Health Data Management articles from August 2003

Health Data Management archives from August 2003

Introducing 'Mobile Health Data'.
August 1, 2003... Think small! Yes, you read correctly. I know conventional wisdom says to think big. But there's little that's conventional about mobile technology, which has begun making an impact on health care like few other information technologies ever...

Are Feds Supplying the Spark for Electronic Records Adoption?
August 1, 2003... After three years of negotiations, the National Library of Medicine has licensed the SNOMED CT clinical reference vocabulary and will make it available for free to health care organizations for use in the United States. Further, the...

Will Electronic Records Push Out Document Imaging?
August 1, 2003... Document imaging technology has brought important benefits to Genesys Regional Medical Center since it went live with an imaging system in January 2001. The 379-bed hospital in Grand Blanc, Mich., anchor of an integrated delivery system...

Health Care I.T. Stocks Stay on Track.
August 1, 2003... Health care I.T. stocks, buoyed by renewed investor enthusiasm for all things technology, had a rousing good time in the second quarter of 2003. The price of a marketbasket of 22 health care information technology stocks tracked by New...

Survey: Money is Big Records Barrier.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Money is the major barrier to provider organizations' plans for implementing electronic health records systems, according to the Fifth Annual MRI Survey of EHR Trends & Usage from the Medical Records Institute, Newton, Mass. Sixty-four percent...

Software Takes Shot at Bioterrorism.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is making available a computerized staffing model to help provider organizations react to bioterrorism events or large-scale natural disease outbreaks. The Mass Prophylaxis/Vaccination...

Standard Coding Model Recommended.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Hospital Evaluation and Management Coding Panel has sent recommendations to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a standard Evaluation and Management coding model. The model would be designed to give objective and consistent...

AMA Adopts e-Prescribing Guidelines.(American Medical Association)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The American Medical Association has adopted guidelines for prescribing medications over the Internet. The Chicago-based association believes a physician should obtain medical history information and complete a physical examination of a patient...

New Program to Certify Associates.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the National Committee for Quality Assurance have launched a HIPAA privacy rule certification program for business associates. The program provides third-party certification...

Newsline Digest.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Newsline Digest presents highlights of the latest health care I.T. news as reported on the Health Data Management Web site. For extended versions of these and many other original news stories, visit www.healthdatamanagement.com. ...

KLAS Ranks the Vendors.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Epic Computer Systems and McKesson Corp. lead KLAS Enterprises' mid-year rankings of customer satisfaction with health care information technology products, each snagging the top spot in three categories. Draper, Utah-based KLAS, a vendor...

GE Medical to Buy Lab Vendor.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... GE Medical Systems Information Technologies, Milwaukee, will acquire Triple G, a Toronto-based vendor of laboratory information systems, for $54.8 million. Triple G has more than 110 clients, representing 450 clinical laboratories, in Canada,...

Misys to Acquire Per-Se's Patient1.(Misys Healthcare Systems)(Per-Se Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Misys Healthcare Systems, Raleigh, N.C., will acquire the Patient1 product line of Per-Se Technologies Inc., Atlanta, for about $30 million in cash. Patient1 products, designed for acute care settings, include computer-based patient records,...

WebMD to Acquire Print/Mail Vendor.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... WebMD Corp. will acquire Advanced Business Fulfillment Inc., a vendor of print/mail services for 300 payers and third-party administrators. Elmwood Park, N.J.-based WebMD will pay $110 million in cash at closing and up to $150 million in cash...

Application Tracks Disclosures.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Beacon Partners, a Norwell, Mass.-based health care management consulting firm, has released a disclosure accounting system designed to help organizations comply with HIPAA's disclosure tracking requirement. The Beacon Disclosure Accounting...

Software Electronically Signs Files.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... ArticSoft Ltd., Glenwood, Md., has introduced software, called FileAssurity, designed to enable health care organizations to encrypt and digitally sign files, folders, documents and e-mails. Recipients of encrypted information can download a...

Testing Starts for New Code Set.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The American Health Information Management Association and American Hospital Association have started field testing the ICD-10-CM code set. The associations selected more than 350 AHIMA members from various provider settings to code medical...

Software Analyzes Wound Care.(Smith and Nephew Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Smith & Nephew Inc., a London-based medical supplies vendor, has introduced decision support software to help hospitals manage wound care programs. The WoundPath software collects data from hospital information systems for analysis of the...

edocs Integrates with IBM.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... edocs Inc. will integrate its electronic billing software with portal technology from IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y. Under the alliance, Natick, Mass.-based edocs will develop "portlets" for IBM's WebSphere portal technology that will enable patients...

MedSeek to Offer Online 'Dashboard'.(MedSeek Inc.)(ActaView Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... MedSeek, a Solvang, Calif.-based vendor of health care Web applications, will offer its hospital clients a real-time "dashboard view" of business statistics through a partnership with Atlanta-based ActaView. ActaView's applications integrate...

Physician Micro Finds its Voice.(Physician Micro Systems Inc.)(ScanSoft Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Physician Micro Systems Inc., Seattle, will integrate speech recognition software into its electronic medical records software, called Practice Partner Patient Records. Terms of the strategic alliance with ScanSoft Inc., vendor of the Dragon...

HIMSS Defines Electronic Record.(Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society has proposed a definitional model of an electronic health record and submitted it to the Institute of Medicine and the Health Level Seven standards development organization. The U.S....

Survey: Health Care Embracing Mobile.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Health care-an industry with a reputation for being extraordinarily slow to adopt information technology-is jumping into mobile hardware and software as the mobile industry itself is making its first leaps into the mainstream, according to...

Major Wireless Changes Looming.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... President Bush's recent call for a review of the television broadcast spectrum for wireless uses could change the way health care organizations use 802.11 wireless networks. In June, Bush ordered the Department of Commerce to complete a...

Wireless Standard Gets a Jolt.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The most common wireless local area network technology soon will gain a jolt of speed. The standards board of the Piscataway, N.J.-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has ratified an amendment to its 802.11b standard,...

Groups to Hold Third Mobile Health Show.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Newton, Mass.-based Medical Records Institute and Washington-based Mobile Healthcare Alliance will co-sponsor the Third Annual National Conference on m-Health and EOE, September 7-10 at the Hilton Minneapolis. The event, which will focus on...

Palm Narrows Losses in 4th Quarter.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Milpitas, Calif.-based Palm Inc. reported losses of $15 million for the fourth quarter ended May 31, compared with a loss of $27.5 million for the same period last year. The vendor of hand-held computers attributes the losses in part to $2...

Mobile Health News.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Mobile Health News presents highlights of the latest mobile health care stories reported on Mobile Health Data, the sister site to Health Data Management online. Beginning September 3, for extended versions of these and many other original news...

Skyscape Offers Cancer Books on PDAs.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Skyscape Inc., Hudson, Mass., has made three oncology reference guides available to physicians using PDAs. The vendor has partnered with Jones and Bartlett, Sudbury, Mass., publisher of the "Physician's Cancer Chemotherapy Drug Manual" and...

Michigan Med School Moves to Mobile.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, will use PDAs, educational and health care software, and wireless infrastructure from Ann Arbor, Mich.-based CampusMobility. Terms of the multi-year agreement were not disclosed. The medical...

Survey: Hotspot Growth Not Enough.(public wireless broadband network services )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The number of public hotspots has risen from just over 1,200 in 2001 to more than 71,000 in 2003, but it's still not enough to meet users' needs, according to a recent survey by Gartner Inc., Stamford, Conn. The consulting and research firm...

Microsoft Releases New Mobile OS.(operating system Windows Mobile 2003)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. has released Windows Mobile 2003 software for Pocket PCs and smart phones. The new software is designed to enable access to wireless networks as well as support developers building Microsoft .NET services...

Survey: Wireless Shipments on the Rise.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Worldwide wireless local area network equipment shipments totaled 19.5 million units in 2002, a 120% increase from 2001, according to a study by Gartner Inc., a Stamford, Conn.-based research organization. Despite such growth rates, user...

PDAs Battle Nursing Shortage.(personal digital assistants)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The growing national nursing shortage is not news to most health care provider organizations. The use of mobile technology to combat the shortage, however, is a very new development. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H., is one...

Stock Chart.(health care software and information technology companies)(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... (part 1 of 3) Price Price as on a % of 52 Health care software companies 7/10/2003 Wk High...

CIOs Coming in for a Pit Stop in the HIPAA Compliance Race.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
August 1, 2003... When the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was passed in 1996, many health care CIOs anticipated final rules would be released-and compliance completed-by the new millennium. If only. Seven years later, after...

Testing their patience.(payers face difficulty meeting Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations)
August 1, 2003... Many payers have retooled their claims processing systems in anticipation of the Oct. 16 deadline to comply with HIPAA's transactions and code sets rule. But with the deadline just two months away, some payers and industry experts say that...

Ergonomics: Looking for a Good Fit: Health care organizations are increasingly factoring ergonomics considerations into I.T. plans.
August 1, 2003... Ergonomics is a pain in the neck. And wrist. And back. And other parts of the human anatomy. Technically, ergonomics is about preventing the conditions that cause those maladies, but many computer users in health care organizations couldn't...

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: How Prevalent?
August 1, 2003... Carpal tunnel syndrome, and the fear of the condition, plays a big role in computer-related ergonomics. The condition occurs when a nerve running through the carpal "tunnel" joining the arm and hand becomes compressed and produces pain or...

Ergonomics Resources.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Information on ergonomics is available from a wide range of sources. Following is a brief listing of some professional organizations and government agencies and their Web sites. American Occupational Therapy Association, Bethesda, Md....

CIOs Make Patient Safety an I.T. Priority: CIOs are using diverse I.T. strategies to help reduce medical errors.
August 1, 2003... As soon as Cottage Health System began incorporating I.T into its patient safety initiatives, it decided to implement a computerized physician order entry system. Clinical and I.T. staff members at the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based delivery...

Take the Quick Poll...
August 1, 2003... Visit the Health Data Management Web site and express your opinion on one of health care I.T.'s hot topics. Your comments may appear in a future Readers' Perspectives department. Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

Tablet PCs Heed Nurses' Needs: Nursing group upgrades to Tablet PCs to help improve care, documentation and communication.
August 1, 2003... Visiting Nurse Service of New York already was a big proponent of tablet computers. In 1996, many of the organization's 2,300 nurses began using tablet computers for basic documentation while providing care in the homes of 24,000 patients...

Connecting to the Country: A telemedicine network in Michigan's Upper Peninsula plows through snow, ice and space.
August 1, 2003... Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a vast rural territory of 16,500 square miles, with 300,000 residents stretched over an area nearly 400 miles long from east to west. The U.P. is beautiful country, but most roads are secondary and a typical winter...

Patient Data Online and On Time: Delivery system uses emerging technology to service users with online patient data.
August 1, 2003... Fed up with faxes, two years ago physicians affiliated with many of Health Management Associates Inc.'s hospitals started clamoring for online access to patient information. Naples, Fla.-based HMA, which operates 44 hospitals in 14 states,...

Health Management Associates Inc.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Headquarters: Naples, Fla. Ownership: Public (NYSE: HMA) Hospitals: 44 States: 14 Market Strategy: Communities with populations ranging from 40,000 to 300,000 Net patient service revenue, 2002: $2.26 billion...

Contracts Update.
August 1, 2003... The Contracts Update Department features announcements of recent contracts that health care information technology companies have signed with provider and payer organization customers. Please send contract announcement news releases via...

Advertiser Index.
August 1, 2003... Advertiser Site Addresses Page # 3m Health Info Systems www.3Mhis.com/perspective 49 Acer www.acer.com/us 47 Amcom Software www.amcomsoft.com 76 Baxter www.baxterpatientcare.com 15 Carstens...

Q. Do You Agree or Disagree?
August 1, 2003... "Extensible Markup Language, more commonly known as XML, will become a key I.T. standard for health care applications in the years ahead." AGREE Charles Reitano Senior product analyst Cooper Health System, Cherry Hill,...