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CHIME Calls for Stage 2 Extension in Letter to Senators

CIO organization underscores progress of EHR adoption, highlights importance of standards in Stage 2 

ANN ARBOR, MI, May 6, 2013 – Following a request for feedback from Senators in Washington on the status of health IT adoption, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) issued a response declaring that a one-year extension of Meaningful Use Stage 2 would “maximize the opportunity of program success.”

The organization of healthcare CIOs said the additional 12-months for meeting Stage 2 “will give providers the opportunity to optimize their EHR technology and achieve the benefits of Stage 1 and Stage 2; it will give vendors the time needed to prepare, develop and deliver needed technology to correspond with Stage 3; and it will give policymakers time to assess and evaluate programmatic trends needed to craft thoughtful Stage 3 rules.”

In calling for an extension to Stage 2, CHIME defended much of the federal incentive program’s progress to date, arguing that fundamental shifts in health IT adoption and EHR product capabilities have been made possible through the policy of Meaningful Use.

“While we share some of your concerns with the current state of interoperability, we strongly believe that EHR incentive payments under the policy of Meaningful Use have been essential in moving the nation’s healthcare system into the 21st Century,” the CHIME letter said.  “Through the EHR Incentive Payments program, CMS and ONC have begun to mitigate a fractured and incompatible state for EHRs.”

The response comes amid concerns levied by six Senators that the current direction of the HITECH program is flawed. The white paper released on April 16, “REBOOT: Re-examining the Strategies Needed to Successfully Adopt Health IT,” outlines several concerns including increased health care costs, lack of momentum toward interoperability, patient privacy, and long-term program sustainability.

“Your report highlights a number of fair and responsible criticisms of the program and it echoes many of the concerns CHIME has voiced over the last three years,” the letter said.  “But given the nation’s increased adoption of EHRs, the increased investments in interoperable solutions and the early-stage transformations encountered every day by our members, we remain convinced that the trajectory set by Meaningful Use is the correct one.

“CHIME believes the industry’s guiding principle should be to maximize the opportunity of program success and monitor the timelines needed to do that.  For this reason, we formally and strongly recommend a one-year extension to Stage 2 before progressing to Stage 3 of Meaningful Use,” the organization concluded.

CHIME also called upon Congress to request an update from ONC on what technologies, architectures and strategies exist to mitigate patient matching errors; seek feedback from the public via congressional hearing or other formal commenting mechanism; and determine how current work at the S&I Framework could be leveraged to address the foundational challenge of patient data-matching.

Responding to a section of the white paper on audits and program integrity, CHIME said CIOs understand the desire to ensure that incentive payments are going to those who have qualified to receive them, but this intent must not result in unreasonable auditing efforts that are poorly structured, inconsistent or lack uniform criteria.  “We ask that Congress ensure CMS audits are efficient and effective without overburdening providers,” the letter stated.

To read the full Senate response, visit the Public Policy section of the CHIME website.

About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,400 CIO members and over 95 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.cio-chime.org.

Contact:
Stephanie Fraser
Director of Communications
734-665-0000
sfraser@cio-chime.org

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May 6, 2013 I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: ARRA  EHR  Electronic Health Record  Electronic Medical Record  EMR  Healthcare IT  Hospital IT  Meaningful Use  Meaningful Use Stage 2
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Cerner, McKesson, Allscripts, athenahealth, Greenway and RelayHealth Announce Ground Breaking Alliance to Enable Integrated Health Care

First-of-its-kind effort to transform quality and cost effectiveness by enabling data liquidity across systems, settings and episodes of care

New Orleans, March 4, 2013 – Top health care information technology (HIT) companies Cerner, McKesson, Allscripts, athenahealth, Greenway Medical Technologies® and RelayHealth announced today the launch of the CommonWell Health Alliance™, planned to be an independent not-for-profit organization that will support universal, trusted access to health care data through seamless interoperability. This historic effort is aimed at improving the quality of care delivery while working to lower costs for care providers, patients and the industry as a whole.

The Alliance intends to be a collaborative effort of suppliers who are focused on achieving data liquidity between systems, in compliance with patient authorizations. The Alliance will define, promote and certify a national infrastructure with common platforms and policies. It also will ensure that HIT products displaying the Alliance seal are certified to work on the national infrastructure.

“Today’s announcement represents an inflection point in health care, with key industry leaders coming together to support the delivery of a national health information exchange,” said John Hammergren, chairman and CEO, McKesson Corp. “The formation of this alliance takes health care a step closer to broad industry interoperability. A national and trusted health information exchange will break down the information silos in health care and should dramatically improve the quality and cost effectiveness of care delivery. Creating data liquidity between all HIT developers is fundamental to improving patient care, enhancing the vitality of the health care industry, and strengthening the long-term health of our nation.”

“We believe the industry needs to step up to the challenges of interoperability,” noted Neal Patterson, co-founder, chairman, CEO and president, Cerner. “If we can rise to the challenge as an industry, we have a chance to deliver a golden era of health care. It is a system where consumers not only have a right to their data, but also have the ability to mobilize it in the pursuit of better health. This alliance is about setting aside the admittedly tough politics of this issue to do what is right for the health care consumer. We at Cerner are proud to play a leadership role in this exciting effort.”

Elements of the Alliance’s national infrastructure will be tested in a local pilot within the next year. Early components will include the following core services:

  • Cross-entity patient linking and matching services: Help developers and providers link and match patients as they transition through care facilities, regardless of the underlying software system
  • Patient consent and data access management: Foster HIPAA-compliant and simple patient-centered management of data sharing consents and authorizations
  • Patient record locator and directed query services: Help providers deliver a history of recent patient care encounters, and, with appropriate authorization, patient data across multiple providers and episodes of care

“The formation of the CommonWell Health Alliance will be a significant step forward toward the electronic exchange of health information to support clinicians and patients,” said Janet Marchibroda, director of the Health Innovation Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “The founding members of the Alliance are focused on exactly the right foundational areas, and it’s terrific to see industry leaders stepping up to solve the problem of interoperability on behalf of providers and patients everywhere.”

“Allscripts’ vision has been to create a true Connected Community of Health. We believe open platforms are required to realize that vision and make the improvements our health care delivery system needs to dramatically improve outcomes while reducing cost,” said Paul Black, president and CEO, Allscripts. “This alliance provides a framework that will enable patient identification and record-sharing for providers across the nation. This is good for care providers, for patients and for the country. We are proud to be a founding member and to help lead this important effort.”

“Greenway has anticipated this evolution to a smarter health care system based on open collaboration and data flow,” said Tee Green, president and CEO, Greenway. “We’ve been telling caregivers the marketplace can provide it and sustain it, and they are right to expect it. Consumers are no different, and a patient-enabled approach to data access will foster a deeper and more efficient patient-provider relationship. Allowing data to flow more freely fits the needs of a mobile society just as providers are taking on more financial risk in coordinating care. We are committed to the Alliance goals and our ongoing participation as this initiative grows.”

“We’ve built athenahealth on the vision that health care needs an information backbone that facilitates and incents true health information exchange. However, the promise of the free flow of health information and the reality of it today are worlds apart,” said Jonathan Bush, CEO and chairman, athenahealth, Inc. “We support the CommonWell Health Alliance because we believe that being open matters, especially when it comes to patient care. CommonWell’s efforts to bring major developers together to pilot patient linking and matching across IT systems and care settings is an important step in the right direction. We look forward to helping lead these efforts as a founding member of the Alliance.”

Members of the Alliance are committed to collaborating with all HIT developers to realize the vision of integrated health care and encourage other HIT companies to join the CommonWell Health Alliance by visiting www.commonwellalliance.org. The founding members of the Alliance will be holding a press conference on March 4, 2013 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CT at the HIMSS 2013 Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans. The event will also be livestreamed atwww.webcasts.com/March4PressEvent. Please visit www.commonwellalliance.org for additional details.

About CommonWell Health Alliance

CommonWell Health Alliance is anticipated to be an independent not-for-profit trade association of HIT companies that will work together to create universal access to patient health care data. The Alliance will be open to all health information technology developers that are committed to making patient’s data available to themselves and providers regardless of where care occurs. Alliance members will support the belief that provider access to this data must be built-in to health information technologies at a reasonable cost for use by a broad range of health care providers and the patients they serve.

The founding members of CommonWell Health Alliance invite all HIT suppliers to join us in working together to provide seamless, trusted access to health information, in support of better, more cost-effective care for our patients and communities.

To learn more about the CommonWell Health Alliance, please visit www.commonwellalliance.org.

About Cerner

Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN) is contributing to the systemic change of health and care delivery. For more than 30 years Cerner has been executing its vision to make health care safer and more efficient. We started with the foundation of digitizing paper processes and now offer the most comprehensive array of information software, professional services, medical device integration, remote hosting and employer health and wellness services. Cerner systems are used by everyone from individual consumers, to single-doctor practices, hospitals, employers and entire countries. Taking what we’ve learned over more than three decades, Cerner is building on the knowledge that is in the system to support evidence-based clinical decisions, prevent medical errors and empower patients in their care.

Cerner® solutions are licensed by approximately 10,000 facilities around the world, including more than 2,700 hospitals; 4,150 physician practices; 45,000 physicians; 550 ambulatory facilities, such as laboratories, ambulatory centers, behavioral health centers, cardiac facilities, radiology clinics and surgery centers; 800 home health facilities; 40 employer sites and 1,750 retail pharmacies.

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK), currently ranked 14th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit us at www.mckesson.com.

About Allscripts
Allscripts (NASDAQ: MDRX) delivers the insights that healthcare providers require to generate world-class outcomes. The company’s Electronic Health Record, practice management and other clinical, revenue cycle, connectivity and information solutions create a Connected Community of Health™ for physicians, hospitals and post-acute organizations.  To learn more about Allscripts, please visit www.allscripts.com, Twitter, YouTube and It Takes A Community: The Allscripts Blog.

About athenahealth
athenahealth, Inc. is a leading provider of cloud-based Best in KLAS electronic health record (EHR), practice management, and care coordination services to medical groups and health systems. athenahealth’s mission is to be the most trusted service to medical care givers, helping them do well by doing the right thing. For more information, please visit www.athenahealth.com or call 888-652-8200.

About Greenway Medical Technologies

Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: GWAY) delivers innovative software and business service solutions for healthcare providers through its PrimeSUITE® platform. As a certified and fully integrated electronic health record, practice management and interoperability solution, Greenway PrimeSUITE helps improve care coordination, quality and cost-efficiency as part of a smarter, sustainable healthcare system. Thousands of care providers across primary care and more than 30 specialties and sub-specialties use cloud-based or on-premise Greenway® solutions in healthcare enterprises, physician practices and clinics nationwide. www.greenwaymedical.com

About RelayHealth

RelayHealth, McKesson’s connectivity business, enables the trusted exchange of clinical, financial and administrative information between patients, providers, payers, pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and government agencies. RelayHealth processes nearly 16 billion healthcare transactions annually by integrating the delivery of high-quality care and improving the financial outcomes for its customers. For more information, call 888.743.8735, or visit our Web site atwww.RelayHealth.com. Follow us on Twitter (@RelayHealth) or visit the RelayHealth Facebook page.

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March 4, 2013 I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: EHR  Electronic Health Record  Electronic Medical Record  EMR  Healthcare  Healthcare Interoperability  Healthcare IT  HIE  Hospital IT
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Arnot Health Selects Merge for Cardiac Imaging and Informatics Solution

Integrated Solution Delivers Streamlined Enterprise-Wide Cardiology Workflow

 

CHICAGO, Feb. 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Merge Healthcare Incorporated (Nasdaq:MRGE), a leading provider of clinical systems and innovations that seek to transform healthcare, today announced that Arnot Ogden Medical Center, a member of Arnot Health, will implement Merge’s complete cardiology solution suite to capture, manage and display multi-modality cardiac images, and hemodynamics and ECG data across its enterprise.

“Arnot Health serves as a hub for all of the rural communities in our service area, so we needed a solution that would eliminate the manual transfer of studies from mobile services,” explained Rich Hoffman, Vice President of Operations, Arnot Ogden Medical Center. “We believe that Merge CardioTM will help us deliver substantial workflow efficiencies to optimize physicians’ time while Merge HemoTM will provide a streamlined environment for managing and reporting on all cath lab procedures to enhance our quality control.”

“As a cardiologist, I need to have access to a patient’s complete cardiology record to ensure I make the most informed medical decisions,” said Nishith Admin, M.D. ”With Merge’s solutions, I will now be able to see cardiology images, data and reports wherever I am. Having this type of access is immensely beneficial.”

“We are pleased that Arnot Ogden has selected Merge solutions for their cardiology imaging and workflow needs,” said Jeff Surges, CEO, Merge Healthcare. “By implementing our entire cardiology suite, they have solutions that will increase image access and exchange, deliver significant workflow efficiencies, all while decreasing overall costs.”

The Merge Cardiology suite includes Merge Cardio, an enterprise-level image and information system that provides a single point of entry to the patient’s complete cardio record spanning  all cardiac modalities and Merge Hemo, which automates the cath lab process into an electronic patient record with a simplified touch-screen interface and automated reporting. Merge Hemo was recently named the “Category Leader” in the “2012 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services” report for Cardiology Hemodynamics rankings for the second consecutive year.

About Merge

Merge is a leading provider of clinical systems and innovations that seek to transform healthcare.  Merge’s enterprise and cloud-based solutions for image intensive specialties provide access to any image, anywhere, any time. Merge also provides health stations, clinical trials software and other health data and analytics solutions that engage consumers in their personal health. With solutions that are used by providers and consumers and include more than 20 years of innovation, Merge is helping to reduce costs and improve the quality of healthcare worldwide. For more information, visit merge.com.

The Merge Healthcare logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=10757

Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The matters discussed in this news release may include forward-looking statements, which could involve a number of risks and uncertainties. When used in this press release, the words “will,” “believes,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “expects” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any of the forward-looking statements.

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February 14, 2013 I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: Healthcare  Healthcare IT  Hospital IT
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Colorado Beacon receives Healthcare Informatics Innovator Award

Annual award honors CBC’s pioneering initiatives to transform health care delivery 

 
Grand Junction, Colo., Feb. 6, 2013–The Colorado Beacon Consortium (CBC) is one of six teams of health care informatics pioneers to receive the Healthcare Informatics Innovator Award. The award recognizes CBC’s efforts to share data and improve care management and care communications across a 17,500 square mile region of Western Colorado.

CBC, which operates with a cooperative agreement from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, an alliance of physician leaders, hospitals, a community-based health information exchange and a local payer, is strengthening existing IT infrastructure, advancing patient-centered primary care and creating a better system for patients, providers and the community. It develops, tests and executes new ways to improve health care while controlling costs. Its  2012 annual report and a video provide the backstory about how CBC fosters better health by meaningfully using health IT to transform care delivery.

“CBC’s success represents precisely what we had hoped to achieve through Beacon,” said Farzad Mostashari, MD, National Coordinator for Health IT. “We recognized the hunger to do things differently, to make better use of data and technology to improve patient care. Now, CBC has shown us how to accomplish that, demonstrating how health care organizations can improve population health through the use of health IT.”

The award recognizes how CBC uses an advanced regional health data architecture (through the Quality Health Network) to deploy a decision-support tool, Archimedes IndiGO, across multiple, independent primary care sites with different EHRs throughout Western Colorado. CBC will be able to perform data analytics across a base of more than 55,000 patients by the end of the first quarter of 2013.

“We are honored to receive this award; it recognizes the value of bringing clinical and administrative data together in one place–at the point of care–to more closely correlate quality with outcomes and value,” said CBC Executive Director Patrick Gordon. CBC’s success offers lessons for communities with independent care providers. “We can collaborate across multiple independent organizations and still achieve community goals and population-level impact. This isn’t corporate health care integration; rather, we are working to show what integration can look like when it is created on a community basis.”

A profile of CBC’s efforts appears in the February issue of Healthcare Informatics, and the winning teams will be honored at the Healthcare Informatics Innovator Awards Reception March 4, 2013, in New Orleans during the annual HIMSS Conference. To learn more about the award, read the FAQs here.

CBC’s undertaking represents a convergence of advanced population health analytics, risk stratification, targeted clinical interventions and patient activation in a single architecture. The effort supports truly patient-centered care. The patient-facing component of IndiGO aligns with the active promotion of new skills (e.g., motivational interviewing) and measures (e.g., a Patient Activation Measure), in comprehensive primary care models. CBC-region physicians report that the use of IndiGO in patient encounters has resulted in improved patient medication adherence and behavior change, as well as more effective shared decision-making.

Communities that want to replicate CBC’s success must act. Gordon offered two pieces of guidance: “Perfect is the enemy of the good,” and “Waiting is wasting.”

He continued: “Had we waited for perfect interoperability standards and vendor solutions to emerge, we would not be receiving this award today. The imperative is for immediate action, amid incomplete insights and solutions within the industry.”

About the Colorado Beacon Consortium

The Colorado Beacon Consortium is made up of executive-level representation from four mission-driven, not-for-profit, Western Colorado-based organizations, all of which have nationally acknowledged track records of coordination to achieve superior outcomes. They are Mesa County Independent Physicians’ Practice Association, Quality Health Network, Rocky Mountain Health Plans and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. The Colorado Beacon Consortium’s mission is to optimize the efficiency, quality and performance of our health care system, and integrate the delivery of care and use of clinical information to improve community health. The geographic focus of the Consortium’s activities includes the Colorado counties of Mesa, Delta, Montrose, Garfield, Gunnison, Pitkin and Rio Blanco. To learn more, visit www.coloradobeaconconsortium.org.

 
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February 11, 2013 I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: EHR  Electronic Health Record  Healthcare  Healthcare Awards  Healthcare IT  Hospital IT
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MEDHOST Launches PatientFlow HD to Improve Hospital-wide Patient Throughput and Enhance Overall Operating and Financial Performance

New enterprise software helps hospitals proactively manage financial outliers and high-impact patients and meet The Joint Commission’s new patient-flow requirements

PLANO, Texas – Feb. 4, 2013 – MEDHOST, provider of leading healthcare throughput and emergency department software, today announced general availability of PatientFlow HD, its powerful enterprise-wide patient throughput solution.  PatientFlow HD is Web-based, easy to use and provides hospital executives with real-time, mission-critical facility, clinical and patient-centric data so they can identify process management and patient-flow issues before they become problems.  Providers can also leverage PatientFlow HD to comply with new patient-flow requirements issued December 2012 by The Joint Commission.

“MEDHOST developed PatientFlow HD to break down widespread information silos, a major contributor to patient-flow bottlenecks, and give executives a clearer picture so they can make real-time, data-driven management and patient-flow decisions,” said Craig Herrod, president of MEDHOST.  “MEDHOST is best known for helping hundreds of EDs improve operations and patient flow, often turning this busy department into the most efficient and profitable area of the hospital.  With PatientFlow HD, we’re bringing our expertise to the rest of the hospital to eliminate systemic issues that can cripple operating and financial performance.”

PatientFlow HD’s graphically driven and highly intuitive user interface makes current information, such as 30-day readmissions, patients exceeding their reimbursed length of stay, observation status patients, and patients occupying higher acuity beds than necessary, available to hospital leaders at all times, so they aren’t making decisions with old data.  The easy-to-use system also offers visibility at the unit and bedside levels, and with onscreen and push notifications, everyone involved in patient care stays informed, which creates a culture of accountability and helps improve patient care and safety, the objective of The Joint Commission’s patient-flow requirements.

The new system has already generated meaningful business, financial, patient care and workflow improvements across the enterprise in beta trials with providers including Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in North Carolina.

“Before PatientFlow HD, healthcare executives lacked the ability to proactively detect and manage financial outliers and high-impact patients, so any data collected and reviewed was retrospective.  That isn’t practical, especially considering the importance of immediately solving patient-flow challenges,” said Don Trippel, CFO of Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital.  “The benefits of PatientFlow HD became evident very quickly.  It created transparency at our hospital never before thought possible, and we’re now able to easily manage day-to-day operations and the wide assortment of factors and influences that affect patient flow and the hospital’s bottom line.”

PatientFlow HD features include:

  • ·         At-a-glance, real-time, visual representation of hospital capacity and financial/operational outliers to better manage and streamline admissions and discharges
  • ·         Quick identification of high-impact patients (core measures, observation status, 30-day readmissions, etc.)
  • ·         Color-coded key performance indicators, including patients approaching or over length-of-stay thresholds, so hospital leaders, case managers and unit supervisors can more effectively coordinate care
  • ·         A simple way to view all on-duty staff, isolation patients, outpatient and inpatient procedures, and more
  • ·         A user-friendly administration utility for customization to meet your needs

MEDHOST will demonstrate PatientFlow HD at the annual HIMSS tradeshow March 4-6 in booth #7013 along with its beta-site Customer, Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital, which is based in Elkin, N.C.  To schedule a demo, please email MEDHOST at Leslie.McAninch@medhost.com.

About MEDHOST

MEDHOST is dedicated to advancing healthcare IT by developing user-friendly software solutions that improve house-wide operations, patient flow, financial performance, and patient care and satisfaction.  The MEDHOST product suite includes EDIS, OpCenter and PatientFlow HD and has been deployed by leading institutions throughout North America.  Its intuitive, easy-to-use solutions align with end-user workflow, and that’s why clinicians, as well as executives, prefer MEDHOST over anything else.  MEDHOST’s EDIS has transformed hundreds of emergency departments into models of efficiency and profitability, and versions 4.2 and 4.3 are ONC-ATCB certified by Drummond Group.  OpCenter streamlines the admission of patients by breaking down communication silos and patient flow bottlenecks between the ED and inpatient units.  PatientFlow HD provides a real-time, enterprise-wide view so executives and hospital leaders can easily manage day-to-day operations, proactively identify house-wide process management and patient flow issues, and detect financial outliers and high-impact patients.  MEDHOST is headquartered in Plano, Texas.  More information is available at www.medhost.com.

MEDHOST is part of HealthTech, a health information technology company that also operates Healthcare Management Systems and Patient Logic.  HealthTech’s mission is to manage technology companies that are focused on creating value for the healthcare industry.  More information is available at www.healthtechholdings.com.

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February 9, 2013 I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: Healthcare  Healthcare IT  Hospital IT
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Leading Healthcare IT Solutions Firm Sees Dramatic Increase in Outsourced Helpdesk Utilization

CareTech Solutions reports 75% spike in use of Service Desk™ in 2012; cites EHR learning curve and diversion of IT resources to strategic initiatives as likely causes

(TROY, Mich., Jan. 31, 2013) CareTech Solutions, an information technology (IT) and Web products and services provider for more than 200 hospitals, today announced that use of its Service Desk service increased by 75% in 2012. This industry-leading clinical help desk solution provides real-time IT support to clinicians and other staff from support analysts that are trained on all major hospital clinical and business information systems.

CareTech added five new Service Desk clients in 2012 with the most recent being Boulder Community Hospital and New York Hospital Queens. The company attributes the increase in utilization to a combination of clinicians coping with a steep learning curve related to the adoption of new electronic health records (EHR) and other clinical systems, and the fact that IT resources are increasingly being deployed to a growing list of strategic initiatives, including implementing and integrating new clinical systems (including EHRs), connecting to community HIEs, security enhancements driven by regulatory changes ICD-10 and more.

“Today’s IT departments are overwhelmed with overseeing implementations of EHRs and other electronic systems; and the demands of initiatives like ICD-10, Meaningful Use and audit compliance only increase their workload,” said Jim Giordano, president and CEO, CareTech Solutions. “This has created a perfect storm where there is more technology being implemented than can be supported by in-house resources, and more demand than ever for support and fewer resources available to provide it. The fact that our teams are up to speed with the latest systems and requirements has driven the demand for our services through the roof in the last year.”

CareTech introduced Service Desk in 2008 in response to an industry need for highly-specialized help desk support. As organizations continue to transition to an increasingly electronic healthcare environment, fostered by government regulations like the HITECH Act and Meaningful Use, seamless IT adoption depends on a high level of rapid, responsive support. CareTech’s trained analysts provide value to clinicians and hospital staff by making it easier to use these technologies in order to provide quality, compliant patient care.

“Clinician support calls have definitely increased and are more involved at our organization since the implementation of our EHR system last year,” said Linda Minghella, CIO, Boulder Community Hospital. “CareTech’s team is familiar with all the systems we use, is well trained as support professionals, and they are getting our clinicians back to treating patients faster and more efficiently than we ever could.”

Features of CareTech Solutions Service Desk include:
•       Trained and certified support analysts based in the U.S. and available 24x7x365
•       Scalable operation (500 to 20,000 calls per hospital per month)
•       Knowledge management
•       Comprehensive implementation
•       Performance metrics tracking and reporting
•       Trend analysis to understand problems and reduce call volumes
•       Proactive infrastructure and applications monitoring
•       Physician-only hotline

About CareTech Solutions
CareTech Solutions is an information technology (IT) and Web products and services provider for more than 200 U.S. hospitals and health systems, creating value for clients through customized IT solutions that contribute to improving patient care while lowering healthcare costs. From implementing emerging technologies to supporting day-to-day IT operations, CareTech offers clients expert health information technology services earning it the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Best in KLAS award for IT Outsourcing (Extensive) and 2012 partial outsourcing as ranked by healthcare executives and professionals in the respective annual Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services” report.

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February 8, 2013 I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: EMR  Healthcare  Healthcare IT  HIE  Hospital IT  ICD-10  Meaningful Use
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TruCode Announces New Encoder Web Services for Integration into Healthcare IT Applications

Alpharetta, GA— January 8th, 2013. TruCode™, a medical coding software company, proudly announces a new encoder “cloud-based” offering for healthcare IT vendors. TruCode’s Encoder Essentials is a set of web services and components that enable business partners to easily integrate encoder functionality directly into their systems without separate encoder interfaces or onsite software. The announcement was made by Thomas Golden, Co-Founder and CTO of TruCode.

“TruCode is the first company to offer complete encoder capabilities through web services, making it the encoder-inside for computer assisted coding (CAC), clinical documentation improvement (CDI), HIS, EMR and other coding technology companies,” says Golden.

TruCode’s Encoder Essentials have already been integrated into ChartWise (ChartWise CDI), BayScribe (v6 CAC), Dolbey (Fusion CACe), M*Modal’s (Fluency for Coding™), Precyse (precyseCode™), and PlatoCode.

According to Robin Stults RHIA, CHC and Senior Vice President of Health Information Management at Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas, “Integrating encoders into the CAC process, versus interfacing them, is the future of coding workflow, particularly in light of new ICD-10 demands.”

“Application logistics are difficult without integrated solutions and the symbiotic nature of natural language understanding and encoder rules make it a perfect pairing.  Coders will appreciate the ease of using this type of integrated technology, and health care professionals will appreciate the concept of a solution within a solution,” continues Stults.

All components needed for accurate and effective clinical coding can be embedded into web pages or any other application that can display HTML content for rapid access by coding personnel. These include such valuable resources as code books, grouping, pricing, edits, references and more, available via a broadband internet connection.

“With embedded Web Services, coders have access to coding tools wherever they need them, not just inside their encoder.  When tools are readily available, coders are more productive and more accurate in their coding.  Any system that allows codes to be assigned can benefit from adding TruCode’s tools as an integral part of the solution,” adds Golden.

About TruCode®

TruCode (Alpharetta, GA) is a software company that provides an encoder application, components and web services to the hospital, consulting, and Healthcare IT marketplace.  TruCode was the first to release a complete ICD-10-CM encoder and deliver encoder components via web services.  TruCode’s Encoder Essentials fully integrate into healthcare IT technologies including: Computer Assisted Coding (CAC), Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI), Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Health Information Systems (HIS) and Healthcare Business Analytics.  For more information visit: www.trucode.com.

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John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: Healthcare  Healthcare IT  HIE  Hospital IT
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HIMSS13: New Offerings and Programming for Health IT Professionals

Enhancing the In-Person and Virtual Experience, HIMSS Unveils Several New Conference Features Focusing on Industry Trends Including Meaningful Use and Mobile Health

CHICAGO – January 24, 2013 – HIMSS, the cause-based organization devoted to improving healthcare delivery through health IT, today announced new programming and educational offerings that will be part of the 2013 Annual HIMSS Conference &Exhibition (HIMSS13) in New Orleans from March 3-7. This year’s latest offerings will be infused throughout the education sessions, exhibit hall programming and live-streaming sessions to provide attendees with the latest health IT content and enhanced networking opportunities.

“We are at the pivotal moment in healthcare we’ve all been waiting for,” said Carla Smith, Executive Vice President, HIMSS. “Technology mandates and quality healthcare have finally come together in a way that we’ve never seen before, and in response, we’ve created specific content around the coming trends in 2013, with a particular focus on meaningful use, mobile health and consumer engagement.”

For example, the Meaningful Use Experience is a special interactive area on the exhibit floor for providers to view demonstrations of certified EHR solutions – including complete EHR and EHR modules for acute and ambulatory settings. Providers will have the unique opportunity to view these solutions side-by-side, listen to vendor presentations and evaluate products based on their specific needs in a credible setting.

Additional new programming for HIMSS13 includes:

  • ·         Expanded Workshop Program – As part of educational offerings, HIMSS has added hands-on sessions around the mHIMSS Roadmap, Clinical Workflow Analysis, Health IT Adoption and Mobile App Development
  • ·         HIMSS13 Online – Registered attendees can access six on-demand sessions and 12 e-sessions; interviews with top speakers, broadcast live
  • ·         The Patient Experience through HIT Forum – Features three new sessions dedicated to the value of enhancing the patient experience
  • ·         Top 25 Education Sessions Roundtable Forum
  • ·         Clinical & Business Intelligence Symposium
  • ·         Extended Learning Webinars and Events
  • ·         Global Health Forum
  • ·         Public Policy Events and Educational Sessions

HIMSS13 keynote speakers will include President Bill Clinton, Warner L. Thomas, Eric J. Topol, M.D., Karl Rove and James Carville.

With over 300-plus general education sessions and networking events, attendees will also have many, outstanding opportunities to earn continuing education credit at HIMSS13. This year, the Certified Associate in Health Information and Management Systems (CAHIMS) has been added to the certification list. HIMSS13 will also be expanding ways to access these materials as well via its new virtual offering: HIMSS13 Online.

“Quality education comprises a majority of the conference agenda, and to make that programming more accessible, we are offering HIMSS13 Online,” said JoAnn Klinedinst, vice president, professional development, HIMSS. “Due to budget and staffing realities, we understand that many health IT professionals cannot join us in New Orleans. For them, HIMSS13 Online offers conference access – anywhere, anytime – allowing registered attendees to participate virtually in on-demand learning, interact with exhibitors in the virtual setting, and attend selected live simulcast sessions.”

For more information regarding the conference and for a full description of all the latest updates, please the conference website at www.himssconference.org.

About HIMSS

HIMSS is a cause-based, not-for-profit organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded 52 years ago, HIMSS and its related organizations are headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. HIMSS represents nearly 50,000 individual members, of which more than two thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations. HIMSS also includes over 570 corporate members and more than 225 not-for-profit partner organizations that share our mission of transforming healthcare through the effective use of information technology and management systems. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare practices and public policy through its content expertise, professional development, research initiatives, and media vehicles designed to promote information and management systems’ contributions to improving the quality, safety, access, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. To learn more about HIMSS and to find out how to join us and our members in advancing our cause, please visit our website at www.himss.org.

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February 7, 2013 I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: EHR  Electronic Health Record  Electronic Medical Record  EMR  Healthcare  Healthcare Communication  Healthcare Conferences  Healthcare IT  HIE  Hospital IT  Meaningful Use  mHealth  Mobile Health
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Prince George’s County Health Department Implements Integrated EHR and PHR System

Largo, Md. – January 23, 2013 – Prince George’s County Health Department is deploying a new electronic health record (EHR) system and Personal Health Records (PHRs) to further its goals of improved efficiencies in patient care and management.

The Largo, Maryland-based public health department is implementing WebChart EHR from Medical Informatics Engineering, Inc. (MIE) and an integrated PHR from NoMoreClipboard across all 25 of its clinics in three divisions — women’s health, epidemiology and mental health.  The first phase of the project was deployed in December 2012 with additional functionality being added in early 2013.

“We have always taken a progressive approach to healthcare,” said Ernest Carter, MD at Prince George’s County Health Department. “Our goal is to use health information technology as a way to improve efficiencies across the entire department which in turn, will lead to reduced costs and improved quality of care for all patients.”

Prince George’s County’s EHR system will be used for appointment scheduling, registration and medical record documentation.  The health department also plans to integrate the WebChart solution with Personal Health Records from NoMoreClipboard that will enable patients to collect and store their complete health history, and allow them to communicate electronically with their physicians.

“The PHR from NoMoreClipboard is an automatic extension of the EHR,” said Barbara Banks-Wiggins, IT Project Manager at Prince George’s County Health Department.  “Not only will it help patients better manage their healthcare, but it will give physicians a comprehensive view of all patient data available to improve the gaps that often exist between hospital-based and office-based care.”

The Prince George’s County Health Department is working with ZaneNet Connect on this project. ZaneNet Connect is a Maryland-certified management service organization that helps healthcare providers select and implement health IT solutions and connect to Maryland’s health information exchange.

Over 30 physicians, serving 12,855 patients, will have access to the EHR / PHR solution.

About Medical Informatics Engineering (MIE)

MIE offers a Minimally Invasive™ suite of HIT products that are easy to use, flexible and cost effective. MIE solutions are in use today by more than 2,500 clinics throughout the U.S. and by corporate clients such as Disney, Dow, Chevron, Xerox, Lilly, HCA, Humana and many others in 19 countries around the world in eight languages. MIE also provides advanced solutions for chronic disease management, personal health records and advanced wellness modules through its NoMoreClipboard subsidiary. For more information, visit http://www.mieweb.com

About NoMoreClipboard
NoMoreClipboard, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medical Informatics Engineering (MIE), is a web-based, Personal Health Record management system designed to consolidate medical information in one convenient and secure location for easy retrieval and updates. NMC enables consumers to share personal or family member medical information with medical professionals electronically, reducing the need for repetitive medical paperwork.  For more information, visit www.NoMoreClipboard.com

About  ZaneNet Connect

ZaneNet Connect is the first woman-owned small business selected as a Maryland MSO, and was awarded full accreditation from the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), which recognizes excellence in health data processing and transactions and ensures compliance with industry-established standards andHIPAA regulations. ZaneNet Connect is uniquely positioned to help primary care providers adopt electronic health records (EHRs), connect to Maryland’s health information exchange (HIE), and achieve meaningful use that qualifies practices for Medicare and Medicaid incentives.

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February 6, 2013 I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: EHR  Electronic Health Record  Electronic Medical Record  EMR  Healthcare  Healthcare IT  HIE  Hospital IT
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Dell’s Mobile Clinical Computing Solution Provides Significant Savings While Enhancing Mobility and Security for Healthcare Providers

Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare achieves a risk-adjusted return on investment of 83 percent and a payback period of just 13 months

·         Time saved allows each physician to see an additional patient per day

 ROUND ROCK, Texas, Jan. 17, 2013 — Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) saved more than $600,000 and enhanced the productivity of clinicians in its Family Medicine Residency Program by implementing Dell’s Mobile Clinical Computing (MCC) solution, according to a new commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Dell and released today.

TMH, which serves 16 counties in North Florida and South Georgia, participated in a year-long pilot study of the solution at its Family Medicine Residency Program consisting of 55 physicians who were also simultaneously adopting a new electronic medical records system.

Designed to improve clinician efficiency without compromising security, Dell’s MCC solution combines desktop virtualization, single-sign-on and strong authentication technologies with expert consulting, implementation and support services. By storing information in the data center – not the endpoint device – MCC helps reduce the risk of lost or stolen data and simplifies HIPAA compliance. For the deployment at TMH, the solution featured Citrix XenDesktop® for desktop virtualization, Imprivata OneSign® for single sign-on and strong authentication, and AppSense® Environment Manager™ for profile management.

By implementing Dell’s MCC solution, TMH achieved a risk-adjusted return on investment of 83 percent with a payback period of 13 months based on the Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study conducted by Forrester Consulting. The study also notes that Dell’s MCC solution can provide TMH projected risk-adjusted benefits of $636,235 over the next three years.[1]

With the increase in productivity attributed to the adoption of the solution, the Forrester study conservatively estimates that the clinic will be able to schedule an additional one or two patients per day, per physician. In addition, the pilot implementation helped the hospital:

  • ·         Ensure “faster time to care” for patients by maintaining a consistent computing session when a clinician changes location or device. The simple badge-in/badge-out process provides quick, secure access to all relevant patient information.
  • ·         Implement electronic medical records in a secure environment that simplifies compliance with data security policies and regulations and allows clinicians more time to spend with patients.
  • ·         Reduce IT hardware maintenance by leveraging thin and zero clients, such as Dell Wyse endpoints, and centrally fixing remote failures.

According to the study, the hospital also views MCC as a positive recruitment and retention tool since many medical schools are already using the latest IT tools and residency candidates expect the same leading-edge technology in their work environments. By providing residency physicians with remote access via a secure portal, the solution also helps physicians achieve an improved work-life balance.

Quotes

“Dell MCC has been a great solution for us,” said Don Lindsey, chief information officer of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. “It helps balance the issues between being secure and ease of use. MCC helps keep us secure while allowing easy and productive access by clinicians.”

“Patients really like the fact that when a physician is talking to them on the phone or in the exam room the information is right there on the virtual desktop,” said Ronald Machado, M.D., faculty at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare’s Family Medicine Residency Program.

“Dell is committed to simplifying access to information for clinicians because we know it ultimately leads to better patient care,” said James Coffin, Ph.D., vice president and general manager, Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences. “These research findings validate what we already know – that by aligning people and processes, we can achieve true clinical transformation.”

About Dell

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. As the leading provider of healthcare IT services in the world, Dell helps healthcare organizations harness the power of information to simplify administration; coordinate and manage patient care; transition from episodic care to prevention and wellness management and ultimately to deliver personalized medicine. For more information, visit www.dell.com/healthcare.

Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

Post a Comment(0)
I Written By

John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 15 blogs containing almost 5000 articles with John having written over 2000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 9.3 million times. John also recently launched two new companies: InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com, and is an advisor to docBeat. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and Google Plus.

Filed Under: EHR  Electronic Health Record  Electronic Medical Record  EMR  Healthcare  Healthcare IT  Hospital IT  Medical Equipment
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