Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Plans Major eHealth Initiative
Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati intends to design a new eHealth initiative to teach patients "how to leverage the Web for better and more efficient health care," the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Arvind Kumar, the new vice president for eHealth at the medical center, plans to hire 25 new employees and "revamp" the facility's 14,000-page Web site. Kumar said, "The opportunity here is cutting-edge. If you look at the landscape in the use of the Web in health care, it's just starting to take shape." Using the center's Web site as a "starting point," Kumar and his staff plan to assemble a system that "weaves together people, processes and technology" with Internet content "trusted and recognized as the best in the industry" by physicians and patients. The center also plans to join forces with HealthBridge, a community-wide Internet effort among health care providers, hospitals and insurers. In addition, Kumar hopes to move toward "paperless transactions," allowing the center to send bills, handle claims and reimbursements and place supply orders online, as well as write "electronic" prescriptions. According to the Business Courier, the "streamlined approach" could lead to better care for patients, more efficient services and fewer errors, which could reduce costs. "There will be a lot of jagged edges as we go along," Kumar said, but he added that the "Tri-State market is ready for eHealth." Kumar also said that the center's eHealth initiative, which will take about one year to develop, will require a "significant financial investment," although he could not provide "specific figures" (Tortora, Cincinnati Business Courier, 6/11).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.