In 1999, the Institute of
Medicine (IOM) used the results of two major studies, one based on data
from Colorado and Utah, and the other from New York to report on the
extent of adverse events in the health care industry. Extrapolating
those results over the 33.6 million hospital admissions per year, it
was estimated that 44,000 people die and $17 billion are lost each year
due to preventable medical errors. "An adverse event is defined as an
injury caused by medical management rather than by the underlying
disease or condition of the patient."[1]
In the New York report, it was found that adverse events that required
prolonged hospitalization or disability occurred in 3.7 percent of the
hospitalizations. Of those, 58 percent were due to errors and 27.6
percent was due to negligence. "Although most of these adverse events
gave rise to disability lasting less than six months, 13.6 percent
resulted in death and 2.6 percent caused permanently disabling
injuries. Drug complications were the most common type of adverse event
(19 percent), followed by wound infections (14 percent) and technical
complications (13 percent)."[1]
This represents only a small portion of the problem since the sample
population was limited only to admitted hospital patients and does not
include ambulatory, outpatient, physicians offices, pharmacies, etc.[1]
[1]Linda T. Kohn,
Janet M. Corrigan, and Molla S. Donaldson, Editors; Committee on
Quality of Health Care in America, Institute of Medicine, "To Err Is
Human: Building a Safer Health System",
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9728
The healthcare industry is for the most part, still dependent on
paper based medical records that are decentralized, poorly accessible,
and redundant.
A myriad of tools are already available to manage medical records
electronically, but lack of national standards, lack of trust in the
ability to secure data, and poor interoperability has hampered the
industry from adopting Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and has
prevented the medical industry from delivering the best quality
services to patients.
The current system has resulted in the loss of important patient
medical information, the inability of doctors to collaborate, medical
errors, and an often negative experience for patients and health care
providers alike.
Disconnects in health care communication systems can result in
consequences ranging from inconveniences to fatalities and cost upward
of $17 billion annually.
The HouseCare Mission Statement is to develop an architecture
(Mediprise) and business plan for a fully-integrated and standardized
electronic healthcare management system to be used by patients,
healthcare providers, and pharmacies. Initial functionality should be
delivered in the 2012 timeframe and extend through 2022.