Health Data Management articles from May 2008

Health Data Management archives from May 2008

Delivering the information goods.
May 1, 2008... We regularly review how best to deliver the most timely information to our readers. So weve made a few tweaks to our online and print editions to ensure we are providing relevant content and giving you multiple ways to get to it. In April,...

HDM On The Web.
May 1, 2008... SEARCH The HDM site enables users to search the entire site or the content in our three main portalsHospitals, Group Practices and Payers. Our site archive contains more than 12,000 stories we have published in print and online. All...

Editorial/Ad Index.
May 1, 2008... A Alabama Hospital Association 67 Amatayakul, Margret, Margret/A Consulting LLC 42 Andrus, Terry, East Alabama Medical Center 68 Angst, Wendy, CapMed 45 Asante Health System 34, 36 B Bewley, Lisa, Regional...

Readers' Perspective.
May 1, 2008... The HIMSS Conference Is Worth The Time And Expense For My Organization. AGREE FRANCINE WESTON, R.N. McGill University Health, Longueuil, Quebec The HIMSS 08 conference was fantastic. It was a great opportunity to experience...

Dissecting the Allscripts-Misys Merger.
May 1, 2008... The merger of ambulatory care software vendors Allscripts LLC and Misys Healthcare Systems will bring stability and certainty to the Misys side, benefiting the companys employees and their customers, says Steven Lazarus, president of Boundary...

Cerner Ventures Beyond I.T.
May 1, 2008... Clinical software vendor Cerner Corp. is working with the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center to perfect a dry-powder inhaler for consistent delivery of medication deep into the lungs. Under the alliance, Cerner will have an...

HHS taps HARRIS FOR NHIN Contract.
May 1, 2008... The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a contract to Harris Corp. to develop and integrate a national health information exchange gateway as part of the National Health Information Network initiative. The gateway will...

Feds HIE/RHIO Public Health Links.
May 1, 2008... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded three contracts totaling $38.1 million to help health information exchanges and regional health information organizations better collaborate with public health departments. The...

FDA Wants Authentication Info.
May 1, 2008... The Food and Drug Administration has issued a request for information on available and emerging technologies to identify, validate and track the authentication of prescription drugs. The FDA wants to establish an electronic pedigree system,...

Analyzing the value of PHRs.(personal health records)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Center for Information Technology Leadership will conduct a study to determine the impact, costs and value of personal health records. The center, a not-for-profit research arm of Partners HealthCare, an integrated delivery system...

MedcomSoft Shifts Marketing Gears.
May 1, 2008... Unable to significantly penetrate the market, ambulatory care electronic health records software vendor MedcomSoft Inc. is revamping its sales strategy. The Toronto-based company will significantly reduce its direct sales force and is...

Medicare Chooses P4P Vendors.
May 1, 2008... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced the vendors and health care organizations it will work with to evaluate enabling electronic reporting for participants in its 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Program. The Medicare...

Network to Disseminate Safety Alerts.
May 1, 2008... Organizations representing health and malpractice insurers, physicians, government agencies, and drug and medical device manufacturers have launched a new network to send patient safety alerts via secure e-mail to physicians. The Health...

Feds Fund Decision Support Studies.
May 1, 2008... The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is providing $5 million to fund two studies of best practices for using clinical decision support software. AHRQ is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The...

Senate OKs Health I.T. Reserve Fund.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The U.S. Senate Budget Committee has adopted an amendment to the Senates budget resolution that could ease the appropriating of funds if health information technology legislation is enacted. The amendment creates a deficit-neutral reserve fund...

ACS to Run CAQH Credentialing Service.
May 1, 2008... Affiliated Computer Services Inc. will operate the Universal Credentialing Datasource service of CAQH under a multi-million dollar contract of up to 7.5 years. CAQH is a Washington-based payer advocacy organization that has led several...

Tenn. Medicaid Launches E-Rx Pilot.
May 1, 2008... The Bureau of TennCare, the state of Tennessees Medicaid program, is working with Shared Health, a health information exchange in the state, on a pilot program that will provide 50 rural physicians with free electronic prescribing technology....

Associations Publish Best Practices Guide.
May 1, 2008... Two associations have published a best practices guide for using the Portable Document Format to support the exchange of health care information. PDF offers a cost-effective, easy-to-implement and secure document model that can support adoption...

Optio Software to Be Sold.
May 1, 2008... Bottomline Technologies, a vendor of document imaging and management software, has signed an agreement to buy Optio Software Inc., which sells complementary technology, for $44.9 million. Both companies serve multiple industries, but...

Web Tools for Parkinson's Sought.
May 1, 2008... The Michael J. Fox Foundation is seeking Web-based tools that would enable patients with Parkinsons disease to participate in clinical research via their home computers. The foundation will provide up to $1 million in funds for Web-based...

Site Guides Docs on E-Prescribing.
May 1, 2008... Five physician organizations have launched a Web site to give physicians step-by-step guidance on adopting electronic prescription technology or enhancing its use. The organizations are the American Academy of Family Physicians, American...

Elsevier Makes Another Buy.
May 1, 2008... Medical content vendor Elsevier has made its third acquisition in recent months, buying publisher Windhover Information Inc. Philadelphia-based Elsevier is a publisher of medical reference materials in print and electronic form. It also is...

New Owner for Firstaid Software.
May 1, 2008... SmartMD Corp., which provides business services to more than 6,000 physicians, has acquired Firstaid Software Corp., which sells practice management and electronic health records software. Acquisition terms were not disclosed. Fort Lauderdale,...

Survey: Consumers Want I.T. Services.
May 1, 2008... Three-quarters of health care consumers want their physician to offer online access to their medical records, and one-quarter of them would pay for it, according to a new survey. Further, more than 70% of responding consumers want this same...

Common security practices sought.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... A survey of information technology executives at a variety of organizations finds consensus that the industry must develop a uniform way of verifying the security of health information. The Health Information Trust Alliance, which launched in...

Api Buys Workload Analysis App.
May 1, 2008... Hartford, Wis.-based api software Inc. has purchased an application thats designed to measure clinical workload and project the number of hours and skill mix required to meet it. The Expert Nurse Estimation Patient Classification System, from...

IBM Buys SSO Vendor Encentuate.
May 1, 2008... Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM Corp. has acquired Encentuate Inc., a vendor of single-sign-on and user authentication software. Acquisition terms were not disclosed. Redwood City, Calif.-based Encentuate also sells software that enables users to have...

Accessing Images: The Next Step: Providers combine their PACS with other technologies to offer access to images wherever they are needed.
May 1, 2008... Like many health care organizations, Mercy Medical Center didnt begin to realize the full potential of its picture archiving and communication system until it began integrating it with other technologies to provide broader, enterprisewide...

HIEs offer another integration option.(health information exchange)
May 1, 2008... Several provider organizations in rural Oregon are using a health information exchange as the backbone for sharing diagnostic images. The facilities often treat many of the same patients, and they already were sharing diagnostic images for...

PHRs: Where Are We Headed?: Cutting through the hype about personal health records to assess their long-term viability.
May 1, 2008... Personal health records are in the spotlight at center stage now that two technology giantsMicrosoft and Googlehave both launched high-profile projects to support PHRs. The debate on what long-term role if any PHRs will play in improving the...

Employer consortium pushes PHRs.
May 1, 2008... A consortium of eight large employers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is slowly moving forward with plans to provide their employees with personal health records. The Dossia employer consortium, based in Portland, Ore., is testing aspects...

HIE opts for free health record bank.
May 1, 2008... After extensive market research, the Louisville (Ky.) Health Information Exchange is adopting the health record bank model for assembling personal health records. But unlike some other organizations experimenting with the model that are...

Time to Roll for SafeMed: After six years of developing its clinical decision support engine, and with recent high profile moves, SafeMed Inc. has hit high gear in its effort to be an industry force.
May 1, 2008... As a start-up, we are very comfortable with where we are and where were heading, says Richard Noffsinger, CEO at the company. Noffsinger, who joined San Diego-based SafeMed in December, formerly headed Microsoft Corp.s health care division....

Beefing Up Security: Some organizations are deploying next-generation security technologies to shield wireless networks.
May 1, 2008... When Intermountain Healthcare started using wireless laptop computers in 2002, security technologies in a wireless environment were relatively immature. The 23-hospital delivery system based in Salt Lake City used Wired Equivalent Privacy, or...

Wireless networks can bring frustration.
May 1, 2008... Some health care organizations that are expanding their use of wireless networks are running into challenges related to the technologies shortcomings. Stopping all security leaks in a wireless environment, for example, is tough because of...

Contracts Update.
May 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:...

Robots' Role in Telemedicine: Robotic technology extends the reach of a physician who treats stroke patients.
May 1, 2008... At several rural Kentucky hospitals, Kerri Remmel, M.D., is sometimes referred to as the robot lady. Remmel, however, didnt earn the nickname as a result of a rigid bedside manner. Instead, some patients coined the term of endearment because...

Opening doors to information: An independent physician takes an entrepreneurial approach to running his practice, relying heavily on I.T.
May 1, 2008... Eight years in the restaurant business before medical school taught Tom Landholt, M.D. some valuable lessons that he now applies to his practice. A focus on excellence in customer service is essential to all businesses, including the practice...

Data Mining Reaps Rewards: Blues plans help fund efforts to prevent hospital-acquired infections, saving big bucks.
May 1, 2008... Preventing hospital-acquired infections not only saves lives and shortens hospital stays; it saves big money. In just two years, 14 hospitals in New Jersey have saved a total of about $6.4 million by preventing these infections, according to...

Why Nurses Make Good CIOs: Clinical knowledge is extremely valuable.
May 1, 2008... My position as a CIO never ceases to be challenging. But what gets me through many of the dilemmas I face are the experiences that I had as a nurse. Nursing provided me with obvious, yet critical, skills I needed to succeed: Stay...