Health Data Management articles from October 2004

Health Data Management archives from October 2004

Jamboree? Hootenanny? Box Social? We Don't Want to Know.
October 1, 2004... One source of information-among many-used by Health Data Management reporters and editors is health care information technology vendor press releases. While dozens of press releases arrive on a daily basis, editorial staff members follow up on...

Old-Time I.T. Player Plans New Wireless Foray.(Johnson Controls Inc)
October 1, 2004... Since 1885, Johnson Controls Inc. has offered facilities management technology and services; 40% of the nation's hospitals are clients. The company manages building infrastructures-such as ventilation, climate control, lighting, physical...

Payer Adds Internet Phone Calls to Web Service.(Stat chat,internet call service)
October 1, 2004... Every hospital and physician practice has horror stories galore about how long their employees have waited on hold when calling insurance companies. In recent years, many payers have responded by offering interactive Web sites that enable...

Baylor Tests Whether Kiosks Will Serve Patients Well.(patient kiosks for reducing time)
October 1, 2004... At the Sammons Cancer Center's breast imaging unit at Baylor University Medical Center, the waiting list for a mammogram is two weeks. If the imaging center could reduce the time it takes patients to register and free a staff member or two...

North Carolina Readies I.T. Defenses.(North Carolina Hospital Emergency Surveillance System to detect bioterrorism)
October 1, 2004... North Carolina hospitals are ramping up a statewide effort to detect something they hope they'll never find. State facilities by January must start submitting emergency department data to an Internet-based surveillance system as part of an...

Online Education Produces Wiser Surgery Patients.(patient education application )
October 1, 2004... When it comes to remembering what physicians tell them about upcoming surgical procedures, most patients don't. For a variety of reasons, stress chief among them, patients often walk out of their surgeon's office without retaining many details....

How Big is the Health I.T. Market?(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Health care provider and payer organizations in the United States spent $36.7 billion on information technology in 2003, according to research from Frost & Sullivan, Palo Alto, Calif. The market research firm estimates payers spent $16.4...

Feds Get First HIPAA Privacy Conviction.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A SeaTac, Wash.-based former employee of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance has pleaded guilty to violating the HIPAA privacy rule, the first criminal conviction under the rule. In a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western...

HHS Issues Security Rule Guidance.
October 1, 2004... Covered entities under the HIPAA security rule are not required to certify compliance with the rule's provisions, according to new guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The security rule, however, requires covered...

State Disclosures Clarification Released.(privacy rule and state agencies)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights has issued guidance on when a state agency is required to comply with the HIPAA privacy rule in the course of releasing information under public records laws. Such "open...

Fact Sheets Explain Privacy Rights.(Health Information Privacy Rights)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights has published on its Web site two fact sheets for consumers explaining the HIPAA privacy rule. Provider organizations, payers and other covered entities may find it useful to...

Feds Seek Assessment Tool Feedback.(Consumer Assessment of Health Plans)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is seeking ambulatory care test sites for new quality of care assessment tools. Part of the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency in recent years has developed the Consumer Assessment...

California May Tighten Privacy Laws.(Senate Bill 1451)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... California lawmakers have sent legislation to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) that would expand the reach of state privacy laws outside of the state. Senate Bill 1451 would prohibit a person or entity outside the state who receives protected...

Dozen to Drive I.T. Certification Task.(Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A dozen health care leaders have been appointed to serve on the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology. The commission will lead the initiative to certify ambulatory electronic medical records and other health care...

I.T. Alliance Wants Clear Policies.(National Alliance for Health Information Technology)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The National Alliance for Health Information Technology has named the first 10 members of a new policy committee to develop and recommend public policy positions to its board. The alliance-comprising 88 provider, payer, vendor, supplier and...

Nursing Group Joins HIMSS.(Midwest Alliance for Nursing Informatics joins Health Information Management and Systems Society)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Midwest Alliance for Nursing Informatics has become part of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. Founded in 1991, the Midwest Alliance for Nursing Informatics was a group of 200 members from 12 states operating...

HIMSS Snares I.T. Veterans.(Healthcare Information Management Systems Society acquires Dorenfest IHDS+ Database)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... HIMSS earlier this year acquired the Dorenfest IHDS+ Database of information on provider use of I.T. vendor products. Combined with HIMSS-collected data from hospitals, the database is the foundation of HIMSS Analytics, a subsidiary to offer...

Radiology Vendor Gets FDA OK.(Dominator Radiology Reading Workstation)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted clearance for DR Systems Inc. to market its Dominator Radiology Reading Workstation as a technology capable of supporting primary readings of digital mammography images. The workstation is a...

SureScripts Certifies Gold Standard.(e-prescribing system certified)
October 1, 2004... The e-prescribing system from Tampa, Fla.-based Gold Standard has been certified by Alexandria, Va.-based SureScripts for transmitting prescriptions over the SureScripts network. Gold Standard's eMPOWERx application, which integrates drug...

Epic On a Roll at Allina.(Epic Systems Corp and Allina Hospitals & Clinic)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Buffalo (Minn.) Hospital has become the first hospital of Allina Hospitals & Clinics to go live on electronic medical records software from Epic Systems Corp., Madison, Wis. The 34-bed hospital joins four of the Minneapolis-based delivery...

Meditech to Add Clinical Guidelines.(executable knowledge manager guidelines)
October 1, 2004... Medical Information Technology Inc., Westwood, Mass., will integrate into its software clinical guidelines from Zynx Health Inc., Los Angeles. Under a new alliance, Meditech will use Zynx Health's Executable Knowledge Manager guidelines in its...

Pennsylvania Blues Plan Hits the Web.(Web portal)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania will launch a member Web portal using technology from edocs Inc., Natick, Mass. Contract terms were not disclosed. The portal will enable the Wilkes-Barre-based plan's 600,000 members to conduct such...

Software Automates Reminder Calls.(automated appointment reminder telephone system)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... ICS Software Ltd., Oceanside, N.Y., has introduced an automated appointment reminder telephone system integrated with its SammyUSA physician practice management software. Called TouchTone Sam, the appointments system is populated with data as...

EDI Tool Takes Modular Approach.(electronic data interchange)(Validedi, transaction validation software product)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Claredi Corp. has introduced Validedi, a transaction validation software product for provider organizations, payers and claims clearinghouses. The product is similar to the Kaysville, Utah-based vendor's Faciledi software, but Validedi is...

CliniComp Adds Decision Support.(CliniComp International introduces decision support software for clinicians)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... San Diego-based CliniComp International, a vendor of electronic medical records software, has introduced decision support software to alert clinicians when a patient's vital signs and other data indicate a deteriorating condition. The Essentris...

Grants to Support I.T. for Home Care.(technology for at home Alzheimer's patients' care)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Alzheimer's Association and Intel Corp. have awarded grants for five research projects focused on developing I.T. to help family and friends care for at-home Alzheimer's patients. The three-year grants will total no more than $200,000 each...

Drug Firms to Publish Trial Results.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America trade association has launched a free, public database of the results of all controlled clinical trials completed since October 2002 for member drug company products. The Web-based...

MedPlus Offers Predictive Modeling.(records and analytical software)(independent physician associations)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... MedPlus Inc. has introduced analytical software integrated with its eMaxx remotely hosted electronic medical records software. The software enables physician practices to conduct predictive modeling by analyzing laboratory, medication and...

Press Button for Reference Materials.(Thomson Micromedex introduces clinical reference application)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Thomson Micromedex has introduced InfoButton Access, a clinical reference application that can be integrated with other vendors' health care information systems, such as electronic records, e-prescribing and...

Partnership Focuses on Nursing Apps.(information technology in nursing school curriculum)
October 1, 2004... The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and Eclipsys Corp. plan to form a partnership to develop and test nurse-oriented applications and increase the role of I.T. in nursing school curriculum. The partnership will enable the...

Report: Wireless Market Could Explode.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Health care providers could spend more than $7 billion on wireless technology and services by 2010, according to a new report from FocalPoint Group LLC, a San Francisco-based research and consulting firm. Key areas of application include...

Report: Docs Ahead of Pack in PDA Use.(technology run)
October 1, 2004... Physicians are four times more likely as other consumers to own PDAs, according to a new report from Forrester Research Inc., "The Next Generation of Wired Physicians: Analysis of Physician Technology Adoption." The survey found that 45% of...

Group to Push e-Prescribing.(Cafe Rx)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... A coalition of information technology vendors, consultants and standards organizations has formed Cafe Rx, an initiative to encourage adoption of electronic prescription technologies. The goal is to promote and support real-time connectivity...

Conference Tackles Mobile Health Care.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The implementation of mobile and wireless technologies in physician offices and hospitals will be the focus of a conference sponsored by the Emerging Technologies and Healthcare Innovations Congress Nov. 29-Dec. 1 in Washington, D.C. The...

Expert: New Hand-helds to Dominate.(application interfaces)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Hand-held devices such as multimedia PDAs and smart phones will come to dominate the hand-held computing market-and have a significant impact on health care, predicts Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research, a Tiburon, Calif.-based...

Insurer Launches E-Prescribing Pilot.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Owings Mills, Md.-based CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield will offer 500 physicians who prescribe large volumes of medications a wireless e-prescribing system designed to improve patient safety and reduce prescription-related costs. Physicians in...

Another Alliance for PatientKeeper.(hospital information systems)
October 1, 2004... Physicians and other health care professionals using PatientKeeper software for PDAs at the point of care will be able to access drug information tools from ePocrates as they view patient information. Boston-based PatientKeeper, which offers...

More Docs Choose Point-of-Care EMR.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... More than a dozen physician practices have signed deals with Raleigh, N.C.-based Misys Healthcare Systems to purchase, or expand their commitment to, a medical records system that features wireless point-of-care applications for examination...

Community Outreach Goes High-Tech.(Access Community Health Network)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Access Community Health Network, a Chicago-based organization comprising 41 primary care clinics, has launched a program to enable case managers in the field to use a subnotebook computer to refer patients to other community agencies that...

New Pavilion Features Wireless Network.(reorganised)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., has completed construction of its North Pavilion, a 200,000-square foot, 182-bed facility that features an array of new technology, including a wireless network. The pavilion, the first phase...

Company Markets PDA-based Video.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Espre Solutions, a Plano, Texas-based firm that offers video streaming over the Internet to health care and other industries, has acquired Wireless Peripherals, a Dallas-based company that enables two-way video over PDAs. Terms of the deal were...

HealthRamp, 3Com Have Long-Term Goals.(wireless information)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... HealthRamp Inc. and 3Com Corp. will market HealthRamp's PDA-based software together with 3Com's wireless implementation services to long-term health care facilities. The CareGiver software will be offered on Marlborough, Mass.-based 3Com's full...

E-prescribing Software Checks for Allergies.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Zix Corp. has released a new version of its PocketScript e-prescribing software, adding features that check a patient's allergies and drug history against prescribed medications. Version 5.01 also offers drug history reporting options and an...

ePocrates Adds Drug Discount Tool.(information programs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Physicians using hand-held clinical applications from ePocrates Inc. will be able to access a database of prescription discount programs via their PDAs. San Mateo, Calif.-based ePocrates will embed into its application suite patient assistance...

Cancer Society Offers PDA Applications.(information and applications are now available in a package)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The American Cancer Society Inc. in January will offer for free a suite of cancer-related applications for PDAs. The C-Tools software package will be available for the Palm operating system as well as in a Microsoft Pocket PC version. The...

Sutter to Use Tablets for Digital Forms.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health, a 27-hospital delivery system with facilities throughout Northern California, will use digital forms software from Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based Mi-Co to collect patient information on Tablet PCs....

Device Links Home, Physician's Office.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Patients using home health monitoring equipment will be able to send information such as weight, blood pressure and blood glucose levels to their health care providers using the Wireless Telehealth Gateway from RTX Healthcare in Copenhagen,...

Firm Posts Comprehensive Mobile Guide.(BCC Consulting)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... BCC Consulting, Durham, N.C., has released a free guide to mobile technology in health care. The BCC Mobile Resource Guide, which includes information on market segments and more than 150 vendors that offer mobile applications for inpatient and...

A Tablet a Day Keeps Old Docs in Play.(services for the retirees)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Retired physicians in Bend, Ore., are using Tablet PCs over a wireless local area network to access and record patient data as they volunteer at the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades, a free clinic for people who cannot afford...

Stock Chart.
October 1, 2004... (part 1 of 2) Price Price as on a % of 52 Health care software companies 9/9/2004 Wk High ...

What it Takes to Be a Physician I.T. Champion.
October 1, 2004... Clayton Hudnall, M.D., just couldn't take it anymore. His practice, Urology San Antonio, comprises 18 physicians spread out across six clinics and a surgery center. A few years ago Hudnall and his peers realized that the old ways of doing...

Have You Seen This Doctor Lately?(I.T. trends)
October 1, 2004... Are you a physician? And do you like to complain, complain, complain? Then you may have the makings of a physician information technology champion, says Melinda Costin, vice president of implementation services at Houston-based Healthlink Inc.,...

Stick To the Facts During Implementation.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Fact No. 1:Information technology implementations often are exercises in confusion and frustration for many physicians. Fact No. 2: If physician I.T. champions want to survive an implementation-with mind, body and reputation intact-they won't...

Memphis Champs Seeking Converts.(I.T. champions)
October 1, 2004... Physician information technology champions sometimes feel they're walking alone down the I.T. path. But two Memphis, Tenn.-based I.T. champions have decided to walk that sometimes lonely path together. Leiland Edwards, M.D., has been a...

Patient Safety Driving Point-of-Care I.T. Plans: Mobility leads the way as hospitals invest in 'up close and personal' technologies.
October 1, 2004... Lancaster General Hospital has a simple goal: to deliver safe, appropriate and consistent patient care. Reaching its goal and maintaining its patient care focus largely depends on point-of-care technology. In early 2003, the Lancaster,...

Wi-Fi: Rewards balanced by risks.
October 1, 2004... Hospital wireless local area networks typically run on wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, technology standards. The networks have many virtues, including unfettering physicians and nurses from hardwired computers and workstations. The ensuing freedom...

The Metamorphosis of Medical Records: Medical information managers are seeing their jobs, and those of their staff, change as automation comes to their departments.
October 1, 2004... Two years ago, 20 staff members in the medical records department at Charlotte (N.C.) Eye, Ear, Nose & Throat Associates shared three computers. Their jobs mostly consisted of pushing paper, so they didn't have much need for further automation....

Association steps up to I.T. challenge.
October 1, 2004... The health care industry never will get to the point where 100% of patient documentation is electronic, contends Linda Kloss, executive vice president and CEO of the American Health Information Management Association. "But we need to get to the...

For some hospitals, outsourcing is the answer.
October 1, 2004... While many hospitals only in recent years have begun investing in clinical information systems, El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, Calif., went live with its clinical system in 1971. Thirty-three years later, the 426-bed hospital's medical...

Mobile Tech a Hit with Groups: Physician group practices are finding that mobile technology improves patient care and administrative processes and fuels expectations for more.
October 1, 2004... Richard Katon, M.D., wasn't completely sold on the idea of using a PDA to generate electronic prescriptions until he left it at home one day. As Joni Mitchell once sang, he didn't know what he had until it was gone. Less than a month into...

Mobile technology passes nurse test.
October 1, 2004... Mobile technology showed promise for improving patient care at Oswego County OB/GYN. But before nurses gave their approval, they wanted to be sure the using a laptop computer to take patient histories didn't interfere with patient contact...

CEOs Talk Shop: I.T. a Strategic Asset: Hospital chief executives share their top information technology issues and concerns.(Chief executive officers)
October 1, 2004... Hospital CEOs have a new world-view of information technology. No longer deemed an insatiable cost center, many CEOs now see I.T. as a means to advancing a hospital's strategic plan. In the eyes of Mike Glenn, CEO at Olympic Medical Center...

CEOs asking CIOs to pull up a seat.
October 1, 2004... Hospital CEOs increasingly are describing their relationships with CIOs as collaborative and healthy. The use of such terms indicates that CIOs are occupying a seat at the head table, along with the other organization "chiefs." CIOs are...

Digital Technology Puts Pen to Computer: Up-and-coming device lets health care organizations keep paper yet reap benefits of automation.
October 1, 2004... At Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority, everything old is new again for coding patient encounter forms. The Cherokee, N.C.-based Native American health service has discovered a way to marry traditional paper-based forms and new digital pen...

Do you agree or disagree?
October 1, 2004... "Health care information technology consulting firms provide services that are worth the investment. Do you agree or disagree?" AGREE Phyllis Carlin Analyst MD Buyline, Dallas "Use of I.T. consulting services can be very...

A Little Automation Goes a Long Way: Practice finds it worth the effort to enable electronic remittance advice and fund transfers.
October 1, 2004... For small group practices, even a little bit of automation can go a long way, sometimes in terms of dollars and cents. That's been the case at Washington-based C.A. Caceres, M.D., PC-several times over. In 1998 the three-physician practice...

Sub-Webs Anything but Sub-Par: A physician assistants program uses a behind-the-curtains technology to remotely educate and monitor students.
October 1, 2004... The professors at Bethel College's physician assistant school just can't keep up with their pupils. The problem for the McKenzie, Kan.-based college: Its students aren't in Kansas anymore. Each year the master's level physician assistant...

Contracts Update.
October 1, 2004... 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 to:...

Advertiser Index.
October 1, 2004... (part 1 of 2) Advertiser 3M Health Information Sys AIC Allscripts Amicore CareTech Carstens Claredi ChartOne Cisco Systems CompuCaddy Compulink Laserfiche Cybernet Manufacturing ...