Health Data Management articles from February 2007

Health Data Management archives from February 2007

New Leadership, Same Mission; Plus a New EMR Conference.(Electronic Medical Record)
February 1, 2007... Since 1993, I have had the privilege of serving in leadership roles at Health Data Management, first as the founding editor, then, for the past six years, as publisher. The creative process of building this magazine from "a blank sheet of...

WEDI Wants Accord on ID Cards.(Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange)
February 1, 2007... When a patient walks into a doctor's office, they often hand over a health insurance identification card. What happens next depends on how the office is set up. Sometimes, insurance eligibility has been confirmed before the patient walks...

Cancer Researchers Refine Their Network.(National Cancer Institute initiated national information network for cancer community)
February 1, 2007... The National Cancer Institute is winding down a three-year pilot test of a national information network and is starting to offer it to the cancer community. The Bethesda, Md.-based institute, part of the National Institutes of Health,...

Why Sharp HealthCare Bit the I.T. Bullet.
February 1, 2007... When executives at Sharp HealthCare decided to build a new flagship hospital, doing a massive information technology overhaul at the same time wasn't on the table. But the design of the new facility compelled new information systems and...

Tennessee Network Shares Patient Data via PHRs.(personal health records)
February 1, 2007... Information exchanges and personal health records are two recent health care I.T. developments that are generating a lot of buzz. In the state of Tennessee, a state-based payer is combining those technologies and offering them statewide to...

Canadian Firm to Acquire Kodak Health.(Onex Healthcare Holdings Inc)
February 1, 2007... Eastman Kodak Co. will sell its health care business, which primarily comprises film and digital medical imaging, under an agreement initially valued at $2.35 billion in cash. Rochester, N.Y.-based Kodak announced the sale to Onex...

Fuji Buy into Hot Cardiac PACS Market: "Imaging systems are one of the hottest areas of health care I.T., and cardiology is the fastest-growing specialty within PACS.".
February 1, 2007... FUJIFILM Medical Systems' recent acquisition of Problem Solving Concepts Inc. continues a trend among medical imaging vendors to buy cardiology picture archiving and communication systems. At least four rival vendors since mid-2005 have...

Health I.T. Stocks Go Up, But Still Lag Behind: "Expectations were too high heading into 2006, and what ended up happening was basically a flat sales environment.".
February 1, 2007... Health care information technology stocks were expected to soar in 2006, but slow sales early in the year dampened investor enthusiasm. And while health I.T. stocks had healthy gains in the fourth quarter and for the year, their performance...

Newsline Digest.
February 1, 2007... NEW LAW AIMS TO SECURE VA DATA President Bush has signed legislation revamping how the Veterans Administration handles health information security. The security provisions are part of a bill that made several changes to veterans' health...

Stock Chart.(Software industry)(Statistical table)
February 1, 2007... Price as Price a % One Six One Mkt. on of 52 month month Year YTD Cap. Health care software cos. 9/1/06 Wk High Change Change Change Change ($mil) Allscripts Healthcare $27.30 93.6%...

The Biosurveillance Evolution.(health security information in the hospitals)
February 1, 2007... In the emergency department at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, staff at the triage desk enter a patient's chief complaint and demographic information into the emergency department information system. The complaint and selected...

Existing Systems Do Double Duty.
February 1, 2007... Some hospitals have found an information system designed for one purpose can be useful for biosurveillance activities or emergency situations. The University of Utah Hospital uses software from Salt Lake City-based TheraDoc Inc. to...

Biosense Starts To Gain Traction: "Technology isn't limiting a national biosurveillance network.".(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
February 1, 2007... The federal government has a wide variety of biosurveillance networks in the works for its various departments, and work on these initiatives has increased since the terror and anthrax attacks of 2001. Many of the initiatives, however,...

The Marriage of Genomics and I.T.: Trailblazers are gearing up for the wedding, but the engagement can be tough.(information technology)
February 1, 2007... The completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 marked the beginning of a new frontier for health care. The 13-year international initiative, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health, consolidated...

Uncle Sam Sizing Up I.T.'s Role in Genomics.(National Institutes of Health)
February 1, 2007... U.S. government agencies also are taking a keen interest in how I.T. can be used to share data on genetic variations associated with health and disease. The National Institutes of Health for several years has been funding and conducting...

Educating Clinicians About Genomic-Based Care.
February 1, 2007... While only a few health care facilities have begun initiatives to use information technology to link genomic and clinical information, some industry organizations for years have been working to prepare clinicians to use the data on the job. ...

Hospitals Giving the Gift of Technology: Relaxed regulations may spark largesse, but when it comes to I.T. donations, nothing is really free.(Department of Health and Human Services)
February 1, 2007... There's usually a huge disparity between the use of I.T. in hospitals and physician practices. But the Bush administration is betting that recent revisions to federal law will help change that. Last August, the Department of Health and...

I.T. Donation Programs Can Take Time.
February 1, 2007... Though new exceptions and safe harbors for the Stark and anti-kickback rules are designed to make it easier for hospitals to donate I.T. to physicians, devising and administering the programs often is an expensive and time-consuming task. ...

Payers Get Personal With Online Records: Managed care plans see personal health records as a way to control costs. But will PHRs get the job done?
February 1, 2007... Many of the nation's biggest managed care companies, including United-Health Group, Wellpoint Inc. and large Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans, are pushing their members to use personal health records. Aetna Inc. has taken the extra step of creating...

Grants Support New Functions for PHRs.(personal health records)(Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
February 1, 2007... The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, N.J., is funding research efforts designed to expand the functions of personal health records so they can be more useful to consumers. "We want PHR applications that focus around the needs of...

Employers, Payers Launch Separate PHR Efforts.
February 1, 2007... Employers and health insurers view personal health records as an ideal way to keep consumers better informed about their health care. If consumers have better access to information, they're more likely to seek out appropriate treatment or...

Heroes Get Help from Electronic 'Buddy': Telemanagement devices help military veterans combat depression and other mental illnesses.(Health Hero Network Inc.)(Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Sheridan)
February 1, 2007... Hemoglobin A1c levels and blood pressure readings can give caregivers monitoring the health of someone with diabetes or heart disease a pretty good idea of how things are going. With mental illness, the clues are more subtle, says Janet...

Access, Security Go Hand in Hand: Hospital uses proximity badges, single-sign-on and biometrics to ease access while locking down applications.(Sisters of Mercy Health System)
February 1, 2007... Physicians and nurses at Sisters of Mercy Health System often faced an uphill battle when trying to access the Chesterfield, Mo.-based delivery systems applications. Each clinician typically had to memorize six to eight user names and passwords...

Charging the Right Amount for Supplies: Software helps ensure prices reflect actual costs and comply with managed care contract terms.
February 1, 2007... Knowing how much supplies cost, and then charging an appropriate amount for them, seems like a simple enough business process. But for many health care organizations, the process is far from simple. Maricopa Medical Center, a Phoenix-based...

Writing a Script for Savings: Hospital uses tools to tweak various information systems and streamline processes.(Michael Maggio created computer programs for health industry)
February 1, 2007... When computer systems specialist Michael Maggio joined the materials management department at Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge, La., two years ago, his job description was clear: automate the purchase of supplies. Today, small computer programs,...

Virginia RHIO Taking Baby Steps: Fledgling network getting docs online, but it's still working out the kinks.
February 1, 2007... William Moore, M.D., doesn't consider himself a techie. "I've dabbled with computers here and there, mostly while in hospitals to assist in making rounds," he says. But the 54-year-old family practice physician now is wired up through a...

A Picture of I.T. Progress: A program to capture wound images on mobile devices keeps improving through trial and error.(Partners HealthCare System Inc. uses information technology for treatment)
February 1, 2007... Eight years ago, home care nurses at Partners Health- Care in Boston did everything from record patients' vital signs to create treatment plans on paper. It was back then, however, that administrators began to imagine a scenario in which...

Contracts Update.(Directory)
February 1, 2007... The Contracts Update section includes announcements of contracts that health care information technology companies have signed with customers in recent weeks. Contract news can be sent to Health Data Management by e-mail to:...

2007 Conferences.(Calendar)
February 1, 2007... 2007 Health Care I.T. Conferences February 06-09: Medicine Meets Virtual Reality, Aligned Management Associates Inc. Long Beach, Calif. www.nextmed.com/mmvr_virtual_reality.html 12: WEDI Sixth NPI Industry Forum, ...

Advertiser Index.(Website list)
February 1, 2007... Advertiser Site Addresses Page # ABBYY www.abbyyusa.com/hdm 47 Accuro Healthcare Systems www.accurohealth.com 109 Ambir www.ambir.com/hdm 46 AMES www.amescolorfile.com 91 AMICAS www.amicas.com 103 AnyDoc...

Do you agree or disagree?
February 1, 2007... "With HIPAA privacy and security rule deadlines long past and enforcement measures weak, commitments by provider and payer organizations to protect patient information have slipped in the past year. Do you agree or disagree?" Source:...