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HIMSS Analytics Honors Florida Hospital Carrollwood with Stage 7 Award

CHICAGO (April 03, 2013) – HIMSS Analytics announced that Florida Hospital Carrollwood, an Adventist Health System facility, has received the acute care Stage 7 award. The award represents attainment of the highest level on the Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model? (EMRAM), which is used to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems.

HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. There are eight stages (0-7) that measure a hospital’s implementation and utilization of information technology applications. The final stage, Stage 7, represents an advanced patient record environment. The validation process to confirm a hospital has reached Stage 7 includes a site visit by an executive from HIMSS Analytics and former or current chief information officers to ensure an unbiased evaluation of the Stage 7 environments.

The hospital will be recognized at the 2014 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition on Feb. 24-26, 2014, in Orlando, Fla. As of Quarter 1, 2013, Florida Hospital Carrollwood, located in Tampa, Fla., is among the 106 U.S. facilities, or 1.95 percent, of the more than 5,000 U.S. hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics® Database, to be awarded the HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 Award.

“Florida Hospital Carrollwood is proud to be able to take the lead in patient safety through our use of electronic medical records (EMR) in Hillsborough County,” said Joe Johnson, Florida Hospital Carrollwood CEO. This level of technology integration could not have taken place without the leadership and support of Adventist Health System, which has led the way in the adoption of EMR. With an ongoing commitment from our highly skilled physicians and staff, the use of electronic medical records enables us to continue in our efforts to provide the highest quality and safest care to our patients.”

Florida Hospital Carrollwood has succeeded in implementing an entirely paperless system of medical records. Advantages to this level of technological advancement include the ability to share patient information with other health care providers via a secure standardized summary record and using a vast database of clinical information to improve care, patient safety and outcomes.

“We are excited to see the addition of Florida Hospital Carrollwood to the list of Stage 7 hospitals in the Adventist Health System,” said John Hoyt, Executive Vice President, HIMSS Analytics.

Visit the HIMSS Analytics Web site for more information on the Stage 7 award.

About Florida Hospital Carrollwood

Florida Hospital Carrollwood is a member of Adventist Health System. Florida Hospital Carrollwood is a 120-bed community hospital specializing in General Medicine, General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Knees and Joints, Spine Surgery, Wound Care, ENT, Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery, Occupational Health, as well as other services that meet our mission of healing the mind, body and spirit. The Radiation Department provides the only nuclear camera with low dose in the state of Florida and utilizes the first KineGraph VMA™ available in the world for Spine. It’s Knee and Bariatric Weight Loss Surgeons are known for their revision work, correcting procedures done elsewhere. Florida Hospital Carrollwood is the only hospital in the Tampa Bay area to provide spine surgery using the only minimally invasive spine robot available. In addition, its spine surgeons, part of Florida Orthopaedic Institute, perform unique, specialized procedures not available elsewhere in the world. The Hospital collaborates with its physicians and clinicians to provide wellness education for a healthier community. Visit www.elevatinghealthcare.org.

About HIMSS Analytics

HIMSS Analytics is a wholly owned not-for-profit subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. The company collects and analyzes healthcare data related to IT processes and environments, products, IS department composition and costs, IS department management metrics, healthcare trends and purchase-related decisions. HIMSS Analytics delivers high quality data and analytical expertise to healthcare delivery organizations, healthcare IT companies, state governments, financial companies, pharmaceutical companies, and consulting firms. Visit www.himssanalytics.org/ for more information

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April 9, 2013 I Written By John

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.

Filed Under: EMR

Everest Group Names Dell Services as Leader in Healthcare Provider Application Outsourcing Service Providers

Dell Services recognized as a Leader based on analysis of Dell’s IT and business solutions in Healthcare Provider Application Outsourcing

· Everest Group PEAK Matrix assessed Dell’s market success and delivery capability against competitors and positioned Dell number one

PLANO, Texas, March 5, 2013 – Dell Services today announced that Everest Group positioned Dell as a “Leader” in its Performance | Experience | Ability | Knowledge (PEAK) Matrix for Healthcare Provider Application Outsourcing (AO) Service Providers. Everest Group analyzed the capabilities of eight leading AO service providers based on their market success and delivery capability, and then divided the field into three categories: Leaders, Major Contenders and Emerging Players. Among its competitors, Everest Group positioned Dell Services at the top of the Leader category.

Everest Group recognized Dell as the standout provider, acknowledging Dell Services’ strong legacy as a leader in healthcare IT and robust capabilities, including EMR cloud and disaster recovery services, cloud clinical archiving and mobility solutions. Dell’s competitive advantages include deep application, business process and infrastructure outsourcing capabilities with large and medium-sized customers, as well as multiple relationships with leading healthcare vendors. The PEAK Matrix also noted the Dell Services acquisition strategy, including security expertise through SecureWorks and apps modernization through Make Technologies and Clerity Solutions, as a key market differentiator.

“The healthcare market is witnessing fundamental changes, as healthcare providers are incented to leverage IT and analytics for improving care quality and health outcomes, while bringing down the cost of care,” said Jimit Arora, vice president, Everest Group. “Hospitals, physicians, health insurers and life science companies alike are looking to service providers to help get the most out of their applications and technology resources to improve processes and drive down costs. Among the service providers we analyzed in the healthcare provider segment, Dell was the leader based on its depth of knowledge and breadth of capabilities.

More than 2,000 hospitals and 30,000 physicians worldwide rely on Dell for IT support, benefiting from Dell’s full-service, end-to-end IT solutions. Dell works with healthcare organizations to affordably and effectively deploy electronic medical records; improve business processes; enhance access to and gain insights from their data; and meet complex healthcare regulations with data security solutions. These services empower healthcare providers to focus more on patient care instead of administrative tasks.

“The adoption of IT by healthcare organizations is critical to reducing the cost and improving the quality of care,” said Sid Nair, vice president & global general manager, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Dell Services. “Everest Group’s positioning of Dell Services further solidifies our end-to-end solutions strategy, which has been developed through a mix of research and development and acquisitions. Customers can depend on us as a one-stop-shop for their healthcare IT needs.”

The right combination of technology and services increases productivity for clinicians and administrators, and ultimately results in improved patient care. With more than 20 years of experience designing, delivering, managing and supporting IT solutions in healthcare, Dell continues to build on its commitment to accelerate innovation in the healthcare environment as an Everest Group Leader.

Dell at HIMSS13

Dell will showcase its end-to-end solutions and services for healthcare at the Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2013 Annual Conference and Exposition, March 3-7 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. (Booth #4427, Hall F).

Following HIMSS13, Dell will host a Healthcare Think Tank on March 19. Dell has invited industry thought-leaders to take part in an interactive discussion exploring the challenges and opportunities on the path to information-driven healthcare. Join the conversation via live stream or follow on Twitter at #DoMoreHIT.

About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. Dell Services develops and delivers a comprehensive suite of services and solutions in applications, business process, consulting, infrastructure and support to help customers succeed. Learn more at www.dell.com.

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March 6, 2013 I Written By John

Filed Under: EMR

Tags:Clerity Solutions cloud clinical archiving Dell Services EMR EMR cloud Everest Group Healthcare IT Healthcare Provider Application Outsourcing Healthcare Think Tank HIMSS Jimit Arora Make Technologies NASDAQ: DELL PEAK Matrix SecureWorks Sid Nair

Philips Healthcare and Vidyo Enable Enterprise-Grade Video for Remote Patient Monitoring

Clinical Care and Coordination Is Revolutionized with Vidyo’s Next-generation Video Communications Technology Incorporated into Philips’ IntelliSpace eCareManager 3.9 Platform

Andover, MA and Hackensack, NJ – March 6, 2013 – Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) and Vidyo, Inc. today announced that the first Philips Healthcare solution incorporating enterprise-grade video for patient monitoring applications – Philips IntelliSpace eCareManager 3.9 enterprise telehealth platform featuring Vidyo’s VidyoRouter technology – was launched during the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2013 conference and exhibition in New Orleans.

The new remote patient monitoring platform follows an earlier announcement of the companies’ collaboration in April 2012, initiating Philips’ launch of an enterprise video conferencing platform for healthcare to be used for monitoring ICU patients. Technological features of the system incorporate multiple tools for enabling better coordination of patient care, care team collaboration, and patient engagement; allowing visual monitoring and access to vital patient information from remote locations, in a reliable and cost effective manner.

The platform combines Philips orb – a newly launched graphical dashboard – with Vidyo’s VidyoRouter Platform, which expands the ability for care provider devices to work across a broader range of networks. Orb’s ability to integrate practical data with visual technology helps clinicians to prioritize patient needs and streamline in-hospital care. The orb dashboard features circles that represent individual patients and their health status. By viewing these circles, clinicians can determine, at a glance, important patient or population-level information, such as which patients are in need of immediate care versus others who might be ready for hospital discharge. It also helps clinicians prioritize information that was previously unavailable due to the massive amount of data created by a single patient, whether they are providing care at the bedside, from the nurses’ station, or hundreds of miles away from a remote, centralized telehealth care team.

As the adoption of telehealth by health systems continues to increase, companies with complementary technologies are working together to support clinicians who are managing large populations of patients remotely but don’t have the capacity to manage multiple technical systems. Philips eCareManager 3.9 and Vidyo’s collaboration provides a continuous, single platform to reduce technological redundancies – from the Emergency Department to the ICU and discharge – and offers continuity for quality of care.

The integrated workflow provides healthcare facilities with the flexibility to manage large patient populations while maintaining visibility into individual treatment needs. The system enables an expansion of video telepresence across geographically dispersed locations, and aggregates clinical informatics solutions designed to improve the quality of patient care for patients in the hospital and in the home.

“Enterprise-wide deployment of next-generation telehealth services requires advanced video technology that is scalable and flexible enough to support the needs of today’s caregiver, family and patient, regardless of distance or setting.” said Lori Lazzara, Philips’ VP, GM Connected Care Solutions. “This newest version of our IntelliSpace eCareManager platform is the first system which meaningfully combines these innovative technologies from Vidyo and Philips, and underscores our shared commitment to enabling patients to be transitioned between acuity levels at the most appropriate time, to improve patient care and reduce costs.”

“When two leaders in technological innovation, such as Philips and Vidyo, combine forces, the result is game-changing for the healthcare market,” said Amnon Gavish, Vidyo’s Senior VP of Vertical Solutions. “The interface of our two platforms is a significant first step toward a longer- term vision of providing effective telepresence for improving patient management in the ever-evolving environment of healthcare.”

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through meaningful innovation in the areas of Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle and Lighting. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips posted 2012 sales of EUR 24.8 billion and employs approximately 118,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. The company is a leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as male shaving and grooming, home and portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

About Vidyo, Inc.
Vidyo, Inc., pioneered Personal Telepresence enabling natural, HD multi-point videoconferences on tablets and smart phones, PCs and Macs, room systems, gateways that interoperate with H.323 and SIP endpoints, telepresence solutions and affordable cloud-based broadcast solutions. Vidyo for Healthcare eliminates the access, performance and cost issues of traditional systems that require expensive MCU equipment and dedicated QoS. With its amazing quality, unmatched accessibility and market-shifting cost-efficiency, Vidyo for Healthcare provides hospitals, specialized medical centers and physician clinics with low latency telepresence-quality video conferencing from any mobile, desktop or room-based endpoint over the Internet, WiFi and 4G networks. Vidyo delivers end-to-end encryption, provides HIPAA-compliant security, and easily integrates into existing healthcare environments with support for a variety of medical devices and interoperability with existing conferencing infrastructure. Learn more at www.vidyo.com, on the Blog or follow @vidyo on Twitter.

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I Written By John

Filed Under: EMR

Tags:AEX: PHIA Amnon Gavish HIMSS HIPAA-compliant Inc IntelliSpace eCareManager Lori Lazzara NYSE: PHG Philips orb Philips’ IntelliSpace eCareManager 3.9 Platform Royal Philips Electronics Telehealth Vidyo Vidyo for Healthcare Vidyo’s VidyoRouter technology

HIMSS Announces Its New Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action

HIMSS builds on its vision to improve healthcare delivery with the best use of information technology and management systems

NEW ORLEANS (March 6, 2013) – Building on its mission to improve the delivery of healthcare with the best use of information technology, HIMSS announces its new Commitment to Action, made as part of its membership with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). HIMSS joined the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2012 to advance its work on its Healthcare Transformation Project.

The Healthcare Transformation Project gives senior healthcare provider executives the opportunity to take actionable, measurable steps in their organizations that will make a real difference in the lives of the people they serve. During the Healthcare Transformation Project’s meeting at HIMSS13, senior healthcare executives will be able to make their own Commitment to Action for change.

“We’re proud to have made our Commitment to Action, a component of membership with the CGI,” says John H. Daniels, FACHE, FHIMSS, HIMSS Vice President for Strategic Relations, on the HIMSS Blog. “The other CGI members I met have committed to take action to resolve the world’s most pressing challenges. They have documented their commitments by specifying actionable, measurable steps they will take to make a transformative difference in people’s lives. They are committing resources, forging new partnerships, and measuring the progress and impact of their initiatives.”

The Healthcare Transformation brings senior healthcare provider leaders together, with year-round events, research and networking, as they decide and act upon their own commitments to action. HIMSS also announces its participation with CGI on March 6, the same day former President Clinton speaks to the conference attendees during HIMSS13 in New Orleans. More than 35,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibiting companies have come to the Big Easy for the conference.

“Through the Healthcare Transformation Project, HIMSS has established its Commitment to Action as part of CGI. We know improving healthcare with the best use of IT takes a collaborative effort, one that senior executives can be part of through this HIMSS community,” said H. Stephen Lieber, CAE, HIMSS President and CEO.

Learn more about the HIMSS Healthcare Transformation Project.

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 health and 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 more than 52,000 individual members, of which more than two thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations. HIMSS also includes over 600 corporate members and more than 225 not-for-profit partner organizations that share our mission of transforming healthcare through the best 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.

About the Clinton Global Initiative

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 150 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date CGI members have made more than 2,300 commitments, which have already improved the lives of more than 400 million people in more than 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $73.1 billion.

CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

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I Written By John

Filed Under: Healthcare

Tags:Clinton Global Initiative H. STEPHEN LIEBER Healthcare Transformation Project HIMSS HIMSS Blog HIMSS13 John H. Daniels President Clinton

Westbrook Technologies and Artsyl Technologies Announce Revenue Cycle Management Solution for Healthcare

HIMSS – New Orleans – March 5, 2013 – Westbrook Technologies, developer of Fortis™ and FortisBlue™ enterprise content management (ECM) software, and Artsyl Technologies™, a leading provider of data capture and document processing technologies, today announces a revenue cycle management solution for healthcare. Artsyl Technologies’ advanced data capture technology combined with Westbrook Technologies’ content management capabilities helps speed the payment process and improves cash flow management for providers and payors.

Artsyl’s docAlpha advanced capture solution makes it easier for customers to import content into Westbrook Technologies’ repository using preconfigured connectors to Fortis and FortisBlue and by repurposing existing templates. docAlpha can be used to capture and process unstructured data for AP (accounts payable), patient billing, release of information, claims processing, Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) and other document-intensive processes.

“The combination of technology from Artsyl and Westbrook will help healthcare organizations successfully balance both high-quality patient care and cost containment,” said Peter Ransome, VP Sales and Marketing of Westbrook Technologies. ”Our solution is designed to meet the needs of healthcare organizations and enhance interoperability of systems and departments.”

“Our partnership with Westbrook Technologies enables our joint customers to take advantage of Fortis and FortisBlue’s strong capabilities in workflow, content lifecycle management and integration with line-of-business systems,” said Jeff Moore, Chief Sales Officer of Artsyl Technologies. “Artsyl brings scalable, cost-effective advanced capture to the healthcare market. With our modern architecture, self-learning and wizard based definition generator, users can dramatically reduce data entry costs, increase data accuracy and streamline the process of importing content into the Fortis or FortisBlue repository. docAlpha’s front-end capture technology makes the overall ECM experience much more efficient.”

About Westbrook Technologies, Inc.
Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Branford, CT, Westbrook Technologies’ solutions help organizations of all sizes manage document- and data-intensive processes in compliance-centric industries. The Company is the developer of Fortis content management software in use by thousands of customers worldwide to capture, index, securely store and retrieve critical information – instantly and securely. Its FortisBlue product line, accessible from the cloud, has an intuitive interface to make daily information management tasks effortless. All Fortis solutions are cost effective, fast to deploy and easy to use.

Call 800-949-3453 or visit http://westbrooktech.com/ for more information.

About Artsyl Technologies, Inc.
Artsyl Technologies™ headquartered in Toronto, Canada develops a full range of document and data capture software which reduces the cost of document centric processes, increases data accuracy and improves the speed at which data is fed into line-of-business applications. Artsyl’s products are used to automate the storage of documents as well as improve customer service and regulatory compliance. The company sells its products through a network of more than 120 Value Added Resellers who specialize in a variety of applications such as Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable Automation, human resources, healthcare, education and state and local government.
docAlpha is a highly scalable, server-based product which automatically collects, identifies and captures large volumes of structured and semi-structured documents and data. docAlpha integrates with a wide range of front-end scanners, MFPs and fax servers and with popular document management and database back ends.

Visit http://www.artsyltech.com/ for more information.

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March 5, 2013 I Written By John

Filed Under: Healthcare

Tags:Artsyl Technologies Artsyl’s docAlpha docAlpha Fortis FortisBlue HIMSS Jeff Moore Peter Ransome Westbrook Technologies

Roentgen Works Cloud Now Supports Mobile Devices, Patient Portals and Image Processing Capabilities

DALLAS, TX, and NEW ORLEANS, LA, March 4, 2013 – BRIT Systems announced today the release of Roentgen Works Version 1.5, featuring HTML-5 support for mobile devices, patient portals, and enhanced image manipulation capabilities. Roentgen Works, the platform that runs BRIT’s Roentgen Cloud DICOM sharing platform that includes 5 GB free storage, is an industry leading browser-based solution that incorporates the latest technology for medical image sharing. WebWorks, the integrated viewer, displays many image formats and includes specialized cine tools for cardiac ultrasounds. BRIT Systems will be showcasing Roentgen Works Version 1.5 and Roentgen Cloud with mobile device viewing capabilities at the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual meeting March 4 – 7 in booth #8312.

As a front-end solution for accessing and viewing patient data from multiple PACS, Roentgen Works’ native cross-enterprise capabilities include a Patient Discovery tool for finding the same patient with different patient IDs in different PACS and presenting all the studies for the patient on a single timeline. With Version 1.5, users can access new and comparison studies regardless of where the study originated. Roentgen Works’ sharing utilities include study upload tools, an email invitation link for granting access to a study, DICOM distribution and routing, and the WebWorks advanced viewer. Roentgen Works is also the base platform for UrgentWorks critical results reporting and ER discordance, peer review, and SpeechWorks radiology reporting tools.

“With today’s announcement, BRIT extends our motto of ‘any image, anywhere, anytime’ to now include ‘on any device.’ And, we’ve expanded the audience to include patients,” says Shelly Fisher, President of BRIT Systems. “We will continue to embrace new technology that enhances access to images and communication between clinicians or with patients, and provide enhanced performance and support for additional image types and image handling utilities. With over 20 years of experience handling medical images and HL-7 integration tasks combined with our state-of–the art platform, BRIT’s Roentgen Works is well positioned to become the Universal Viewer of choice throughout the healthcare industry.”

BRIT offers interested users an opportunity to try this leading technology themselves on their own browsers and mobile devices by accessing www.brit.com and signing up for a free, private 5 GB DICOM server in the cloud.

About BRIT Systems:

BRIT Systems is a technology company that provides custom, turn-key solutions for PACS, RIS, teleradiology, including ASP solutions, and digital reporting solutions. Founded in 1993 with the goal of providing affordable PACS based on standards, BRIT designs and deploys high-quality PACS/RIS based on the company’s comprehensive understanding of radiology departments, medical imaging, networks, DICOM integration, security and highly available computer systems. BRIT is an employee-owned corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas. More information can be found at www.brit.com.

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March 4, 2013 I Written By John

Filed Under: EMR

Tags:ACS Brit Systems BRIT’s Roentgen Cloud DICOM HIMSS HTML-5 PACS RIS Roentgen Cloud Roentgen Works Roentgen Works Version 1.5 Shelly Fisher SpeechWorks radiology reporting tools teleradiology UrgentWorks WebWorks

CITI ANNOUNCES AETNA TO BE THE CHARTER HEALTHCARE BENEFITS COMPANY FOR COMPREHENSIVE DIGITAL HEALTH PAYMENT PLATFORM

Citi to Build Out Network of Insurance Companies and Healthcare Providers

in First Phase of New Mobile and Online Patient Payment Solution – Money² for Health

New York, NY – Citi^® announced today that Aetna will be the charter healthcare benefits company in the development of a new mobile and web-based patient payment solution – Money²_SM for Health. The payment platform, which will bring together a network of insurance carriers and healthcare providers, will enable patients to go online or use their mobile devices to reconcile their healthcare bills, receive alerts when claims are ready to be viewed, pay amounts due and view past payments – all in one digital location. It will be offered to consumers in the U.S. by participating health insurance carriers and providers to enable mobile and online healthcare payments through the Money² for Health platform. It is expected to launch for patients in late 2013.

The healthcare industry is changing dramatically as costs are being increasingly shifted to patients to shoulder more of the expense. Patient healthcare payments will soon exceed $1 trillion annually and continue to rise significantly in a payment system that is complex. This trend is expected to accelerate with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act of 2010’s insurance expansion provisions, and bad debt is expected to reach $200 billion by 2019, according to Citi’s analysis of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services statistics. Money² for Health will be a valuable resource to help patients better manage their personal healthcare expenses, especially in an evolving healthcare environment.

“Paying healthcare bills is often confusing and time-consuming, and the disjointed and inconsistent array of payment options available today leads to delayed or missed payments and higher costs for patients, providers and insurers,” said Citi Enterprise Payments CEO Paul Galant. “Money² for Health, the latest example of Citi’s commitment to developing and providing advanced digital solutions that enhance clients’ lives, will simplify the payment process by making it easy for consumers to track and pay healthcare bills through its digital wallet while at the same time speeding up payments to providers. Given Aetna’s ongoing commitment to innovation and its ample network of members and providers that can benefit from the new platform, we are thrilled to have them as our charter health plan.”

Research from McKinsey & Company reveals that 19 percent of patients delay payments because of the limited payment options available and 17 percent delay payments due to discrepancies between billing statements from providers and Explanation of Benefits letters from insurance companies. Patients are responsible for paying all of their different providers through many different forms of payment, such as mailing checks, managing multiple provider payment portals or submitting expenses for reimbursements from tax-advantaged accounts.

“Money² for Health complements Aetna’s commitment to give our members resources that help them live healthier lives and achieve financial security,” said Rob Butler, head of Consumer Financial Solutions for Aetna. “This platform connects Aetna, patients and providers, which will improve the healthcare experience for everyone. Aetna is also excited to be the first healthcare benefits company to work with Citi to offer this service to our providers. We believe this will be a valuable service for our providers as they seek ways to manage the increase in patient payments.”

Money² for Health aims to simplify and expedite the payment process for patients in several ways, including:

— One portal, one enrollment and one password

— Easy reconciliation of insurance claims and healthcare bills with links to claim details

— Single-click payment via mobile or web

– Patients will be able to use a single click to pay all enrolled providers using their preferred funding source (such as checking accounts, credit cards or tax-advantaged accounts) and will be open to customers of any bank

– Multi-channel alerts with the option to “Pay Now” will be available through a patients’ choice of channel (such as email or mobile alert)

— User-friendly presentation of current and historical healthcare spending

– Patients will be able to view and analyze all of their healthcare spending, leading to better planning decisions

— Fewer questions and calls

– Access to online information will improve patient understanding and reduce the need to reach out to call centers

“The challenges in the healthcare payment space continue to be pervasive, defining the need for a solution that connects patients, payers and providers in a comprehensive way that would alleviate much of the unnecessary burden and costs that exist today,” said Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Senior Vice President John Casillas. “It is good news for our industry that major organizations are coming together to address that problem with the needs of consumers and payers in mind.”

Citi Enterprise Payments was established in January 2011 to provide new digital payments services to Citi’s institutional and government clients to enable them to better serve their target consumers. Citi Enterprise Payments solutions gives clients access to new opportunities in growth markets across the globe, and helps them meet their existing customers’ current and future needs for convenient, quick and secure digital payment services.

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I Written By John

Filed Under: Healthcare

Tags:Aetna Affordable Care Act of 2010 CIT Citi Enterprise Payments HIMSS John Casillas McKinsey & Company Money2SM for Health Paul Galant Rob Butler

GE Healthcare Showcases Powerful Vendor Neutral Archive at HIMSS

Centricity Clinical Archive Aggregates Images, Documents, Helps Doctors Make More Informed Decisions

NEW ORLEANS – March 4, 2013 — Many attendees at this week’s annual meeting of the Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) are looking for a vendor neutral archive (VNA) solution that helps clinicians make more rapid and more informed treatment decisions and helps reduce costs by unifying patient images and documents across multiple vendor systems, departments, specialties, and locations. They want a standards-based solution that is easily accessible from the EMR and via the web through a non-diagnostic zero footprint viewer. In Centricity* Clinical Archive from GE Healthcare, they’ve found it.

Centricity Clinical Archive consists of a suite of products and services designed to provide an end-to-end solution. Unlike vendor neutral archives that only support departmental DICOM consolidation, Centricity Clinical Archive helps healthcare systems streamline enterprise-level and community-wide collaboration with performance through a breadth of interoperability standards, including IHE-XDS, HL7, and DICOM. Rather than forcing customers to custom-build their own solution with the complexity of multiple vendor relationships, GE Healthcare delivers a “360° Go-Live Experience.” It enables all solution planning, implementation, service, and management through a single team of clinical and IT experts.

GE Healthcare IT defines VNA as a Four Level Model for Medical Information Management

“There is a lot of buzz out there about Vendor Neutral Archives,” said Mike Jackman, senior vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare IT. “At GE Healthcare IT, we define it as a 4 level model for medical information management, which helps connect and share information across multiple departments, specialties, locations and vendors, through a breadth of interoperability standards. GE’s VNA solution, Centricity Clinical Archive, i enables this effective collaboration bringing benefits across the organization to the IT departments, the physician and ultimately the patient. ”

The core offering of Centricity Clinical Archive provides a multi-ology, multi-site imaging content repository that enables consolidation of IT infrastructure for archiving and managing medical images and associated documents using industry standards (DICOM, IHE-XDS). Its enterprise-wide non-diagnostic zero footprint viewer and IHE-XDS registry provide anywhere, anytime/near instant access to a patient clinical record when there is an internet connection available. A master patient index links patient records across network boundaries, while the messaging interface engine combines workflow systems like HIS and RIS to update an information repository and keep information consistent across systems. It also equips IT administrators with a choice of virtual server deployment to save data center space, disaster recovery by connecting to cloud storage, and high reliability with standardized configurations.

Since Centricity Clinical Archive is a solution offering, services play an important role in completing the picture. The core services include solution consulting, which assesses the current status and future needs including number and type of departmental systems, IT infrastructure, and processes in order to provide recommendations for long term sustainable data management and sharing strategy. Implementation services help interface existing departmental IT systems from various vendors with the central clinical information archive, helping to ensure regular consolidation of information (DICOM and non-DICOM). One-time data migration services link existing historical data from the departmental systems to the central information archive, while professional project management services oversee the overall implementation to ensure on-time delivery and help the customer exceed their quality goals.

SWODIN built on VNA Platform – Benefitting from Increased Clinician Productivity.

In Canada, the Southwestern Ontario Digital Imaging Network (SWODIN) is built on the highly scalable and vendor neutral archive platform of the Centricity Clinical Archive solution plus other web-enabled components. SWODIN is a highly advanced technology and infrastructure network that connects radiologists, referring physicians and specialists at hospitals across southwestern Ontario, allowing them to rapidly access, exchange and store diagnostic images and reports from multiple PACS systems that use many different vendor platforms through a unified, web-based interface.

Today, SWODIN is storing 3.2 million exams every year from 62 hospitals using seven different vendors’ PACS systems. Says Dave Veeneman, PACS/DI-r Manager, London Health Sciences Centre, “The system provides a single point of access to a single patient jacket, where clinicians can see all the exams that a patient has had across Southwestern Ontario. We plan to enhance the system for imaging beyond radiology using industry standards like IHE-XDS”. Glen Kearns, IVP of Technology Services, St. Josephs Health and London Health Sciences, added, “The economic benefits most directly tied to a Diagnostic Imaging repository, beyond IT simplification and cost reductions, include increased clinician productivity that translates into two positive impacts for our patients: faster access to imaging services and more time for our clinicians to collaborate on complex cases.”

IDC Health Insights Anticipates VNA Spending to Grow in 2013

“Vendor neutral archives provide a strong opportunity for providers who want to centralize and aggregate clinical image repositories, optimize storage infrastructure and add agility and flexibility to their PACS environment. The industry is turning to vendor neutral archives to take advantage of economies of scale in storage, and make clinical images available throughout the enterprise, or to accountable delivery partners in the community, with centralized data management,” said Judy Hanover, Research Director for IDC Health Insights. “We anticipate vendor neutral archive spending will continue to grow in 2013, as more providers take advantage of this technology.

*Registered trademark of General Electric Corp.

About GE Healthcare:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services to meet the demand for increased access, enhanced quality and more affordable healthcare around the world. GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter – great people and technologies taking on tough challenges. From medical imaging, software & IT, patient monitoring and diagnostics to drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and performance improvement solutions, GE Healthcare helps medical professionals deliver great healthcare to their patients.

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Filed Under: EMR

Tags:Centricity* Clinical Archive Dave Veeneman DICOM EMR GE Healthcare GE Healthcare IT Glen Kearns HIMSS HL7 IDC Health Insights IHE-XDS IHE-XDS registry Judy Hanover London Health Sciences Centre Mike Jackman NYSE: GE Southwestern Ontario Digital Imaging Network SWODIN vendor neutral archive

Get Real Health Excited to be an Integral Part of Tribridge Care Coordination™

Rockville, Maryland – March 4, 2013

The healthcare industry’s efforts to better manage patient populations in order to reduce readmissions for major chronic conditions took a big leap forward with Tribridge’s decision to integrate Get Real Health’s InstantPHR™ as the comprehensive patient engagement platform for its Tribridge Care Coordination™ solution.

Tribridge, a national IT services and business consulting firm with a dedicated healthcare practice, has a long history of developing solutions that support chronic disease management. The firm’s Care Coordination system is a powerful tool that provides a unified view of disparate clinical information systems in order to feed, track and mine the critical data stored into applications that Care Management Teams can use to help coordinate the care that occurs outside of the healthcare facility.

The integration of Get Real Health’s InstantPHR™ platform serves as an example of Tribridge’s commitment to helping health organizations solve the coordinated care challenge by successfully engaging and empowering patients. Get Real Health’s InstantPHR™ platform leverages the security and privacy standards of Microsoft HealthVault, a free Web-based platform that enables consumers to collect, store and share their health information. (Learn more about Microsoft HealthVault online at https://www.healthvault.com/us/en.)

“Tribridge Care Coordination has always been a powerful, intuitive data aggregation and care plan development platform for providers. We are thrilled that Tribridge’s customers and patients now have the ability to use our InstantPHR™ platform and the tools and resources it includes,” said Get Real Health President and Founding Partner Robin Wiener. “Our partnership gives patients the ability to demonstrate positive health behaviors. Partnerships like this really expand the market.”

InstantPHR™ is an award-winning platform with powerful Web and mobile applications. InstantPHR™ engages patients in their own care by giving them tools and information to help them easily monitor their ongoing condition(s) at home, share health details with family members and providers, receive personalized care plans, health education materials and test results, as well as communicate with their entire care team.

InstantPHR™ isn’t just about sharing data, but empowering true action and collaboration. Patients using the InstantPHR™-integrated Care Coordination™ system will also have access to unique and customizable health journals that encourage them to track symptoms and behaviors that affect their health and report that data back to the care team so proactive and timely interventions can be made as necessary.

“Get Real Health has a proven track record of engaging and empowering patients in their care,” said Damon Auer, vice president of the Healthcare Practice at Tribridge. “Their patient engagement tools are a natural fit to extend the Tribridge Care Coordination solution from the care manager’s desktop, facilitating true collaboration between the care manager and patient.”

Tribridge Care Coordination with InstantPHR is now available to the market and will be demonstrated at Health Information Management Systems Society’s (HIMSS) Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, March 4–7, 2013.

About Get Real Health

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, Get Real Health is an award-winning global health information technology pioneer specializing in patient engagement and connected care solutions. Get Real Health’s flagship product - InstantPHR™ - is an electronic toolbox for creating and customizing personal health applications. In addition to the InstantPHR™ platform, Get Real Health offers turn-key solutions and custom services for a wide range of healthcare organizations. Get Real Health has a diverse global customer base and strategic partnerships with industry leaders including Microsoft, Caradigm, and TELUS Health Solutions. Visit: http://www.getrealhealth.com.

About Tribridge

Founded in 1998, Tribridge is a leading IT services provider dedicated to helping customers leverage cloud and on-premise business solutions to become more productive, profitable, competitive and secure. Specializing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and ERP, SharePoint and other essential productivity solutions, the firm’s more than 400 professionals capitalize on an award-winning combination of industry expertise, technical proficiency and proven service methodology to create an exceptional customer experience and promote a solid return on IT investments. Tribridge serves over 3,500 companies representing a variety of industries throughout the U.S. www.tribridge.com

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Tags:Damon Auer Get Real Health Get Real Health’s InstantPHR HIMSS InstantPHR Robin Wiener Tribridge Tribridge Care Coordination solution

Explorys Launches First Big Data-Powered Benchmarking Network to Prepare Leading Healthcare Systems for Value-Based Care Economy

World’s Largest Healthcare Big Data Compilation to Accelerate Quality Improvement, Cost Reduction, Risk Management and Transform Delivery Models with Comparative Data Network

New Orleans, LA, March 4, 2013 (HIMSS Booth #6455) — Explorys, the leader in big data-driven healthcare transformation, today announced the release of its new National Benchmark offering, which provides comparative metrics across more than 92 billion clinical, financial, and operational data facts spanning the continuum of care for 13 integrated delivery networks, 120 hospitals, and over 100,000 providers providing over $30 billion in care annually across the United States.

National Benchmarks, the first of a new series of comparative analytics, is available to Explorys’ customer base today, with support for disease management, quality, wellness, Accountable Care, and financial measures. These benchmarks offer unique insight into patterns and trends by supplementing comprehensive clinical data with claims and administrative data. This new offering enables leading healthcare organizations to compare their performance to the aggregate Explorys Network, all while preserving patient privacy and ensuring HIPAA compliance, and provider/system anonymity.

Participants in the Explorys Network include some of the nation’s leaders in care transformation, such as Cleveland Clinic, Catholic Health Partners, Iowa Health System, Centura Health, St. Joseph Health System, and Legacy Health. “These organizations recognize the imperative to leverage not only their own data, but also comparatively relevant metrics from the aggregate of their peers,” explains Stephen McHale, CEO, Explorys. “It’s this insight that enables provider organizations to design, construct, and measure value-based-care, bundled services, and direct-to-employer models. This is critical for effective payer contracting, as well as prediction and management of the impact on fee-for-service and other at-risk service lines.”

Building upon the Explorys Network and its growing member base, the company will continue to add capabilities throughout 2013 that enable advanced predictive models and analytics for value-based care transformation.

“Our ability to clinically benchmark both internally and externally within the Explorys Network provides an important basis for planning and measuring our quality and performance goals, particularly as the industry moves toward risk-sharing models. We see a significant advantage in using this insight to inform new service offerings and drive better relationships with our payers and employers,” stated Mike Murphy, President and CEO of Accountable Care, Iowa Health System.

Explorys will be demonstrating its platform, applications, and new Network Benchmarking features at the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2013 Annual Conference and Exhibition from March 4-6, 2013 in New Orleans, LA at booth. To schedule time to meet with an Explorys representative or existing customer, please go to https://www.explorys.com/contact-us/visit-us-@-himss13.

About Explorys
Founded in 2009 as an innovation spinoff from Cleveland Clinic, Explorys provides the healthcare industry’s first secure, cloud-based Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) platform that leverages BIG DATA. Its analytics platform enables the country’s leading provider organizations to more effectively leverage their data to improve care quality, patient satisfaction, and support Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and Accountable Care (ACO) models while applying the power of massively-parallel data processing to save lives and make healthcare affordable. Since its inception, Explorys’ platform has been adopted by 13 major integrated healthcare systems with over 92 billion data elements, 31 million cared-for-lives, 120 hospitals, and 85,000 providers. For more information, visit www.explorys.com.