Dear Healthcare IT Insider,
Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems are becoming more prevalent in healthcare institutions around the world. The technology may prove most valuable in an emergency department, where physicians and radiologists partner to provide more immediate patient care.
To determine the effect a CPOE system can have in that setting, a team of radiology residents at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston analyzed ordering physician requisitions for abdominal CT scans before and after the hospital's implementation of a CPOE system.
Find out to what degree the system advanced communication in the emergency department and improved patient care by clicking here.
Also in this edition of the Healthcare IT Insider, staff writer Brian Casey writes on the resurrection of RIS developer Sunquest Information Systems as a standalone company, nearly 30 years after first beginning operations. The company has developed a new strategy to provide information systems to medical disciplines in the emerging field of molecular genomics and personalized medicine. Read more about the company's resurgence here.
MGH also is the center of attention in a report by staff writer Kate Madden Yee on researchers investigating whether a Web-based decision-support program can help make ordering high-cost imaging exams more sensitive and specific. With the help of Harvard Medical School, the study team analyzed the effect of a Web-based radiology order entry system (WBRS) on the volume and yield of imaging exams.
Finally, we offer new research on speech recognition technology. One study found that implementing speech recognition for radiology reporting before a hospital decides to do so for other departments can be advantageous for radiology. Another report concluded that a small level of ambient white noise in reading room environments may improve speech recognition accuracy.
We thank you for your continued support of the Healthcare IT Digital Community throughout the year, and look forward to providing more coverage in 2008. Have a wonderful holiday season, and we wish you good health and prosperity in 2008.
