Health Data Management articles from September 2004

Health Data Management archives from September 2004

Biometric and Single-Sign-On Technologies Cure the Passwords 'Haddock'.
September 1, 2004... You can't come in unless you give the password. Well, what is the password? Aw, no. You gotta tell me. Hey, I tell what I do. I give you three guesses. It's the name of a fish. Is it Mary? Ha-ha. That's no fish. She isn't, well, she drinks like...

The Money Question Looms Over Federal I.T. Plan.(finance of federal government)
September 1, 2004... The Department of Health and Human Services' framework for creating a national health information infrastructure is a good start to a massive, long-term project, industry experts say. The framework, which essentially is an initial strategy, "is...

JCAHO Bar Code, Infusion Pump Rules Still a Priority.(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
September 1, 2004... While the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations did not include proposed bar code and infusion pump requirements in its final 2005 patient safety goals, those issues remain high priorities and could become final in the...

For Humana, Debit Health Cards are Empowering.(Humana Inc. offers medical debit cards)
September 1, 2004... Employers facing double-digit hikes in their health care costs year after year are scrambling to find ways to get these increases under control. Humana Inc., like other insurers, is caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, it's...

The Web is a Matter of Opinion for Cleveland Clinic.(launches new website)
September 1, 2004... Patients often seek a second opinion from a specialist when making a major medical decision. Providing those opinions online is not only a lucrative business for provider organizations; it also makes it easier for patients to complete the often...

Are Providers Really Taking Care of the PC Trash?(personal computer)(disposal of health information)
September 1, 2004... Acting on a tip, a television reporter early this year rummaged through a dumpster behind a medical building at the University of Illinois at Chicago and found dozens of discarded personal computers. Two years ago, a journalist bought a...

HL7 OKs Electronic Record Model.(Health Level Seven)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The board of Health Level Seven, a standards development organization, has approved the Electronic Health Record System Functional Model. The model is designed to foster interoperability of electronic medical records systems and aid providers...

Senate Passes Patient Safety Bill.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The U.S. Senate on July 22 passed patient safety legislation 16 months after the House approved a similar measure. The Senate inserted its version of patient safety legislation into the House-passed bill, H.R. 663, then passed it by unanimous...

HHS Gives Guidance on Disclosures.(Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights has released detailed guidance on when the HIPAA privacy rule permits covered entities to disclose protected health information to law enforcement officials. Permitted...

Banks, Schools Need Privacy Clarity.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The Department of Health and Human Services should consider whether to require encryption of protected health information moving through the financial industry's automated clearinghouse network, an advisory committee has recommended to HHS...

Bill Seeks Big Bucks for Health I.T.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) has introduced legislation that would substantially fund the development of up to 20 regional health information networks. The bill, H.R. 4880, authorizes more than $2.5 billion in grants through 2013 for...

Another Health I.T. Bill Enters Fray.(Information Technology)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) has introduced legislation to authorize $600 million in grants and loans through fiscal 2010 to help providers implement interoperable health information systems. The amount is far less than the approximately $2.5...

ANSI Approves HL7 Version 3 Specs.(American National Standards Institute)(Health Level)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The American National Standards Institute has approved seven specifications of the Health Level Seven Version 3 standards as full ANSI standards. Version 3 is a family of messaging and clinical documentation architecture standards. The approved...

CEO: Start e-Script Push at the Top.(electronic prescriptions)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Medicare's acceptance of electronic prescriptions for the Part D drug benefit that starts in 2006 will help accelerate adoption of the technology, said Craig Fuller, president and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores,...

Medical Groups Align for I.T.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Fourteen medical societies will work together to encourage physician adoption of electronic medical records technology. The societies have formed the Physicians Electronic Health Record Coalition to promote ways to help ambulatory care...

Groups to Certify Electronic Records.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Three health care information technology associations have established a process to certify electronic health records for ambulatory patients. Leaders of the American Health Information Management Association, Healthcare Information and...

Error Study Author: I.T. an Important Tool.(Information Technology)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Contrary to published reports, a new study estimating an average of 195,000 patients in U.S. hospitals die each year from potentially preventable medical errors does not downplay the role of information technology in reducing such errors. I.T....

$100 Million Deal for Siemens.(Catholic Health System)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Five-hospital Catholic Health System in Buffalo, N.Y., will buy a suite of medical imaging and information systems under a 10-year, $100 million contract with Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, Pa. The contract includes a "nonobsolescence"...

MedQuist Revamps Billing, Leadership.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... MedQuist Inc. is changing leadership and billing practices following a review of those practices. The vendor of transcription, dictation, speech recognition and coding software and services has named Howard Hoffman as interim CEO. Hoffman is a...

Firm Grades Physician Software.(CTS Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... CTS Inc., which reviews and rates software used in several industries, has released its 2004 reports on 11 vendors of software for physician practices. The Rockville, Md.-based company requests and receives software products from vendors, tests...

3M Buys Coding Vendor Info-X.(3M Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M Corp. has acquired Info-X Inc., a vendor of coding compliance software for provider organizations. Terms of the acquisition for Rockleigh, N.J.-based Info-X, which has annual revenue of about $10 million, were not...

New Leader at Daou.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Daou Systems Inc., a software and consulting firm, has named Vincent Roach as CEO. He succeeds Daniel Malcolm, who recently left the Exton, Pa.-based company. Roach has worked at Daou since 1998 when the firm acquired his company, Technology...

New Team to Lead iMedica.(iMedica Corp)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Mountain View, Calif.-based iMedica Corp., a vendor of electronic medical records software for physician practices, has named Michael Nissenbaum as CEO and Neil Simon as COO. Both executives come from GE Healthcare and previously led physician...

Mass. PHO Gets Behind e-Prescribing.(Massachusetts)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Baycare Health Partners Inc., a physician-hospital organization in Springfield, Mass., is encouraging about 580 physicians and nurse practitioners in its IPA network to use PocketScript e-prescribing software from Zix Corp., a Dallas-based...

Hospital Continues at High Speed.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, N.J., has launched a new broadband wireless network using technology from Proxim Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif., saying the technology will offer greater capacity and scalability than the hospital's previous...

RFID Is All in the Wrist.(Jacobi Medical Center)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Jacobi Medical Center in New York has signed on with Siemens Business Services to test Siemens' radio frequency identification technology. Patients are given wristbands with a chip, or transponder, containing their patient number. Physicians...

Mobile Health Forum Set for October.(Medical Records Institute)(Mobile Healthcare Alliance)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The Medical Records Institute and the Mobile Healthcare Alliance will hold their annual national conference on mobile health care and electronic order entry technologies Oct. 26-28 in Reno, Nev. The conference will cover mobile health...

Report Lists Top Mobile Vendors.(BCC Consulting)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Durham, N.C.-based BCC Consulting has released a report offering advice on choosing mobile clinical technologies. The report, titled "Going Mobile: Choosing the Right Inpatient Solution," was written to create a framework for health care...

Allscripts Boosts e-Scripts Content.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Libertyville, Ill., will integrate drug reference content from Chicago-based Wolters Kluwer Health into its TouchScripts.NET electronic prescription software. Under the alliance, Wolters Kluwer Health will...

ePocrates Puts Software to the Test.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... San Mateo, Calif.-based ePocrates Inc. has released an application designed to offer clinicians lab reference information on PDAs. The ePocrates Lab software is being offered as part of a suite of integrated PDA-based clinical reference...

U.S. Vendors Can Tap Growing Market.(mobile health care applications)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... U.S. companies offering mobile health care applications will likely increase collaboration with vendors in Europe-and try to expand their market shares-as demand for wireless medical technology grows overseas, according to a new report issued...

Medical Journal Available on PDAs.(Personal digital assistants)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Select content from The Lancet, an international medical journal published by Amsterdam-based Elsevier, now can be downloaded onto PDAs and smart phones. The mobile edition of The Lancet offers full text of editorials, commentaries and news...

Payer Pilots Digital Pens for Claims.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Anthem Inc., an Indianapolis-based managed care organization, is testing digital pens with physicians in its Indiana and Kentucky plans. In the two-phase pilot, Anthem physicians in these states are using digital pens developed last year by...

Firm Developing Cellular EKG Device.(Voice Diary Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... A large order for wireless EKG devices being developed by Voice Diary Inc. has put the Jericho, N.Y.-based company on a schedule to deliver the first units by December 2005. The device, called CardioGSM, has an embedded EKG unit inside a...

Stock Chart.(Health care software companies)(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... (part 1 of 3) Price Price as on a % of 52 Health care software companies 8/10/2004 Wk High Allscripts...

Two Technologies Let Hospitals Pass on WORDS.(Single-sign-on technology)
September 1, 2004... There was a time when information systems users at Contra Costa County Health Services had to remember up to 10 passwords. Like users at most other hospitals and delivery systems, they had little chance of remembering all of them. So they wrote...

Combined tech helps HIPAA compliance.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.)
September 1, 2004... Hospitals using biometrics and single-sign-on together to meet information systems user identity and authentication needs are finding it helps fulfill some requirements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Contra...

Combined Technologies Face Obstacles.(biometric devices )
September 1, 2004... Hospitals moving forward with combined biometric and single-sign-on technologies are thrilled to overcome many of the labor-intensive tasks associated with managing passwords. Estimates of help desk time devoted to resetting and reminding users...

Bar Codes Ready to Go Code Red: The powers-that-be are prodding provider organizations to implement bar code systems. Early adopters give advice on how to do it.(advices)
September 1, 2004... Health care's regulatory agencies have seen the future, and it's filled with bar codes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations are starting to push for widespread adoption of...

What the FDA wants.(Food and Drug Administration)
September 1, 2004... The Food and Drug Administration's final bar code rule, published Feb. 26 in the Federal Register, mandates the National Drug Code be affixed via a bar code on most prescription drugs and on certain over-the-counter medications commonly used in...

Nurses Line Up at the I.T. Suggestion Box: Enhanced applications and increased focus on nurses' needs are what the caregivers are seeking-and finding.(wants and demands.)
September 1, 2004... Plotting out a nurse's workflow is akin to diagramming a new football play in the locker room during halftime. "Johnson, you go around the left end. Smith, you go up the middle. Grossman, you throw a screen pass to Bellows. I guarantee this is...

Some Vendors Make Nursing Personnel a Priority.
September 1, 2004... Health care information technology has come under criticism for merely paying lip service to the I.T. needs of nurses. But industry experts say more vendors are taking nurses seriously. One indication of this focus is the decision by a...

Using Nurse I.T. to Peek into the Future.
September 1, 2004... Nurses at provider organizations want information technology that enables them to hear and tell the complete, unabridged story about patient care. Their peers at payer organizations don't like to use Cliff Notes, either. Case managers at...

Bar Coding: The Best and Worst of Times.
September 1, 2004... St. Mary's Medical Center last year started rolling out bar code technology for medication administration. It wasn't easy. "It's the most difficult project we've ever tackled, and it's the best thing we've ever done," says Dave Imhoff,...

Memoirs of Wi-Fi Networks: CIOs discuss their strategies for implementing and maintaining wireless networks.(Chief Information Officer)
September 1, 2004... Evanston (Ill.) Memorial Healthcare implemented a wireless network last year to offer clinicians easier access to patient information. Untethered clinicians now use wireless personal computers mounted on mobile carts to access Evanston...

Mobile Technology Comes From Behind: A delivery system finds it pays to persevere when deploying a wireless network.
September 1, 2004... Stories from last month's Olympics typically show that athletes share some common characteristics. Whether achieving top times or distances, a common thread among them is persistence in pursuing their goal. That trait also is helpful for...

Hospital Dashes to Wireless Services: Provider works with telecom vendor to offer enhanced wireless services to staff, visitors.(Central DuPage Hospital)
September 1, 2004... Central DuPage Hospital has a longstanding relationship with wireless networks. More than a decade ago, the Winfield, Ill.-based, not-for-profit provider organization began using "early but effective" wireless technologies, says CIO Dave...

Contracts Update.
September 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.
September 1, 2004... (part 1 of 2) Advertiser 3Com AHIMA AHIMA Alcatel Internet Allscripts Artromick Betrusted Carstens Cisco Systems Computer Associates CompuCaddy Cybernet Manufacturing Dell ...

Do You Agree or Disagree?(Computerized physician order entry systems)
September 1, 2004... "Computerized physician order entry systems are mature enough for widescale implementation in hospitals. Do you agree or disagree?" AGREE Martin Mendelson, M.D. Public Health Informatics Specialist Nevada Health Division,...