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I caught this li’l poll via the Boston Business Journal:

The issue of doctor and nurse retention will be the most pressing concern for hospitals during the next 12 months, according to a poll from Picis Inc.

Wakefield, Mass.-based Picis, which provides information systems that enable the delivery of clinical, financial and operational results in the acute areas of hospitals, surveyed 300 doctors, nurses and hospital administrators for the poll.

Recruiting and retention of doctors and nurses ranked as a larger concern than both the economy and Medicaid/Medicare reimbursement cuts, according to the poll.

The second biggest concern was the rollout of electronic health records.

Nearly 90 percent of poll respondents think that electronic health records are going to revolutionize the health care system but the majority predict it will at least 10 years before they are used in the majority of U.S. hospitals.

Does this mean you shouldn’t worry about training your staff on the latest EMR products, but wait 10 years, until most of them have retired, and then train the next crop of residents?

I love polls.

Off for vacation.  See you after Labor Day.

Remember when Cerner dissed Google Health?  This news came out today in the Globe about Google Health and BCBS of Mass:

Come this fall, members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts will be able to go online to look up their healthcare claims and some medical records, which the insurer says will help patients manage their medical care and have more productive discussions with doctors.

The feature is being offered through Google Health, the new healthcare Web portal recently opened by the Internet search giant based in Mountain View, Calif. Blue Cross-Blue Shield said it is the first health insurer to sign on to the service.

Since Cerner sells its goods to hospitals and hospitals are reimbursed by health plans and those health plans are demanding more up-to-date, quality information on patient outcomes…  Hmmm.  Seems like those patients are going to want to use their Google Health accounts — backed by their health plans — when they show up for a doctor’s visit.

And kudos again to the great state of Massachusetts, the right in the center of healthcare innovation.  (Did we mention we had an office here?)