Health Data Management articles from October 2003

Health Data Management archives from October 2003

E-mail: Blessing and Curse?(Editorial)
October 1, 2003... I'm a big fan of e-mail. It's an innovation that has greatly improved my ability to get information as well as my ability to share information. But it can be a blessing and a curse. First the blessings. Here at Health Data Management,...

The Blackout as a Learning Experience.
October 1, 2003... Hospitals hit by the massive Aug. 14 blackout learned some important lessons that can help others prepare for similar disasters. Among those lessons: Acquire multiple power generators; test-drive paper-based backup procedures to use when...

Security: The Next HIPAA Rule to Tackle.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
October 1, 2003... Tripp Bradd, M.D., has not done a lot of work to get ready for the April 2005 deadline for compliance with the data security rule, authorized under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. As founder of two-physician...

Blood Center Web Site Designed to Improve Patient Safety Gets Off to Slow Start.(Hospital Links service)
October 1, 2003... A new Web site is enabling Seattle-area hospitals to take extra precautions before ordering blood transfusions. Plus, it automates scheduling for blood donors. Nevertheless, it's gotten off to a relatively slow start, in part because limited...

XML Comes of Age for Data Exchange.
October 1, 2003... Like many electronic medical records systems, the PrimeChart software of Greenway Medical Technologies automates patient data into "facesheets" for physician review. A facesheet is a document that gives a physician a quick look at a patient's...

Group Readies Clinical Data Report.(core medical terminologies endorsed by National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... An advisory body to the Department of Health and Human Services still expects this year to recommend a core set of medical terminologies for national, voluntary adoption despite being unable to reach consensus in late August on the...

Feds Clarify HIPAA Compliance Plans.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has shed light on how payers can implement contingency plans to ensure continued processing and payment of claims in the hectic period following the Oct. 16 compliance date for the HIPAA...

WebMD Under Investigation.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Agents from the FBI and Internal Revenue Service executed a search warrant on Sept. 3 at three offices of WebMD Corp. The government is investigating past acquisitions by Medical Manager Corp.-now part of WebMD-and Medical Manager's $5.5...

Rule Expands Online Cost Reporting.(Medicare)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a final rule expanding the list of provider organizations that must electronically submit annual cost reports to Medicare fiscal intermediaries. The final rule covers hospices, organ...

Survey: I.T. Boosts Safety, But...(implementation rates low)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Eighty percent of provider organization executives responding to a recent survey say bar code technology can make a significant difference in patient safety, with 76% saying the same about computerized physician order entry software. Yet, only...

Cerner Enters Home Health Market.(acquires BeyondNow Technologies)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Cerner Corp., Kansas City, Mo., will acquire BeyondNow Technologies, a vendor of home health software in nearby Overland Park, Kan. Terms of the pending acquisition, expected to close in the fourth quarter, were not disclosed. BeyondNow sells...

Quovadx Starts CareScience Buy.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Quovadx Inc., Englewood, Colo. announced it will buy CareScience Inc., Philadelphia, for $28 million. The acquisition was expected to be completed by mid-September. The deal includes $1.40 in cash and 0.1818 shares of Quovadx stock for each...

MedQuist Names New Leader.(R. Timothy Stack)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... MedQuist Inc., Marlton, N.J., the nation's largest vendor of electronic medical transcription services, has named R. Timothy Stack as president and CEO, effective Oct. 1. He succeeds David Cohen, who retired in early July. Stack has served as...

GHX Recruits Two Vendors.(Global Healthcare Exchange signs McKesson Information Solutions, Corporate Express)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Global Healthcare Exchange has signed an alliance agreement with Alpharetta, Ga.-based McKesson Information Solutions to enable direct connectivity between McKesson's Web-based procurement tool and GHX's electronic trading exchange. The new...

HIMSS Creates Vendor User Groups.(Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Chicago, is teaming with information technology vendors to create user groups for its 14,000 members. User groups formed under the Healthcare User Group Alliance Program will operate...

Payer Gives Docs Online Patient Info.(Premera Blue Cross)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Premera Blue Cross is providing online access to patient insurance benefit and eligibility information for 21,000 contracted health care professionals in Washington and Alaska. Providers can verify patient enrollment in Premera health plans,...

Newsline Digest.(Brief Article)
October 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. Copyright...

BlackBerry Receives Injunction Stay.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Research In Motion Ltd. can continue making and selling its BlackBerry communication hardware during a patent infringement appeal in a case involving Annandale, Va.-based holding company NTP Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Eastern...

Symbol Buys Mobile Software Vendor.(Symbol Technologies Inc., Covigo Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Symbol Technologies Inc., Holtsville, N.Y., has purchased Covigo Inc., a Menlo Park, Calif.-based wireless software vendor. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Covigo's applications will become part of the Symbol Mobility Software...

Tablet PCs Links In Supply Chain.(Materials Management Solution software )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... San Jose, Calif.-based Neoforma Inc. recently made its Materials Management Solution software accessible on Tablet PCs and other mobile hardware. The Web-based software, which features applications for inventory, purchasing, receiving and...

NEC Suggests Health Try 'Tricryption'.(NEC Solutions America Inc. releases NEC MobilePro Tricryption System)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based NEC Solutions America Inc. has released a security application that health care organizations can use on wireless networks. The NEC MobilePro Tricryption System's encryption and key management applications can help...

PDAs Listen To Physicians.(Acusis LLC and MedAptus Inc. form alliance to integrate personal digital assistant services, Charges in Hand application)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Physicians using transcription services from Pittsburgh-based Acusis LLC now can initiate and transfer dictated reports from their PDAs. Using the Charges in Hand mobile application from Boston-based MedAptus Inc., physicians can dictate and...

Palm Offers Health Care Free PDAs.(volume-based sales promotion)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Milpitas, Calif.-based Palm Inc. has introduced a program that rewards health care organizations buying the company's hand-held computers in volume. The Healthcare Purchase Promotion, which ends Feb. 29, 2004, offers health care organizations a...

PDA App Enhances Docs' Bedside Manner.(MediLinks)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Tempe, Ariz.-based MediServe Information Systems Inc. has released a PDA-based version of its point-of-care clinical software. MediLinks, a Web-based application, is designed to offer caregivers access to orders, patient lists, e-mail,...

'Smart' Pen Records Patient Data.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Researchers at Accenture Technology Labs are developing a pen that can digitally record and transfer handwritten patient data. The Digital Observations technology is being tested at the vendor's lab in France. Accenture Technology Labs is a...

Car Cradle Gives Voice to PDA Data.(Clie Car Cradle PEGA-CC5)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Sony Corp. of America Inc., New York, has introduced the Clie Car Cradle PEGA-CC5, a peripheral device that reads aloud e-mail and calendar information while charging Sony hand-held devices. The cradle is compatible with the Clie PEG-NX80V,...

Neoteris Launches Mobile VPN Access.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Neoteris Inc. has announced that its instant virtual extranet technology now can be accessed on smart phones, PDAs and subnotebooks running the Pocket PC or Symbian operating system. Neoteris' Access Series...

Subnotebooks Fill Mobile Health Niche.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... While subnotebook computers dwarf PDAs and often are bigger than Tablet PCs, they nonetheless reside in the shadows of these devices in the arena of mobile health care. However, subnotebooks-smaller and lighter than their notebook or laptop...

Mobile Health News.(Brief Article)
October 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...

Stock Chart.(Illustration)
October 1, 2003... (part 1 of 3) Price Price as on a % of 52 Health care software companies 9/9/03 Wk High Allscripts...

Pioneering Group Practices Explore New Technologies.
October 1, 2003... Oswego County OB-GYN literally has no peers when it comes to delivering babies. The four-physician practice is the only obstetrics practice in the county and performs 700 deliveries annually. Until this year, however, its expertise in...

No job too large, or small.(patient records system)
October 1, 2003... Few group practices have the wherewithal to develop their own computer-based patient records system. When Iowa Heart Center in Des Moines took on the challenge, it began with an I.T. department of only four people, including CIO Jeremy Meller....

Innovators sow dollars, harvest benefits.
October 1, 2003... When it comes to pioneering information technology, physician group practices face the same bugaboos as other health care organizations: high cost and culture shock associated with changing practice patterns. But cost is a particularly big...

Physicians Vocalize Dictation Issues: Provider organizations continue to rely on transcriptionists despite enhanced digital dictation and speech recognition technologies.
October 1, 2003... Harbin Clinic does not fear information technology. Last year, the Rome, Ga.-based, 100-physician group practice decided to push the technological envelope by implementing a digital dictation system from Libertyville, Ill.-based Allscripts...

Hand-helds mobilize dictation systems.
October 1, 2003... Although most mobile hardware isn't equipped with speech recognition technology, using smart phones, PDAs and tablet computers to record dictation isn't such a stretch, some industry experts say. Because some of the smaller mobile...

Take the Quick Poll...
October 1, 2003... Visit the Health Data Management Web site and express your opinion on one of health care I.T.'s hot topics. Your comments may appear in a future Readers' Perspectives department. www.healthdatamanagement.com Copyright 2003 Thomson Media...

In Paper War, is OCR a Good Soldier?: Optical character recognition transforms paper documents into electronic data that can be manipulated. But does it have a bright future in health care?
October 1, 2003... In the war on paper, health care CIOs must assume the role of general, deploying troops and technology to beat back the seemingly intractable enemy. Their battle plans often call for two-pronged attacks. On one front they are deploying...

OCR: Best supporting actor?(optical character recognition)
October 1, 2003... Optical character recognition would appear to be an ideal adjunct technology to electronic medical records systems. But don't tell that to Maine Medical Center, where "OCR" is a four-letter word, says CIO Jerry Edson. The medical center,...

Will HIPAA put the hurt on OCR technology?(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)(optical character recognition )
October 1, 2003... Optical character recognition technology has significantly improved its functionality and accuracy rate over the past few years. But the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act may push OCR technology off the field when the law is...

Getting Claims Paid in a HIPAA World: Physician practices not ready for the transactions rule have ways to get their compliance efforts on the fast track.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
October 1, 2003... No one knows how many physician practices have entered this month realizing they will not meet the Oct. 16 compliance date for the transactions and code sets rule authorized under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996....

Will Health Care Get Smart?: Though most clinicians have yet to use a smart phone, industry experts say the mobile hardware has many potential health care applications.
October 1, 2003... Physicians' pockets soon could be getting a little emptier-but in a good way. Instead of carrying a pager, a cell phone and a PDA, they now can select one mobile device that can perform many of the same tasks handled by all three. The...

Let Your Fingers Do the Browsing: A hospital's online physician database helps patients find doctors and enables demographics analysis.
October 1, 2003... Yale New Haven Hospital is urging Internet-savvy patients to select physicians online by offering a customer-friendly Web application that produces some very useful byproducts for the organization. The application boasts simplicity and...

Medical Records, I.T. Lines Blurring: The stewards of paper and electronic data increasingly are working together to improve data access.
October 1, 2003... Four years ago, the CIO at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics was given "ownership" of the delivery system's medical records department. Medical records and information technology departments don't always mesh-in fact,...

Provider Begins Carding Patients: A homegrown system registers patients through bar-coded ID card and ends redundant questions.(ProMedica Health System)
October 1, 2003... For ProMedica Health System, low-tech is better than no tech. The Toledo, Ohio-based delivery system earlier this year began mailing bar-coded identification cards to patients several days before a scheduled visit, asking them to present the...

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

Q. Do You Agree or Disagree?(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... "Provider organizations that have prepared for HIPAA's transactions and code sets rule, and believe they are compliant, will have little trouble getting their claims paid in a timely manner after the Oct. 16, 2003, compliance deadline." ...