Health Data Management articles from November 2007

Health Data Management archives from November 2007

But First, Let Me Wipe the Egg Off My Face.(Editorial)
November 1, 2007... I'd like to talk about our strong November lineup of stories, but first I have to mention that our redesigned Web site did not go live on Oct. 1 as I had boldly predicted in last month's column. As many of you know, deadlines for I.T....

Editorial/Ad Index.
November 1, 2007... A Agfa Healthcare 26 America's Health Insurance Plans 20 Apple Inc. 50 Ascom Ltd. 48 Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems 42 B Bertka, Kenneth, M.D. Mercy Health Partners 36 Blum,...

Medical transcription services will disappear within 10 years as older physicians retire, replaced by younger physicians who will self-dictate and edit via computers. Agree or Disagree?
November 1, 2007... Online Survey Results Agree 50% Disagree 50% Source: Health Data Management Web site, www.healthdatamanagement.com, September 2007 survey results. 841 responses AGREE Debra McQuay, R.N. Hillsboro, Ore. "I...

Are Health Record Banks the Answer?
November 1, 2007... One of the architects of the national health information infrastructure is pushing local "health records banks" as a sustainable business model for paying for electronic health records systems and exchanging electronic patient data. ...

How Valuable is Certification?(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Sizing up the value of electronic health records certification is an issue provider organizations must consider when selecting new software. A debate on the value proposition at Health Data Management's Clinical Automation Summit reached no...

HDM Sponsors New I.T. Awards.(World Healthcare Innovation and Technology)
November 1, 2007... Health Data Management will co-sponsor the first annual Editor's Choice Awards at the 3rd Annual World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress (WHIT 3.0), Dec. 9-11 in Washington. The award, sponsored in conjunction with WHIT 3.0,...

Microsoft Targets Health Consumers.
November 1, 2007... Microsoft Corp. has entered the battle to electronically capture the health care consumer. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant today launched HealthVault, a platform that will act as a Web portal for consumers to access various content and...

MS-DRGs Provide Yet Another EHR Incentive.
November 1, 2007... Hospitals looking for another reason to implement an electronic health records system now have one: a new Medicare payment system that requires more detailed documentation of care. The Medicare Severity Diagnosis-Related Groups, which went...

GAO, VA Differ on Security Progress.
November 1, 2007... The Department of Veterans Affairs has made little progress improving data security since a laptop holding data on 26.5 million patients was stolen in May 2006, according to the Government Accountability Office. But Robert Howard,...

Foundation Pledges Millions For Quality.
November 1, 2007... The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, N.J., has pledged $15.9 million in grants to develop and test a national approach to use I.T. to provide health care quality and cost data to the public. The project will use already available...

Stock Chart.(RELATED TO HEALTH CARE CO.)(Statistical table)
November 1, 2007... HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES, as of October 1, 2007 Price Price as a One Six One Mkt Company on % of 52 month month year YTD Cap name Ticker 10/1/07 wk high chnge...

The Hidden Costs of Radiology: Around every I.T. corner lurks imaging expenses providers don't anticipate.
November 1, 2007... Four years ago, St. Louis-based Metro Imaging implemented a new radiology information system at its five standalone diagnostic imaging sites employing seven radiologists and 70 other personnel. The new system from Milwaukee-based Merge...

Consultant: Curb vendor spending.(vendor's services)
November 1, 2007... Whether an information technology purchase is related to radiology equipment or other purposes, hidden vendor travel costs are sure to bruise a provider's checkbook. Vendor personnel make many trips to an organization during a major...

Vendor: We can help tame hidden costs.(awareness of cost to the customer)
November 1, 2007... Vendors of diagnostic imaging systems and associated information systems have a role to play in mitigating unanticipated costs, says Kim Schmeichel, senior technical analyst at Merge Healthcare. "We try to manage the customer's expectations...

Decision Support Not an Exact Science: Hospitals use various strategies to integrate clinical intelligence tools into computerized physician order entry systems.
November 1, 2007... As more provider organizations dive into computerized physician order entry, they are finding that integrating decision support can be an extremely complex undertaking. While offering access to every type of clinical intelligence tool from the...

Getting started with decision support.
November 1, 2007... Many health care executives decide to go light on decision support when their organization implements a computerized physician order entry system because they don't have adequate time to devote to it, says Jane Metzger, research director at...

Physicians Lead The Way On Quality Improvement Projects: Doctors who are taking on the role of CMIO are devising ways to use I.T. to achieve clinical goals.
November 1, 2007... During the last 10 years, a growing number of physicians have taken the plunge into the world of information technology, spending at least part of their time on clinical automation projects. At first, these pioneers had a variety of titles,...

From CMIO to CIO.
November 1, 2007... Dick Gibson, M.D., has been interested in information technology ever since medical school. His struggles with all the memorization that his studies required led him to turn to computers for help. He eventually worked with a software...

Survey illustrates changing roles.(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... A new survey of chief medical information officers illustrates how the position has evolved in the past three years as organizations make progress in implementing clinical information systems. "Once organizations get through the...

Misys Returns to its Roots: Misys Healthcare Systems didn't have to divest its acute care business lines, but divestment positioned the vendor to focus on its core competency of ambulatory care and dive into the small physician market.
November 1, 2007... The bottom line was that Misys was not effectively competing with the major acute care vendors, says Vern Davenport, executive vice president and general manager of the Raleigh, N.C.-based company. Davenport joined the company in February. ...

Building the Ideal Network: A new hospital wing features a versatile converged wireless network that serves multiple purposes.
November 1, 2007... When the Children's National Medical Center in Washington decided to build a 140-bed addition, it had the opportunity to install what it saw as the ideal I.T. infrastructure-a converged wireless network. The wireless network in the...

Going Solo Made Easier: EHR software enables a solo practitioner to keep overhead low and see more patients.
November 1, 2007... Being a solo practitioner isn't easy. And when you decide to open up your practice in one of the poorest cities in the country, it can be even more difficult. That's why Jeffrey Brenner, M.D., didn't think he had a choice when it came to...

I.T. Ensures Quick Compliance: Blues plan uses business process management software to manage a state mandated open enrollment program.
November 1, 2007... Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts was up against an extremely tight deadline after the state legislature on April 12, 2006, mandated that by July 1, 2007, every resident must have health insurance. Payers, for their part, were...

Stats Snapshot.
November 1, 2007... Utilization management, case management and evidence-based guidelines dominate the clinical I.T. budgets of managed care organizations, according to a survey from the Gantry Group LLC, a Concord, Mass.-based research and consulting firm. But...

The Hospital's Role with EHRS: Maine is "Vacation Land" and today I can safely say that we have the same standard of care for visitors as we do for Maine residents - i.e., we won't know a thing about you!
November 1, 2007... Lead or follow? It's an age-old question, and hospital CIOs find themselves struggling to come up with an answer when thinking about their organizations' role with electronic health records. For many, the thinking goes something like this:...