Digital Health In Brief

The independent ECRI Institute is spotlighting safety problems surrounding interconnected medical device and health IT systems. The upcoming mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C., will feature a keynote by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. More digital health news.

Poor management of the convergence between medical devices and health information technology can be risky for patients, according to a list of Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2012 published this month by ECRI Institute. Performance problems related to convergence can be due to software anomalies, cybersecurity threats, system interoperability issues, interactivity limitations among any of the devices or interfaces within a system, or degraded network performance, ECRI states. “A key reason problems arise is the failure to implement adequate change management policies and procedures that accommodate both IT and medical technology needs,” ECRI explains. The group calls for a structured approach to ensuring that any modifications to an integrated system are made in a controlled manner. “Because medical devices and health IT are becoming so interconnected, health care facilities must be aware of a possible domino effect wherein changes to one component of the system affect the operation of another.”

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will give the opening address Dec. 5 at the 2011 mHealth Summit, the Foundation for the...

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