Health Data Management articles from July 2008

Health Data Management archives from July 2008

The $81 Billion Question.(Report)
July 1, 2008... Estimating the potential savings to the U.S. health care system that widespread adoption of information technology would achieve is somewhat silly. Just as no one has any real idea of the impact of the economic stimulus checks Uncle Sam mailed...

HDM On The Web.
July 1, 2008... Health Data Management now offers free electronic newsletters designed to meet the needs of senior health care executives who play a role in critical information technology decisions. Each newsletter features links to content on our...

The Use Of Personal Health Records Software Will Never Become Widespread.
July 1, 2008... DISAGREE John Tempesco I believe the question was a little too vague. Once a generation or two of kids grow into adults who have used computers for most of their education, business, banking and other transactions, well have adoption...

Medsphere Embraces Open Source Model.
July 1, 2008... Hospital electronic records vendor Medsphere Systems Corp.s decision to become a fully open source company could be a potential game-changer for the Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based company and possibly the hospital information systems market. ...

Report to Congress Questions I.T. Savings.(information technology)(Report)
July 1, 2008... A report from the Congressional Budget Office casts doubt on previous studies of substantial cost savings from widespread use of health information technology, particularly electronic health records. The report could influence prospects for...

Bush Signs Genetic Nondiscrimination Act.(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... President Bush has signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. The House and Senate in recent weeks approved the legislation. Advocates working under the Coalition for Genetic Fairness spent 13 years trying to get the...

Deal Reached on Senate Privacy Bill.
July 1, 2008... Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has reached agreement with sponsors of the proposed Wired for Health Care Quality Act that could result in the long-stalled health care information technology bill moving through the Senate. The agreement also...

New House I.T. Bill Drafted.
July 1, 2008... Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has released a discussion draft of proposed health care information technology legislation. Provisions of the draft bill, which contains ideas from at least five...

Standard I.T. Definitions Issued.
July 1, 2008... The National Alliance for Health Information Technology, which managed a federally funded initiative to seek industry consensus on the use and definitions of specific information technology terms, has published its final report. The...

Medicare to Test PHRs in S. Carolina.
July 1, 2008... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is seeking Medicare beneficiaries in South Carolina to participate in a pilot program to assess the benefits of using personal health records. Medicare will populate the PHRs with claims data,...

Google Health Goes Live.
July 1, 2008... Google Inc. on May 19 officially launched its Google Health Web site, although the site remains labeled as beta. The Mountain View, Calif.-based vendor launched the site following a pilot program in conjunction with the Cleveland Clinic. ...

CCHIT Rolling Out 2008 Programs.
July 1, 2008... The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology has approved updated 2008 criteria for certifying ambulatory electronic health records systems. The criteria include optional, additional certifications for EHRs for child...

NextGen Expands Billing Services.
July 1, 2008... NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc. will acquire a billing service to expand its recently introduced revenue cycle management services for physician practices. The Horsham, Pa.-based vender has agreed to purchase Healthcare Strategic...

AAFP Launches a Consulting Unit.
July 1, 2008... The American Academy of Family Physicians has launched a consulting subsidiary following a two-year pilot program under which primary care practices implemented the medical home model of care. The subsidiary is named TransforMED, the same name...

VeriChip Starts Its Sell-Off.
July 1, 2008... Radio frequency identification technology vendor VeriChip Corp. is selling one part of the company and may eventually sell all of it. The Delray Beach, Fla.-based vendor will sell its Xmark Corp. subsidiary for $45 million to The Stanley Works,...

Symptom Navigator App Runs on iPhones.
July 1, 2008... Medical information content vendor A.D.A.M. has released an application that enables consumers to use iPhones to match their health symptoms with assessments and treatments. The Atlanta-based vendor's Symptom Navigator system presents consumers...

Caring for the Chronically Ill: Information systems can help ease the complexities of preventing and treating chronic conditions.
July 1, 2008... Patients with chronic illnesses account for 75% of U.S. health care spending, and that percentage will grow as the population ages, according to an April report from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice Within 15...

A New Way To Document Care.
July 1, 2008... Three skilled nursing facilities in Southwest New York this summer will implement a wireless, hands-free communications system in hopes of improving the quality of care for more than 400 chronically ill patients. Using the AccuNurse...

Assessing I.T.'s Role in Care for the Elderly.
July 1, 2008... Information technology can play an important role in improving care for those with chronic illnesses, particularly the elderly, according to a new report from the Center for Aging Services Technologies. The center is a unit of the American...

Mobile Carts Turn a Corner: Now that some health care organizations have settled on a device, they are moving forward with deploying multiple applications.
July 1, 2008... When All Childrens Hospital purchased mobile computer carts about four years ago, I.T. staff had high hopes for the devices. They envisioned clinicians using them to take various clinical systems, including admission/discharge/transfer, nursing...

Choosing The Right Mobile Cart.
July 1, 2008... The plethora of mobile cart vendors makes it difficult to choose the right device. Its hard for hospitals to separate the vendors out there the first time they look at mobile carts, says Keith Washington, vice president and general manager at...

Better Scheduling Boosts Productivity: Hospitals use software to improve efficiency and comply with regulations.
July 1, 2008... Using software to simplify staff scheduling sounds simple enough. But those whove implemented the latest scheduling software say that taking full advantage of the technology is a complex task that can pay off in much better management of...

Easing Scheduling For Patients.
July 1, 2008... Like many integrated delivery systems, Florida Hospital in Orlando wanted to make it easier for its patients to schedule outpatient procedures at its seven hospitals with more than 1,000 physicians. So the organization created a centralized...

Training The Next Generation: Medical schools use a variety of approaches to teach students about technology.
July 1, 2008... Last fall, University of South Florida Health in Tampa added a new class to its medical school curriculum. But instead of focusing on an emerging disease or care regimen, the class provides instruction on how to use electronic health records....

Revamping Apps For Payers: MEDecision Inc. hopes its introduction of next-generation applications will give it a boost in the competitive health insurance software market.
July 1, 2008... The Wayne, Pa.-based company is seeking to rebound from tough times in 2007 when it lost nearly $6 million and saw revenue grow only 1% to $44.8 million. Many insurers that previously outsourced disease, case and utilization management...

Keeping Young Patients Safe: A nurse at a children's hospital devises a computerized system to alert clinicians about safety risks.
July 1, 2008... Childrens hospitals face some special challenges in keeping their young patients safe. Some children may be victims of child abuse and need to be protected from certain family members. Others may be gang members facing the risk of being targets...

Using E-Mail for Alerts.
July 1, 2008... Childrens Specialized Hospital relies on customized commercial software that automatically generates e-mails to alert appropriate staff members about certain safety risks for its patients. The Mountainside, N.J.-based organization, which...

Using A Standard EHR Approach: An academic medical center builds a toolkit to streamline go-lives at its 59 clinics.
July 1, 2008... Because Oregon Health and Science University has 59 clinics, two hospitals and 800 salaried faculty physicians, implementing an enterprisewide electronic health records system was a daunting task. To greatly simplify implementation at the...

The Power of a Telephone: Medicare, Medicaid test how daily interactions help cardiac patients stay out of the hospital.
July 1, 2008... Sometimes picking up the phone can make a world of difference. In two pilot projects, congestive heart failure patients who make daily phone calls to an automated service are entering the hospital far less often than would otherwise be...

Taking A Team Approach: CIOs need to involve a cross-section of participants.
July 1, 2008... The old saying goes, There is no I in team, and this has never been more accurate than in todays health care information services departments. Ive had the opportunity to serve in an information systems leadership role for several health...