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he charge of the Committee on Electronic Media and Information
Technology (EMIT) is to find new ways to use information
technology and communication tools and to educate members
on how information technology can be used in clinical
practice. Over the past year, EMIT has been involved
in many exciting projects that provide tangible benefits
to every ASA member.
One of the best places to meet EMIT members and see
what the committee does is at the Annual Meeting. EMIT
members staff a section of the ASA Resource Center at
each Annual Meeting where members can try new clinical
applications for computers. EMIT members are on hand
to answer questions about computers and the Internet.
EMIT members also moderate and serve as faculty in the
computing workshops that offer lectures and individual
tutorials. These computing workshops have become a regular
feature at the Annual Meeting. Last year, 720 attendees
purchased tickets for approximately 42 computing workshops.
EMIT represents ASA at meetings of Accredited Standards
Committee X12 of the American National Standards Institute
and is a voting member of this group, which is responsible
for development of the standardized billing transactions
mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA). ASA is currently the only medical specialty
group that participates in this important process, and
this participation gives the Society a voice in current
and future billing standards and helps to provide additional
access to private insurers and governmental payers.
With the invaluable assistance of the outstanding staff
of the ASA Washington Office, especially Assistant Director
of Governmental Affairs Karin Bierstein, ASA has prevented
implementation of billing standards that would result
in a significant decrease in income for anesthesiologists.
Over the last two years, ASA has worked to eliminate
changes that would mandate reporting of anesthesia time
by minutes (as opposed to units). A recent report by
Director of Governmental and Legal Affairs Michael Scott
estimates that this intervention prevented a decrease
in income of approximately $5,000 per year for every
anesthesiologist in the United States. ASA also helped
to preserve payments for anesthesia modifiers when billing
for dental procedures.
EMIT members are on hand when ASA members need help
with computer purchases as well. Many healthcare institutions
are considering the purchase of electronic medical record
systems and automated record keepers for the operating
room. Although anesthesiologists are being asked to
participate in these important decisions, many do not
know what kinds of questions to ask vendors or how to
formulate requirements for such a system. Christine
A. Doyle, M.D., an EMIT committee member, is the chief
author of a white paper for practicing anesthesiologists
who are involved in the purchase process. This paper
offers practical advice on how to formulate and customize
a series of needs and requirements and also the pitfalls
to avoid. It is available in the “Clinical Information”
section of the ASA Web site <www.ASAhq.org/clinical/ChoosinganAutomatedMedicalRecordsSystem.pdf>.
EMIT is continuing its work in this area and will publish
a second white paper that covers the full range of decisions
that must be made prior to purchase of these powerful
tools.
Many ASA members report that their medical centers have
policies prohibiting the use of wireless devices in
the operating room and intensive care unit even though
the risk of using these devices is minimal. ECRI <www.ecri.org>,
a nonprofit, independent health care safety organization,
currently does not recommend limiting the use of wireless
communication devices, including mobile telephones,
in the critical care environment, and EMIT has begun
to rigorously study the effectiveness of new communications
technology for preventing errors. As part of its efforts
to increase the use of communication technology, EMIT
distributed a survey on the use of wireless communication
devices at the 2003 Annual Meeting in San Francisco,
California, and presented the results as a poster at
the 2004 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is
the first large study to look at interference between
mobile telephones and medical equipment, and it also
documents that mobile telephones reduce the incidence
of medical errors.
The projects described in this article are just a few
of the things that EMIT members are doing to help ASA
members and advance the specialty. The committee is
always looking for new ideas and people who are interested
in how information technology can improve the practice
of anesthesiology.
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Keith
J. Ruskin, M.D., is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
and Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine,
New Haven, Connecticut. |
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