Editor's Corner

The stock market seems to be experiencing a pre-Christmas rally. Among healthcare IT stocks Cerner is taking part, showing that the market is anticipating the healthcare system will continue to increase its technology spending. In addition, health insurers like Empire Blues and United HealthGroup are starting to deliver CRM solutions that are, while not there yet, at least approaching what consumers routinely expect from banks and airlines. The belief is that in the brave new healthcare future, technology will deliver a better consumer experience.

The question is whether healthcare organizations will be able to deliver consumers at least some of the information they need by connecting them with their claims and by using business analytics to identify patients that need better management, or whether we will need to await widespread adoption of EMRs by physicians. If it's the latter case, consumers could be disappointed. But if insurers and physicians are prepared to use less sophisticated technologies currently available, such as email-based CRM systems, then the consumer may not need to wait for the all-singing, all-dancing EMR to get a better experience from the healthcare system. - Matthew

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