Health Management Technology articles from July 2006

Health Management Technology archives from July 2006

Rules of the game.(From the Editor)(Editorial)
July 1, 2006... Most parents attempt to instill in their children lessons that last a lifetime and advance their happiness and success. Mine did. One of the best lessons my father taught me, for use in business and social contexts, was to be aware of--and...

CPOE improves discharge documentation.(Computerized Physician Order Entry)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Documentation on heart disease patients discharged from hospitals increased significantly with the introduction of computerized physician order entry (CPOE), according to a new survey from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)....

Privacy compliance down, security up.(HIPAA Compliance)
July 1, 2006... The number of hospitals and health systems fully complying with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy regulations has dropped slightly in the last year, according to a survey from AHIMA (the American Health Information...

The successful transition to IDC-10.(Health Plans and Payers)(International Classification of Diseases)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Karen Ignani, CEO of American's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), issued a statement to Congress at the end of May about implementation of ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases) code sets and the time and steps necessary to adopt and...

DM delivers improved outcomes for CHF patients.(Health Plans and Payers)
July 1, 2006... Medicaid (MediPass) beneficiaries with congestive heart failure in northern Florida are being hospitalized less frequently and are adhering more to their treatment regimens, thanks to their participation in a disease management program. The...

Kaiser Permanente launches consumer-directed line.(Health Plans and Payers)(Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Kaiser Permanente has launched the Kaiser Permanente Custom Care suite of consumer-directed products for California customers, designed to give employers more flexibility in meeting employees' diverse needs. From the standpoint of enrolling...

Vendor and practice journal publicly rank insurers.(Physician Practice Management)(Athenahealth.com )
July 1, 2006... athenahealth Inc. of Watertown, Mass., has joined Physicians Practice, a Baltimore-based practice management journal, in announcing PayerView, a complex data collection of analysis and rankings of national and regional health insurers--and...

NYC docs to get $40 million in EHRs.(Physician Practice Management)(New York City)(doctors)(electronic health records )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... One thousand physicians in New York City's poorest neighborhoods will get electronic health records over the next three years thanks to a city appropriation, contributions from community health centers and a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson...

NACHC calls on Congress to grant funds.(Briefly)(National Association of Community Health Centers )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has requested Congress fund the installation of electronic medical records (EMRs) at federally funded health centers that serve low-income, uninsured and homeless patients. Early...

The financial impact of e-prescribing.(Briefly)(RxHub.net)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Leading the charge for examining the financial impact of e-prescribing is RxHub, an e-prescribing network supplier and advocate headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. RxHub retained consultant services from Milliman to assess the financial influence...

Speakers bureau promotes cardiac care.(Briefly)(Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... More than 2,500 radiologists and cardiologists have enrolled in physician training courses and a national speakers bureau launched two years ago by Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. Physician presenters educate their peers on the latest...

Wireless patient tracking in disaster management.(Wireless/Bar Coding)(Cover story)
July 1, 2006... WASHINGTON STATE: An earthquake measuring magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale rocked the Cascadia Subduction Zone. It sent 30-foot waves smashing through Puget Sound, sweeping coastal community out to sea and creating massive devastation. The...

Inventory control: bar codes and wireless technologies help Gundersen Lutheran Health System manage its supply chain.(Wireless/Bar Coding: Case History)
July 1, 2006... From trays filled with surgical instruments in the OR to rolls of gauze bandages in the ER, mission-critical supplies must be available when needed. But unless a hospital has a reliable materials management system in place, tray loading errors...

Trends influencing the cost of care and patient safety: decision-making in five key areas can improve clinical and economic performance.(Perioperative Information Systems)
July 1, 2006... The rate of adoption of perioperative information technology has increased dramatically over the last few years. These systems have become an integral part of the business process of hospitals, providing valuable data that the institution can...

Phone-free virtual visits: Aetna covers online doctor-patient communication for insured members in Florida and California.(Health Plans & Technology)
July 1, 2006... Has anyone on this planet not been frustrated by the typical call-routing system used by his physician's office? Press "one" for this, press "two" for that, stay on the line to speak with an operator. For Aetna health plan members in...

Going mobile: a Tablet PC is the core patient care device at a new digital, wireless hospital in Wisconsin.(PDAs/Laptops/Tablets: Case History)(St. Claire Inc.)
July 1, 2006... Three years ago, administrators, IT professionals, clinicians and others at Ministry Health Care poured over blueprints and artists' renderings of Saint Clare's, a state-of-the-art acute care hospital to be built in north central Wisconsin....

Extended-life battery.(Hardware: PDAs, Laptops, Tablets)(Electrovaya)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Electrovaya's PowerPad 300 is designed to power notebooks and other mobile devices, including carts, seven to eight times longer than standard internal notebook batteries--up to 24 hours on a single charge. Manufactured using the company's...

Front-lit display.(Hardware: PDAs, Laptops, Tablets)(Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Fujitsu's Stylistic ST5031 Tablet PC is designed to be viewable even outdoors under direct sunlight. It features a 10.4" front-lit reflective LCD that switches between portrait and landscape modes when rotated, and weighs just 3.5 lbs. The...

Dual-processor power.(Hardware: PDAs, Laptops, Tablets)(Dell Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Dell's E1705 Inspirion notebook features an Intel 2.16 GHz Core Centrino processor with a 2MB cache and a 667 MHz FSB. It comes with Windows XP Media Center Edition, a 17" widescreen display and an integrated Intel 950 graphics media...

Powerful, light, secure.(Hardware: PDAs, Laptops, Tablets)(MPC Computers LLC)
July 1, 2006... MPC's TransPort T2400 notebook features an Intel Core Duo processor with a 2 MB cache and a 667 FSB; up to 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM and up to a 120 GB hard drive--all in a thin form factor that weighs just 5.5 lbs., including the battery. It...

Connectivity, security, mobility.(Hardware: PDAs, Laptops, Tablets)
July 1, 2006... HP Compaq's 6320 Series of notebook PCs are designed for multi-application environments. Each contains an up to 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo processor with a 667 MHz FSB and 2 MB L2 cache. They include up to a 100 GB hard drive, and up to 2 GB of...

Rugged, lightweight, convertible.(Hardware: PDAs, Laptops, Tablets)(Panasonic Computer Peripheral Co.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Panasonic's Toughbook CF-18 is a rugged, convertible tablet PC that transforms from notebook to tablet with a twist of its swivel-hinge. It offers keyboard, touchscreen and handwriting modes, integrated wireless connectivity (LAN, WAN, GPS and...

Tablet PCs: tough enough? New Mexico's largest EMS deploys rugged, convertible tablet PCs to make digital chart compliance easier.(Hardware: PDAs, Laptops, Tablets: Case History)(Albuquerque Ambulance Service )
July 1, 2006... The ambulance heads to the hospital, while a member of the Albuquerque Ambulance Service (AAS) makes a record of the patient call, rapidly entering vital signs and medical history while he talks with a chest-pain patient. He is using a tablet...

Parental control: Iowa Health System wrangles multiple, unruly intranets and builds a site with flexibility and consistency for 18,400 employees.(Content Management)
July 1, 2006... Sometimes it's good for an organization to get fed up with the status quo, especially if it's in the name of efficiency. At Iowa Health System (IHS), we devised an intranet site architecture that eliminated redundancy and inefficiency. Now,...

CDW Government Inc.(NewsMakers)(California Health and Human Services Agency )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The California Health and Human Services Agency awarded a $2 million contract to CDW Government Inc. (CDW-G) to deliver Lexmark T632nlaser printers to 45 county offices throughout the state in 30 days. CDW-G is a wholly owned subsidiary of...

SRS Software Inc.(NewsMakers)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, PA (ROC) selected SRS Software Inc.'s Freedom Chart Manager, an enterprise document management system. ROC will implement the system across its 28-provider practice in four locations, serving patients from Wake...

InterSystems Corp.(NewsMakers)(CareGroup Healthcare System)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... CareGroup Healthcare System, a Massachusetts-based IDN, went live at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with a biosurveillance system, which provides the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta with healthcare information key to early...

Fujifilm Medical Systems USA.(NewsMakers)(Pacific Air Force Command )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Pacific Air Force Command (PACAF) deployed Stamford, Conn.-based Fujifilm Medical Systems USA's Synapse PACS and digital X-ray technology across all nine PACAF bases. This deployment, spanning 64 million square miles of Pacific Ocean, was...

IMACS (Innovated Managed Care Systems, Ltd.).(NewsMakers)(Triad Hospitals Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Four separate hospitals and 14 hospitals owned by Triad Hospitals Inc. of Plano, Texas selected IMACs' revenue cycle management solution. Contracts were signed with: Lane Memorial Hospital, Zachary, La., a 137-bed facility; Fairview Red Wing...

Mediware Information Systems Inc.(NewsMakers)(Hospital for Special Surgery)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... New York City's Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) selected Lenexa, Kan.-based Mediware Information Systems' HCLL transfusion software. The solution will serve as a safety control system for the hospital's blood bank and musculoskeletal tissue...

Initiate Systems Inc.(NewsMakers)(Department of Veterans Affairs)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) chose Initiate Systems Inc.'s Identity Hub software to improve patient identification and safety for millions of veterans receiving healthcare through the Veterans Health Administration's network of 1,300...

MediRegs Inc.(NewsMakers)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Child Health Corporation of America (CHCA) selected MediRegs Inc.'s ComplyTrack risk assessment and compliance management software, along with its Regulation & Reimbursement Suite for its owner hospitals. CHCA networks 42 North American...

Skyscape Inc.(NewsMakers)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Clinicians at Children's Hospital Boston traded their charts, index cards and heavy reference books for 6.5-ounce, hand-held wireless computers carrying patient information and mobile medical references from Skyscape Inc., Marlborough, Mass. In...

DINMAR.(NewsMakers)(University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UTSW) signed a contract with Petaluma, Calif.-based DINMAR to upgrade from the client server version of Oacis to the Web-enabled version, Oacis | ehr. UTSW provides care to more...

Commissure Inc.(NewsMakers)(Massachusetts General Hospital)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston agreed to license Commissure Inc.'s Lexicon Mediated Entropy Reduction (LEXIMER) and Radiology Order Entry technology. LEXIMER automatically classifies unstructured radiology reports through the use of...

Emageon Inc.(NewsMakers)(Johns Hopkins Hospital)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore selected Emageon Inc.'s clinical content management product for its acute care hospitals and clinics. The product provides DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) archiving capabilities and...

Microsys Computing Inc.(NewsMakers)(Oncology Associates)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Oncology Associates selected Microsys Computing Inc. as its exclusive preferred vendor for practice management software. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Oncology Associates, a division of RC Medical, is a specialty group purchasing and...

Ultimus.(NewsMakers)(West Park Assessment Centre)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... West Park Assessment Centre (WPAC) in Toronto, Canada selected Cary, N.C.-based Ultimus' BPM (business process management) suite of products for verifying insurance claims. WPAC provides third-party opinions for resolving insurance matters...

Picis Inc.(NewsMakers)(Northeast Medical Center)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Northeast Medical Center in Humble, Texas chose Wakefield, Mass.-based Picis Inc.'s Ibex PulseCheck emergency department information system (EDIS) to automate its new ED due to open this spring. The complete EDIS includes a patient tracking...

Focus Informatics Inc.(NewsMakers)(VHA Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... VHA Inc., a national healthcare alliance, selected Focus Informatics Inc. to provide transcription services to VHA member healthcare organizations. Focus Informatics is based in Woburn, Mass.

DbMotion Inc.(NewsMakers)(Leiden University Medical Center)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands selected dbMotion's Web-based data-sharing technology as the platform for a newly formed health information network initially targeted at improving care for geriatric patients. DbMotion has...

Keane Inc.(NewsMakers)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Riverview Hospital in Noblesville, Ind., selected EZ-Access Patcom from Melville, N.Y.-based Keane Inc. as the hospital's enterprisewide revenue cycle solution. The hospital will install a full complement of modules, including registration...

Unibased Systems Architecture Inc.(NewsMakers)(T.J. Samson Community Hospital)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... T.J. Samson Community Hospital selected Chesterfield, Mo.-based Unibased Systems Architecture Inc.'s integrated Resource Management System (RMS) with periOperative Resource Management System (ORMS). The 196-bed hospital, located in Glasgow,...

PatientKeeper Inc.(NewsMakers)(VHA Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Irving, Texas-based VHA Inc., a national alliance serving more than 2,400 healthcare organizations, selected PatientKeeper Inc. to provide mobile computing to its members. VHA members receive preferred pricing on the PatientKeeper Platform and...

Physician information system.(New Products & Services)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... PatientKeeper has added eight new products to their six existing physician product suites creating, according to the company, the first physician information system designed to support a doctor's complete day. Ambulatory Order Entry is an order...

Denials management solution.(New Products & Services)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Denials Manager is an electronic data interchange EDI gateway, powered by Rycan Technologies, now offered by CodeCorrect as a Web-based part of their suite of coding, billing, chargemaster and compliance tools. It is designed to help hospitals...

Portable thermal printer.(New Products & Services)(Seiko Instruments USA Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The DPU-V445 is Seiko Instrument's newest addition to its line of portable printers. It features direct thermal printing, which Seiko claims is the ideal print technology for applications requiring a long shelf-life, such as patient records and...

Compact color scanner.(New Products & Services)(Canon U.S.A. Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The DR-2580C is only 3.2" H by 12.0" W by 6.6" D, and yet it can scan documents up to 11" by 17" at 600 dpi. It scans black and white, grayscale and color documents at speeds up to 25 ppm, and images up to 50 ipm. It features a straight-path...

Outcomes Management.(New Products & Services)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... QuadraMed's Outcomes Management, which is part of the company's Acuity, Productivity and Benchmarking system, is designed to help healthcare managers make informed staffing decisions at the critical unit level. The product's evidence-based...

Portable health record.(New Products & Services)(Medcryption)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The VitalChart Secure Personal Health Record from Medcryption is a Web-based subscription service that allows patients to carry their personal medical records, history and insurance information on their person, and take it with them anywhere...

Acute bariatric care.(New Products & Services)(Gendron Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Gendron's EC+ Extra Care Bariatric Trauma/ER Stretcher is designed to be highly useful in acute care facilities, with a fully electronic operation and pendant controls. Its patient surface measures 37" W by 80" L and height adjusts from 20" to...

Complex event processing.(New Products & Services)(AptSoft)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Director 4.0, AptSoft's latest version of its flagship complex event processing solution, increases the product's capabilities and is designed to streamline the design, deployment and maintenance of critical business processes. The upgrade...

Transcription/speech recognition.(New Products & Services)(SoftMed Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... ChartScript ASP from SoftMed is a hosted speech recognition and computer-aided medical transcription solution, designed to enable healthcare facilities to offer electronic transcription without incurring the cost to install and maintain the...

Business intelligence solution.(New Products & Services)(Generation Software Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Healthcare Data Mart and Analytical Reporting Solution from New Generation Software Inc. (NGS) provides healthcare administrators and staff with a plethora of reports, dashboards, spreadsheets and Web presentations for back office,...

Key information upgrade.(New Products & Services)(Hill Rom Company Inc. )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Hill-Rom, maker of VersaCare and TotalCare beds, now offers OnSight; a software technology that "unlocks" the data gathered by the company's "smart beds," such as patient weight, therapy length or bed status and enables it to be distributed...

Biometric insurance authentication.(New Products & Services)(Sense Holdings Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... CheckPrint H/A (HealthCare Administration) is a software suite from Sense Holdings Inc. that is designed to authenticate the identity of a person making an insurance claim, eliminating fraud by preventing employees from sharing their private...

ONC increases funding for interoperability.(Data Exchange/Interoperability)(Office of the National Coordinator)(RTI International Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has added $5.73 million to an existing contract with RTI International Inc. (RTI), bringing the total contract amount to $17.23 million--all for research into the...

"The Community" delivers recommendations to Leavitt.(The Federal Landscape)(Mike Leavitt)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Last September, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt announced the appointment of 16 high-powered members to the American Health Information Community (the Community), a think tank of key leaders from the public and private...

AHA again challenges physician-owned hospitals.(Physician-Owned Hospitals)(American Hospital Association)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The American Hospital Association (AHA) in May issued a statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, arguing against a conflict of interest among physicians who are part owners of limited-service specialty hospitals and citing evidence...

Seattle U lab provides hi-tech training.(Clinical Systems)(Seattle University's College of Nursing clinical performance lab)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Seattle University's College of Nursing clinical performance lab is not the typical lab or classroom. The $3.1 million, 20,000-square-foot lab includes more than $300,000 in audiovisual equipment and computers and $100,000 in simulation...

Graphics for Healthcare Solution.(New Products & Services)(SmartDraw. corn)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Not an artist? Not a graphic designer? Not a problem. The SmartDraw Healthcare Solution from SmartDraw. corn is designed specifically to aid healthcare professionals with no artistic skill create quality graphics for presentations and training....

Online management performance.(New Products & Services)(Harvard Business School Publishing)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Harvard ManageMentor Plus, healthcare services edition, from Harvard Business School Publishing, features 41 modules of practical healthcare examples, images and recommended resources all designed for manager training settings. It can be used...

EHR implementation: who benefits, who pays?(Thought Leaders)(electronic healthcare records )
July 1, 2006... The media is awash with commentary from government and private sector industry chieftains expressing their shock that healthcare has not adopted technology for electronic healthcare records (EHR). It appears incomprehensible that the same...