Health Management Technology articles from May 2005

Health Management Technology archives from May 2005

Good night, sweet Prince.(From the Editor)(Phil Reynolds dies)(Obituary)
May 1, 2005... Health Management Technology Managing Editor Phil Reynolds, 39, passed away in mid-March, after battling a long, tough illness. The employees of Nelson Publishing, and especially the HMT team, will miss him. More importantly, we will remember...

Docs use PDAs mostly for admin.(Physician Practices)(personal digital assistants)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Although more than half (57 percent) of U.S. physicians surveyed say they regularly use a personal digital assistant (PDA) or hand-held computer during a typical workweek, most does use the devices for administrative than clinical tasks....

New Education Program.(Physician Practices)(American Medical Group Association)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) is launching two new programs: an e-learning university and a new initiative that links pay to performance. The "Knowledge Network" (AKNet) allows members to access professional development courses...

Blues pilot e-consult program.(Payers and Providers; BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST) and representatives of five multi-specialty provider groups across the state, including Vanderbilt University, are pilot testing a program that pays does a $25 incentive for consulting with patients,...

P4P EMR program.(Electronic Medical Records)(pay-for-performance )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Physicians in Maryland and nine other states who install electronic medical records and meet quality standards can earn up to $20,000 in an incentive program sponsored by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield in Baltimore. The Blues plan, serving...

ATM style access to patient information.(Electronic Medical Records)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... MediKiosk, developed by GE Healthcare with Galvanon, which manufacturers the kiosk, looks like an ATM machine and allows patients to "withdraw" and "deposit" information into their healthcare records at their doctor's office or other...

Pennsylvania group launches RHIO effort.(regional health information organization)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A consortium of 28 Pennsylvania healthcare organizations is developing a statewide regional health information organization to lay the foundation for a patient data network that will be tied into a national system. Informally called the...

Senate version of patient safety bill reintroduced.(James Jeffords )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... In the wake of both houses of Congress passing different patient safety bills last year, but not reaching consensus, bill S. 544 would create a non-punitive way for providers to voluntarily report medical errors or "near misses" and protect the...

EMRs used mostly in emergency and outpatient departments.(electronic medical records)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... From 2001 to 2003, electronic medical records were used less often in physician offices (17 percent) than in hospital emergency (31 percent) and outpatient departments (29 percent), according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and...

Internet source for treatment decisions.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... More than 60 percent of 4,300 consumers searched for information to help them make treatment decisions in the last 12 months, with about one-third saying the information they found affected their treatment choices or their choice of a...

New online HIM degree.(Health Information Management)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Registered Health Information Technicians (RHITs) can now get an online Bachelor of Science degree in health information management (HIM) in about two years from the University of Cincinnati (UC). To be eligible for the program, individuals...

Recommendations for digitizing.(Computerized Hospitals)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Hospitals in the process of digitizing on average spend three percent to five percent of their operating budgets on technology, let business strategy determine technology strategy, and invest heavily in organizational development and cultural...

Look before you leap: small and mid-size physician practices can eradicate EMR challenges with homework and planning.(EMRs/EHRs)(electronic medical records)(electronic health records)
May 1, 2005... The Bush Administration is pushing for their adoption. Hospitals are rolling them out in greater numbers. More large physician practices and independent practice associations have become adopters. But what about small and mid-sized...

Closer to reality: personal health records represent a step in the right direction for interoperability of healthcare IT systems and accessibility of patient data.(Personal Health Records)
May 1, 2005... The personal health record (PHR) that every patient carries (or should carry) is suddenly the hot topic of our time. President Bush is promoting it, top politicians of both parties support the concept, and many health informatics experts...

Adding intelligence to archiving of data, images: new enterprisewide management platforms support multisite, multisource storage.(Data Storage)
May 1, 2005... Digital imaging offers impressive benefits for both patients and healthcare providers, but it also creates the need for intelligent tools to manage the industry's exponential growth in data and image storage. Management issues are complicated...

(Almost) immediate gratification: a large Atlanta-based physicians group achieves a 98 percent clean claims processing rate and cuts monthly operating costs by more than half after implementing a Web-based claims management system.(Claims & Coding: What Works)
May 1, 2005... The difference between a thriving physician practice and one that struggles can often be found in how quickly it turns claims into cash. Each patient encounter represents revenue, but a practice can't maintain its financial health unless every...

Building on success: academic emergency department leverages clinical automation to reduce overcrowding, streamline workflow and enhance revenue.(Emergency Department Information Systems: Case History)
May 1, 2005... In the chaos of a typical emergency department (ED), patients crowd waiting rooms, line hallways and are rushed in through the ambulance entrance. Many have limited access to healthcare, resulting in overcrowded EDs with patients who are sicker...

Right on target: a rural hospital gives its physicians remote access to patient data with an SSL VPN.(Remote Access)(secure sockets layer virtual private network)
May 1, 2005... Storing information in centralized databases can ease the retrieval and transfer of specific pieces of patient or corporate data. But accessing that data from remote sites can still present clinicians and administrators with a host of technical...

Script for excellence: a large IDN moves patient data electronically, eliminating hundreds of hours of manual data entry per year.(Data Management: Case History)
May 1, 2005... What healthcare organization want wouldn't want to eliminate six hours of manual data entry every day? How about up to 35 hours per day? One large healthcare organization in West Virginia no longer wrestles with that question. Data at Risk...

Mastering healthcare applications: Toronto hospital uses self-directed and computer-based training to meet clinical staff's learning needs.(e-Learning: Case History)
May 1, 2005... Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, an internationally recognized 462-bed healthcare center affiliated with the University of Toronto, recognized that its increasingly busy clinical staff simply did not have the time or schedule flexibility to use...

EMRs/EHRs hotlist.(Directory)
May 1, 2005... EMRs/EHRs HotList Company A4 Health Systems ADL Data Systems Inc. RSLeads Number www.rsleads.com/ www.rsleads.com/ ...

Digital dictation platform.(New Products & Services)(Dolbey Systems Inc introduces Fusion Voice Server software version 9.0)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Fusion Voice Server software version 9.0 is a scalable digital dictation platform that incorporates technologies such as Microsoft .NET structures and forms. It features open architecture, digital portability, PC access, and network or Internet...

BPM platform for SOAs.(New Products & Services)
May 1, 2005... Version 4.3 of Vitria:BusinessWare, a business process integration platform, provides new capabilities for business process management (BPM), Web services, workflow, high-performance XML processing and trading partner integration. It offers...

Device management appliance.(New Products & Services)
May 1, 2005... The DX matrix system is a hardened, Linux-based device management appliance that provides anytime connectivity, user access and authorization management, BOIS and system-level fault remediation, and power control via a Windows-like user...

Pathology info system upgrade.(New Products & Services)
May 1, 2005... Version 6.0 of WindowPath, an anatomic pathology information system, allows users to view and add clinical results from any laboratory information system to provide physicians with a more comprehensive patient diagnosis. Ancillary testing, such...

VPN solution for handhelds.(New Products & Services)
May 1, 2005... Bluefire Mobiie Security--VPN, a virtual private networking solution that addresses wireless threats with centrally managed, multilayered software, is designed to ensure that mobile handheld device users maintain the privacy and integrity of...

Online education for physicians, nurses.(New Products & Services)
May 1, 2005... Developed under a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to research and create a standard method of patient education for large audiences, an interactive Web site contains education modules focused on physicians and nurses....

Driving EMR adoption: making EMRs a sustainable, profitable investment.(Thought Leaders)(electronic medical records)
May 1, 2005... For more than a decade, healthcare executives have been heralding the "Year of the EMR." With the logical correlation between improving cost and quality and using information technology, this is an easy conclusion to reach. Despite the...