University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

• Physicians need to know their patients because there is something inherently personal about disease and illness. IT must be used in the service of a goal that is deeply human.
• Medical school curricula will have to be changed to prepare future physicians to use IT.
• Standardization is important for the future of health IT. To achieve that goal, some authoritative source, probably the government, will have to set the standards.
• The people developing health IT are in part responsible for the low adoption rates. They have only focused on increasing efficiency, and they don’t know enough about healthcare to design truly helpful applications.
• Among the barriers to adoption of IT by physicians is the time it takes for data entry and the learning curve for new technology. E-prescribing is currently the most useful application.
• Some of the biggest issues in health IT adoption involve sociology and interpersonal dynamics, rather than technology, itself.

Watch selected clips:

Part 1 - Is standardization possible? (6:44 min)

Part 2 - Closing thoughts (5:13 min)

Listen: Download entire audio (1:52 hour)

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Moderator: Carolyn M. Clancy, MD

Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, was appointed Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2003. As Director, she launched the first annual report to the Congress on healthcare disparities and healthcare quality. A general internist and health services researcher, she holds an academic appointment at the George Washington University School of Medicine as clinical associate professor and serves as senior associate editor for the journal Health Services Research. 

Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD

Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, is Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, the first multi-disciplinary research program created to understand the behavior of older adults, the role of technology, and the opportunity for innovations to improve quality of life throughout the lifespan. He was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of “12 Pioneers shaping the future of aging and how we will all live, work, and play tomorrow.”

Richard J. Baron, MD, FACP

Richard J. Baron MD, FACP practices general internal medicine at Greenhouse Internists, a five-physician Philadelphia practice that has been a pioneer in the comprehensive adoption of Electronic Health Records in the small office environment. Dr. Baron, who served as chief medical officer of Health Partners, was the architect of the Best Clinical and Administrative Practices program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Center for Health Care Strategies. He is the 2008–09 Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a  Trustee of the ABIM Foundation.

Lawrence L. Weed, MD

Lawrence L. Weed, MD, is Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Vermont’s College of Medicine and founder of Problem Knowledge Couplers Corp. Dr. Weed is most prominently recognized in the field of health information management as the "Father of the Problem-Oriented Medical Record” (POMR) which provides a structured organization. In addition to Dr. Weed's work in medical informatics, he has spent considerable time conducting nucleic acid research.