Health Data Management articles from March 2008

Health Data Management archives from March 2008

Thanks for 15 Years of Support.
March 1, 2008... The past 15 years have seen a mind boggling amount of change in the way we all use computers. When Executive Editor Howard Anderson launched this magazine back in 1993 as its first editor, the computer mouse was relatively new, and e-mail wasnt...

Payer Organizations Accept And Appropriately Process HIPAA Transactions.
March 1, 2008... AGREE Pamela McNutt Senior Vice President, CIO Methodist Health System, Dallas This is generally true for claims, electronic remittance advice, claims status and eligibility verification transactions. Progress has not...

HHS Advisors: Expand Data Protection.
March 1, 2008... An advisory committee, in a recent report to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, recommended expanded protection of patient data. This is at least the third time that the committee has recommended expanding health data...

FCC: $417 Million for Rural HIT.
March 1, 2008... The Federal Communications Commission has awarded grants totaling $417 million to help build 69 regional or statewide broadband telehealth networks. The largest grant, $24.6 million over three years, went to The New England Telehealth...

Report: BI Demand to Grow in 2008.(business intelligence)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Health care research and advisory firm Health Industry Insights predicts both payers and providers will increase spending on business intelligence software in 2008. Further, providers will increase spending on the data analytics technology more...

Payers to Test Medical Home Model.
March 1, 2008... Two affiliated health insurers serving the greater New York metropolitan region will conduct a pilot program of the Medical Home model to better coordinate patient care. Among other factors, the model advocates extensive use of information...

Maine Launches Its HIE.(health information exchange.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Providers in Maine early this year will start a large-scale, two-year demonstration of a statewide health information exchange. The HealthInfoNet network is funded with more than $4 million from foundations, provider organizations, and...

Kennedy: Why Are Safety Rules Delayed?
March 1, 2008... Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate why the Department of Health and Human Services has not implemented the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005. The law requires the...

Report Seeks Better Identity Validation.(Report)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Having a more reliable means of verifying consumers identities online would improve their ability to access and consolidate their health care information, according to a new report. The report, Connecting Americans to Their Health Care,...

Newsline Digest.(Elsevier Acquires Predictive Modeling Software )
March 1, 2008... HHS Hands over AHIC Reins The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $5 million in grants to establish a public-private partnership as a successor to the American Health Information Community. AHIC, created and chaired by...

Editorial/Ad Index.(Editorial)
March 1, 2008... A Adventist Bolingbrook (Ill.) Medical Center 48 AmeriBen/IEC Group 42 Andersen, Kay ...

Futurists Ponder the Possibilities: Predictions range from mind-reading computers to wearable medical records.
March 1, 2008... Anniversaries are a good time to consider past accomplishments and future possibilities. To mark Health Data Managements 15th anniversary, we asked five of the nations leading health care futurists for their reflections on the past 15 years and...

What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been.
March 1, 2008... Health Data Management has tracked the evolution of health care information technology for the past 15 years. Following is a summary of key developments, year by year, including some trends, such as community health information networks, that...

So You Want To Be a CIO?: Experts say a shift in the perceived role of information technology has resulted in changes to the I.T. head honcho position.
March 1, 2008... Ten years ago, Janet Stanek was having difficulty finding a job as a health care CIO. Though she was armed with several years of health information management experience, a bachelors degree in medical records administration and an MBA, some...

Finding the Right I.T.: CIOs use various methods to identify the best technology to support their business objectives.
March 1, 2008... Selecting the right information technology to support a health care organizations business objectives sometimes involves carefully measuring whether the technology offers a tangible return on investment. For example, AmeriBen/IEC Group, which...

Taking On a New Task: NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc. unveiled a major twist in December with the launching of an outsourced revenue cycle management service.
March 1, 2008... Competing with Cambridge, Mass.-based athenahealth Inc., among others, the new Practice Solutions service bundles NextGens practice management softwareand electronic records software if the client desireswith outsourced billing and claims...

Starting from Scratch: How a new hospital carefully selected the latest technologies to meet its needs.
March 1, 2008... The opening of a new, non-replacement hospital is a relatively rare event that provides insights on what information technologies are most appealing when truly starting with a blank slate. Adventist Bolingbrook (Ill.) Medical Center, which...

Sharing the Costs of E-Records: Some Boston area docs are getting financial and technological help to go electronic.
March 1, 2008... Hundreds of physicians in the Boston area are getting major financial help with implementing integrated practice management and electronic health records software in their practices. The catalyst for the project is the desire to improve care...

Plan Fine-Tunes Subsidy Program: A Hawaii payer refines its strategy as it gets feedback from providers, vendors.
March 1, 2008... A Hawaii insurers ambitious efforts to offer financial help to physicians and hospitals implementing information technology is off to a somewhat slower start than anticipated. So the payer is fine-tuning its strategy. In late 2006, Hawaii...

Contracts Update.
March 1, 2008... 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:...

Why Use Electronic Records?
March 1, 2008... History provides some valuable lessons. By Lynn R. Witherspoon, M.D. System Vice President and CIO Ochsner Health System New Orleans, Louisiana The Ochsner Clinic opened its doors in 1942 and remained a New Orleans...