Mundane Excogitations

Using a codified format prompts diagnosticians to be alerted to a multitude of possible illnesses and diseases after the entry of specific symptoms and triggers.  An example is when a patient arrives complaining of a persistent cough and chest pain; the doctor may be less inclined to look for diseases such as tuberculosis if the symptoms circulate around those of the common cold.  (EHR Discussions)  By using the codified format, the system can then alert the physician to check for other symptoms and possibly detect a more harmful disease than what is first suspected.

The CDC utilizes electronic health records for cancer surveillance, to track trends, statistics, and new treatment methods and to use that information to gain alerts to potential cancer causes by region (Thames).  “With EHR transmissions, data is available much sooner” by the Cancer Registry, explains Sandy Thames.  The Cancer Registry is federally mandated, requiring all states to submit data regarding their cancer patients, and many international organizations participate as well.  By having this information able to be electronically transmitted from the EHR, there is less delay and can prove life saving (Thames).

The University of Washington found that the search engine, Google, was able to accurately predict onset of seasonal diseases, such as influenza, with an accuracy rate of over 70% (Laffel).  The search engine tracks keyword searches of specific symptoms to provide to Flu Trends the increase of flu probability in specific regions.  “During periods of intense media interest or unexpected influenza activity such as the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, Google Flu Trends may be least accurate at estimating influenza activity,” says Justin Ortiz, of the University of Washington, but he contends that the typical results from Google’s Flu Trends is almost as highly accurate as the CDC’s reports and is better at reporting location specific results (Laffel).

Work Cited

“Codified | EHR Discussions.” EHR Discussions a EHR and EMR Blog Forum. 9 May 2009. Web. 20 May 2010. <http://www.ehrdiscussions.com/tag/codified/&gt;.

Laffel, Glenn. “Google Flu Trends: Role in Flu Surveillance.” EHR Bloggers. Web. 22 May 2010. <http://www.ehrbloggers.com/2010/05/google-flu-trends-role-in-flu.html&gt;.

“Kaiser Permanente Project Proves EHR Improves Chronic Disease Management | ScienceBlog.com.” ScienceBlog.com | Science Blog: Science News Straight from the Source. 9 July 2009. Web. 19 May 2010. <http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/kaiser-permanente-project-proves-ehr-improves-chronic-disease-management-22870.html&gt;.

Thames, Sandy. “Interoperability between the EHR and Public Health Disease Surveillance.” Web. 21 May 2010. <www.interoperabilityshowcase.org/himss09/docs/presentations/HIMSS09%2520Interop_CDC_NPCR_Presentation.pdf>.