Health Data Management articles from November 2003

Health Data Management archives from November 2003

Numbers: The Bane of Our Existence.
November 1, 2003... I just got the report back from my accountant on the best plan for a big, romantic anniversary dinner. I can hardly wait to see what he's put together. He reviewed menus, transportation options, entertainment-the works! So let's see... ...

Microsoft Trying to Cast a Large .NET with Standard Platform.
November 1, 2003... Nearly two years after Microsoft Corp. introduced its .NET platform, and nine months after launching the Visual Studio .NET and .NET Framework application development platforms, health care information technology vendors are rolling out...

Health Care Information Technology Gets a Geography Lesson.(Downey (California) Regional Medical Center implements a geographic information system)
November 1, 2003... Rescue and clean-up crews faced dangerous conditions at the huge debris pile at New York's Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. That's why maps were created showing hot spots where fires still smoldered and the locations of...

Health Care I.T. Stocks Rise as Investors Find Good News at Home and Abroad.(Industry Overview)
November 1, 2003... Health care information technology stocks continued to soar in the third quarter of 2003, buoyed by investors' confidence that U.S. government action and a massive project in the United Kingdom would boost clinical software sales. The...

Medicare, Blues Have HIPAA Contingencies.(Medicare program will implement a HIPAA contingency plan and accept noncompliant electronic transactions )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has confirmed the Medicare program will implement a HIPAA contingency plan and accept noncompliant electronic transactions for an undetermined period following the Oct. 16 compliance deadline for...

HHS Receives Privacy Complaints.(more than 1,800 complaints of alleged violations of patient privacy since the HIPAA privacy rule went into effect in April)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The Department of Health and Human Services has received more than 1,800 complaints of alleged violations of patient privacy since the HIPAA privacy rule went into effect in April, says Richard Campanelli, director of the department's Office...

MS-HUG Joins HIMSS.(The Microsoft Healthcare Users Group, Ann Arbor, Mich. has become part of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The Microsoft Healthcare Users Group, Ann Arbor, Mich., has become part of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Chicago. Under the alliance, MS-HUG will continue as a membership community within the new HIMSS Users Group...

Impath Files Chapter 11, Will Sell.(Impath Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will sell its businesses)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Cancer care software vendor Impath Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will sell its businesses. Selling its various units is a condition of receiving $15 million in Debtor-in-Possession financing from Fleet National Bank...

Cerner Part of British I.T. Contract.(United Kingdom National Health Service contracts with Cerner Corp. and SchlumbergerSema)(plans to develop electronic patient scheduling system)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The United Kingdom National Health Service has awarded a national contract to SchlumbergerSema and Cerner Corp. for development of a national electronic patient scheduling system. The five-year, $106 million deal is the first major contract for...

Lawson Software Acquires Apexion.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Lawson Software Inc., St. Paul, Minn., will acquire Apexion Technologies Inc., a San Francisco-based vendor of surgical instrument supply management and tracking software. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Apexion's software is...

Payer Groups to Merge.(American Association of Health Plans and the Health Insurance Association of America )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The boards of the American Association of Health Plans and the Health Insurance Association of America have voted to merge the trade groups, which together represent payers covering more than 200 million people. Members of both Washington-based...

Newsline Digest.(web sites has highlights of the latest health care I.T. news )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Newsline Digest presents highlights of the latest health care I.T. news as reported on the Health Data Management Web site. For extended versions of these and many other original news stories, visit www.healthdatamanagement.com. ...

Liability Carrier Funds PDA Software.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Oakland, Calif.-based MedAmerica Mutual Risk Retention Group Inc., a physician liability insurance organization, will offer its members a subsidy toward the purchase of PDA-based software from San Mateo, Calif.-based ePocrates Inc. The subsidy...

Survey: Caregivers Actively Using PDAs.
November 1, 2003... A large number of medical professionals are routinely using PDAs to access clinical information, medical news and other data, according to a survey conducted by AvantGo Inc., Dublin, Calif. The survey of 2,584 physicians, physician assistants,...

Sony Offers 'Basic' PDA.(released a low-cost PDA designed to offer only the bare bones of hand-held features)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... New York-based Sony Corp. of America Inc. has released a low-cost PDA designed to offer only the bare bones of hand-held features. The Clie PEG TJ25 and TJ35, which run the Palm OS 5 operating system, feature a high-resolution color LCD screen,...

Handy App Helps Docs Diagnose.(PDA application designed to help physicians make more informed diagnoses)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... McGraw-Hill Professional, a unit of New-York-based McGraw Hill Companies, has released a PDA application designed to help physicians make more informed diagnoses. Medical professionals and students use the Diagnosaurus application by selecting...

ECG Device Links to Hand-helds.(software-based electrocardiograph device that connects to PDAs and laptop computers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Walled Lake, Mich.-based Omni Medical Supply Inc., a vendor of medical supplies, now is offering a software-based electrocardiograph device that connects to PDAs and laptop computers. According to a recent agreement, Omni will sell the...

Vendors Building PDA Scheduling App.(developing mobile scheduling software for physicians and health care organizations)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Boston-based PatientKeeper Inc. and scheduling.com in Los Gatos, Calif., will jointly develop mobile scheduling software for physicians and health care organizations. The vendors plan to offer a broad selection of PDA-based applications that...

Mobile Health News.(highlights of the latest mobile health care stories reported on Mobile Health Data)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Mobile Health News presents highlights of the latest mobile health care stories reported on Mobile Health Data, the sister site to Health Data Management online. For extended versions of these and many other original news stories on mobile...

PDAs Offer Psychiatric References.(Skyscape Inc. has developed PDA versions of five psychiatric reference publications)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Hudson, Mass.-based Skyscape Inc. has developed PDA versions of five psychiatric reference publications. The vendor now offers the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision and the Manual for Clinical...

App Puts Medical Forms on Tablet PCs.(software designed to enable clinicians to collect and transfer patient data from Tablet PCs)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Miami-based DBK Concepts Inc. has released software designed to enable clinicians to collect and transfer patient data from Tablet PCs. The Fastball Mobileware application runs on Stylistic4000 MSXP Tablet PCs from Santa Clara, Calif.-based...

PDAs Pull Pathology Data.(designed to offer physicians access to pathology diagnoses on PDAs running the Pocket PC operating system)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Milford, Mass.-based Psyche Systems Corp. has released PocketPath, an application designed to offer physicians access to pathology diagnoses on PDAs running the Pocket PC operating system. Laboratories using the vendor's WindoPath anatomic...

Acer Adds Pen Function to Notebooks.(releases a notebook that features an electronic pen and handwriting recognition capabilities.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... San Jose, Calif.-based Acer America Corp. has released a notebook that features an electronic pen and handwriting recognition capabilities. The TravelMate250PE's electromagnetic resonance pen enables users to write on the notebook's monitor as...

Mercury's Rising at Florida Hospital.(system will adopt the use of mobile integration software from MercuryMD)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Baptist Health Care, a Pensacola, Fla.-based delivery system, will use mobile integration software from Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based MercuryMD. The vendor's MData application is designed to integrate with a health care organization's...

New Palm PDAs Tackle Health Obstacles.( two hand-held computers with new features that address obstacles to greater use of PDAs in health care)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Palm Inc., Milpitas, Calif., has introduced two hand-held computers with new features that address what many mobile health experts identify as obstacles to greater use of PDAs in health care. The Tungsten T3 hand-held is Palm's first PDA that...

Stock Chart.(stock prices for health care software and other technology companies)(Illustration)
November 1, 2003... (part 1 of 3) Price on Health care software companies 10/6/03 Allscripts Healthcare Solutions MDRX $4.22 ...

Trying to Form a More Perfect Union.
November 1, 2003... Some technologies, by definition, should go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Radiology information systems and picture archiving and communication systems are an example. A RIS is designed to be the "brains" of a radiology...

Who's in Charge, David or Goliath?
November 1, 2003... The market for digital imaging components is being roiled by big information technology vendors. The question is: Are they going to corner the market, or open cracks for small vendors to slip in? In the past few years, large, deep-pocketed...

IHE Tries to Bring Order to the Playground.
November 1, 2003... It's no secret that vendors of radiology information systems and picture archiving and communication systems often don't play well together. But experts say an ongoing project to promote harmony between the vendors and their technologies may be...

Electronic Transactions: Standards Aren't Common: HIPAA will help, but providers and payers still could take years to truly embrace standard automated transactions.
November 1, 2003... It's predictable. Ask many insurers why more of their transactions with providers aren't done electronically, and they point the finger at providers. Ask many providers, and, you guessed it, they point a finger toward the insurers. Mercy...

Will Payers Mandate Electronic Transactions?(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Although some observers predict that, one by one, insurers will require that providers use electronic transactions, others are skeptical that such mandates would prove effective. Payers see automation as a way to reduce their expenses, says...

Will Clearinghouses Survive?
November 1, 2003... In recent months, a growing number of health insurers have begun offering a variety of transactions through their Web sites. But providers, from solo practitioners to the largest hospital, typically deal with many different payers, each with...

The Standard Transactions.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The American National Standards Institute's X12 committee has created standards for claims and numerous other health care transactions, which are the national benchmarks adopted under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act....

New Applications of CRM Technology are Multiplying: Customer relationship management software is helping improve service, cut costs and target marketing efforts.
November 1, 2003... Even before the e-health boom of the late 1990s, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana was looking for ways certain technologies could help reduce the cost of providing service to its 280,000 customers. As the boom fizzled, many promising...

Will Providers Ante Up for CRM?
November 1, 2003... Most provider organizations haven't yet embraced customer relationship management systems. A fundamental obstacle is the cost of such systems: they easily can run into the million-dollar range, experts say. Successful deployments and...

A Prescription For Information: A Seattle health care organization embraces new method for delivering patient education.
November 1, 2003... Prescriptions are starting to look a lot different for many people in the Northwest. In addition to the requisite pharmacist instructions, some prescriptions now have patient instructions. As usual, the physician relays to the pharmacist the...

Mobile Tech Gets Security Check: Health care organizations must evaluate security policies, technologies to ensure their mobile hardware and wireless networks comply with HIPAA.
November 1, 2003... The security rule of the Health Insurance Port-ability and Accountability Act doesn't deal in specifics. With the exception of encryption, it doesn't specify a particular technology or method that health care organizations must use to...

Hospital Staff Getting the Message-Instantly: Provider uses secure instant messaging to enhance communications among nonclinical departments.
November 1, 2003... Provider organizations have a hard enough time getting patients in the front door in this competitive era. The last thing hospitals want to do is leave them sitting neglected in the lobby once they arrive. Until earlier this year, patients...

Advertiser Index.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Advertiser Site Addresses Page # Baxter Healthcare www.baxterpatientcare.com 7 Citrix www.citrix.com/hdm 55 Claredi www.claredi.com 53 Cybernet Manufacturing www.cybernetman.com 11 Dell Computer...

Contracts Update.
November 1, 2003... The Contracts Update Department features announcements of recent contracts that health care information technology companies have signed with provider and payer organizations. Please send contract announcement news releases via e-mail to Senior...

Readers' Perspectives.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2003... Do you agree or disagree? "Speech recognition technology will become the primary data entry tool for physicians and nurses by the year 2010. Do you agree or disagree?" AGREE Jean Harrell Director of Health Information...