grant from the California HealthCare Foundation. The system will have its official launch in July.

A similar effort is underway to create a community-wide data sharing system in San Diego. That project, led by the San Diego County Medical Society Foundation, started more than one year ago and will officially launch in June. It will provide a common platform to deliver medical information that providers can readily access. Currently, the system contains alerts on disease outbreaks, a directory of health services from the San Diego County Department of Public Health and formulary, eligibility and benefit information from health plans. Eventually, the network will feature hospital data, lab results, pharmacy data, X-rays and data from doctors' offices. It's also possible that patients who are authorized by their physicians could obtain a password to access their records.

AATP May 1st 2004 Meeting

The AATP Meeting is in progress and so far quite interesting and thought provoking. The Keynote speaker Jeff Gold, MD presented a fascinating and innovative Online Web Based Mulimedia Education.
He demonstrated the interactive online curriculum put together by the THORACIC SURGERY DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION

Information can be found on the website http://tsda.org

Michell Newman, PhD then described the use of handheld based computers to assist in CBT treatment of panic disorder.

SQL Clinic is open source electronic medical record presented by Marianne DiTommasso and Tom Good. This electronic clinical charting software application is designed for providers of residential, supported housing and case management programs that serve persons with severe and persistent mentalillness and/or persons with mental illness and chemical abuse.

More information can be found at http://www.sqlclinic.net

Tasha Glenn, PhD presented an update on Chrono Record, a software for patients to record daily mood, sleep, medication and life events as well as weekly events (such as weight) A friendly, easy to use interface facilitates information entry. Mood charts can be generated 30, 60, 90 day charts for both clinicians and patients. Research presented showed that this is viable and novel way to obtain valuable clinical information and increase patient participation in their treatment. This study has been published in Bipolar Disorder journal.

Dr Glenn also discussed that the use of a computer for self-reporting does not induce bias in clinical data collection.
ChronoRecord

.Trevor Cohen, MB,ChB discussed how most clinical discharge summaries are narrative text and there are unfortunately wide discrepancies among various discharge summaries. Using a natural language processor called MedLEE, he studied the possibility of extracting important and crucial clinical data from these summaries

Thomas White of the New York State Office of Mental Health presented PSYCKES. The Pharmacy Service and Clinical Knowledge Enhancement System (PSYCKES) decision support software enables individuals, providers, program managers, and State and local leadership to understand the range of medications prescribed, their relationship to best practice guidelines, and their course of effectiveness in treating the individual's health and mental health needs.

Edward Rynearson, MD, medical director of the Homicide Support Project at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, presented powerful and moving issues about interventions for families of individuals who died a violent death. He is currently using video conferencing to work with families in Israel and Palestine to facilitate treatment.

Dr. Rynearson's book is Retelling Violent Death

The Violent Death Bereavement Society

Ron Kraus, PhD discussed the issues of online therapy and a new AMA CPT billing code that allows for online evaluation & management provided by a physician, using the Internet or similar electronic communications network, in response to a patient’s request, with an established patient.

He discussed the American & International Association of Online Psychotherapists (AAOP.com) that educates clinicians and the public about online resources as well as to promote ethical standards for online counseling.

Dr. Kraus' book Online Counseling: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals