“Access to valuable data and the transition to cloud infrastructure could help the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) access life-saving procedures for patients across the country, according to a presentation by HHS CIO José Arrieta at FCW Workshop: Health IT on Dec. 4…”
“Arrieta gave the audience a look at possibilities for the future of cloud development at HHS with a real-world example: a recently divorced mom in rural, upstate New York hurt her back while on the job as a nurse. Prescribed Vicodin, the woman spiraled into an opioid addiction. She became sick and went fully septic, but the small hospital nearby was unable to treat her. She was airlifted to a bigger hospital and given several harmful drugs to fight the disease while she waited for her bloodwork to confirm which medication would save her life.”
“’Wouldn’t it be nice in that rural hospital if there was a mobile way to say, in the event of an emergency, that I agree to have my prescription information shared?’ the CIO asked. ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to know that this individual could be at risk of opioid abuse before you even prescribed the opioids?’”
“Cloud data storage, Arrieta suggested, could have helped prevent this situation from the get-go. Data on social determinants of health – such as the woman’s divorce, isolation, and other stressors – could have signaled mental health struggles. If doctors were aware of these struggles, they likely would’ve avoided prescribing an addictive opioid to a vulnerable person. When the woman fell ill, digital access to her prescription information could’ve helped doctors determine the cause of her illness…” Read the full article here.
Source: Cloud Could Enable Life-Saving Data Management at HHS – December 4, 2019. MeriTalk.
