Health Management Technology articles from January 2007

Health Management Technology archives from January 2007

CDHC on the precipice.(consumer-directed health care)(Editorial)
January 1, 2007... Would you buy a used car from me if I said, "Your 2004 Camry will cost you somewhere between $13,995 and $18,845. Sign here, on the dotted line." If consumer-directed healthcare (CDHC) continues on its current path, it will fail for two...

"Never events" back in the news.(Patient Safety)(reporting medical errors)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Two years ago, Minneapolis-based HealthPartners Inc. made headlines by requiring providers who serve their members to report the commission of "never event" medical errors to the state health department and to not bill members for these errors....

CCHIT expands its reach.(EHR Certification)(Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology)
January 1, 2007... Later this month, the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) will broaden its reach with certification of electronic health records (EHRs) geared to medical specialty practices and specialized care settings....

HHS advocates value-driven healthcare.(Transparency)(Health and Human Services)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... It's easy to get lost in the nuances of the vernacular--value-based purchasing, consumer-directed healthcare, transparency, pay for performance, value-driven healthcare--and miss the forest because of so many dissimilar trees. Essentially,...

Aetna commits to cornerstones.(Transparency)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... When HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt addressed the Business Roundtable summit last November (see above), he brought paper for attendees--specifically, a Purchaser Statement of Support for employers to sign, indicating their commitment to the four...

Room for improvement with CDHPs.(consumer-directed health plans)(Survey)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Employees enrolled in an employer-sponsored consumer-directed health plan (CDHP) basically like their plans; 57 percent would bestow an "A" or "B" ranking for performance. Nevertheless, 50 percent would be "very" or "somewhat" likely to change...

California med schools get telemed money.(Briefly)(telemedicine)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... California Med Schools Get Telemed Money. California voters approved in November 2006 Proposition 1D, a $10.4 billion education bond that will deliver $200 million to expand telemedicine capabilities at five University of California medical...

Phoenix rising.(Briefly)(University of Chicago awards contract to Epic Systems to implement electronic medical record technology)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Phoenix Rising. The Phoenix Project is a $70 million endeavor that will allow the University of Chicago Hospitals to replace their current but aging EMR technology with a new EMR from Epic Systems. The organization took nearly a year to make...

New Web site for St. Louis consumers.(Briefly)(SSM Health Care System)(www.ssmhealth. com/quality)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... New Web Site for St. Louis Consumers. SSM Health Care-St. Louis, an integrated delivery network of seven hospitals, nearly 2,000 staff physicians and more than 10,000 employees, has launched a new Web site for local patients, offering...

Clinical systems are a "go" in real life: clinical information systems have become more than just integrated with other healthcare IT systems. Now they are integrated into the daily routines of healthcare providers.(Clinical Information Systems)
January 1, 2007... While vendors continue to tout the attributes of individual clinical information systems, a growing number of end-users are viewing them as merely parts of an enterprisewide clinical system. In other words, today's clinical information system...

Financial management, the Web way: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital opts for Web-based enterprise technology that support real-time data-based decision making.(Financial Information Systems: Case History)
January 1, 2007... The healthcare industry continues to face challenging business conditions. These pressures compel healthcare organizations to seek new tools and technologies that help them optimize scarce resources, so they can drive growth and still deliver...

Propagation of poor provider data: origin, symptoms and cures for a viral problem.(National Provider Identifier)
January 1, 2007... The healthcare industry suffers from an inability to systematically fix its incomplete and inaccurate provider data. This problem not only prevents the industry from achieving optimal efficiency and automation, but also has larger-scale...

Measure twice, cut once: the Rx for healthy networks and applications is a lifecycle management strategy that precedes rollout, and lasts through implementation and beyond.(Network Management)
January 1, 2007... Healthcare technology is transforming at an unprecedented rate. Physicians, nurses, clinicians, pharmacists, radiologists, emergency departments, local doctor's offices, operating rooms, intensive care units, and insurance offices all must have...

Automation + scheduling = an enterprise win: Duke implements automated and self-scheduling for more than 3,000 employees.(Scheduling: Case History)
January 1, 2007... Scheduling the right personnel, at the right place, at the right time--and at the right price--is an ongoing and monumental challenge for any healthcare organization. Duke University Health System, however, has adopted an automated solution...

Integrating ED with enterprise: Washington hospital implements a robust EDIS and integrates it with its HIS.(Emergency Dept. Information Systems)
January 1, 2007... Overlake Hospital Medical Center (OHMC), a 337-bed nonprofit, independently operated medical center in Bellevue, Wash., is located in one of the most technologically oriented corners of the world. The hospital continually pursues new technology...

Balancing labor costs with quality care: lasting improvements in productivity depend on a combination of technology, talent, focus and time.(Decision Support: Financial)
January 1, 2007... Because the workforce accounts for the largest cost of care in every hospital, operational efficiency--achieving it and sustaining it--is critical to managing the delivery of high quality patient care. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics...

Poised for broad adoption: with pilots aplenty behind it, e-prescribing is a technology on the verge of widespread adoption.(e-Prescribing)
January 1, 2007... It has come time in the healthcare industry to take stock and examine where e-prescribing has been, where it is headed and, more importantly, how all industry players can come together to make it a success. Over the past few years, several...

Single unified view.(New Products & Services)(Centraspect HC)
January 1, 2007... Centraspect HC for Revenue Cycle Management from Systemware integrates with a hospital's existing systems and captures, and provides access to, a patient's clinical, financial and administrative information, which it presents in a single,...

Portals for providers.(New Products & Services)(Practice Portal Services)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Physician practices that wish to provide their patients with directions, physicians' biographies or even two-way secure communications with their doctors may want to consider Practice Portal Services from OmniMD. The company offers predesigned...

Member-centric medical management.(New Products & Services)
January 1, 2007... ThinkHealth version 3 from Click4Care takes a member-centric approach to medical management, rather than a disease- or episodic-approach, which, according to the manufacturer, enables it to identify members who will account for most clinical...

ScanSnap for Mac.(New Products & Services)
January 1, 2007... Fujitsu's ScanSnap S500M scanner was designed with Macintosh users in mind, but it also works with PCs. It scans at speeds up to 18 pages per minute for single-sided documents and up to 36 images per minute for double-sided, which, according to...

Contract management.(New Products & Services)
January 1, 2007... TractManager from MediTract was designed for smaller, stand-alone hospitals and regional healthcare organizations. The contract management solution comes with scanning equipment and provides authorized users with access to a secure,...

Managed billing.(New Products & Services)(Craneware Inc.)
January 1, 2007... Physician Management Toolkit from Craneware enables those in charge of billing for physician groups to manage the coding, conversion factor, pricing and Relative Value Unit changes that affect physician fee schedules. It enables organizations...

Web-based information exchange.(New Products & Services)
January 1, 2007... Inscrybe Healthcare is Authentidate's new Web-based information exchange platform for healthcare that enables a wide range of industry professionals (e.g., physicians, hospital chains, home-health agencies, pharmacies, payers and more) to...

Integrated PM and EMR.(New Products & Services)
January 1, 2007... Centricity Practice Solution from GE Healthcare integrates GE's Centricity EMR and Centricity PM solutions into a single clinical/financial practice management solution that is Windows XP-based and designed to run on Microsoft's SQL server...

Maximum revenue reimbursements.(New Products & Services)
January 1, 2007... HPT's latest release of HTP RevRunner (version 3) adds a customized worklist wizard a patient history view and an improved user interface, which increases its ability to uncover billable revenue and boost reimbursements. Version 3 is built upon...

Scalable, integrated PACS.(New Products & Services)
January 1, 2007... Visage PACS from Mercury Computer Systems is a scalable, fully integrated image management system for large or small-scale healthcare organizations. Up to 500 internal or external users can access the image database simultaneously through Web...

Clinical Information Toolkit.(New Products & Services)(EBSCOhost Information Toolkit)
January 1, 2007... The EBSCOhost Information Toolkit from EBSCO Publishing enables hospitals to integrate evidence-based decision support tools, such as journal articles, trials, prescription medication and patient education information, and other clinical...

dbMotion.(NewsMakers)(University of Pittsburgh Medical Center joins dbMotion Ltd)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... In Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is joining with dbMotion in a massive, $84 million initiative to create a model of systems interoperability. Technology from dbMotion will provide the platform for UPMC...

SRS Software.(NewsMakers)(Princeton Orthpaedic Associates to use SRS Chart Manager from SRS Software Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Princeton Orthpaedic Associates in Princeton, N.J., has chosen SRS Chart Manager from Montvale, N.J.-based SRS Software Inc. to help the practice eliminate its paper charts. Princeton Orthpaedics operates four facilities in central New Jersey.

Galvanon.(NewsMakers)(Valley Baptist Health System to automate patient admission)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Valley Baptist Health System in Harlingen, Texas will automate its patient check-in and registration process with MediKiosk from Galvanon, an NCR Corp. company. The contract follows a successful pilot of Valley Baptist's two outpatient rehab...

ClinixMIS.(NewsMakers)(Clinix Medical Information Services LLC.)(Delta Clinic)(Healthcare Billing Inc.)(Physician Billing Solutions)(The Grant Group, Nashville)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Delta Clinic in Jackson, Tenn., Healthcare Billing Inc. in Hazelton, Pa., Physician Billing Solutions in Raleigh, N.C. and The Grant Group in Nashville, Tenn. have all signed contracts for ASP-based medical billing software from ClinixMIS,...

American Power Conversion (APC).(NewsMakers)(Southern Ohio Medical Center contracts APC)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Southern Ohio Medical Center, Portsmouth, Ohio, a 232-bed regional medical center that includes multisite clinics and urgent care centers, has deployed APC's InfraStruXure architecture to maintain its critical data center.

MEDHOST.(NewsMakers)(Regional Enterprises Inc. contracts with MEDHOST Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Regional Enterprises Inc., a Wisconsin-based health system, has elected to use the full suite of technology in MEDHOST's Emergency Department Information System in its Ashland Memorial Medical Center and Hayward Area Memorial Hospital.

GE Healthcare.(NewsMakers)(Tulane University School of Medicine outsources revenue cycle managment)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Tulane University School of Medicine has chosen Centricity Business Advantage from GE Healthcare. This represents a fully outsourced revenue cycle management service for the School of Medicine, which decided on an outsourcing approach following...

api Software Inc.(NewsMakers)(OSF Healthcare System to use Payrollmation)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Peoria, Ill.-based OSF Healthcare System has chosen Payrollmation from api Software Inc. to automate its time and attendance system, which covers 13,000 employees at six acute care hospitals.

Wellsoft Corp.(NewsMakers)(High Point Regional Health System, High Point, N.C.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... High Point Regional Health System in High Point, N.C., has selected v10 of the EDIS (emergency department information system) from Wellsoft Corp., Somerset, N.J., for ED automation.

Kronos Inc.(NewsMakers)(Catholic Health East contracts with Kronos Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... To support enterprisewide standardization and improved productivity, Catholic Health East has selected Kronos Inc. for its workforce performance management solution, Kronos for Healthcare. Catholic Health East, based in Pennsylvania, represents...

Johnson Controls.(NewsMakers)(University of Pittsburgh Medical Center contracts with Johnson Controls Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has awarded a contract worth $55 million to Johnson Controls Inc., Milwaukee. Johnson Controls will serve as the single point of contact for installation, integration and commissioning of all low...

Neurostar Solutions.(NewsMakers)(Kindred Healthcare Inc to use Virtual Radiology Network)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Kindred Healthcare Inc, with subsidiaries that operate 80 long-term acute care hospitals across the U.S., has chosen Virtual Radiology Network (VRN) from Neurostar Solutions for teleradiology and image archiving as its interim teleradiology...

Amcom Software.(NewsMakers)(Cambridge Health Alliance contracts with Amcom Software Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Cambridge Health Alliance, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., has selected e.Notify, emergency notification software from Amcom Software, to automate communications in emergency situations for its multihospital networks. The organization will...

Companion Technologies.(NewsMakers)(South Carolina Medical Services Organization to use Companion Practice Management)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The South Carolina Medical Services Organization, formed in 2006 in Columbia, S.C. to help physician-practice members share and reduce costs, has selected the Companion PM (practice management) system from Companion Technologies.

IBM.(NewsMakers)(Geisinger Health System partners IBM)(Clinical Decision Intelligence System)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Geisinger Health System, serving more than 2 million residents in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, will partner with IBM to create a data infrastructure for the health system's Clinical Decision Intelligence System (CDIS). The CDIS will...

LightEdge Solutions.(NewsMakers)(orthopedic clinics in california contract LightEdge Solutions Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... In southern California, three separate orthopedic clinics representing 27 physicians have banded together to work LightEdge Solutions, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa, on a third-party hosting model. LightEdge will serve as the hosting provider for the...

Radianse Inc.(NewsMakers)(PinnacleHealth's Harrisburg Hospital continues with Radianse Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... PinnacleHealth's Harrisburg Hospital has extended its use of active RFID technology from Radianse Inc., to track and locate equipment, saying that they are "basically putting the tags on everything that moves, from top to bottom in the...

QuadraMed Corp.(NewsMakers)(New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services contracts with QuadraMed Corp.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services chose QuadraMed to provide data intermediary services. QuadraMed will assist the state agency as its transitions from a PC-based system to a Web-based system and will manage collection of...

Pulse Systems Inc.(NewsMakers)(Neurological Associates Inc to use Pulse Patient Relationship Management Solution)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Neurological Associates Inc. in central Virginia, a practice with 15 neurologists, has selected Pulse Patient Relationship Management solution from Pulse Systems Inc. for an electronic medical record. The organization already uses practice...

DrFirst.(NewsMakers)(partners with United Physicians P.C. for e-prescribing)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... United Physicians P.C., the largest independent physician group in Southeast Michigan, has partnered with DrFirst for e-prescribing, deploying Rcopia to its 1,700 private practice physicians. The rollout follows a successful 3-month pilot at...

Omnicell Inc.(NewsMakers)(selected by Genesis Health System)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Genesis Health System in Davenport, Iowa, has selected OmniRx Cabinets, OmniDispenser Module and SecureVault from Omnicell Inc. to install in its Genesis Medical Center hospitals in Davenport and Silvis, as part of an enhanced initiative to...

Optio Software Inc.(NewsMakers)(Triad Hospitals Inc. uses electronic forms solutions)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Triad Hospitals Inc. has selected Optio Software to provide electronic forms solutions on an enterprisewide basis throughout its 52 acute-care facilities in 16 states. Implementation will include the Optio MedForms Suite, along with Advanced...

InterSystems Corp.(NewsMakers)
January 1, 2007... Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has chosen Ensemble from Cambridge, Mass.-based InterSystems Corp. as its enterprise integration engine. Ensemble will replace the organization's currently used technology and will be used for all future integration...

Meditab Software.(NewsMakers)(Diabetes Care Center to use Intelligent Medical Software solution)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Diabetes Care Center in Salinas, Calif., has chosen the Intelligent Medical Software solution from Meditab Software. The software represents an integrated and HIPAA-compliant practice management and electronic health record application...

Nuance Communications Inc.(NewsMakers)(provides speech recognition suite to Universal Health Services Inc.)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Universal Health Services Inc., a hospital company that operates acute care and behavioral health hospitals and ambulatory centers nationwide, has chosen the Dictaphone enterprise speech recognition suite from Nuance to implement across 22...

Agfa.(NewsMakers)(Agfa HealthCare's TalkStation radiology reporting system to be used by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... More than 45 hospitals run by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will be installing TalkStation, an advanced radiology reporting system from Agfa HealtCare. The installation represents the largest one for the product in the U.S. and will...

InteGreat.(NewsMakers)(InteGreat Inc.'s IC-Chart technology to be implemented by Des Moines University Clinic)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Des Moines University Clinic has chosen IC-Chart from InteGreat as its electronic health record; implementation will begin in spring 2007. The organization is a multispecialty clinic affiliated with Des Moines University.

Ontario Systems.(NewsMakers)(Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals to use receivables management product)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... In Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals has selected Ontario Systems' Artiva Healthcare receivables management product to enhance its self-pay collections process. The technology includes automated business rules and an...

Hospitals, the new center of the universe.(Thought Leaders)(hospital driven community)(Viewpoint essay)
January 1, 2007... In an era of emerging community connectivity, the hospital is the center of the universe--not the government, not payers and not independent physician practices, but the hospital. If emerging community connectivity transpires, it will derive...