Health Management Technology articles from August 2007

Health Management Technology archives from August 2007

Hurry up and wait.(Editorial)
August 1, 2007... I'm not a fan of large-scale government programs, especially when applied to healthcare. For my money, the best approach will always be allowing market forces to work their magic and give us the best system we can afford. Those advocating the...

VistA modernization concerns.(Health Plans and Managed Care)(Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... The Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) may face an uphill battle in its efforts to modernize. This appraisal of the process comes from Robert Howard, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) assistant...

How does your state measure up?(Healthcare and Government)(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality preented report on usage of electronic-records based system for health care industry)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... As a component of the federal government's masterplan to reorganize the healthcare industry into an interoperable, electronic-records based system that allows consumers direct access to more transparent medical information, the Agency for...

Some EHRs heading for federal regulation.(Healthcare and Government)(electronic health records)(The Food and Drug Administration)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is drafting a proposal to regulate electronic health records (EHR) that are transferred to a database directly from medical devices. The regulatory rule would apply to these types of EHRs only and provides...

New York-area patients the first to test healthcare SmartCards.(Hospitals and IDNS)(Siemens Communications Ltd.)(Mt. Sinai Medical Center)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Siemens Communications is working with Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York to join hospitals around the country that are experimenting with credit card-sized healthcare "SmartCards" to reduce medical errors and patient wait time. The...

CMS promotes PHR adoption.(Briefly)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... A new pilot involving multiple insurers is underway to promote PHR adoption by Medicare beneficiaries in the hopes they will use the technology to manage and improve their own health. Participating health insurers include: HIP USA, Kaiser...

AHIC bids farewell to key health IT advisor.(Briefly)(American Health Information Community)(David Brailer resigns )(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced David Brailer, M.D., has resigned his current post as vice chairman of the American Health Information Community (AHIC). HHS ethics officials advised Brailer that...

Health IT funding bill.(Healthcare and Government)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... The legislation known as the "Wired for Health Care Quality Act" was recently passed by the Senate's Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP). The Bipartisan bill is sponsored by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Michael Enzi...

EMR adoption concerns.(Hospitals and IDNs)(electronic health record)(Concerned Care Inc.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Concerns continue to mount regarding the recent IRS memorandum declaring that nonprofit hospitals can share their e-health record software and support with physicians without losing their tax-exempt status. A recent report from Leerink Swann &...

The mother of invention: a physician-owned medical group builds its own clinical decision support tool and brings it to the open market.(Decision Support)(Esse Health)
August 1, 2007... Tom Hastings, M.D., sits with his patient, a 67-year-old woman who was diagnosed with Type II diabetes several months earlier. She has been unable to control her diet and exercise. Having been visited recently from the Glaxo drug...

Shift report redesign: a midwest medical center uses server-based phone technology to streamline shift reporting.(Voice Communication)(Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center )
August 1, 2007... Shift change patient reporting takes place several times a day at every hospital in the country. And for many, it can be an inefficient, noisy and potentially error-prone process. Things were no different for Provena St. Joseph Medical Center,...

Integrated ED: a Mississippi area medical center streamlines critical patient care through EDIS.(Clinical Information Systems: Case History)(emergency department )(emergency department information system )
August 1, 2007... Time is a formidable foe in an emergency department (ED). Likewise, a few seconds in the trauma room can mean the difference between life and death. On the administrative side, we are constantly watching the clock as we monitor how long...

Going mobile--from square one: a bankrupted provider in New York gets reorganized and back on track with mobile charge-capture technology.(Charge Capture)(St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center contracts with PatientKeeper Inc)
August 1, 2007... In 2005, after years of mounting debts and falling revenues, St. Vincent's Medical Centers--the largest Catholic hospital system in New York State--did the unthinkable: It filed for bankruptcy protection. Facing a financial crisis, St....

Leading the charge to efficiency: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's transition to electronic charge capture increases accuracy and enables online reconciliation.(Charge Capture: Case History)
August 1, 2007... The complicated and manual approach to traditional charge capture is leading savvy healthcare providers to consider revamping this paper-based process. Providers are aggressively assessing all aspects of the revenue cycle, with a focus on...

"To reach a representative, please click the icon": a Blue's call center Web-based VoIP solution empowers providers and saves time.(Call/Contact Centers)
August 1, 2007... BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (BCBSSC) has one of the largest technology workforces in the state and provides health insurance and administrative services to more than 1.3 million people statewide. So when BCBSSC sought to address the...

Weathering the perfect storm: an examination of procedures intended to ensure consent is truly informed.(Informed Consent)(best informationm to patient)
August 1, 2007... A perfect storm is brewing around the concept of "informed consent" and its impact may have wide-ranging business implications for healthcare facilities that do not heed the warning signs. It has been noted that all too often, informed...

Small footprint printers.(New Products & Services)
August 1, 2007... The Compact Industrial C Series printers from Cognitive Solutions now have multi-channel Ethernet management ports as standard on all models. The full-connectivity suite has serial, parallel, Ethernet, USB A and USB B ports built in. This small...

Mobile clinical assistant.(New Products & Services)(Motion Computing Inc)(Intel Corp)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... The Motion C5 Mobile Clinical Assistant (MCA) from Motion Computing Inc. is a wireless, handheld point-of-care device developed in partnership with Intel Corp. The technology platform features a 10.4-inch XGA TFT LCD touch-screen...

Image registration software.(New Products & Services)(Integra Radionics Inc)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Integra Radionics is releasing ImageFusion 3, its latest image registration software. ImageFusion 3 was originally developed for the registration of CT scans and MRIs. The new version adds the ability to register PET images and has the...

iPoint.3 medication cart.(New Products & Services)(Lionville Systems Inc.)
August 1, 2007... The iPoint.3 Medication Cart from Lionville Systems Inc. features three storage tiers for patient or storage drawers, integrated power solutions, vented compartment for thick or thin client computers as well as 180-degree articulating front or...

PC digital dictation.(New Products & Services)(Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.)(Linux)
August 1, 2007... Royal Philips Electronics and Linux have leveraged their considerable IT resources to market a Linux software development kit (SDK) for the new line of Philips SpeechMike products. Healthcare organizations will be able to integrate the...

Proactive financial management.(New Products & Services)
August 1, 2007... Version 8 of VerifyAR Compliance Checking from CareMedic Systems allows hospitals to ensure compliance with medical necessity and other regulatory requirements prior to providing and billing for medical services. The latest release includes a...

MCN.(NewsMakers)(Grape Community Hospital of Hamburg)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Regulatory compliance and learning solutions provider MCN Healthcare, and their latest hospital customer, Grape Community Hospital of Hamburg, Iowa, have selected Policy Manager from MCN's Ellucid software platform. The Web-based software is...

McKesson.(NewsMakers)(contract's with South Georgia Medical Center)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC), a 335-bed regional referral healthcare facility recently signed a multi-million dollar agreement with the Georgia-based technology division of McKesson Corp. for consulting, software and automation services....

TeleNav Inc.(NewsMakers)(contracts with Swedish Hospital Medical Center )(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Seattle-based Swedish Medical Center's Home Care division has deployed TeleNav Track from TeleNav Inc. to increase the quality of care, productivity and safety of its mobile workforce. Using mobile phones with voice-activated, turn-by-turn...

CDW.(NewsMakers)(contracts with Barco N.V.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... CDW Healthcare, a provider of technology products and services to healthcare organizations has partnered with Barco, a global technology company, to design and distribute integrated medical imaging solutions based on Barco medical displays,...

Misys.(NewsMakers)(Misys Healthcare Systems contracted with )(Daughters of Charity Health System)(ProMedica Health System)(Cardiovascular Specialists)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Misys Healthcare Systems has awarded contracts to the following companies who selected various combinations of Misys products: Daughters of Charity Health System, Los Altos Hills, California; ProMedica Health System, Toledo, Ohio;...

MPV.(NewsMakers)(Medical Present Value Inc )(General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership Medical Group )(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Los Angeles-based General Anesthesia Specialists Partnership Medical Group (GASP) signed a contract with MPV for consultative services and use of the Web-based Phynance application to verify payment variances and monitor reimbursement. MPV will...

Johns Hopkins Medicine.(NewsMakers)(Anne Arundel Health System )
August 1, 2007... Anne Arundel Health System of Annapolis, Maryland, signed an agreement with Johns Hopkins Medicine to bring together a broad spectrum of clinical programs and experts from both institutions for the development of a strategic alliance to provide...

Navicure.(NewsMakers)(Methodist Health Group of Peoria)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Methodist Health Group of Peoria, Illinois will use Navicure's claims management solution to track claims throughout all stages of processing and to analyze claims denials. The practices of the Methodist Health Group, which employ more than 100...

The key to improving the patient experience.(Thought Leaders)(Health savings accounts)
August 1, 2007... News flash: Health Savings Accounts (HSA) are a boon to large corporations and consumers, reducing healthcare costs for businesses while empowering patients to take control of everything from where they seek treatment to how they pay for...