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The HIMSS event runs September 16-18, 2019 in Santa Clara, California.

Company says the security flaw has not been exploited yet and urges customers to update to most recent version.

Pinnacle Ventures has launched a pharmacogenomics programme to enable genetic testing to drive personalised prescribing decisions. The innovation arm of Pinnacle Midlands Health Network, a not-for-profit primary health care management company in New Zealand, is also working on embedding biomarker information into electronic health records and linking it to a clinical-decision support prescribing tool that can help prescribers by providing direct access to international pathways and guidelines. Pharmacogenetics involves prescriptions being tailored to a person’s genetic make-up, as people metabolise drugs in different ways, which can have a significant impact on a drug’s effectiveness. Ventures plans to do about 5,000 pharmacogenetic tests over the next 12 months, says chief executive John Macaskill-Smith. Some will be self-funded because individuals are struggling with their medications and others will be fully funded by Ventures, targeting specific groups within the Midlands population. Macaskill-Smith says it is a simple test that covers 65–70 per cent of medications frequently prescribed in New Zealand. “The New Zealand health system is under strain but using testing like this you could reduce the trial and error of prescribing and prevent adverse reactions to medications,” he said. Ethnicity plays a big part in how a person metabolises drugs, but the clinical trials that prescribing information are based on very rarely involve Māori or Pasifika test subjects. Macaskill-Smith said Ventures is partnering with key kiwi groups, Auckland University and Otago University medical schools and Callaghan Innovation to support research and develop a better understanding of how unique New Zealand populations respond to different medications. People who have a pharmacogenetic test can choose to consent to contributing their non-identifiable demographic information to researchers. Embedding the biomarker information into EHRs ensures a patient’s results are used for both current and future prescribing decisions, he said. Macaskill-Smith says a lot of direct-to-consumer online genetic-testing tools involve people essentially “giving away their DNA” as there are no protections or consent processes for how the testing company might use it. “You can lose ownership and visibility of where your DNA has gone. We are saying your DNA is yours and you should have control over it, so we are trying to promote safe and informed use of your genetic information by embedding it back into your own EHR,” he said. “Seeing an individual’s health record shift away from being largely about providers recording notes around their activity to actually becoming a blueprint for an individual’s health and wellness information is incredibly exciting. “This is the real health revolution that is about to occur, and including and using your DNA is core to this.” A virtual training package to help primary care providers respond to this genetic information is also being offered. The US Food and Drug Administration requires pharmaceutical companies to publish biomarker information in relation to how people with different genetic make-ups might respond to specific medications. Many health providers in the US use pharmacogenomics as a key tool in treating their patients, and other places, such as Canada and the European Union, are heading in this direction. The New Zealand government does not require this information to be published, but international curators have emerged and can be used to access individual drug information and treatment pathways to inform how doses should be altered according to people’s genetic make-up. This article first appeared on eHealthNews.nz.

The impact of the app on the Providence St. Joseph Health care delivery experience is reflected in the fact that 94 percent of the patients who used it found it to be helpful.

New research points to care quality measures and finance as the top functions for analytics usage today.

The global electronic health record (EHR) market size is proliferating, with Australia contributing to a large portion of that growth. According to a report by Global Market Insights, the EHR market size in Australia was valued at US $526.3 million in 2018 and is expected to witness over 8.5 per cent in exponential growth rate (CAGR) from 2019 to 2025. Australia’s EHR market size growth contributes significantly to global numbers expected – Global Market Insights estimates this to be US$38 billion by 2025. Global Market Insights report authors Sumant Ugalmugale and Ajay Devgire said the healthcare system in Australia is equipped with the necessary infrastructure to launch a national EHR program as 85 per cent of Australians and over 95 per cent of general practitioners have access to the internet. “In addition, healthcare associations such as the Royal College of Australian General Practitioners, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Australian Healthcare and Hospital Association (AHHA) believe that adoption of EHR systems will reduce cost and improve safety, quality and efficiency of healthcare in the country,” they said. “Government initiatives such as My Health Record, aimed at maintaining the health records of all the Australian citizens will also drive growth of various digital health systems platforms in the country.” However, they warned that the potential threats for data breaches and privacy leaks will continue to impede the Australian EHR market growth over the coming years. On a global scale, the report identified that numerous emerging countries are recognising the importance and benefits of EHRs and are increasingly investing in such technology. “EHR offers enhanced patient care and management along with significant cost savings. EHR assists the practitioner in management of patient data and streamlines workflow that should positively impact EHR market size,” the authors said. Specifically, the web/cloud-based EHR software product market is expected to have large uptake. It was valued at US $12.5 billion in 2018. “Web-based EHR provides improved speed and flexibility to the end users in terms of its operability,” the authors said. “Access to many users simultaneously and wide network access further adds to the advantages of cloud-based EHR software. Moreover, web/cloud-based EHR software considerably saves cost that should escalate its adoption over the forthcoming years.” [Read more: Opinion: Is there a smarter way for the controversial My Health Record system? | Monash Health and SCHS commence EMR rollouts] In addition, the patient management segment of the EHR market is estimated to progress at six per cent CAGR during the forecast timeframe. “EHR offers systematic and timely scheduling of patient data. It enables safe and reliable documentation with time-effectiveness. In addition, the flexibility of management of vast data points regarding the patient will offer momentous growth opportunity for patient management EHR application market,” they said. The authors also identified that clinics’ EHR usage accounted for more than 17.5 per cent in revenue share in 2018. “EHR provides seamless access and interface for clinic facilities at any location. Presence of clinic management software further enhances patient and practice management that will drive its adoption rate clinics over the forthcoming years. Furthermore, expanding healthcare infrastructure across emerging nations will increase clinics EHR end-use segmental size in the upcoming years,” they said. However, according to the authors, along with the strong growth rate of EHR, there will also be a lack of skilled professionals to handle the sophisticated technology. As such, they urged the healthcare industry to prepare for this change.

Five experts in financial information systems offer insights and tips for launching technology to help drive cost efficiencies and boost hospital bottom lines.

The research firm says 2018 was the busiest in recent years for EHR market flux, and recent purchasing decisions show an evolution in the electronic health record landscape.

Trojans, riskware, spyware and worms all plague healthcare, which leads all industries in number of data breaches.