Health Data Management articles from November 2005

Health Data Management archives from November 2005

The Real Heroes.(Column)
November 1, 2005... At this time of year, we hear a lot about the "heroes" playing in the World Series or battling in football games or skating on the ice for the NHL. But in 2005, we all know who the real heroes are: Those thousands of people who played vital...

Cautious GE Grows Bold With IDX Buy.
November 1, 2005... After making nine small, niche information technology acquisitions in five years, GE Healthcare in late September made the industry's first billion-dollar I.T. deal since 2000, agreeing to pay $1.2 billion in stock for IDX Systems Corp. ...

Mobile Technologies Aid In Hurricane Relief.
November 1, 2005... Hurricane Katrina forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate the Gulf Coast and fend for themselves, often far from home. Many of these refugees not only might have had their homes damaged or destroyed by the storm, but also their...

Health Care I.T. Stocks Ready for the Spotlight?
November 1, 2005... Health care information technology stocks made nice gains in the third quarter, and their performance may indicate that investors are ready to pay more attention to what could be a very strong niche of the I.T. sector. The price of a...

Feds Pave Way for I.T. Help for Docs.
November 1, 2005... The Department of Health and Human Services soon will publish proposed rules to enable hospitals and other health care organizations to assist physicians in adopting information technology. One rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...

Provider ID Plans Explained.
November 1, 2005... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has published a six-page tutorial on the national provider identifier. Covered entities under HIPAA must use only the national identifier in HIPAA standard transactions by May 23, 2007. Small...

HHS Proposes Attachments Standards.(Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... The Department of Health and Human Services published a proposed rule to establish national standards for electronic claims attachments. The rulemaking is authorized under the HIPAA administrative simplification provisions. Text of the 37-page...

Oracle to Acquire Siebel.
November 1, 2005... Oracle Corp. is continuing its acquisition spree of business application software vendors, announcing it will pay $5.85 billion for Siebel Systems Inc., San Mateo, Calif. The deal is the latest for Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle; its big...

QuadraMed Sheds EDI Business.(i-Plexus Solutions Inc)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... QuadraMed Corp. has sold its electronic data interchange division to i-Plexus Solutions Inc. Transaction terms were not disclosed. The division, called Chancellor EDI, offered hospitals claims management software and transactions processing...

Buy Extends Netsmart's Reach.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Netsmart Technologies Inc., a vendor of software for health and human services agencies, will acquire CMHC Systems Inc. Under terms of a deal that was expected to close by October, Netsmart will pay $13 million in cash and about $5 million in...

HHS Names Health I.T. Advisors.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt has named 16 commissioners to serve on the American Health Information Community, which he will chair. Leavitt created the community to serve as an HHS advisory body on issues related to...

JCAHO Adds I.T. Panel.
November 1, 2005... The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has created an advisory panel on information technology to help reengineer the delivery of care to improve safety, quality and efficiency. The panel is charged with recommending...

Survey: $33,000 per Doc for e-Records.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... A Web and telephone survey of more than 3,600 physician group practices found the average capital cost for implementing an electronic medical records system was $33,000 per physician, with another $1,500 per physician per month in maintenance...

Katrina Victim Rx Data Now Online.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... A public/private coalition has created KatrinaHealth.org, an online service to get patient prescription information to providers treating Hurricane Katrina victims. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator...

Bar Code Vendor Gets GPO Deal.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Consorta Inc., a Schaumburg, Ill.-based group purchasing organization, will make bar code technology from Zebra Technologies Corp. available to its members at a discounted price. Detailed terms were not immediately disclosed. Under the...

FDA to Clarify Drug Safety Reporting.
November 1, 2005... The Food and Drug Administration has released for public comment a draft guidance document for electronically transmitting data on the safety of drugs under development. The draft is a revision of existing guidance, called "E2B Clinical Safety...

AAFP: Standard Summary Needed Now.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the American Academy of Family Physicians has launched an effort to promote the Continuity of Care Record. Called CCR, the record is a standard format for a summary of a patient's medical history, current...

Standards Groups Formalize Ties.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Health Level Seven and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise have formalized and deepened their cooperative relationship. Ann Arbor, Mich.-based HL7 is a standards development organization. Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise is an industry...

HHS Seeks E-Rx Pilot Sites.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... The Department of Health and Human Services is soliciting applications for pilot studies that use its proposed electronic prescribing standards. The department published a proposed rule establishing such standards in February. The Centers for...

Tokyo Company to Buy PalmSource.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Tokyo, Japan-based ACCESS Co. Ltd., a vendor of mobile and Web-based content, will acquire PalmSource Inc. for $324.3 million. The all-cash deal already has been approved by the boards of directors at both companies and is expected to close by...

Palm to Make Windows Smart Phones.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Palm Inc. has announced plans for an extended line of its Treo smart phones that run the Windows Mobile operating system. Palm licensed its rival mobile operating system as part of an alliance with Microsoft Corp.,...

New Fujitsu Device Now a Tablet PC.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... About a month after Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp. announced plans for a small convertible notebook computer, the vendor now is offering the option of using the device as a Tablet PC. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Fujitsu originally announced its...

OQO Enhances its Mini-PC.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... San Francisco-based OQO Inc. has released an enhanced version of its signature Mini-PC. The model 01+, like its predecessor, can function as both a PDA and a desktop computer. The new version features 512 MB RAM and a 30 GB hard drive, improved...

Delaware, Philly Docs to Get PDAs, E-Rx App.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... The State of Delaware will offer free PDAs, electronic prescribing software and wireless technology to physicians who care for state employees and beneficiaries. The state is working with the Medical Society of Delaware, Newark, to recruit 100...

MDanywhere Embeds Mobile Applications.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Baltimore-based MDanywhere Technologies Inc. has embedded a number of mobile applications into a new version of its MDAOrbit practice management/electronic records system. The mobile applications include the m-Rx electronic prescribing...

Payer to Use Tablets for Enrollment.
November 1, 2005... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will enable New York-based HIP Health Plan to enroll Medicare beneficiaries from their homes. The payer will use its proprietary Mobile Sales Application system, Portege M2000 Tablet PCs from Irvine,...

Software Offers Dictation, Transcription.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Tech S2 Inc., Lansing, N.Y., has released a hand-held computing system designed to enable medical dictation, transcription, storage and review via a PDA. The CaseScribe application can be used on PDAs or smart phones running the Windows Mobile...

Per-Se to Offer Tracking Application.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Alpharetta, Ga.-based Per-Se Technologies will begin selling patient tracking software from Pittsburgh-based PeriOptimum. Per-Se will offer PeriOptimum's PathFinder system as an integrated module to its ORSOS One-Call surgical scheduling...

Stock Chart.(Illustration)
November 1, 2005... (part 1 of 3) Health care software companies Allscripts Healthcare Solutions MDRX Amicas AMCS Cerner Corp. CERN CPSI CPSI ...

Melding PACS and Electronic Records.
November 1, 2005... Few hospital executives debate the value of enabling clinicians to access digital images while viewing patient data. Many, however, question the urgency for uniting picture archiving and communication and electronic medical records systems,...

Lessons Learned the Hard Way.
November 1, 2005... Linking picture archiving and communication and electronic medical records systems is a daunting undertaking. Both information technology and radiology staffs also undergo a measure of integration as they work toward a common goal, and each...

Web Portals Opening Up the Online Gates: Providers and payers share strategies for developing successful Internet entrances.
November 1, 2005... Web portals have come a long way since they first debuted in the health care industry as read-only windows to limited data. Provider organization portals initially often were static, "super" intranets that offered physicians and employees...

Going It Alone.
November 1, 2005... While many provider and payer organizations hire a vendor to help develop Web portals, Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System is making the trek solo. The 16-hospital delivery system's Web portal efforts go back to 1998, when management...

Human Resources I.T. Starting to Deliver: Enterprise resource planning systems finally start fulfilling potential to reduce staff turnover and cut labor costs.
November 1, 2005... A decade ago, the air was rife with the promise of a new age in workforce management systems for health care providers. Vendors of enterprise resource planning systems touted the ability of their software to seamlessly connect data from...

Consolidation consequences.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2005... Vendor consolidation is one key factor that will affect how fast health care providers will implement ERP applications. Last year, for example, when Oracle acquired PeopleSoft, the move sent an initial shock wave of uncertainty through the...

Kiosks Serve Up E-Rx Convenience: A New York drugstore chain installs prescription kiosks in its stores, plus hospitals and other sites.
November 1, 2005... When it comes to making the prescription-filling process more efficient, the lion's share of the attention has been devoted to getting physicians to electronically submit prescriptions. But one East Coast drugstore chain has devised another way...

Bed Management is a Sleeper App: Connecticut hospital's application gives clinicians real-time access to bed status.
November 1, 2005... In the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, hospitals in proximity to New York and Washington were put on alert for a potential flood of casualties. Sadly, they didn't come. But Hartford (Conn.) Hospital was ready to answer...

Nurses Alarmed by Mobile I.T.: Hospital enhances patient safety by enabling alarm systems to send data to clinicians' phones and pagers.
November 1, 2005... Six years ago, clinicians at St. Peter's Hospital became alarmed about alarms. The Albany, N.Y.-based hospital used two alarm systems to contact clinicians when patients needed help. One automated system monitored all patients linked...

Contracts Update.
November 1, 2005... 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:...

"Physician resistance to communicating with patients via e-mail is decreasing. Do you agree or disagree?".
November 1, 2005... AGREE Maurene Caplan Grey Founder Grey Consulting, Kent Lakes, N.Y. "Many doctors would consider using e-mail-if asked by their patients. A forward-thinking medical practice may use e-mail within a patient self-management...

Advertiser Index.(Illustration)
November 1, 2005... Advertiser Site Addresses Page # AGFA www.agfa.com/healthcare 21 API www.apisoftwareinc.com/hdm 51 ...