Health Data Management articles from May 2006

Health Data Management archives from May 2006

HHS Provides Poor Example on HIPAA Compliance.
May 1, 2006... "Do as I say, not as I do." We've all heard that phrase attributed to parents who give their children the right advice, but don't follow it themselves. When it comes to HIPAA compliance, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,...

GAO Report Rips HHS for Lack of I.T. Security.
May 1, 2006... A new government report harshly criticizes the Department of Health and Human Services for providing inadequate security for its information systems. Ironically, HHS is the government agency that's responsible for enforcing most of HIPAA,...

Electronic Records a Must for New Practice.
May 1, 2006... Surgical Specialists of Spokane (Wash.) opened for business on Jan. 3, 2005, following the merger of three group practices and a solo practitioner. On that day, the four-office, 12-physician practice also went live on new electronic...

Physician Blogger Tells the Tale of CPOE Implementation.
May 1, 2006... Blogs, or weblogs, can be an individual's musings on life, a sports team or something else. Harris Stutman, M.D., started his when MemorialCare Medical Centers in Huntington Beach, Calif., decided to implement an electronic medical records...

Newsline Digest.
May 1, 2006... CONNECTIVITY PART OF BIRD FLU FIGHT Three laboratories in Vietnam will receive $230,000 in U.S. funding to develop and maintain interoperable connectivity to help identify outbreaks of the H5N1 bird flu. Paris-based Institut Pasteur...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 1, 2006... The Medical Devices department story on page 120 in the February edition titled "EKG + E-Records Equals Efficiencies," contained inaccurate information. Vancouver Clinic is located in Vancouver, Wash. The practice's executive director is...

Clarification.(Correction notice)
May 1, 2006... The March Cover story, "Christiana Hospital Honored for GroundbreakingProject," contained an inaccuracy. The cost for Christiana Care Health System to implement the passive tracking system in two hospitals, including software and hardware, was...

Stock Chart.(Directory)
May 1, 2006... (part 1 of 3) Health care software companies Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Amicas Cerner Corp. CPSI Eclipsys Corp. Emageon Inc. Health Management Systems IMS HEALTH McKesson Mediware...

Online Messaging Opening Clinical Doors.
May 1, 2006... When one of his patients complains about a back strain, William Davis, M.D., doesn't necessarily need a face-to-face encounter to diagnose and treat the problem. Davis, like many doctors, used to wrap up such simple cases via a telephone...

Microsoft tests virtual visits.
May 1, 2006... Software giant Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., launched a pilot program in January to see if it can reduce health care costs by paying for online physician/patient encounters for its 100,000 U.S. employees. The program started with 4,000...

Going online for another opinion.
May 1, 2006... An executive at an electronics firm was golfing in Florida and got knocked unconscious after accidentally being hit in the head with a seven iron by another player. His friends convinced him to go a local emergency department even though he...

Payers are Driving E-Prescribing: Health plans have the most to gain financially from e-prescribing, but benefits also await others.
May 1, 2006... Drug prescribing is one of the health care industry's traditional sore spots. Until recently, the watchwords have been "clumsy" and "dangerous" as the process relied on often illegible handwritten notes and multiple follow-up telephone calls...

E-Prescribing: Benefits for all?
May 1, 2006... Electronic prescribing offers payer organizations the greatest tangible rewards, most observers agree. The technology helps increase use of less expensive generic drugs and keeps physician drug orders in line with payer formularies. From a...

The Evolution of EMR Standards: Issues abound in the development of standards to foster interoperability of electronic medical records.
May 1, 2006... Every 15 minutes, a computer program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston collects specified data from various information systems, formats it and securely transmits the data to computer systems at the U.S. Centers for Disease...

New Kid on the Block.
May 1, 2006... A handful of large physician organizations in California are testing emerging data standards to electronically deliver laboratory test results to electronic medical records systems. The California HealthCare Foundation is funding the tests...

Blues: Slow down on ICD-10.
May 1, 2006... The health care industry is woefully unprepared to adopt the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition code set by October 2009, the date set in pending federal legislation, according to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association....

Tracking the EMR standards.
May 1, 2006... The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act authorized the eventual creation and adoption of data standards to support electronic clinical transactions. That process is well under way. Unlike HIPAA's standards for administrative...

PDAs Chase Workflow Improvements: Physicians, medical center adjust to using PDAs for wireless dictation and billing.
May 1, 2006... Using a PDA for dictating patient notes and submitting charges to the billing office at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, has streamlined how Gregory Botz, M.D., works. Botz, associate medical director for the...

Contracts Update.
May 1, 2006... 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 electronic mail to:...

Readers' Perspectives.
May 1, 2006... "Most senior hospital executives understand the importance of giving nurses the information technology tools they need. Do you agree or disagree?" AGREE Arielle Kolk Team Lead University Hospitals of Cleveland "I do...