ASP Practice Management Systems are Key to Effective Biosurveillance
Government and health care industry leaders are putting the wheels in motion to develop a nationwide, integrated biosurveillance system to better detect widespread disease outbreaks; chemical, radiological or bioterrorism incidents; or any other events with a public health implication. Recent discussion in the industry has focused on the need to incorporate electronic health records (EHRs), practice management systems and other applications into the mix. See related column from March issue of Health Management Technology.
Integral to the success of a Nationwide Health Information Network, or any other biosurveillance program, is the access to current data, short response times, and the ability to communicate quickly with an impacted population. That is why practice management systems or EHRs that are application service provider (ASP) models are most beneficial to biosurveillance efforts. ASPs, like Nuesoft’s NueMD® medical practice management software system, contain the patient data for all of the medical practices using their application in one concentrated server farm. Data is shared and exchanged securely over the Internet. This means that all patient data is interconnected and available in real-time at any time of day.
Moreover, when it comes to communicating information to practitioners about public health threats, many ASP models offer the ability to notify all users directly (and simultaneously) through the application. This could also come in handy if a public health threat rendered it necessary to target at-risk populations by demographic group or geographic region.
As the dialogue continues about the role of health information technology in biosurveillance, look for ASPs to play a major role. Nuesoft invites your comments.