Editor's Corner

Friday the thirteenth may be a good day to talk about mistakes. The title of the 1999 IOM report on medical errors reminds me of a joke--"to err is human, but to really foul things up takes a computer." This month we have news of two national-scale IT implementations with significant problems. The first is the Medicare Part D system where needed coverage and benefit information isn't getting to the pharmacies. The vast majority of Medicare recipients in Part D so far are the "dual eligibles" who were automatically transferred into the system. They are poorer and sicker than average, so administrative problems with their coverage ends up causing problems in the drugs they receive, if they receive them at all. It's totally unclear where the problem is, but already technology company Per-se (the former NDCHealth) is getting the blame. Likewise, an error in a referral system in the UK has caused wrong information to be stored in patient records using software from iSoft. Both are high profile screw-ups that are getting public attention.

Following on the heels of the CPOE installation problems at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, healthcare IT companies need to start figuring out how to manage expectations before these stories start a PR backlash that can make the wheels fall off. And if you think that the "information future" is inevitable, well, that's what they said about managed care in 1995.

FierceHealthcare will not publish Monday, January 16, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The markets are closed, and so are we. We'll return Tuesday, January 17. - Matthew