I would say that as a 26 y.o RN and Techy I would love to have my EMR online through google. But, of course that was not your question. As Tim Porter-O'Grady has said, people will either come along to the technology age or they will be dragged along.

A morbid thought is, if late adopters wait to long they'll die! That makes an inncentive enough to change, or maybe not. May be a form of population control... GOOGLE OR DIE!

In reality though a universally accessed EMR is similar to online banking--- sign in, check your data, and hope on-one steals your identity.

Seems simple enough!

Tony - All great questions. Here's my rant: 1. Boomers want more than "your procedure will be done at this hospital b/c I'm your doc and that's where I have admitting privileges" E.g., provide hotel-like amenities and train staff in basic hospitality skills, eliminate mystery and paper for admit/discharge processes and after-care plus provide transparency on avoidable harm historical outcome data for the relevant procedure. 2, Green is good but gardens, windows and sunlight in or near patient rooms and well designed waiting areas with suitable entertainment and connectivity are great first steps. 3. Hospitals need to embrace marketing principles that go beyond traditional healthcare boundaris before messages around wellness/fitness services will be effective. 4. "Retail medicine" seems to be the tag for incremental, unrestricted revenue from premium entertainment, guest food, 3rd party grooming and holistic services. How about actually talking about great food, recently release movies, hi-def ESPN channels, hair/cosmetic services and massage instead of a cryptic tag like "retail medicine?" 5. Instead of focusing on telemedicine or globalization, how about starting with localization - like a secure and convenient means to keep the hospital and patient in touch over time - maybe build some brand loyalty by keeping the conversation going? 6. Finally, the typical patient isn't concerned with the same EHR/EMR issues - like HIPAA compliance or the entry of GOOG & MSFT into the HIT space - that you and I consider. From a patient-centric perspective, I prefer a term coined by one of the early providers of portable heath records - "portable health bios". Patients could become the market (vs. technology, regulatory or financial) force driving EMR adoption if there are clear patient benefits like automatic reminders, updates and clarifications driven by online health bios.

Your blog on key trends was interesting. I believe the widespread use of electronic health records (EHR), personal health records (PHR), and health information exchange (HIE) networks will transform healthcare over the next decade. However...

In the U.S., even though the President has mandated the use of electronic health record (EHR) systems nationwide by 2014 and many politicians support this stance, progress is painfully slow. A recent Health Industry Insights national survey shows most Americans are unaware of the U.S. government's initiative to make EHRs available to citizens within 8 years. To date, only 9% of physician offices and approximately 25% of hospitals have implemented comprehensive EHR systems. Less than 1% of the population is using computerized Personal Health Records (PHR). It is my contention that progress would improve significantly if the popular entertainment media were to bring the issue before people's eyes in the form of a movie drama, TV show, and entertaining short stories. Check out this editorial on "Murder by EHR". -
http://health-care-it.advanceweb.com/Editorial/Search/AViewer.aspx?AN=HX_07nov1_hxp8.html&AD=11-01-2007

Great questions! I've been trying to get hospitals to think strategically about staff recruitment and retention strategies for the four generations currently in the workplace and so far...status quo. What I see happening is the patient and employee base is rapidly changing, but institutions are stuck in yesterday's news. The younger generations are not interested in old, failed policies. They will not stay in systems that fall behind. You mention retail medicine as a growing concern, the staffing crunch is also a growing concern and I suspect if we don't solve that problem creatively, international health care opportunities will increasingly become the health care of choice for patients and sophisticated professionals.
Onehealthpro

These are all relevant questions, but I think the major issue facing hospitals today is how to provide all of the hospitality benefits, quality medical care, and budgetary solvency that will keep them in business in the future. We like to nickle and dime our healthcare providers (via managed care and medicare) and then ask for the "hotel hospitality". You cannot expect four star accomodations on a motel 8 budget.