Health Data Management articles from January 2007

Health Data Management archives from January 2007

Preparing for HIMSS 2007 and Other Trade Shows.
January 1, 2007... A few years back, I had lapel buttons made that proclaimed "No Hype." We handed them out at the gigantic HIMSS Conference. My goal was to emphasize that exhibitors needed to, at least, answer one vital question: "Is this product you're...

New Congress, Same I.T. Issues.(formation of 110th Congreess, health care information technology legislations expected)
January 1, 2007... With the 110th Congress starting work this month will come a renewed push to get health care information technology legislation through the House and Senate. Many of the existing I.T. advocates in the two chambers remain, but the power...

Hawaii Blues to Docs: We'll Help with EMRs.(Hawaii Medical Service Association's $50 million program, aid to purchase electronic medical records)
January 1, 2007... A $50 million program from the Hawaii Medical Service Association, under which the Blues plan would give providers substantial financial help to purchase electronic medical records systems, could wire up most physicians in the state. "I...

Learning the ABCs of Implementing an EMR.(electronic medical records)
January 1, 2007... Only two and a half years after implementing an electronic medical records system, Renaissance Pediatrics is reaping the benefits. And executives at the group practice have some important "lessons learned" to share with their peers. ...

What's Up With CCHIT?(Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... A town hall meeting of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology at the 2007 HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition will be split between updating industry stakeholders on the commission's work and seeking input as that...

Remote Surgery Making Progress.(University of Cincinnati surgeons experimenting prospects of remote surgery)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Surgeons at the University of Cincinnati are experimenting with remote surgery, including use of a large model airplane to transmit signals from the surgeon to a robotic arm that performs the procedure. The U.S. military uses about 4,000...

New Rule Affects Records Retention.(implications of federal rules on procedures for electronic discovery for civil cases on electronic medical records)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... A new federal rule governing procedures for electronic discovery - the gathering of evidence in electronic media - for civil law cases became effective on Dec. 1, 2006. "The rule will affect the disclosure of health records and will shift how...

New HIPAA Transactions On Horizon.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Industry government watchers expect the Department of Health and Human Services this year to publish a proposed rule to migrate HIPAA transactions to the forthcoming version 5010. The change away from version 4010 is overdue, says Don...

Bringing the I.T. Crew Back In.(Medical University of South Carolina brings back IT staff)
January 1, 2007... Nineteen years ago, the hospital of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston outsourced the staffing of its information technology functions. After two years of preparation, the outsourcing ended in January and the hospital...

CIOs Can Help Shape Policy.
January 1, 2007... During the 109th Congress that ended in December, 62 bills affecting health information technology were introduced. If health care CIOs want to see legislation become enacted law, they must work for it. "We need to make sure CIOs are...

Newsline Digest.
January 1, 2007... 3M WILL ACQUIRE SOFTMED St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M Inc. will acquire SoftMed Systems Inc., a vendor of ancillary information systems for hospitals. Terms of the acquisition, which was expected to close in fourth quarter 2006, were not...

Stock Chart.(health care software industry stock performance)(Statistical table)
January 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 $27.04 95.6%...

Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the worst can be a costly and time-consuming task. But it's increasingly necessary in an electronic world.
January 1, 2007... Disaster recovery technology is similar to home, health and auto insurance-you really need it, it hurts to pay a lot for it, and you hope you never have to use it. But businesses of every stripe must consider what to do in case of a...

Redundancy Just One Option.(deploying disaster recovery and backup systems)
January 1, 2007... Deploying a disaster recovery system that includes fully redundant backup capabilities of critical information systems is regarded as the ideal solution. There are, however, other ways health care organizations can handle disaster...

Brain Drain Is Another Consequence Of Katrina.
January 1, 2007... The photos of the physical devastation from Hurricane Katrina are forever etched in the mind. But as the region still struggles to recover from the storm, its aftershocks are still crippling many health care facilities. At Touro Infirmary...

Paper: The Last Resort.(Anderson Hospital uses paper as backup system)
January 1, 2007... When the disaster recovery network crashes three times in a month and corrupts data along the way, a hospital knows it has some problems. This was the situation at Anderson Hospital, Maryville, Ill., in 2004. The 135-bed, acute care medical...

Vendor Consolidation: Still Riding the Wave: Plenty of buyers and sellers in 2006 as vendors tried to get footholds in growing niches.(health care information technology market trends)
January 1, 2007... Consolidation in the health care information technology market took a sizable jump in 2005, and many industry insiders predicted 2006 would see even more activity. They were right. It was a busy year, with Health Data Management tracking...

2006 Vendor Consolidation Scorecard.(HealthMedia Inc. acquires MySelfHelp.com)(Wolters Kluwer N.V. acquires ProVation Medical Inc.)(MedAssets Inc. acquires Avega Health Systems)
January 1, 2007... Acquiring Company Acquired Company Price notes January HealthMedia Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich. MySelfHelp.com, Northborough, Mass. N/A Behavioral health vendor rounds out product line. Wolters Kluwer, Amersterdam ProVation...

Slimmed-Down Emdeon Still A Player.(Emdeon Corp. sells Business Services division to General Atlantic L.L.C. and Practice Services division to Sage Software Inc.)
January 1, 2007... Emdeon Corp. may have sold its two core business units in 2006, but the Elmwood Park, N.J.-based vendor remains a major player in the health care information technology industry. While the company sold to Greenwich, Conn.-based General...

Mckesson Aims High With Per-Se.(acquisition of Per-Se Technologies Inc.)
January 1, 2007... The largest vendors in the health care information technology industry generally have avoided the small physician practice market. Conventional wisdom dictates it is not a profitable enough market for them to try to crack. "It is not easy...

Practices Go Beyond Basics With EDI: Clinics are starting to use electronic data interchange for more than just claims processing.
January 1, 2007... The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act has gone a long way toward sorting out the mess surrounding the electronic submission of health care claims. HIPAA's transactions and code sets rule delivered a standard framework to...

Surescripts Raises Connectivity Bar.(SureScripts Systems Inc. launches GoldRx certification program)
January 1, 2007... For several years, SureScripts has been building its national electronic prescribing network to link physicians and pharmacies. The vendor now is launching a certification program to attest that software vendors not only are capable of handling...

Software Tackles A Persistent Challenge: A Pennsylvania hospital uses I.T. to help identify, analyze and reduce hospital-acquired infections.(using electronic surveillance service from MedMined Inc.)
January 1, 2007... Information technology can play a significant role in addressing a persistent, costly problem: hospital-acquired infections. For Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa., I.T. provided a way to gather timely data that it then used to implement...

EMRs Are Still Full of Surprises: Delivery system unearths new benefits five years after implementation.(implementation of electronic medical records service by Olmsted Medical Center from InteGreat Inc.)
January 1, 2007... Olmsted Medical Center executives weren't particularly surprised when its outpatient electronic medical records system delivered numerous benefits at the point of care. But the system's behind-the-scenes benefits came as an unexpected bonus....

Contracts Update: 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: rebecca.kelly-schuerenberg<at>sourcemedia.com.
January 1, 2007... Agfa Picture archiving and communication system Pinnacle Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Specialists, Atlanta Voice recognition and dictation systems Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington Allscripts Electronic...

Readers' Perspectives.(opinions of medical personnels and readers on adoption of speech recognition and self-editing transcribing technology by physicians)
January 1, 2007... "The majority of physicians will not voluntarily adopt speech recognition and self-editing transcribing technology in the foreseeable future. Do you agree or disagree?" AGREE Mary Ann Prosyniuk Clinical Informatics Nurse ...

Advertiser Index.(Directory)
January 1, 2007... Advertiser Site Addresses Page # Allscripts www.healthdatamanagement.com/hpwebseminar 69 Artromick www.artromick.com 35 CDW www.CDWHealthcare.com 7 Dell www.dell.com/healthcare/HDM4a 15 Dictaphone...