Health Management Technology articles from August 2006

Health Management Technology archives from August 2006

Weapon of choice.(article on evidence based medicine)
August 1, 2006... One of the surest signs that a topic has gone mainstream is its recurring appearance in the newsstand press, both consumer and business press. Kudos to Business Week for its May 29 cover story, "Medical Guesswork: From heart surgery to prostate...

AMA follows AAFP and releases guidelines for retail health clinics.(American Medical Association)(American Academy of Family Physicians)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Two major organizations are now on record with guidelines that they hope will help protect patients and shape the future of the new retail healthcare clinic industry. Following its analysis of retail clinic companies, started in 2005, the...

HITSP guidelines due out at summer's end.(Health Information Technology Standards Panel)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... By September 29, the Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) will produce detailed instructions on the implementation of 92 standards for EHR interoperability, PHR (personal health record) development and biosurveillance. These...

Health plan data can fulfill president's EHR initiative.(electronic health records)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Health plans, according to the BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) Association, have the best sources of healthcare data and communications tools and therefore the best chance for implementing a widespread EHR system by the President's 2014 target...

Medicare payments for physicians may increase.(Health Plans and Payers)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... The Medicare payment rates applied to the evaluation and management services that physicians render to patients may receive a substantial boost, if proposed changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) go into effect. The Centers for...

Physicians' income is in decline.(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Though they remain in the top income bracket, doctor's wages for medically related activities fell by 7 percent between 1995 and 2003, when adjusted for inflation, while their counterparts in other industries saw roughly the same percentage as...

MGMA shines a blazing spotlight on transparency.(Medical Group Management Association)
August 1, 2006... Transparency is fast becoming the buzzword of choice for 2006, with multiple committees and coalitions advocating for greater transparency of information, especially on behalf of patients and consumers. Most of this advocacy followed President...

IT market predicted to grow.(information technology)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Revenue from EMR/ EHR sales rose by 28 percent and is expected to double to more than $3 billion by 2008, according to a 2006 report from Vinson Hudson, the principle of Jewson Enterprises in Austin, Texas. Hudson has more than 30 years...

Industries square off in EHR arena.(electronic health record)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Traditional financial institutions and independent health record banks are competing to be the banker for Americans' EHRs. Republican Sen. Sam Brownback and Democrat Pep. Dennis Moore, in two separate June bills, called for the formation by...

Building a safety net: by leveraging huge amounts of data and applying it to a wide array of projects and purposes, hospitals stay focused on patient safety and make headway.
August 1, 2006... It's not the threat of lawsuits as much as a desire to deliver better healthcare that is driving much of today's efforts to improve patient safety. Whether it's reducing medication errors or monitoring the onset of symptoms to facilitate...

Wellsoft Corp.(Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center use information systems provided by Wellsoft Corp.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. chose Wellsoft Corp.'s emergency department information system for its newly renovated $4 million ED. The solution tracks patients from triage to discharge, provides patient discharge...

MEDHOST Inc.(Barton Memorial Hospital. Home Health Agency to make use of Medhost Inc.'s information systems)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Barton Memorial Hospitalin South Lake Tahoe, Calif., is automating its emergency department with the full suite of emergency department information systems products from MEDHOST Inc. Barton is an 80-bed community health facility.

MEDSEEK.(Stony Brook University Medical Center purchsed SiteMaker E from MedSeek Inc.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Stony Brook University Medical Center on Long Island, an academic healthcare enterprise with 500-plus hospital beds and a 500 provider outpatient practice, has purchased MEDSEEK's SiteMaker E as its primary tool to rebuild and redeploy existing...

RAM Technologies Inc.(NewsMakers)
August 1, 2006... American Health Medicare of Puerto Rico selected Ram Technologies Inc.'s HEALTHsuite enterprise administrative software solution to simplify offering Medicare Advantage products. HEALTHsuite provides automation and compliance for key Medicare...

Medical Present Value (MPV).(Loyola University Physician Foundation)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Loyola University Physician Foundation, Westchester, Ill., selected MPV's Phynance to manage payer contracts and audit reimbursement. The solution will be used by the 500-physician multispecialty group to better identify and appeal claims paid...

Dynamic Imaging.(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Pittsburgh Mercy Health System (PMHS) deployed Allendale, N.J.-based Dynamic Imaging's IntegradWeb PACS across its healthcare enterprise. The system delivers more than 145,000 annual radiology procedures. PMHS is a system of Catholic healthcare...

TheraDoc Inc.(TheraDoc Inc.)(University of Pittsburgh Medical Center)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has selected a suite of clinical decision support programs from TheraDoc in Salt Lake City that includes Expert System Platform, Antibiotic Assistant, Infection Control Assistant and...

ProviderLink Inc.(FirstHealth of the Carolinas )(Mid-Carolina Physicians Organization )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... FirstHealth of the Carolinas and the Mid-Carolina Physicians Organization chose Cary, N.C.-based ProviderLink's FirstShare network to support online exchange of patient information. Through FirstShare, the physicians have the opportunity to...

Hilgraeve Inc.(Clinical Pathology Associates installs patient data extraction system)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Clinical Pathology Associates, Louisville, Ky., installed Hilgraeve Inc.'s HyperSend PDX patient data extraction system. The software provides the laboratory with secure health information exchange between their outreach customers and physician...

American Power Conversion.(American Power Conversion Corp. acquires NetBotz Inc.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... West Kingston, R.I.-based American Power Conversion, provider of high availability systems for network-critical physical infrastructure, acquired NetBotz Inc., provider of IP-based environmental and video monitoring solutions. NetBotz' suite of...

Galvanon.(Parrish Medical Center )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Parrish Medical Center (PMC), a publicly owned, not-for-profit hospital in Titusville, Fla., has selected Maitland, Fla.-based Galvanon's MediKiosk and Online BillPay solutions to speed patient registration and reduce paper-based processes. The...

Sentillion Inc.(Pepin Heart Hospital)(Dr. Kiran C. Patel Research Intitute)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Pepin Heart Hospital & Dr. Kiran C. Patel Research Intitute, Tampa, Fla, have selected Vergence from Sentillion Inc. for context management, strong authentication and single sign-on capabilities. Pepin Heart Hospital is a best-of-breed...

MEDai Inc.(NewsMakers)
August 1, 2006... Premier Health Partners in Dayton, Ohio, a three-hospital enterprise, has selected the Pinpoint Quality outcomes measurement system from MEDai, Orlando, Fla., with a multiyear contract.

QuadraMed Corp.(North Shore Medical Center to use enterprise scheduling solution provided by QuadraMed Corp.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) in Salem, Mass., has selected QuadraMed Corp. for its enterprise scheduling solution. NSMC is the region's largest provider and a member of Partners HealthCare.

Eclipsys Corp.(Eclipsys Corp. provides sunrise clinical manager to Methodist Hospital (Houston, Texas))(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Methodist Hospital and Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, within Houston's Methodist Hospital System, have implemented Sunrise Clinical Manager from Eclipsys Corp. Implementation includes CPOE, results, vital signs, patient intake and output flow...

Healthcare Management Systems Inc.(Oglethorpe Inc.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Oglethorpe Inc., based in Tampa, Fla., has signed a new and extended contract with Healthcare Management Systems Inc., Nashville, Tenn., that will provide an integrated hospital information system to three Oglethorpe behavioral facilities, all...

A final farewell to paper: document management system exceeds expectations for administrative efficiencies, profitability and ROI.(return on investment)
August 1, 2006... As any practice administrator can attest, when patient paper charts are incomplete, misfiled or "missing," resulting delays are time consuming, frustrating and costly. In 2005, University Dermatologists Inc. solved that problem; it bid farewell...

What is application-attached storage costing your facility? As electronic healthcare databases grow, traditional backup systems may become inadequate. Is information lifecycle management the future of data storage?
August 1, 2006... There is a story of a family that wasn't satisfied with having all their food in the kitchen. First, their 16-year-old son demanded a refrigerator in his room for his sport drinks, snacks and fruit. Then, their 13-year-old daughter wanted a...

Revving up: the revenue cycle: a Wisconsin health system implements revenue cycle management software for enterprise performance improvement.(Financial Information Systems: Case History)
August 1, 2006... Hospitals and healthcare systems across the nation continually evaluate strategies for improving financial performance. With razor-thin margins and growth in the number of uninsured impacting the bottom line, efficient revenue cycle management...

Software provides: network visibility: healthcare system solves compliance concerns with new centralized control of its network.
August 1, 2006... Doug Torre was a network manager with network management problems. His staff lacked visibility into its network. They could not determine whether compliance requirements were being met. They did not have the proper tools for pushing updates to...

A controlled launch: once a provider organization decides to upgrade its CIS, what next?(clinical information system)
August 1, 2006... HealthCare Partners Medical Group (HCP) transitioned last spring from a 14-year old electronic medical record system (EMR) into Allscript's TouchWorks Electronic Health Record, which we planned to use as our primary clinical information system...

Information Management.(New Products & Services)
August 1, 2006... Kodak's CARESTREAM Information Management Solutions (IMS) are designed for IT staffs who need to orchestrate growing patient information across an enterprise, a region or countrywide. The Enterprise Information Management, Hosted Information...

Community network.
August 1, 2006... NextGen's Community Health Solution (NextGen CHS) is a network technology product intended to facilitate RHIOs by enabling the exchange of critical information through a community-wide repository of patient data. With NextGen CHS, individual...

Infection control.(New Products & Services)
August 1, 2006... Datalux IPIX all-in-one computers, designed specifically for point-of-care use, now feature an antimicrobial additive in their plastic parts that is intended to help healthcare facilities prevent the spread of infections. The silver-based...

Practice management.(New Products & Services)
August 1, 2006... IC-Manage is InteGreat's practice management solution, designed to add clinical information capabilities to the company's EHR system, IC-Chart. IC-Manage uses the Microsoft SQL Server database and Internet Explorer to provide, among other...

Locking prescription printer.(New Products & Services)
August 1, 2006... The TSP800Rx thermal printer from Star Micronics features a locking paper chamber that secures the prescription media from being removed by unauthorized personnel. The nearly silent printer accepts state standard prescription paper. It features...

Endpoint security.(New Products & Services)
August 1, 2006... Senforce intelligent Network Access Control (iNAC) is an outward-facing, policy-based extension to the company's endpoint security suite (ESS). It verifies a PC is policy-compliant and free of potential threats before giving it access to a...

api Software.(api Software Inc. helps Henry Medical Center )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Henry Medical Center, based in Stockbridge, Ga., has selected Navigator and Payrollmation from api Software Inc., Hartford, Wis., to support its HR, payroll and time and attendance functions. Henry Medical Center is a 124-bed community hospital...

MobileAccess Networks.(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Northwestern Memorial Hospital installed MobileAccess Network's Universal Wireless Network throughout their Chicago campus and plan to extend it to the new Prentice Women's Hospital, scheduled to open in the fall of 2007. The solution enables...

Site of Care Systems.(NewsMakers)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Mercy Children's Hospital, a Toledo, Ohio-based tertiary pediatric facility within the Mercy Health Partners system, deployed San Francisco-based Site of Care Systems' Daily Baby Center computerized charting application in their neonatal...

Craneware Inc.
August 1, 2006... The Cleveland Clinic selected Orlando, Fla.-based Craneware Inc.'s Chargemaster Toolkit suite of products and the Physician Revenue Tookit for use at its main hospital campus in Cleveland, its nine community hospitals and two affiliated...

Emageon Inc.(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer & Research Institute at the University of South Florida selected based Emageon Inc., Birmingham, Ala., to provide enterprise visual medical systems for manipulation and analysis of images in two and three dimensions.

BidShift Inc.(bids Spohn Health System of Corpus Christi)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... CHRISTUS Spohn Health System of Corpus Christi, Texas selected BidShift Inc.'s online bidding system to automate filling open shifts across its six hospital campuses. Nursing staff can log on from work or home, 24/7, to identify available...

MedeFinance.(solutions for Baptist Health System)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Baptist Health System of Birmingham Ala., implemented a revenue cycle analytics application from MedeFinance of Emeryville, Calif. The technology helps the healthcare system integrate and track key performance metrics across the enterprise....

Picis Inc.(Virtua Health of New Jersey and Providence Health System of Oregon bids Picis Inc.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Virtua Health of New Jersey and Providence Health System of Oregon, will deploy the Ibex PulseCheck emergency department information system (EDIS) from Picis across each IDN. Providence will automate seven additional hospitals with the EDIS,...

Transparency rules: AMA adopts policy, too.(Professional Associations)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... MGMA is not alone. A number of professional associations want to see significantly more team membership in the transparency initiative before dozens of consumer portals are loaded up with price data. The AMA went public with a newly adopted...

AMIA supports decision support.(Professional Associations)(American Medical Informatics Association)
August 1, 2006... The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) delivered in spades for a contract with HHS and ONC by issuing its recent, comprehensive report, "A Roadmap for National Action on Clinical Decision Support (CDS)." The roadmap is an inclusive...

Survey shows wireless security a top concern among healthcare execs.(Survey)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... A recent wireless security survey conducted by Bluefire Security Technologies, a Baltimore-based developer of security software for wireless devices, and FierceWireless, an electronic trade publication of FierceMarkets Inc., concluded that...

Provider Advantage NW Inc.(Watauga Medical Center selected Provider Advantage NW Inc.'s VeriLink for healthcare insurance eligibility verification)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Watauga Medical Center selected Provider Advantage NW Inc.'s VeriLink for healthcare insurance eligibility verification. VeriLink provides access to Medicare, Medicaid and commercial health plan data to confirm eligibility at the point of...

DR Systems.(DR Systems Inc. bids with hospitals)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Four hospitals have signed contracts with San Diego-based DR Systems totaling nearly $5 million, with each contract worth more than $1 million. The facilities are: Olympic Medical Center (Port Angeles, Wash.), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital...

InteGreat Inc.(Darin M. Camarena Health Centers Inc.'s contract)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Darin M. Camarena Health Centers Inc., a community health center with three locations in Madera County, Calif., selected Scottsdale, Ariz.-based InteGreat Inc.'s IC-Chart electronic health record system. The system will help manage clinical...

MphasiS (formerly Eldorado Computing).(MphasiS Healthcare Solutions )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... MphasiS Healthcare Solutions is the new name for the former Eldorado Computing Inc. The company specializes in business process outsourcing services, health insurance application development and operational consulting.

The cure for the fatally flawed EMR software model.(Thought Leaders)(Product/service evaluation)
August 1, 2006... The EMR horse is out of the stable and galloping full speed ahead, and it could race right over the industry if we don't take a hard look at the current EMR software model presently being offered to providers. With the departure of Dr. David...