Clinical Groupware

Clinical Groupware is a term introduced by Dr. David Kibbe in his blog post “Why Clinical Groupware May Be the Next Big Thing in Health IT” on 8 February 2009:

What would you call health care software that:

• Is Web-based and networkable, therefore highly scalable and inexpensive to purchase and use;
• Provides a ‘unified view’ of a patient from multiple sources of data and information;
• Is designed to be used interactively - by providers and patients alike - to coordinate care and create continuity;
• Offers evidence-based guidance and coaching, personalized by access to a person’s health data as it changes;
• Collects, for analysis and reporting, quality and performance measures as the routine by-product of its normal daily use;
• Aims to provide patients and their providers with a collaborative workflow platform for decision support; and
• Creates a care plan for each individual and then monitors the progress of each patient and provider in meeting the goals of that plan?

I call this Clinical Groupware.  The term captures the basic notion that the primary purpose for using these IT systems is to improve clinical care through communications and coordination involving a team of people, the patient included.  And in a manner that fosters accountability in terms of quality and cost.

Examples of Clinical Groupware include:

• 4medica
• RMD Networks (Denver, CO)
• eClinicalWorks (ASP version)
  
• Shared Health (Chattanooga, TN)
• VisionTree