Healthcare IT

• Most Topular Stories

• 2012 – Year for mHealth?

  Medical Connectivity

  BMoorman

  4 Jan 2012 | 11:37 am

  I received several items in my email regarding different organizations’ proclamations for 2012.  Most of them predict that 2012 will be the year for mHealth to ‘break-out.’  Here are 5 examples: HIMSS 2012 is focusing on mHealth with several sessions and will have a kiosk on the vendor floor which features speakers on the mobile aspect of healthcare AAMI has published in their IT World column a synopsis of mHealth (requires login credentials) Here in Europe, the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona Feb 2012, sponsored by the GSM Association, has a track devoted to mHealth (filter for…

• 2012 Predictions for Health IT

  eHealth

  John Sharp

  2 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am

  Like others (see Daniel Kraft) , I have my own opinions about what trends will be most influential for health IT in 2012. Big Data and real-time analytics and decision support – IBM Watson and Explorys are in this space, others will follow and adoption will grow enabled by cloud computing, NOSQL/Hadoop and natural language processing Continued focus on EMR adoption as more health systems pursue meaningful use. This will again be the main focus at HIMSS as well as other conferences Social media in health care will continue to grow among patients as the e-Patient movement continues to…

• 5 ways to make your EMR more user-friendly

  Most Popular Items from healthcareitnews.com

  Michelle McNickle

  19 Jan 2012 | 12:39 pm

  One of the biggest objections to the adoption of an EMR is its usability (or lack thereof), which is no surprise considering the ease of its predecessor: paper. Thankfully, there are a few ways to make your system not only more bearable, but significantly easier to use. read more

• 5 dos and don'ts of EHR interface design

  News from healthcareitnews.com

  Michelle McNickle

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  Sometimes, small tweaks can make a big difference, and according to Bob Hunchberger, a clinical informaticist for a 500-bed hospital, that couldn’t be truer when it comes to your EHR.  Hunchberger suggests five dos and don’ts of EHR interface design.  read more

• 101 Tips to Make Your EMR and EHR More Useful – EHR Tips 1-5

  EMR and EHR

  John

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am

  Time for the next entry covering Shawn Riley’s list of 101 Tips to Make your EMR and EHR More Useful. I can’t believe that this is the last post in the series. I think it’s been a good series chalk full of good tips for those looking at implementing an EHR in their office. I’d love to hear what people thought and if they’d like me to do more series like this one. Now for the final 5 EMR tips. 5. Automatic trending helps all over the place – A picture is worth a thousand words and this is never more true than when we’re talking about trending. Make…

• 

  healthcare IT news - Google News

• Mostashari: HIE, consumer engagement in healthcare will 'take off' in 2012 - FierceHealthIT

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:08 pm

  Mostashari: HIE, consumer engagement in healthcare will 'take off' in 2012FierceHealthITFierceHealthIT is the leading source of Healthcare IT news with a special focus on CPOE, EMR adoption, HIPAA compliance and other critical areas. Join 44,00 healthcare industry insiders who get FierceHealthIT via daily email for their must know IT news

• Bipartisan center calls for increased HIE efforts, alignment of healthcare ... - FierceHealthIT

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:18 pm

  Bipartisan center calls for increased HIE efforts, alignment of healthcare FierceHealthITFierceHealthIT is the leading source of Healthcare IT news with a special focus on CPOE, EMR adoption, HIPAA compliance and other critical areas. Join 44,00 healthcare industry insiders who get FierceHealthIT via daily email for their must know IT news and more »

• Isabel, BMJ tool offers enhanced diagnosis decision support - FierceHealthIT

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:21 pm

  Isabel, BMJ tool offers enhanced diagnosis decision supportFierceHealthITFierceHealthIT is the leading source of Healthcare IT news with a special focus on CPOE, EMR adoption, HIPAA compliance and other critical areas. Join 44,00 healthcare industry insiders who get FierceHealthIT via daily email for their must know IT news and more »

• Study: Hospital websites have 'significant' room for improvement - FierceHealthIT

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:59 pm

  Study: Hospital websites have 'significant' room for improvementFierceHealthITFierceHealthIT is the leading source of Healthcare IT news with a special focus on CPOE, EMR adoption, HIPAA compliance and other critical areas. Join 44,00 healthcare industry insiders who get FierceHealthIT via daily email for their must know IT news and more »

• Spit on a strip? New biochip measures glucose using saliva - FierceHealthIT

  25 Jan 2012 | 10:25 am

  Spit on a strip? New biochip measures glucose using salivaFierceHealthITFierceHealthIT is the leading source of Healthcare IT news with a special focus on CPOE, EMR adoption, HIPAA compliance and other critical areas. Join 44,00 healthcare industry insiders who get FierceHealthIT via daily email for their must know IT news and more »

• 

  Health IT News

• Diabetes, HIV the focus of new innovation challenge efforts

  Dan Bowman

  27 Jan 2012 | 1:26 pm

  In addition to the follow-up care innovation challenge issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, two more health IT challenges were announced at yesterday's Care Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C. The 2012 Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge, is seeking "the next breakthrough in diabetes," while the Kaiser Permanente HIV Challenge wants providers to increase the number of HIV-positive people who are treated using Kaiser's toolkit of clinical best practices, according to UPI. Article

• Mostashari: HIE, consumer engagement in healthcare will 'take off' in 2012

  Dan Bowman

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:48 pm

  Health information exchange will take off in 2012, as will consumer and patient use of health information technology, according to National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari in his latest HealthIT Buzz blog post. Mostashari also predicted that at least 100,000 providers will receive electronic health record incentive payments by the end of the year, but says that number is contingent on several parties--including technology vendors, hospital leaders and Regional Extension Centers--collaborating to increase provider efforts. "As the businesses value for exchange increases, our…

• Bipartisan center calls for increased HIE efforts, alignment of healthcare incentives

  Dan Bowman

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:07 pm

  Aligning financial incentives with high-quality care and accelerating health information exchange efforts (HIE) were among several key recommendations made in a new report released this morning by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) that focuses on health IT's role in transforming healthcare. According to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who co-chaired a BPC task force on delivery system reform and health IT, health innovation service delivery is severely lacking today despite significant advances in healthcare technology. "Today's challenges aren't that much different than they were…

• AMA lobbies for ICD-10 delay

  Ron Shinkman

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:13 am

  The American Medical Association has sent a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner asking his help in halting the implementation of the ICD-10 coding system, reported The Hill's Healthwatch and iHealthBeat. The Jan. 17 letter, sent by AMA President James L. Madara, said that the timing of ICD-10 implementation on October 1, 2013 "could not be worse." He added that "many physicians are currently spending significant time and resources implementing electronic health records (EHRs) into their practices. Physicians are also facing present and future financial penalties if they do not…

• Isabel, BMJ tool offers enhanced diagnosis decision support

  Ken Terry

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:41 pm

  Isabel Healthcare and BMJ Group have joined forces to create a new decision support tool for physicians. The application, known as Isabel with Best Practice, integrates Isabel's diagnosis decision aid--which emphasizes rare conditions that physicians often overlook--with BMJ Best Practice's evidence-based disease monographs. When clinicians enter a patient's signs and symptoms, Isabel with Best Practice generates a checklist of potential diagnoses. After doctors select a diagnosis, they go into the Best Practice monographs. Those monographs provide information on other important symptoms, as…

• 

  The Healthcare IT Guy

• Do’s and Dont’s of Telemedicine

  Shahid N. Shah

  17 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am

  This is the next post in my series of Do’s and Don’ts Healthcare IT. As we all know, some of our most important citizens live in rural settings, small cities, the countryside, or remote areas. These areas have smaller populations and less direct access to vital healthcare resources. In the past 15 years or so we’ve made some great strides in remotely accessible healthcare; these offerings, called telemedical tools, provide important clinical care at a distance. Here are some do’s and don’ts of telemedicine: Do use commonly available web meeting and online video tools…

• Do’s and Don’ts of mobile/mHealth strategy for hospitals and HCPs

  Shahid N. Shah

  13 Jan 2012 | 6:39 am

  I recently wrote, in Do’s and Don’ts of hospital health IT, that you shouldn’t make long-term decisions on mobile app platforms like iOS and Android because the mobile world is still quite young and the war between Apple, Microsoft, and Google is nowhere near being resolved. A couple of readers, in the comments section (thanks Anne and DDS), asked me to elaborate mobile and mHealth strategy for healthcare professionals (HCPs) and hospitals. A couple of the key points were: (Anne) how can you avoid making long-term mobile decisions at this point?  After all, hospitals that…

• MU attestation vendor data available for analysis

  Shahid N. Shah

  10 Jan 2012 | 5:45 am

  In case you haven’t seen it, MU attestations data is now available on Data.gov and it includes analyzable vendor statistics. The data set merges information about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs attestations with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Certified Health IT Products List. This new dataset enables systematic analysis of the distribution of certified EHR vendors and products among those providers that have attested to meaningful use within the CMS EHR Incentive Programs. The data set can be analyzed…

• Do’s and Don’ts of hospital health IT

  Shahid N. Shah

  8 Jan 2012 | 8:01 pm

  Last year I started a series of “Do’s and Dont’s” in hospital tech by focusing on wireless technologies. Folks asked a lot of questions about do’s and dont’s in other tech areas so here’s a list of more tips and tricks: Do start implementing cloud-based services. Don’t think, though, that just because you are implementing cloud services that you will have less infrastructure or related work to do. Cloud services, especially in the SaaS realm, are “application-centric” solutions and as such the infrastructure requirements remain pretty substantial – especially the…

• Preparing for EHR implementation with the AHRQ Health IT Toolkit for Workflow Assessment

  Shahid N. Shah

  2 Jan 2012 | 9:57 am

  One of the most important activities you can undertake before you begin your EHR implementation journey is to standardize and simplify your processes to help prepare for automation. Unlike humans, which can handle diversity, computers hate variations. Before you begin your software selection process, get help from a practice consultant to reduce the number of appointment types you manage, reduce the number of different forms you use, ensure that your charting categories (“Labs”, “Notes”, etc.) don’t look different per patient type or physician, determine how you will manage…

• 

  HIStalk

• Readers Write 1/27/12

  Mr. HIStalk

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:57 pm

  Submit your article of up to 500 words in length, subject to editing for clarity and brevity (please note: I run only original articles that have not appeared on any Web site or in any publication and I can’t use anything that looks like a commercial pitch). I’ll use a phony name for you unless you tell me otherwise. Thanks for sharing! The Top 10 Mistakes Salespeople Make at the HIMSS Conference By Beth Friedman A vendor’s sales staff is one of the company’s most important assets. While marketing, PR, and events management put it all together, the sales staff determines whether or…

• Time Capsule: Want Physicians to Use Systems? Standardize Screens Like You Do Back-End Interfaces

  Mr. HIStalk

  27 Jan 2012 | 4:01 pm

  I wrote weekly editorials for a boutique industry newsletter for several years, anxious for both audience and income. I learned a lot about coming up with ideas for the weekly grind, trying to be simultaneously opinionated and entertaining in a few hundred words, and not sleeping much because I was working all the time. They’re fun to read as a look back at what was important then (and often still important now). I wrote this piece in January 2007. Want Physicians to Use Systems? Standardize Screens Like You Do Back-End Interfaces By Mr. HIStalk The premise of RHIOs and physician portals is…

• News 1/27/12

  Mr. HIStalk

  26 Jan 2012 | 4:14 pm

  Top News CPSI announces Q4 numbers: revenue down 2%, EPS $0.59 vs. $0.61, raising questions about the state of the hospital clinical systems market. Reader Comments From Vegas Question: “Re: HIStalkapalooza invitations. Will the e-mail come from your usual address or a new one? My spam folder is pretty large and I don’t want to miss it.” Invitations and regrets will be sent from histalkapalooza@contactESD.com this week. The walk-up plan will be described for those we couldn’t invite because of capacity. Check at the registration table at 8:00 and if we have room due to no-shows,…

• CIO Unplugged 1/25/12

  Mr. HIStalk

  25 Jan 2012 | 6:57 pm

  The views and opinions expressed in this blog are mine personally and are not necessarily representative of current or former employers. The Annual Review They say people fear giving a speech more than death. I say people fear performance reviews more than speech and death combined. Despite having had some excellent managers over the years, I can’t say that I ever had a review I enjoyed or gained much from. And frankly, I am not sure how many helpful reviews I deal out. Reviews are not a strength for most. They should be. Admit it. You appreciate the person who lets you know the tag is…

• News 1/25/12

  Mr. HIStalk

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:02 pm

  Top News MedQuist Holdings changes its name to M*Modal, which is the business MedQuist acquired last year for $130 million in cash. CEO Vern Davenport rang the Nasdaq opening bell to commemorate the company’s rebranding and new MODL trading symbol. The company also confirms that most of its executives will work from an office to be opened in Raleigh, NC while company headquarters will remain in Franklin, TN. Reader Comments From Lourde: “Re: Party attire. I finally found my shoes for the party last night. Super excited that that is off my plate!! Choosing the perfect shoe – so…

• 

  Meaningful HIT News

• Will Healthbox launch offer true innovation, or just more flash?

  Neil Versel

  18 Jan 2012 | 5:31 pm

  Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, or so the saying goes. My controversial piece on Silicon Valley missing the point of healthcare last summer doesn’t seem so controversial now, as I recently got some validation from others closer to the action than I am. First, reDesign Mobile analyst Rocky Agrawal wrote in VentureBeat that Silicon Valley might be “too smart for their own good,” building products more suited for highly educated techies than for the masses. Last week, former Apple and PepsiCo CEO John Sculley suggested at the Digital Health Summit…

• Video: Merge Healthcare

  Neil Versel

  8 Jan 2012 | 11:31 pm

  Other locales may get more press in this industry,  but the Chicago area has a surprisingly strong community of health IT vendors. It is well known that Allscripts is headquartered at the Merchandise Mart. GE Healthcare, while based just outside Milwaukee, maintains a large IT center in northwest suburban Barrington, Ill. CDW, based in Vernon Hills, Ill., runs its healthcare division from a downtown Chicago office. Numerous smaller vendors dot the area, too. And then there is Merge Healthcare, a medium-sized firm that historically has specialized in software for medical imaging. Last week, I…

• Let’s get Biz Stone to attend New Media Meetup at HIMSS12

  Neil Versel

  30 Dec 2011 | 12:09 pm

  As I first mentioned in August, John Lynn and I had the thought that it would be great if Twitter co-founder and HIMSS12 keynote speaker Biz Stone would show up at John’s 3rd annual New Media Meetup. Stone didn’t respond to our halfhearted attempt back then, but now the conference is less than two months away, and I have to imagine he will be making his plans soon, if he hasn’t done so already. HIMSS social media guru Cari McLean also would love for Stone to meet and greet conference attendees at the HIMSS Social Media Center after his keynote on the morning of Tuesday, Feb.

• Confusion with HIMSS12

  Neil Versel

  29 Dec 2011 | 5:51 pm

  Have you made your reservations for HIMSS12 yet? If you’re just starting to plan, you might not have noticed some quirks with the schedule and the venue this time around. For one thing, the mega-health IT conference in Las Vegas is not at the massive Las Vegas Convention Center, but rather at the Sands Expo Convention Center and the adjacent Venetian hotel. Remember, the 2012 HIMSS conference was supposed to be in Chicago, but the organization switched it to Sin City a couple years ago after vendors complained about high costs at Chicago’s McCormick Place for HIMSS09. (The…

• Rock Health seems to be learning

  Neil Versel

  20 Dec 2011 | 5:06 pm

  My first impression of healthcare startup incubator/accelerator Rock Health was not a favorable one. I wrote in MobiHealthNews last July that the San Francisco-based organization founded by some hotshot, young Harvard MBAs demonstrated “yet another example of Silicon Valley arrogance.” I said that Rock Health was mostly targeting the young end of the market with cool, fitness-oriented apps, not the elderly and chronically ill who account for the bulk of the nation’s $2.5 trillion annual healthcare spend. That group wants things that are easy to use rather than fun and hip.

• Photostream from Daylife

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

  Medical Connectivity

• 2012 – Year for mHealth?

  BMoorman

  4 Jan 2012 | 11:37 am

  I received several items in my email regarding different organizations’ proclamations for 2012.  Most of them predict that 2012 will be the year for mHealth to ‘break-out.’  Here are 5 examples: HIMSS 2012 is focusing on mHealth with several sessions and will have a kiosk on the vendor floor which features speakers on the mobile aspect of healthcare AAMI has published in their IT World column a synopsis of mHealth (requires login credentials) Here in Europe, the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona Feb 2012, sponsored by the GSM Association, has a track devoted to mHealth (filter for…

• Lessons from a Recent Recall

  William Hyman

  18 Dec 2011 | 2:15 pm

  A recent Class I recall (not pictured) of a medical monitor with a hospital network connected central station stimulates some generalities about software, “fixes”, and connectivity. (Class I recalls are defined by the FDA as  a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.) The use of the product in question was given as: a networked solution system used to monitor a patient’s vital signs and therapy, control alarms, review Web-based diagnostic images, and…

• The IOM on EHRs

  William Hyman

  9 Nov 2011 | 5:57 pm

  The   issue of the EHR relative to safety and effectiveness has again made the news with the November 7, 2011 pre-publication (and downloadable) release of an Institute of Medicine report on EHR safety, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This report expands the discussion beyond the EHR (used henceforth for both EHR and EMR) to include other related electronic information tools collectively called health IT. Health IT Risks The potential for health IT to improve both the quality and efficiency of medical care has been much noted to include more…

• Wi-Fi Capacity and New Devices

  William Hyman

  27 Oct 2011 | 2:48 pm

  A recent NY Times article reported that hotel Wi-Fi capacity was again being challenged, this time by iPads and other tablets, or more specifically, tablet users.  The Times notes that these users may have a smart phone and laptop going at the same time they are sucking up streaming video. The high bandwidth demand of these devices, or more specifically, their uses,  is said to be reducing download speeds back to the good old days of dial-up connections. A likely solution will be a tiered charge structure, similar to the newest cellular data plans, with the result that you can waste…

• Call for Contributing Authors

  Tim Gee

  19 Aug 2011 | 3:08 pm

  Today I was contacted by a social media marketing firm working for a major MDDS vendor with an offer to contribute content that’s on topic for this site (that last part is important). I’m interested, and I imagine a lot of this blog’s readers will be too. As I will likely take them up on their offer, I want everyone to understand that there’s not any favoritism that plays into who gets to post on this site. So, the following describes the ground rules, the benefits of contributing, and issues an open invitation to contribute posts. We’ve been fortunate to have a…

• 

  HealthBlog

• Purchasing healthcare on “a wing and a prayer”? There’s a better way.

  hlthblog

  27 Jan 2012 | 5:28 pm

  In a post earlier this month I conveyed information about my participation in a CEO Health Care Summit organized by Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.  Our first Summit was held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.  Today, we...(read more)

• Why health businesses and initiatives fail when clinicians aren’t at the table

  hlthblog

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:43 pm

  In 30 years as a physician, technologist, hospital executive, company co-founder, industry evangelist and thought leader, I’ve seen my share of successes and failures in the health industry.  I’m always amazed how many companies tackle projects and...(read more)

• Unified Communication technology saves the day(s) during snow and ice storms in the Pacific Northwest – Important Lessons for the Health Industry

  hlthblog

  19 Jan 2012 | 5:48 pm

  You may have seen it on the national news. The past few days, much of Western Washington state has been slammed by a series of snow and ice storms.  The snow (one to two feet in some areas) was bad enough.  Today a very unusual ice storm is...(read more)

• Software Helps Clinicians & Patients Better Manage Diabetes

  hlthblog

  17 Jan 2012 | 9:49 am

  On our newest episode of Microsoft Health Tech Today , we connect with a prominent physician educator at  University College London .  Professor Peter Hindmarsh is affiliated with University College London’s developmental endocrinology research...(read more)

• Digital Health on Stage at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

  hlthblog

  13 Jan 2012 | 12:38 pm

  This week I’ve been in Las Vegas. I traveled here to meet with Microsoft customers and partners at a CES side event called LEAP at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.  I also did a presentation on health industry tech trends for the UnitedHealth Group in their...(read more)

• 

  Candid CIO

• Three Simple Goals

  hospitalcio

  16 Jan 2012 | 8:53 pm

  This bit of brilliance comes from Ministry’s Northwoods region (yes, we have a Northwoods region – how cool is that?). The supervisor of our desktop support team has three simple goals for every project his team works on: Happy Customers A bored Project Manager A tech released to work on IT Operations because no hardware is breaking and everything was executed to plan I wish I would have come up with that. Simple, memorable, powerful.

• Root Cause Analysis of IT Service Interruptions

  hospitalcio

  7 Jan 2012 | 10:46 am

  I used to think about the day when I fixed everything so we would stop IT outages. Of course that is silly. Like other healthcare organizations we are adding applications to the portfolio every year as new solutions address previously under automated areas. Most of these are not core parts of the IT architecture, but they are supplemental such as documentation systems for clinical departments (e.g., rehab) and contract modeling systems. With the increase in the number of applications in the portfolio comes complexity. In addition our infrastructure is becoming much more complicated including…

• Someone Else’s Meaningful Use Rant

  hospitalcio

  1 Jan 2012 | 2:50 pm

  Dr. Michael Koriwchak writing for the Wired EMR Practice blog: “And our EMR use, our quality of patient care and our practice efficiency is for the most part no better.  In some ways it is worse.  As a result of MU” I can see how that can happen. It is important that we hear the skeptical and the inspiring. The post is worth the read and the author’s candor is important.

• Healthcare IT Consulting Is Broken

  hospitalcio

  12 Dec 2011 | 9:42 am

  Somewhere along the way the word consulting in our field changed. Today consulting is about finding available freelancers on a just in time basis. The “consultant” is nothing more than a recruiter with a billing back office. Some consultants claim they screen the candidates, but there is no way that can be done effectively given the turnaround time to place people. Furthermore, the consulting firms take very little accountability for the consultants they place. But, how can they when their experience is so varied and there is no standard for good service? When I hire a consultant,…

• The Role of IT Engineering

  hospitalcio

  25 Nov 2011 | 7:38 pm

  A couple of years ago we separated our “technology division” into two groups: IT Engineering and IT Operations. The dividing line between the two is the production environment. Any new technology is architected by our Engineering group before it goes into production. Once something is in production it belongs to IT Operations and it cannot be touched without going through the change management process. Here is an example of the IT Engineering group doing a good job: All IT organizations are seeing a mounting desire for employees to use their own devices (especially iPads) in the…

• 

  Lab Soft News

• Digital Pathology and the FDA; WSI Systems Called Class III Devices

  Bruce Friedman

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:14 am

  CAP Today has just published what I consider to be the definitive article on the latest ruling by the FDA on digital pathology (see: Regulators scanning the digital scanners). It was written by Karen TitusHere's an excerpt from the lead paragraphs: A recent panel on whole-slide imaging launched a clear message from the Food and Drug Administration: The agency views WSI systems as Class III medical devices and plans to regulate them as such....While the FDA’s decision was clear, the next steps are anything but. Vendors, pathologists, the FDA, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid…

• Software for Comparing Changes in Pulmonary Nodule Size on Chest X-Rays

  Bruce Friedman

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:25 am

  Most healthcare consumers are familiar with the new digital imaging modalities such as CT, MRI, and PET scans. However, fewer may be aware of the image analysis software that is in common use for analyzing digital images in radiology. A recent article was fascinating for me in terms of cost-saving and quality opportunities that are being made available by such software, even for the common chest x-rays (see: FDA Approves New Chest X-Ray Scanning Software). Below is an excerpt from the article: Software that could lead to low-cost early detection of lung cancer won US Food and Drug…

• More Discussion on the Recent NYT Article about Epic

  Bruce Friedman

  24 Jan 2012 | 10:28 am

  Mr. HIStalk has responded to a reader's comment about Epic relating to the recent NYT article covering the company (see: News 1/20/12). Here's a link to my recent note on this same article (see: More on Epic's (Non)-Interoperability and the Recent NYT Puff Piece) and a link to the original NYT article (see: Digitizing Health Records, Before It Was Cool). Below is the Q and A exchange and response in HIStalk: Reader Comment: From Otoscope: “Re: Epic. I hear that Epic is competing for a deal in NYC. I wonder if the puff piece in the Times about how cool their campus is and Judy…

• The Next Step in the Development of Personalized E-Newspapers

  Bruce Friedman

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am

  In previous posts, I have discussed both Flipboard and Zite (see: Blogs Becoming Increasingly Popular and Blending with Other Media; Zite Receives Cease-and-Desist Letter from Big Media). Both apps serve as examples of how the much-anticipated, personalized, e-newspaper will evolve. Note that CNN understands this strategic direction, as exemplified by its purchase of Zite (CNN Buys Zite and Pursues Big Screen, Small Screen Media Strategy. This evolutionary process goes on unabated. Twitter, a key player in the shift to e-newspapers has purchased startup Summify (see: The Startup That Could…

• Genomics-Based EHR: Is This a Realistic Expectation?

  Bruce Friedman

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:50 am

  Although I generally agree with what John Lynn posts on his blog over at EMR and EHR, one of his recent posts caused me to wince a little bit (see: Genomics Based EHR). He raises the issue of the "smart EMR" with genomic data as one its "core elements". Here's his note: Genomics is one of the core elements that I think a “Smart EMR” will be required to have in the future. I really feel that the future of patient care will require some sort of interaction with genomic data and that will only be able to be done with a computer and likely an EHRAs I think about…

• 

  eHealth

• Presentation on Meaningful Use and EMR in Research

  John Sharp

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:20 pm

  Last week I was invited to present to a medical school class on bioinformatics. My topic included EMR data standards, meaningful use and the use of EMR data in research. The session was very interactive and not totally captured in the slides. The challenge was presenting to medical students who are used to group activities, case studies and a research-based curriculum. EMRs: Meaningful Use and Research View more presentations from John Sharp Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS

• Who Owns Your Data?

  John Sharp

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:39 pm

  In a radio interview from Inside the Media, Hugo Campos, an e-Patient with an implanted defibrillator (ICD), talked about his desire to have the data from his device. His logical argument is that the device is now part of his body and so he should have the right to the data from the device. So far he has been unsuccessful in getting his provider or the manufacturer to assist him with this. While rights to one’s own health data is becoming a reality through the Affordable Care Act and Meaningful Use and through initiatives like the Blue Button, device data is new territory. One could…

• Mobile Devices, Patient Self-monitoring and Clinical Workflow

  John Sharp

  11 Jan 2012 | 9:13 pm

  This is the topic of my new blog post on HealthWorks Collective. Already received lots of traffic on Twitter and lots of views. Would like to see more about mobile standards in health care from Motorcycle Guy and others. Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS

• What am I working on? Check my Bookmarks

  John Sharp

  7 Jan 2012 | 10:22 pm

  I am glad that Delicious is still around and being enhanced. I have used it for years to organize and tag my bookmarks. Now with almost 1200 bookmarks and several hundred tags, I often search my links to find a resource for a presentation or article. Recent links include: West Wireless Health Institute which has a good handle on new care delivery models Secondary Uses Service, description and and access. | The NHS Information Centre - glad to see the National Health Services is utilizing EMR data for quality and research National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences or NCATS - the…

• 2012 Predictions for Health IT

  John Sharp

  2 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am

  Like others (see Daniel Kraft) , I have my own opinions about what trends will be most influential for health IT in 2012. Big Data and real-time analytics and decision support – IBM Watson and Explorys are in this space, others will follow and adoption will grow enabled by cloud computing, NOSQL/Hadoop and natural language processing Continued focus on EMR adoption as more health systems pursue meaningful use. This will again be the main focus at HIMSS as well as other conferences Social media in health care will continue to grow among patients as the e-Patient movement continues to…

• 

  EMR and HIPAA

• Social Media ROI for Doctors

  John

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:43 pm

  I’m a huge fan of social media and the power that it has for people to connect with other people. What I haven’t quite figured out is how doctors should best use social media for their practice. Although, this article about the ROI of Social Media for Doctors has me thinking. Here’s some relevant quotes they posted about the subject: “As many as a third of my patients are coming from social media,” Jerath said. (Source: 9News) “[Dr. Zaid] estimates that his “digital footprint” — his online presence — adds $125,000 to his annual practice revenue.”(Source:…

• GE Centricity Advance Ceasing Operations

  John

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:32 am

  Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with the people from GE who briefed me that GE is in the process of shutting down their GE Centricity Advance product line. This was pretty big news to me since I remember just last year at HIMSS meeting with GE and hearing that for the small practice (I believe 1-10 docs) GE Centricity Advance was where they were putting all their effort. You could see the energy they had behind it. In fact, their iPad EHR app was built on top of the GE Centricity Advance solution (which is now being moved to their other EHR product lines). You might remember that the…

• Real-Time Analytics and Dashboards for Streamlining Revenue Cycle Automation

  John

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:32 pm

  Last month CareCloud announced a new real-time analytics dashboard to help doctor streamline revenue cycle automation. The core of their product is what they call CareCloud Analytics. As I think about the announcement, I wondered if it was really a big deal or not and why we hadn’t seen more of this in the various practice management systems and EHR software on the market today. Is Data Analytics important in Healthcare? I think this type of information is a big deal. Information is power and this is never more true than in healthcare. The press release does a great job of describing…

• Patients Medical Record Posted to Facebook – HIPAA Violation

  John

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:25 pm

  I’ve generally been writing more about the EMR side of EMR and HIPAA lately. For the most part, it seems readers are more interested in EMR and EHR than they are in the details of HIPAA. Although, one of my top posts ever is from back in 2006 about HIPAA Privacy Examples and HIPAA Lawsuits. It seems that people are most interested in HIPAA when it has something to do with a HIPAA violation or lawsuit. Today’s HIPAA violation could very likely become a HIPAA lawsuit. Plus, it is a word of caution to those about training your staff on HIPAA requirements and also on proper use of…

• ePrescribing in 2012: Keep On G-Coding – Meaningful Use Monday

  Lynn

  23 Jan 2012 | 9:44 am

  Lynn Scheps is Vice President, Government Affairs at EHR vendor SRSsoft. In this role, Lynn has been a Voice of Physicians and SRSsoft users in Washington during the formulation of the meaningful use criteria. Lynn is currently working to assist SRSsoft users interested in showing meaningful use and receiving the EHR incentive money. Check out Lynn’s previous Meaningful Use Monday posts. Many physicians will be pursuing EHR incentives in 2012. Because meaningful use is not dependent upon G-codes, providers have been asking whether they need to continue putting “G-8553” on Medicare…

• 

  Medgadget

• Subtle Gaze Direction May Help Train Future Radiologists

  Gene Ostrovsky

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:50 am

  Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have shown that a simple visual technique called “subtle gaze direction,” in which gentle visual cues are used to guide a viewer’s gaze, can be an effective technique to help radiology students learn how to study a mammogram.The technique takes advantage of our vision’s quick response to brightness, color, and contrast changes in the periphery, which almost forces the eye to move toward the changing scene. By recording an experienced radiologist’s eye movements and using those to steer the gaze of novices, the…

• Cell Freeze Cryogenic Storage Containers for HPC’s OK’ed in Europe

  Gene Ostrovsky

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:44 am

  Charter Medical, a part of Lydall (Manchester, CT), received the EU CE Mark for its Cell Freeze cryogenic storage containers for Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells (HPC’s). The devices, which were approved just over a year ago in the U.S., can safely go down to -200° C and handle temperature changes common to stem cell applications. They’re available in sizes from 50 mL to 750 mL.Press release: Charter Medical Receives CE Mark Clearance for Next Generation Cell Freeze(R) Cryogenic Stem Cell Storage ContainersRead More

• Doctors in Tech: Interview with Medical Device Entrepreneur Kathy Stecco

  Medgadget Editors

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:19 am

  Medgadget recently had the opportunity to interview Kathryn Stecco, MD, a globetrotting surgeon and an entrepreneur in the medical device space. Stecco is at once a medical consultant and monitor at BaroSense Inc., a surgical consultant at Mach Labs L.P., medical director of Nfocus Neuromedical Inc., and an external consultant to AKA Lifesciences. Dr. Stecco, who calls Silicon Valley home, has worked with local medical device legends Thomas Fogarty, MD and Mir Imran. In this interview, she explains how studying medicine helped prepare her for working in the device field, and shares advice…

• Big Bass Powers Detection of Dropped Beats

  Shiv Gaglani

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:55 am

  André Romelle Young may just earn his self-given stage name, Dr. Dre, thanks to the innovative work of Purdue University researchers. The team discovered that acoustic waves from music, especially rap with its emphasis on bass, could be useful as power sources for implantable medical devices.Their proof of concept was a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) capable of sensing pressure. The press release describes how the sensor operates and is charged:Read More

• Medtronic’s Aquamantys SBS 5.0 Sheathed Bipolar Sealer Cleared in U.S. for Spinal Surgeries

  Gene Ostrovsky

  26 Jan 2012 | 1:52 pm

  Medtronic received FDA 510(k) clearance to market its Aquamantys SBS 5.0 Sheathed Bipolar Sealer for sealing soft tissue and epidural veins during spinal surgery.The device delivers RF energy for cauterization and saline to keep the area clean and clear for easy access around sensitive tissue.Read More

• 

  Dalai's PACS Blog

• DoctorDalai.com Second-Most Read Blog!

  28 Jan 2012 | 6:31 am

  I have it on good authority that this blog is the second-most read publication of its kind at some large PACS companies. I find this very disappointing. Don't you guys have anything better to do?Seriously, thanks for reading. Your patronage is much appreciated.(BTW, HISTALK is deservedly number one.)

• PeerVue Purchased!!!

  26 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm

  Don't know by whom as yet. More to come.

• Sono-Roast

  21 Jan 2012 | 10:06 pm

  Do you own or operate a GE Logiq P6? I don't, although it looks like a very nice machine. But do be careful with yours. It seems there has been a bit of a problem...From the FDA:Class 2 RecallGE LOGIQ P6 Ultrasound SystemDate PostedJanuary 21, 2012Recall NumberZ-0834-2012ProductGE LOGIQ P6 Ultrasound System. The device is intended for use by a qualified physician for the evaluation of soft tissue and blood flow in the clinical applications of: Fetal; Abdominal; Pediatric; Small Organ (breast, testes, thyroid); Neonatal Cephalic; Adult Cephalic; Cardiac (adult and pediatric); Peripheral…

• Dalai Meets The Next President

  15 Jan 2012 | 4:53 pm

  Mitt and Ann RomneyCharleston, SC 1/14/2012Sometimes it's good to be in the right place at the right time, especially when you live in the state that boasts the First in the South Presidential Primary.Mrs. Dalai, Dalai, Jr., and I were in Charleston for the wedding of a friend's niece, and had the day to wander around. It was a bit chilly, but we took a leisurely stroll through the revamped Market (slaves were never sold there, by the way) and had some rather good seafood for lunch.As we approached the Charleston Place Hotel, we noticed the Romney-Bus parked outside, with a small crowd…

• Decisions, Decisions...

  11 Jan 2012 | 3:41 pm

  Dear Vendors:Yes, we've narrowed it down. No, I'm not going to tell you how just yet.And while its always nice to see you folks, coming by to chat isn't going to have any effect on anything.Sincerely,Dalai

• 

  Australian Health Information Technology

• Weekly Overseas Health IT Links - 28th January, 2012.

  Dr David More MB PhD FACHI

  28 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am

  Here are a few I have come across last week. Note: Each link is followed by a title and few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment. ----- http://www.ehi.co.uk/news/acute-care/7450/medicine-jim-but-not-as-we-know-it Medicine Jim, but not as we know it 12 January 2012   Shanna Crispin Developers worldwide have been challenged to create their version of Star Trek’s medical tricorder in the hope that it will spark more innovation in health technology.

• The Approach Being Adopted To Health Information Sharing Being Adopted by Hong Kong.

  Dr David More MB PhD FACHI

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:30 pm

  The following highly relevant article appeared a week or two ago "New and improved" data protection regime? Hong Kong government launches public consultation on e-health record sharing Herbert Smith LLP Michelle Chan, Tim Mak and Clarice Yue Hong Kong January 9 2012 On 12 December 2011, the Hong Kong Food and Health Bureau launched a two-month public consultation on the Legal, Privacy and Security Framework for a territory-wide patient-orientated Electronic Health Record (eHR) Sharing System as part of a proposed reform of the Hong Kong healthcare system.     What is eHR…

• The Truth Is Now Out - More Than 97% Of The Population Will Not Get Anything From The PCEHR By July 2012.

  Dr David More MB PhD FACHI

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

  The following appeared today - Australia Day no less!. Long road ahead for e-health records by: Karen Dearne From: Australian IT January 26, 2012 7:37AM The Health department spent $142 million on e-health activities in the last financial year – around one-third of a total $424m spent on health IT projects over the past 10 years. Spending more than doubled during 2010-11, up from $60m a year earlier, reflecting a ramping up of work on the Gillard government’s $500m personally controlled e-health record program to meet its July 1 launch. But documents released today show that while…

• More Evidence Regarding The Usage of Health Portals. They Need More Work and They Need To Be Really Useful.

  Dr David More MB PhD FACHI

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:30 pm

  The following report alerted me to an interesting paper. Online portal adoption lower than expected in study of older patients By danb Created Jan 20 2012 - 12:17pm Researchers have called the effectiveness of web-based interventions in healthcare into question on the heels of a study showing limited use of such features by patients, according to a study [1] published this month in the Journal of Health Communication. The study consisted of 130 women considered to be at average risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). The women, mostly between 50 and 59 years old, were given access to a web portal…

• NEHTA Is Offensively Silent On Just What The Problems Are With The PCEHR. I Wonder Just Why That Is?

  Dr David More MB PhD FACHI

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:30 am

  A couple of quotes from yesterday. http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/413250/nehta_presses_pause_e-health_records/ NEHTA presses pause on e-health records The implementation was stopped after internal checks detected issues in the specifications Chloe Herrick (Computerworld) 24 January, 2012 16:27 ..... (most of article deleted) When contacted by Computerworld Australia, NEHTA declined to comment on the reasons for the delay in funding or whether the delay would cause any setbacks to the project going live by 1 July. DoHA had not replied at the time of writing. and here:…

• 

  GNUmed for the masses

• GNUmed (optionally) gets simpler interface

  14 Jan 2012 | 1:30 am

  GNUmed often is perceived as overly complex. There always are two sides to a story. GNUmed was designed as a system that not only supports input of medical facts but output as well. The better and the more strucutred the input the more magic can be done while outputting the information. However structured input often is perceived as a burden by the clinican. The benefits are easily overlooked.Just recently a new EMR software was started because of GNUmed's complexity. This particual physician wanted something simple. From day one GNUmed was designed to seperate the user interface (exposed to…

• GNUmed 1.1.9 released

  1 Jan 2012 | 1:07 am

  GNUmed 1.1.9 has been released. This contains an important code change needed to get GNUmed fully working on MS Windows again. MS Windows packages are now fully fixed and ready for consumption.Packages for Debian, Ubuntu and openSUSE, Redhat and friends are likely to follow this week.Have fun and report any problems you encounter.

• GNUmed 1.1.7 available for Ubuntu

  16 Dec 2011 | 1:00 am

  Thanks to the great work of the Debian-med team GNUmed 1.1.7 is now available for Ubuntu Maverick, Natty and Oneiric.It sports many new features for making your life easier.http://wiki.gnumed.de/bin/view/Gnumed/InstallerGuideHomeShort#ubuntuHave fun.

• GNUmed Wiki: TWiki now Foswiki

  15 Dec 2011 | 7:15 am

  Hi all,TWiki at wiki.gnumed.de was in need of an update because of security reasons. I did update TWiki and replaced it with Foswiki. Foswiki is a fork of TWiki over some licensing issues (can you say libreoffice).Most likely some things will be broken because of that. I tried to think of most issues (Blacklist plugin, PublishPlugin) but if you notice something let me know.Update: Peter Thoeny wrote in to ask me what gave the impression that TWiki was forked over a licensing issue. My memory has failed on me. It really seems to have been a trademark issue and governance model issues. TWiki…

• GNUmed 1.1.7 for Windows finally available

  14 Dec 2011 | 9:30 am

  Unfortunately packaging GNUmed 1.1.7 required some time consuming changes compared to GNUmed 1.1.4. We had to update python, wxpython and a few more including pyinstaller.But finally it has happened and makes for a solid foundation for future versions (I hope).Get it from http://wiki.gnumed.de Regards,GNUmed release team

• 

  Healthcare Technology News

• Medical Errors Due to Indecipherable Prescriptions

  10 Jan 2012 | 1:13 pm

   Thanks to e-Patient Dave for the image. See also the recent report Hospital Incident Reporting Systems Do Not Capture Most Patient Harm which found that "Hospital staff did not report 86 percent of events to incident reporting systems, partly because of staff misperceptions about what constitutes patient harm".

• The December HIT Standards Committee Meeting

  14 Dec 2011 | 1:18 pm

   by John Halamka, Life as a Healthcare CIO We began the meeting by relating our standards trajectory to today's agenda. Our outstanding standards issues for discussion include 1. Content Continued discussion of GreenCDA on the wire and overview of Stan Huff's CIMI initiative Standardizing DICOM image objects for image sharing and investigating other possible approaches (e.g., cloud based JPEG2000 exchange).   Consider image transfer standards, image viewing standards, and image reporting standards. Query Health i.e. I2B2 distributed queries that send questions to data instead of…

• The Elephant in the Room

  12 Dec 2011 | 5:00 pm

   Why aren't we talking about pricing failures? The US, has consistently higher prices than any other country. The 2010 report by the International Federation of Health Plans consists of 23 pricing measures and the pattern is the same across each of these measures.  And a 2010 investigation of Health Care Cost Trends and Cost Drivers in Massachusetts found that "price variations are correlated to market leverage..." Before his departure from CMS, Don Berwick was interviewed by the New York Times and took a "parting shot at waste".  Berwick listed five elements of…

• The November HIT Standards Committee

  21 Nov 2011 | 2:00 am

  by John Halamka, Life as a Healthcare CIO, November 16, 2011 Today, the HIT Standards Committee shifted gears from the Summer Camp work on Meaningful Use Stage 2 and began new interoperability efforts. We began the meeting with a presentation by Liz Johnson and Judy Murphy about the Implementation Workgroup's recommendations to improve the certification and testing process.   These 15 items incorporate the Stage 1 experience gathered from numerous hospitals and eligible professionals.   If ONC and NIST can implement this plan, many stakeholders will benefit.

• The Elephant in the Room: The Prequel

  14 Nov 2011 | 6:30 am

  At the October HIT Policy Committee, Charles Kennedy described his work with health systems establishing accountable care models.  His clients "have actual health plan products that are private labeled products with the delivery systems' name on it that they’re selling." Kenedy talked with the COO of one health system that was particularly high cost.  Kennedy asked the COO:  "Why on earth would you want to form an ACO? You’re a monopoly. You’re making tons of money.  You can keep doing this for some period of time." The COO replied “Look I understand that the jig…

• 

  Healthcare & Technology

• HIPAA Survival Guide Radio ... stay up-to-date on tte web

  Deborah Leyva

  21 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm

  HIPAA Survival Guide Radio Last week Carlos Leyva, Managing Partner of The Digital Business Law Group and CEO of 3Lions Publishing, broadcasted the first online radio show. This first edition covered HIPAA's Privacy Rule and the Patient's Bill of Rights. To listen to the archived version see below. To be notified of the dates for new shows, subscribe on blogtalkradio or subscribe to the HITECH / HIPAA Compliance Newsletter in the sidebar to the right. Listen to internet radio with cleyva on Blog Talk Radio

• John Halamka shares Thoughts on the Year Ahead

  Deborah Leyva

  4 Jan 2012 | 7:54 am

  Link: Thoughts on the Year Ahead John Halamka presents his ideas about the major issues for 2012.. ICD10 - John predicts 25% of IT capacity will be consumed by ICD10 this year. Not good...Meaningful Use Stage 2 including inpatient clinical documentation - now this is exciting. Potential criteria will likely include improvements to clinical records that improve care coordination and communication between providers. John suggested use of templates and social-networking like group documentation.   ACO Planning - The reform changes for ACOs will include focus on prevention and wellness. New…

• NPR describes New Year's Forecast For The Health Care Bill

  Deborah Leyva

  3 Jan 2012 | 9:15 am

  Link: A New Year's Forecast For The Health Care Bill NPR topics presents a summary of the impact to the Affordable Care Act in a discussion between Audie Cornish and Noam Levey of the Los Angeles Times.  Looking for best of breed HIPAA Training? To stay current on the HITECH Act and its quickly changing regulatory scheme visit the HITECH Survival Guide website and/or sign up for our free monthly compliance newsletter. Also, check out our FREE EHR Checklist. If you need tools that will help with your compliance initiatives then check out the HSG Store. Do you need an Internet…

• Healthcare EHR "e-bilities"

  Deborah Leyva

  29 Dec 2011 | 8:46 am

  Link: Usability and Successful EHR Meaningful Use Recently the ONC posted on the Health IT Buzz Blog about the "challenges providers face in achieving Meaningful Use of electronic health records (EHRs)." The concept of "useability" has long been known in other industries where new technology or applications enter the workplace. Some time ago I wrote about usability of health IT, however I expanded the definition to include a few more "E-bilities" as shown in the following graphic contained in the post: Part 4 of The Value of the Internet for Improving Healthcare. This is the last post in…

• 8 Key population health issues for 2012

  Deborah Leyva

  27 Dec 2011 | 2:31 pm

  Link: 8 Key issues for population health management in 2012 This article in Healthcare IT News caught my eye. A white paper written by the Care Continuum Alliance described significant market movement toward accountability and value driven healthcare outcomes as a result of collaborative models, such as ACOs. However, there are 8 key issues that could affect population health management in 2012: Accountable care and the Medicare Shared Savings program Consumer use of mobile and eHealth technologies Reducing avoidable hospital readmissions in Medicare Quality improvement in Medicare advantage…

• 

  Bob on Medical Device Software

• Building Safety into Medical Device Software

  Bob

  7 Jan 2012 | 6:54 pm

  The article Build and Validate Safety in Medical Device Software takes a critical look at the current processes for medical device software and concludes: The complexity of the software employed in many medical devices has rendered inadequate traditional methods (testing) for demonstrating their safety. The article then provides examples of the types of analyses that can be performed to better ensure safety. Interesting read. Here are some references: BohrBug: Not necessarily easy to find, but once discovered is reproducible. Heisenbug: The ever-annoying bug that can not be reliably…

• SOPA and Internet Censorship

  Bob

  17 Dec 2011 | 7:17 pm

  I first heard about this from a system message on the Stack Overflow site. The post Protect intellectual property – but not like this explains their position (in particular, SOPA vs. DMCA) and has a lot of good links to more information. SOPA-Rope-a-dope has a well written explanation of DNS blocking and DNSSEC. This bill is a really bad idea. A lot of people in the know agree: An Open Letter From Internet Engineers to the U.S. Congress. Congress to Resume SOPA Hearings Next Week (Wednesday 12/21) so it’s not too late to help stop this bill. If you’re like me and have…

• Validation of Off-The-Shelf Software Development Tools

  Bob

  12 Nov 2011 | 6:10 pm

  A reader asked me about OTS software tool validation. He says: It seems to me that the editor and any other tool used to create the software is exactly that, a productivity tool. The end result (compiled binary installed on a validated PC configuration) is still going to go through verification and validation, therefore, it seems validating any of the items used to actually create the binary is unnecessary. Any thoughts or guidance to help me understand this process? This is a great question and the source of a lot of confusion. The bottom line is that all third party tools (and libraries)…

• Brain Wave Monitoring Through the Extremities

  Bob

  9 Nov 2011 | 12:44 am

  The recent Time Magazine article Thought Control (subscription required) describes what is essentially another brain-computer interface.  What’s novel about this device is that the EEG signal is monitored from dry electrodes on the arm or leg. The BodyWave® Brain Wave Monitoring (pdf) system developed by Freer Logic claims to allow measurement of brain wave activity away from the head: BodyWave simply views brain energy as a field, collects the field energy as if the brain were a radio tower broadcasting from the brain and through the body. For the purposes of teaching…

• Finally Launched: Healthcare IT Q&A

  Bob

  26 Oct 2011 | 10:46 pm

  The new Healthcare IT Stack Exchange site is now open to the public. Hopefully this thing will take off.  So go search, ask, answer, up vote,  and (yes) down vote when necessary. Also, don’t forget to tell your friends and colleagues. We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers. – Carl Sagan

• 

  Medicine and Technology [part of HCPLive]

• Alzheimer’s Challenge 2012 #cisummit

  26 Jan 2012 | 10:38 am

  ALZHEIMER'S CHALLENGE 2012: SEEKING NEW TOOLS TO HELP IMPROVE ALZHEIMER’S CARENew Challenge Seeks Simple, Widely-Adaptable Tools to Track Alzheimer’s Progression and Support HHS “Triple Aim” of Better Care and Better Health at Lower Cost SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (January 26, 2012) – Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy, together with its collaborator on the Alzheimer’s Immunotherapy Program (AIP), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), and the Geoffrey Beene Gives Back® Alzheimer’s Initiative today introduced the Alzheimer’s Challenge 2012 at the Care Innovations Summit in Washington, D.C. The…

• Janssen Unveils Challenges to Address Connected Care #cisummit

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:39 am

  Janssen Healthcare Innovation Announces JANSSEN CONNECTED CARE CHALLENGE to Spur Innovation in Patient CareJanssen Connected Care Challenge seeks transformational transition care ideas and offers awards totaling $250,000 to develop winning solutionsWASHINGTON D.C., January 26, 2012—Today Janssen Healthcare Innovation , a team within Janssen Research & Development, LLC., (Janssen), announced the Janssen Connected Care Challenge at the Health Care Innovations Summit in Washington, D.C. The Janssen Connected Care Challenge calls for technology solutions to improve the coordination of care…

• Care Innovations Summit: Twitter Hashtag #cisummit

  25 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm

  Leading voices in health care innovation will join CMS leadership at a unique event: The Care Innovations Summit in Washington D.C.This event brings together representatives of health professions, the insurance industry, patient advocates, finance, and government to discuss ways they can collaborate to drive action towards better care and better health at lower cost through continuous improvement. Registration to attend the event in person is now closed, but you don’t have to be there in person to engage the care innovations community.Read more »

• Online Consumers Think Pharma Companies Should be Involved in Online Health Communities

  17 Jan 2012 | 12:57 pm

  42 Percent of Online Consumers Think Pharma Companies Should be Involved in Online Health Communities– ADD/ADHD and Bipolar Disorder Caregivers Top Groups to AgreeePharma Consumer® Study Reveals New Trends around How Consumers Interact with Pharma, Including Customer Service Options, Patient Education, and Pharma Websites – Webinar January 25 at 2pm ETJanuary 17, 2012, New York, NY – On the heels of the FDA issuing its “Guidance for Industry Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices”, pharmaceutical and healthcare…

• Successful EHR Change Management (by HP)

  17 Jan 2012 | 11:58 am

  Here is some information about a complimentary white paper by HP titled, "Successful EHR Change Management." This informative paper monitors where your staff may be in terms of resistance or support for a new Electronic Health Records (EHR) system. It walks you through processes for assuring they have proper tools, training and support to accomplish successful EHR implementation, which includes: • Assessing baseline skills and abilities • Analyzing existing workflows • Defining roles and expectations, and designing training. • Building the transition team, and setting the EHR goals.

• 

  Legacy Data Access

• Taking a Test Drive

  shelly

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:58 am

  This week I had the unfortunate need to take my car in for service. My car is over five years old and is the family workhouse - it hauls kids, all my stuff (I never travel with less than 4 bags), project materials, the dogs...you get the picture. I cannot be without a car. Despite the age and warranty status of my vehicle, my dealer provides me with a loaner. I used to think this was some sort of privilege I had earned once I was buying cars from a dealer, but now I realize that it is really just smart marketing. My dealer puts me in a low mileage, nearly new, PRISTINE vehicle to drive around…

• Finding an Archiving Partner: An RFP Primer

  shelly

  27 Sep 2011 | 1:04 pm

  The number of RFP’s for data archiving projects has increased greatly over the past year.Personally, I don’t think it’s the need that is growing (I think it was always there!); I just think more institutions are finally treating solutions such as ours with the formality they deserve.Archiving requirements vary greatly within and across departments depending on the type of data, the type of system, the age of the data, and what the data is being used for, not to mention the institution’s strategic initiatives around electronic medical record and data retention. When a large facility is…

• ACO’s and what it means to me…

  shelly

  18 May 2011 | 4:41 pm

  I have been doing a lot of reading lately on Accountable Care Organizations, or ACO's.  Yet another acronym in healthcare, as if we needed any more! As a consumer of healthcare, I get it.  No one has any problem paying for good service when it is received.  We take our car to get repaired, and we expect it to be fixed when it is returned.  Prior to taking it, however, we do shop around.  Some of us are looking for the highest quality work at the best price.  Others of us might have to sacrifice quality or make adjustments to our expectations based on what we are able to spend.  ACO's,…

• Been there, done that

  shelly

  29 Apr 2011 | 4:07 pm

  One thing about being the last leg of the revenue cycle, we get to live life through the eyes of our customers as they implement and learn to work with their new Patient Accounting systems.  Because we are working with them not only through "go live" and the honeymoon period but also long into the new system's production-status, we experience many of the trials, tribulations, and victories associated with it even while we are just supporting the legacy data. It makes me realize the wealth of knowledge LDA has built right within these very four walls.  We are often helping our customers not…

• Spring Cleaning should extend to your Data Center

  shelly

  10 Apr 2011 | 3:41 pm

  It is finally spring.  Seems like this past winter was more brutal than most...lots of snow and ice.  We even had our share here in the Atlanta area. Makes me even more happy to welcome the warm weather, even if it does come with a fine coating of yellow pollen on everything. The end of winter also brings with it that age-old tradition of spring cleaning.  As I switch out our sweaters for shorts, put the light comforters on the beds and wash the windows,  I also have a list of spring cleaning items for your data center that will keep things running smoothly. Replace and then wipe and…

• 

  EMR and EHR

• My HIMSS 2012 Session List #HIMSS12

  John

  27 Jan 2012 | 8:43 am

  I’m sure that some of you might have seen me complaining on Twitter about the challenge of trying to sift through the 300+ educational sessions at HIMSS. I even tried to convince the HIMSS expert Neil Versel to offer up some suggestions on which HIMSS 2012 sessions to attend. He suggested just leaving all of the education times open and decide later. It’s a good idea, but I think I prefer meeting with people more than some of the available sessions. Neil enjoys the sessions a bit more than I do. One of my favorite old Neil Versel posts was when he basically said, “HIMSS is…

• Just What the Doctor Ordered: Mobile Access to Your Kaiser EHR

  Jennifer Dennard

  26 Jan 2012 | 8:57 am

  Recent news that Kaiser Permanente has made its patients’ electronic health records available via mobile devices comes as no surprise. Kaiser often seems to be at the forefront of interoperability and coordinated care, in large part due to its integrated nature and sheer volume of patients. As the company’s press release mentions, it maintains the “largest electronic medical records system in the world.” Now, 9 million of its patients can view their EHRs via a mobile site or Android app, with an iPhone app expected to launch in the near future. On a macro level, I think this is a…

• Would National Patient Identifiers Work?

  Anne Zieger

  25 Jan 2012 | 12:55 pm

  Right now,  healthcare organizations have to go through some pretty tricky maneuvers to link patient data across varied systems and settings.  It’s possible to connect patient info electronically through database hacks, but more often than not, matching patients to clinical data gets done by hand. Given the insane complexity of the existing system, would it make sense to create a national patient identification number for every U.S. patient?  The question is worth revisiting, given the immense level of error and wasted time generated by the existing system. After all, not only would…

• 101 Tips to Make Your EMR and EHR More Useful – EHR Tips 1-5

  John

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am

  Time for the next entry covering Shawn Riley’s list of 101 Tips to Make your EMR and EHR More Useful. I can’t believe that this is the last post in the series. I think it’s been a good series chalk full of good tips for those looking at implementing an EHR in their office. I’d love to hear what people thought and if they’d like me to do more series like this one. Now for the final 5 EMR tips. 5. Automatic trending helps all over the place – A picture is worth a thousand words and this is never more true than when we’re talking about trending. Make…

• Is EMR a Four-Letter Word? You decide

  Priya Ramachandran

  23 Jan 2012 | 8:44 am

  For quite some time now, I’ve nursed my own doubts about: - how effective EMRs are (disastrous in the short term, long term they’re supposed to make life easier, but we haven’t seen any evidence of that yet) - why physicians are being paid to implement something that makes logical sense (you need something to nudge people out of status quo. And probably in the government’s thinking, what better use for taxpayer dollars, right?) I came upon this blogpost, provocatively titled Why EMR is a four-letter word to most physicians. Adam Sharp, Par8o (“pareto”, not…

• 

  The Medical Quack

• Aneesh Chopra US Chief Technology Officer Resigns to Possibly Pursue A Political Career

  Barbara Duck

  28 Jan 2012 | 12:06 am

  Well here’s one more and Mr. Chopra was good and got everybody motivated but time to move into the next phase with implementation and perhaps a little different leader is needed to pass the baton.  We have had the word “innovation” up to our ears and now it’s time to begin some serious efforts with “collaboration” and perhaps a different personality to move to the next level with government IT.  About a year ago I made the post below saying pretty much the same thing.  BD    Innovation Without Collaboration Is Fouling Up The US Healthcare IT…

• Over 100 Cardiac Patients in Pakistan Have Died from Tainted Heart Medicine

  Barbara Duck

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:42 pm

  This is sad and scary and makes you appreciate the FDA for sure.  I read elsewhere that the chemical content of the drug was ok but now we are left with other compounds, coatings, etc. to be checked as well.  The government shut down 3 companies where the drugs are made and by the way they also export drugs to other companies, US not mentioned as one.  Patients all had a sudden drop of white blood cell count and broke out bleeding in some area of their body.  This all happened over a 3 week period.  The drugs were administered by the government hospital and were…

• Wellpoint to Begin Paying Family Practice Doctors a “Little” More–Enough to Make A Difference? Pay For Their Full Time Billing Expenses and A Lot of Doctors Would Happy

  Barbara Duck

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:05 pm

  Ok so I made my point in the title and this article too dissects the potential demographics of the situation too as if only 10-20% of the patients are covered by Blue Cross, is there enough incentive for the doctors to make a difference?  On the other hand if the insurer paid all their insurer overhead, now that would make a huge difference and get attention.  Let’s also look at the amount of the investment here since doctors only represent 8% of healthcare expenses. Physician Salaries Represent 8% of Total US Healthcare Cost Certainly the clinical information shared is always of…

• California Legislature Urging Health Insurance Companies to Cover Chemotherapy–Especially With Breast Cancer Treatments

  Barbara Duck

  27 Jan 2012 | 6:01 pm

  The bill in the legislature will force insurance companies to cover oral cancer chemotherapy instead of making patients take a trip to the hospital for each treatment.  This is especially important with breast cancer as patients can take the medication in the privacy of their own home.  This would allow for patients to spend more time with family.  Patients with good insurance are not covered either as the policies are not covering and they are paying out of pocket.  It’s about time to catch up with the times and science and offer quality of life.  Bi-partisan…

• Stem Cells Used to Build a Better Reconstructed Rat Penis

  Barbara Duck

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:05 am

  The article states this is clearly for reconstruction and not for growing one from scratch.  The next level up is to test with primates and then hopefully lead to where procedures as such will evolve for humans.  However, if you go over to Wake Forest they might be ahead of the game as far as building one as they created one from scratch for a rabbit and it worked so there is research on both ends here with repair and building from scratch it appears.  BD  Regenerative Medicine News – Fully Functional Rabbit Penis Created That Works Men in need of penis reconstruction…

• 

  Fred Trotter

• The e-patient reach

  ftrotter

  23 Jan 2012 | 11:20 am

  As many of my readers know, I am now regularly blogging on radar. There, I have written a post called epatients: the hackers of the healthcare world. It is pretty much a tour of how anyone who is already in the technorati, can become an e-patient. It heavily features the work that I have been [...]

• Running Motivation: new shoes

  ftrotter

  15 Jan 2012 | 12:59 pm

  Lately I have become interested in running motivation.  I am launching a <a href=’http://runorelse.com’>running motivation</a> app next week, and I thought I would give my readers a little taste of the process that brought me to design and build the new site. Running is one of the best exercises. There are several that really compete [...]

• Where I blog

  ftrotter

  5 Jan 2012 | 11:21 am

  Just so my RSS feed readers know, I will now be blogging at Programmable Self and at O’Reilly Radar. I hope this helps everyone to keep track of what is going on. -FT

• The Patient Scientist

  ftrotter

  9 Nov 2011 | 10:06 pm

  Over on the Society for Participatory Medicine mailing list we have been discussing the recent Readers Digest blog post titled: 50 things your nurse wont tell you. You really have to read it before reading this article, this post will only make so much sense without that. I suggested that part of being an epatient [...]

• OCR refuses FOIA request

  ftrotter

  12 Oct 2011 | 10:13 pm

  Joe Conn, one of the best Health IT reporters I know, has been denied FOIA access to breach data reported to the Office of Civil Rights. Honoring FOIA requests is a critical part of how the people ensure that the government is not abusing its power. That might sound paranoid, but blanket rejections like this [...]

• 

  Medical Software Guides

• Electronic Health Records and the challenge of Unstructured Data

  admin

  16 Jan 2012 | 10:33 am

  By Sheldon Needle The real problem of an established medical practice moving into the realm of EHR is not the cost of the medical software package; it is not the training necessary for staff; and it is not security and backups. The real problem of moving into EMR/EHR is the problem of unstructured medical data. If you are involved in a new or relatively new practice, this is a no-brainer. Begin with a serious search to compare medical software vendors who are available to answer your questions honestly. It is not truly so difficult to get on a friendly medical screen to enter your…

• Don’t let Poor Planning Make the Migration to EMR/EHR More Difficult

  admin

  10 Jan 2012 | 1:26 pm

  Having recently spent time as an observer in a hospital setting, I was struck by the lack of intelligent planning and forethought made for doctors trying to move into an EMR / EHR environment. Though I saw a well-known EHR panel on the computer screens within an ICU, and the EHR being used to record certain patient data, doctors were taking their notes in long-hand. Later on the same day I saw the same doctors transcribing their notes onto their computers. The doctors, doing double duty on note taking were not available to their patients because they were acting as secretaries. When a large…

• EHR for Doctors in 2012: What to Expect, What to Avoid

  admin

  29 Dec 2011 | 11:20 am

  By Sheldon Needle The prospects for EHR in the coming year are exciting but more than a little daunting.  The issue is really how to find an EMR/EHR system that will organize and centralize the functions of your practice, without bankrupting you and throwing your staff and yourself into turmoil. If you look at the websites for EMR vendors today, you can see that the functions they describe within their system –the integration of clinical records with practice management data, e-prescription, patient portals — could conceptually do wonderful things for you and for your patients in…

• What is the 5010 Standard and What Does it Have to Do with the Electronic Health Record?

  admin

  23 Dec 2011 | 1:42 pm

  By Sheldon Needle 5010 is not only a date 3,000 years in the future: ANSI 5010 is the newest version of the HIPAA transaction standards regulating electronic transmission of medical and healthcare transactions. The existing standard is called 4010, and 4010 does not support ICD-10 coding. The current coding standard for diagnosis and procedure coding is the ICD-9, and it has outlived its possibilities –it limits the number of new procedure and diagnostic codes that can be created. This is how the CMS.gov (center for Medicare and Medicaid services, at: http://www.cms.gov) defines the…

• White House Pushing Hard to get Doctors to embrace EHR

  admin

  4 Dec 2011 | 7:47 am

  By Sheldon Needle November 30, 2011: Today HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced incentives to speed the adoption and use of health IT in the form of meaningful-use qualified EHR in doctors’ offices and hospitals nationwide, which will improve health care and create jobs nationwide. The new administrative actions announced today, which will be made possible by provisions of the HITECH Act, will loosen requirements for doctors and other health care professionals to receive incentive payments for adopting and meaningfully using health IT. “When doctors and hospitals use health IT,…

• 

  Most Popular Items from healthcareitnews.com

• 5 ways to make your EMR more user-friendly

  Michelle McNickle

  19 Jan 2012 | 12:39 pm

  One of the biggest objections to the adoption of an EMR is its usability (or lack thereof), which is no surprise considering the ease of its predecessor: paper. Thankfully, there are a few ways to make your system not only more bearable, but significantly easier to use. read more

• Thomson Reuters names top hospitals

  Stephanie Bouchard

  17 Jan 2012 | 9:40 am

  The top healthcare systems in the United States have lower 30-day mortality rates finds Thomson Reuters’ fourth annual study naming the top 15 health systems in the country. The measures used to score the top systems are underpinned by health information technology. read more

• 10 tips for optimal social media use

  Michelle McNickle

  12 Jan 2012 | 12:28 pm

  The days of tweeting, Yelp-ing, and checking-in are here to stay, but as social media’s use expands, certain guidelines are needed to ensure its “optimal” practice in the healthcare realm.   Christina Thielst, hospital and healthcare administrator and author of the blog Christina’s Considerations, offers 10 tips for proper use of social media in healthcare.  read more

• Ford, Microsoft to develop 'Doctor in Your Car'

  Healthcare IT News Staff

  12 Jan 2012 | 9:56 am

  Ford, Microsoft, Healthrageous and BlueMetal Architects will collaboratively develop new technology to help drivers monitor health and wellness while in their automobiles.   The alliance was unveiled  in a keynote “Doctor in Your Car” at the Digital Health Summit at the International Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas.   read more

• 11 healthcare data trends in 2012

  Michelle McNickle

  6 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am

  Mobile devices, data breaches and patient privacy rights were some of the most talked-about topics in health IT in 2011, and according to expert opinions complied by ID Experts, 2012 won’t be any different.  In fact, experts continue to predict an upswing in mobile and social media usage, response plans, and even reputation fallout. Eleven industry experts outlined healthcare data trends to look for in 2012. read more

• 

  News from healthcareitnews.com

• Chopra resigns from White House

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:14 pm

  Aneesh Chopra, the federal government’s first chief technology officer and assistant to the president, has resigned, the White House announced Jan. 27. He is expected to leave in early February. read more

• Bipartisan Policy Center calls for more, better health IT

  Bernie Monegain

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pm

  A think tank with a healthcare task force chaired by former Senators Tom Daschle, a Democrat, and Bill Frist, MD, a Republican, is advocating for improved and better-used health information technology. Among the group's recommendations is "robust" data exchange. read more

• 5 dos and don'ts of EHR interface design

  Michelle McNickle

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  Sometimes, small tweaks can make a big difference, and according to Bob Hunchberger, a clinical informaticist for a 500-bed hospital, that couldn’t be truer when it comes to your EHR.  Hunchberger suggests five dos and don’ts of EHR interface design.  read more

• CMS' Tavenner spotlights innovation

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am

  Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, expressed urgency in pressing forward with the “triple aim” goals of better individual healthcare, better population health and lower costs called for in the health reform law. Speaking Jan. 26 at the Care Innovations Summit in Washington, DC, Tavenner highlighted the work of the CMS Innovation Center. read more

• ONC seeks apps to help improve care transitions

  Mike Miliard

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am

  The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has launched an innovation challenge designed to spur the use of simple, IT-enabled processes to make care transitions, especially hospital discharges, safer for patients and easier for caregivers. With support from Health 2.0 and Partnership for Patients, ONC has launched the Discharge Follow-Up Appointment challenge as part of its Investing in Innovation (i2) program. [See also: ONC puts its money on health IT innovation.] read more

• 

  News from healthcareitnews.com

• Chopra resigns from White House

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:14 pm

  Aneesh Chopra, the federal government’s first chief technology officer and assistant to the president, has resigned, the White House announced Jan. 27. He is expected to leave in early February. read more

• Bipartisan Policy Center calls for more, better health IT

  Bernie Monegain

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pm

  A think tank with a healthcare task force chaired by former Senators Tom Daschle, a Democrat, and Bill Frist, MD, a Republican, is advocating for improved and better-used health information technology. Among the group's recommendations is "robust" data exchange. read more

• 5 dos and don'ts of EHR interface design

  Michelle McNickle

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  Sometimes, small tweaks can make a big difference, and according to Bob Hunchberger, a clinical informaticist for a 500-bed hospital, that couldn’t be truer when it comes to your EHR.  Hunchberger suggests five dos and don’ts of EHR interface design.  read more

• CMS' Tavenner spotlights innovation

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am

  Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, expressed urgency in pressing forward with the “triple aim” goals of better individual healthcare, better population health and lower costs called for in the health reform law. Speaking Jan. 26 at the Care Innovations Summit in Washington, DC, Tavenner highlighted the work of the CMS Innovation Center. read more

• ONC seeks apps to help improve care transitions

  Mike Miliard

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am

  The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has launched an innovation challenge designed to spur the use of simple, IT-enabled processes to make care transitions, especially hospital discharges, safer for patients and easier for caregivers. With support from Health 2.0 and Partnership for Patients, ONC has launched the Discharge Follow-Up Appointment challenge as part of its Investing in Innovation (i2) program. [See also: ONC puts its money on health IT innovation.] read more

• 

  News from healthcareitnews.com

• Chopra resigns from White House

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:14 pm

  Aneesh Chopra, the federal government’s first chief technology officer and assistant to the president, has resigned, the White House announced Jan. 27. He is expected to leave in early February. read more

• Bipartisan Policy Center calls for more, better health IT

  Bernie Monegain

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pm

  A think tank with a healthcare task force chaired by former Senators Tom Daschle, a Democrat, and Bill Frist, MD, a Republican, is advocating for improved and better-used health information technology. Among the group's recommendations is "robust" data exchange. read more

• 5 dos and don'ts of EHR interface design

  Michelle McNickle

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  Sometimes, small tweaks can make a big difference, and according to Bob Hunchberger, a clinical informaticist for a 500-bed hospital, that couldn’t be truer when it comes to your EHR.  Hunchberger suggests five dos and don’ts of EHR interface design.  read more

• CMS' Tavenner spotlights innovation

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am

  Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, expressed urgency in pressing forward with the “triple aim” goals of better individual healthcare, better population health and lower costs called for in the health reform law. Speaking Jan. 26 at the Care Innovations Summit in Washington, DC, Tavenner highlighted the work of the CMS Innovation Center. read more

• ONC seeks apps to help improve care transitions

  Mike Miliard

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am

  The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has launched an innovation challenge designed to spur the use of simple, IT-enabled processes to make care transitions, especially hospital discharges, safer for patients and easier for caregivers. With support from Health 2.0 and Partnership for Patients, ONC has launched the Discharge Follow-Up Appointment challenge as part of its Investing in Innovation (i2) program. [See also: ONC puts its money on health IT innovation.] read more

• 

  News from healthcareitnews.com

• Chopra resigns from White House

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:14 pm

  Aneesh Chopra, the federal government’s first chief technology officer and assistant to the president, has resigned, the White House announced Jan. 27. He is expected to leave in early February. read more

• Bipartisan Policy Center calls for more, better health IT

  Bernie Monegain

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pm

  A think tank with a healthcare task force chaired by former Senators Tom Daschle, a Democrat, and Bill Frist, MD, a Republican, is advocating for improved and better-used health information technology. Among the group's recommendations is "robust" data exchange. read more

• 5 dos and don'ts of EHR interface design

  Michelle McNickle

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  Sometimes, small tweaks can make a big difference, and according to Bob Hunchberger, a clinical informaticist for a 500-bed hospital, that couldn’t be truer when it comes to your EHR.  Hunchberger suggests five dos and don’ts of EHR interface design.  read more

• CMS' Tavenner spotlights innovation

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am

  Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, expressed urgency in pressing forward with the “triple aim” goals of better individual healthcare, better population health and lower costs called for in the health reform law. Speaking Jan. 26 at the Care Innovations Summit in Washington, DC, Tavenner highlighted the work of the CMS Innovation Center. read more

• ONC seeks apps to help improve care transitions

  Mike Miliard

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am

  The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has launched an innovation challenge designed to spur the use of simple, IT-enabled processes to make care transitions, especially hospital discharges, safer for patients and easier for caregivers. With support from Health 2.0 and Partnership for Patients, ONC has launched the Discharge Follow-Up Appointment challenge as part of its Investing in Innovation (i2) program. [See also: ONC puts its money on health IT innovation.] read more

• 

  News from healthcareitnews.com

• Chopra resigns from White House

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:14 pm

  Aneesh Chopra, the federal government’s first chief technology officer and assistant to the president, has resigned, the White House announced Jan. 27. He is expected to leave in early February. read more

• Bipartisan Policy Center calls for more, better health IT

  Bernie Monegain

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pm

  A think tank with a healthcare task force chaired by former Senators Tom Daschle, a Democrat, and Bill Frist, MD, a Republican, is advocating for improved and better-used health information technology. Among the group's recommendations is "robust" data exchange. read more

• 5 dos and don'ts of EHR interface design

  Michelle McNickle

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  Sometimes, small tweaks can make a big difference, and according to Bob Hunchberger, a clinical informaticist for a 500-bed hospital, that couldn’t be truer when it comes to your EHR.  Hunchberger suggests five dos and don’ts of EHR interface design.  read more

• CMS' Tavenner spotlights innovation

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am

  Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, expressed urgency in pressing forward with the “triple aim” goals of better individual healthcare, better population health and lower costs called for in the health reform law. Speaking Jan. 26 at the Care Innovations Summit in Washington, DC, Tavenner highlighted the work of the CMS Innovation Center. read more

• ONC seeks apps to help improve care transitions

  Mike Miliard

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am

  The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has launched an innovation challenge designed to spur the use of simple, IT-enabled processes to make care transitions, especially hospital discharges, safer for patients and easier for caregivers. With support from Health 2.0 and Partnership for Patients, ONC has launched the Discharge Follow-Up Appointment challenge as part of its Investing in Innovation (i2) program. [See also: ONC puts its money on health IT innovation.] read more

• 

  News from healthcareitnews.com

• Chopra resigns from White House

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:14 pm

  Aneesh Chopra, the federal government’s first chief technology officer and assistant to the president, has resigned, the White House announced Jan. 27. He is expected to leave in early February. read more

• Bipartisan Policy Center calls for more, better health IT

  Bernie Monegain

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pm

  A think tank with a healthcare task force chaired by former Senators Tom Daschle, a Democrat, and Bill Frist, MD, a Republican, is advocating for improved and better-used health information technology. Among the group's recommendations is "robust" data exchange. read more

• 5 dos and don'ts of EHR interface design

  Michelle McNickle

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm

  Sometimes, small tweaks can make a big difference, and according to Bob Hunchberger, a clinical informaticist for a 500-bed hospital, that couldn’t be truer when it comes to your EHR.  Hunchberger suggests five dos and don’ts of EHR interface design.  read more

• CMS' Tavenner spotlights innovation

  Mary Mosquera

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am

  Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, expressed urgency in pressing forward with the “triple aim” goals of better individual healthcare, better population health and lower costs called for in the health reform law. Speaking Jan. 26 at the Care Innovations Summit in Washington, DC, Tavenner highlighted the work of the CMS Innovation Center. read more

• ONC seeks apps to help improve care transitions

  Mike Miliard

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am

  The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has launched an innovation challenge designed to spur the use of simple, IT-enabled processes to make care transitions, especially hospital discharges, safer for patients and easier for caregivers. With support from Health 2.0 and Partnership for Patients, ONC has launched the Discharge Follow-Up Appointment challenge as part of its Investing in Innovation (i2) program. [See also: ONC puts its money on health IT innovation.] read more

• 

  Latest videos from healthcareitnews.com

• Where will healthcare be in 2017?

  Mike Miliard,Richard Pizzi

  4 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am

  In this video from the HIMSS Leaders & Innovators conference, three healthcare IT decision makers tell us what they think healthcare will look like in five years.  

• Paul E. Jacobs at the 2011 mHealth Summit

  Chip Means

  13 Dec 2011 | 2:07 pm

  Qualcomm CEO Paul E. Jacobs speaks to the mHealth Summit crowd about advances in mobile technology and some of the implications for healthcare and personal health monitoring.  

• Kathleen Sebelius at the 2011 mHealth Summit

  Chip Means

  12 Dec 2011 | 10:17 am

  Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius discusses mHealth and its role in the larger landscape of national healthcare IT efforts in this keynote from the 2011 mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C.

• Carmen Gonzalez on #OccupyHealthcare

  Healthcare IT News Staff

  18 Nov 2011 | 10:09 am

  In this video, Carmen Gonzalez from OccupyHealthcare.net discusses the disparities that exist in our current healthcare system. Gonzalez is a clinical trial patient recruitment strategist who is dedicated to making access to better healthcare a reality along with making clinical information more accessible and reader-friendly to patients.  

• Karen Ignagni on 'Healthcare That Works'

  Healthcare IT News Staff

  25 Oct 2011 | 11:17 am

  Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), speaks at the Healthcare General Session at Oracle OpenWorld, as part of the "Healthcare That Works" series, on October 3, 2011.

• 

  Latest healthcareitnews.com Events

• The 20th Annual Medicaid Managed Care Congress

  JCaron

  23 Jan 2012 | 10:57 am

  read more

• Med-e-Tel

  JCaron

  11 Jan 2012 | 12:21 pm

  The ISfTeH exists to facilitate the international dissemination of knowledge and experience in Telemedicine and eHealth, to provide access to recognized experts in the field worldwide, and to offer unprecedented networking opportunities. Med-e-Tel is one of the instruments that help the ISfTeH to realize this mission. read more

• The World Congress 3rd Annual Data Analytics Summit for Health Plans

  JCaron

  3 Jan 2012 | 10:19 am

• SIIM Regional Meeting

  JCaron

  22 Dec 2011 | 1:20 pm

  read more

• Health IT Summit- Atlanta

  JCaron

  15 Dec 2011 | 8:13 am

  read more

• 

  Healthcare IT News Resources

• February 1st @ 2PM ET-- Providers' Perceptions: Business Intelligence and Analytics in Healthcare

  Resource Central

  19 Jan 2012 | 4:18 pm

• The Christ Hospital Case Study: Improving Operations and Ensuring the Best Possible Patient Care with ECM

  Resource Central

  17 Jan 2012 | 3:22 pm

  The Christ Hospital (TCH) is a 555-bed acute-care not-for-profit hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, with nearly 100+ outpatient and physician practice sites located in northern Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. This case study lays out the various topics and issues associated with connecting a network of this magnitude.

• Old data learns new tricks: Managing patient security and privacy on a new data sharing playground

  Resource Central

  5 Jan 2012 | 12:50 pm

• Branch on Demand for Healthcare: Extending and Securing Access Across Caregiving Locations

  Resource Central

  5 Jan 2012 | 12:40 pm

• Wi-Fi Provides Rx for Healthcare Challenges

  Resource Central

  5 Jan 2012 | 12:33 pm

• 

  Latest Blog Entries for heathcareitnews.com

• SOTU barely covers healthcare reform law: Social media reactions

  Kelly Mehler

  27 Jan 2012 | 9:02 am

  After this week's State of the Union address, the Politico website dug into why President Obama barely mentioned healthcare reform law. Obama's law has garnered only 42 percent support by Americans, but has been among the most significant policy accomplishments for Obama since he took office. read more

• Using ITSM Tools to Improve Effectiveness of a Service-oriented Service Desk

  Scott Ruehle

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:50 am

  This is part two in a two-part series. In part 1 I focused on what behavioral qualities or aspects of attitude and mannerisms would help a service-oriented culture succeed. I was then, and will continue to do so in this article, focus on where I know my experiences have been – IT in a Healthcare organization. read more

• Healthcare 'flubs in Florida'

  Tom Sullivan

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:48 pm

  Last night, the remaining four GOP candidates debated in Tampa, Florida and, as usual, there were a number of topics misrepresented as facts – Mitt Romney’s attacks on the federal health law among those. read more

• Six keys to creating a service-oriented culture in healthcare IT

  Scott Ruehle

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:33 am

  Service oriented culture. The very mention of the phrase can cause a variety of reactions in people ranging from the ambiguity of “I think I know what Service is…” to the eye-rolling “Oh, great – another buzzword that we are going to have to suffer through until the next one” mindset. Rarely does it evoke a positive response with definitive steps that can be taken to create one. read more

• Succeed with Electronic Medical Records with Tips from Real Users

  Katie Matlack

  23 Jan 2012 | 7:44 am

  I cover medical software and health IT for Software Advice, so I was curious to learn about some of the secrets to success when switching to an EMR that might not meet the eye. To find out what is it that separates the health care providers who truly reap the benefits of switching to EMR, from those who don’t, I interviewed representatives of three health providers who use EMRs now: read more

• 

  healthcareitnews.com

• Fusion enters into exclusive cloud services, voice and data solutions agreement with GNYHA

  Industry News Release

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:09 am

  Fusion Telecommunications International, Inc. (OTCBB: FSNN) today announced that it has entered into an exclusive Group Purchasing agreement for Cloud Services and Communications Solutions with the group purchasing organizations (GPOs) Essensa and Innovatix, LLC., subsidiaries of GNYHA Ventures, Inc. read more

• Healthcare analyst values MMRGlobal patents at $300-800M

  Industry News Release

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:06 am

  MMRGlobal, Inc. read more

• T SystemEV meets highest interoperability standards at IHE North America Connectathon

  Industry News Release

  25 Jan 2012 | 8:01 am

  T-System, Inc. today announced that its emergency department information system (EDIS), The T SystemEV®, successfully verified 36 instances of tests at the 13th annual North America Connectathon in Chicago. Hosted by the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE), the Connecathon is the IT industry's only large-scale interoperability testing event. T-System was one of the few best-of-breed EDIS vendors that participated. read more

• Kern Medical Center awarded federal funds for meaningful use of OpenVista EHR

  Industry News Release

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:03 am

  Medsphere Systems Corporation and Kern Medical Center today announced that Kern has met the requirements for Stage One Meaningful Use with Medsphere’s OpenVista system, the enabling electronic health record (EHR), and has received more than $5 million in initial reimbursement from the federal government. read more

• iSirona wins CentraCare Health System contract for medical device connectivity

  Healthcare IT News Staff

  24 Jan 2012 | 8:59 am

  iSirona®, a provider of simplified solutions for medical device integration, today announced that St. Cloud, Minnesota-based CentraCare Health System has chosen to implement iSirona's device connectivity technology. CentraCare will use iSirona's solution to channel the delivery of patient data from ventilators throughout the hospital into its Epic EMR. read more

• 

  Healthcare Finance News

• Highest government earners often in healthcare

  Ron Shinkman

  24 Jan 2012 | 4:41 pm

  A new report by the Sunshine Review indicated that many of the top earning positions in state and local governments are tied to the healthcare industry, accordintg to FierceHealthcare. In Chicago, for example, the Cook County Healthcare CEO earned nearly triple that of the county's president. --Read the full article at FierceHealthcare

• Sutter Health, Marin General enter arbitration on $180M dispute

  Ron Shinkman

  24 Jan 2012 | 3:16 pm

  Sutter Health has entered into a arbitration hearing with a Northern California hospital district over the fate of $180 million the system transferred while managing Marin General Hospital, reported the Marin Independent Journal. The Marin Healthcare District leased Marin General to Sutter between 1995 and 2010, but sued Sutter after it discovered it had transferred the funds. It claimed Sutter transferred the money after 2006, when a date had been set to return the facility to district control. The district noted that while in 2007 Sutter reported cash and reserves of hundreds of millions of…

• CMS reveals RAC audit hotspots

  Ron Shinkman

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:47 pm

  Recovery audit contractors (RAC) discovered more than 20,000 overpayments for just three types of hospital, ambulance and durable medical equipment claims submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for reimbursement, according to a January newsletter. CMS reported more than 19,600 improperly submitted payment claims for Brovana and Perforomist, two medications used to control the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. CMS has since collected the overpayments. RAC auditors found numerous claims submissions whose improper billing was reached by multiplying by the…

• Uninsured climbs, putting pressure on providers

  Ron Shinkman

  24 Jan 2012 | 2:11 pm

  The nation's uninsured continued to climb in 2011, putting more financial pressures on the hospital sector, reported Politico. The percentage of the nation's inhabitants lacking health insurance rose to 17.1 in 2011, or about 51 million people in all. That's the fourth straight year the percentage has risen. In 2007, the rate of uninsured was 14.8 percent. Demographically, the biggest increases in uninsured occurred among Asian-Americans and Latinos, and those who earn less than $36,000 a year. Those few groups that reported increases in coverage included individuals earning more than $90,000…

• 7 hospitals downgraded for declining financial performance

  Ron Shinkman

  24 Jan 2012 | 1:55 pm

  Seven hospitals and health systems have experienced credit downgrades from Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings in the past month, according to HFA Partners. The downgrades include large systems such as West Penn Allegheny Health System in Pittsburgh, which was downgraded from BB- to B+ by Fitch, medium-sized players such as Palomar-Pomerado Health; a two-hospital system in the San Diego area that was bumped from AA to A+; and standalones such as Anderson Hospital in Illinois, which Moody's dropped from Baa2 to Baa3. Tampla, Fla.-based HFA Partners did not give specific reasons for the…

• 

  IPM Pulse

• Broadening the Strategic Value of IPM

  Sam Muppalla

  19 Jan 2012 | 8:15 am

  By Sam Muppalla, Vice President, McKesson Health Solutions, Network Performance Management (NPM) Over the past few weeks, I’ve covered a lot of ground. We looked at the pressures on health plans and the ways in which those pressures are forcing a new dynamic in how the plans create new, scalable competitive products that enable affordable, high-quality care. We talked about some of the innovations that leading health plans are bringing to the areas of product, network, care model and reimbursement designs. The pilot initiatives in these areas continue to show positive results. The next…

• An Integrated Approach to Alignment and Scalable Innovation

  Sam Muppalla

  12 Jan 2012 | 8:05 am

  By Sam Muppalla, Vice President, McKesson Health Solutions, Network Performance Management (NPM) Previously, I wrote about the barriers to alignment across product, network, care and reimbursement innovations. And, yes, I teased you with the three-word preview of what was to come this week: Integrated Building Blocks. The idea of building blocks lies at the heart of an approach to achieving alignment and scaling innovation, so let’s dive in. Unlocking potential administrative, IT and medical savings — while also creating sustainable alignment of the innovation engines —…

• Facing the Barriers to Alignment Across Product, Network, Care and Reimbursement Innovations

  Sam Muppalla

  5 Jan 2012 | 9:20 am

  By Sam Muppalla, Vice President, McKesson Health Solutions, Network Performance Management (NPM) I wanted to follow up on last month’s discussion about Performance-based Networks and Medical Cost Savings. I wrote about the need to align care models, payment, products and networks, and then promised to address some of the barriers standing in the way of achieving alignment. Well, that’s what I’m writing about today. Health plan operations responsible for supporting the intent of the provider network designs will find it increasingly difficult to maintain strategies that…

• Performance-based Networks and Medical Cost Savings

  Allison Lattanze

  15 Dec 2011 | 8:43 am

  By Sam Muppalla, Vice President, McKesson Health Solutions, Network Performance Management (NPM)  Last week, I wrote about Health Plans and the Three Levers of Innovation for Affordable Care. We looked at a number of innovations taking place in the areas of products, care models, reimbursement, and network designs. It’s vitally important to be able to innovate in each of these areas, but even more important to be able to align these network elements properly. The key to affordable care is enabling every member to get the right care, at the right time, from the right provider, and…

• Health Plans and the Three Levers of Innovation for Affordable Care

  Allison Lattanze

  8 Dec 2011 | 6:40 am

  By Sam Muppalla, Vice President, McKesson Health Solutions, Network Performance Management (NPM) Last week, I wrote about the increasing Pressure to Deliver Affordable, High-Quality Care. In the face of those pressures, many health plans have begun to explore innovative approaches to product, care model, and reimbursement designs. What are they doing? In this second installment of our series about unlocking affordable care, I’d like to take look at how some of the pilots in these areas show promise. Product Innovation One path health plans are using to achieve affordable care is through…

• 

  Forum Discussions - Health Informatics Forum

• Use of Internet by Cervical cancer patients in developing countries

  Lucy W.Kivuti

  27 Jan 2012 | 2:57 am

  Hi, I am searching for any published and unpublished works on the above topic.  I will appreciate any links. Thank you

• Clinical Informatic now snatched to be Board Certified

  billy adeleke-asalu

  24 Jan 2012 | 11:45 pm

  I will like  to be enlightened  about the position or faith of the Non medical graduates of PhD in Clinical Informatics when allowed to compete in the job markets with those medical doctors that will be board certified Clinical Informaticians come 2013 thanks Billy

• Lab Order Messaeg OML_O21, Which Response Message should we get from Lab?

  Priyanka

  24 Jan 2012 | 12:02 am

  Hello All,We need help regarding Laboratory related events,We are right now using OML_O21 Message to send Laboratory Order from HIS.Then here we get an acknowledgment Message as ORL_O22. Till here we have understood. But When we are expecting the results from Laboratory after successful completion of test, Which Message-Event we should use?Is it possible to use same OML_O21 as response from Lab? Because in OML_O21 itself we are already having the OBX segment which is used to send Result in OML_O21.Can anyone have solution to this?

• Free training in dental informatics (MS/PhD/postdoctoral positions)

  Titus Schleyer

  23 Jan 2012 | 3:27 pm

  Hi everybody, The University of Pittsburgh Department of Biomedical Informatics is still recruiting forMS/PhD/postdoctoral positions to start in August 2012. Take a look at the training program and, if you're ready, use our application page to apply. I would be happy to answer any questions about the program. Financial support, in the form of a full scholarship, a stipend, health insurance and more from the National Institutes of Health is available to eligible individuals. Applications are accepted immediately. Program start is August 2012. Please note: The NIH also offers a loan…

• CFP: 2012 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM12)

  tansel ozyer

  23 Jan 2012 | 2:48 am

  Call for Papers 2012 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM12) October 4-7, 2012, Philadelphia, PA, USA, The IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM) has established itself as the premier research conference in bioinformatics and biomedicine. IEEE BIBM 2012 provides a leading forum for disseminating the latest research in bioinformatics and health informatics. It brings together academic and industrial scientists from computer science, biology, chemistry, medicine, mathematics and statistics. We solicit high-quality original…

• 

  hCentive Blog

• State Exchanges 2014 Readiness Status: An Interactive View

  admin

  19 Jan 2012 | 7:02 am

  January 1, 2014 is a date that evokes mixed emotions among the people in the U.S. healthcare industry. January 1, 2014 is the deadline by which all U.S. states are required to have fully-functional, federally approved Healthcare Insurance Exchanges – the web-based one-stop platforms for residents to search, compare and buy healthcare plans. On December [...]

• Top 4 healthcare trends of 2012

  admin

  9 Jan 2012 | 4:16 am

  With several final rulings on ACA mandates, numerous takeovers and acquisitions, 2011 has proved to be a sprightly year. The U.S. healthcare landscape is marked for change again in 2012, as the Supreme Court announces its ruling on ACA’s constitutionality, thousands of baby boomers become eligible for Medicare and more insurers, physicians and providers enter [...]

• Why We Are Bullish on the Disruption of the Healthcare Industry

  admin

  5 Jan 2012 | 1:21 am

  The debate about Healthcare reform is unending and complex. We, at hCentive, have been following both sides of the debate keenly and acknowledge that the reforms are not an all-encompassing solution to all our problems, as is most often the case with other proposals in other industries. But what we firmly believe in is the [...]

• De-bunking the Fears Surrounding the Medical Loss Ratio Ruling

  admin

  29 Dec 2011 | 3:30 am

  Most investors consider Medical Loss Ratio as the most important factor to gauge an insurance company’s present and future profitability. On December 2, 2011, HHS released its final ruling on the Affordable Care Act’s Medical Loss Ratio policy. Beginning 2012, the revised policy guarantees tax-free rebates to consumers if the percentage of premium spent on [...]

• Obamacare Helps Insure 2.5 Million Young Adults

  admin

  28 Dec 2011 | 12:17 am

  An issue brief released December 14th 2011 by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, establishes that the Affordable Care Act of 2010 has managed to secure health insurance for 2.5 million American youths. In the U.S, young adults have traditionally been less likely to possess health insurance and before Obama’s healthcare overhaul, most were [...]

• 

  iQ the innovation lab of GSW Worldwide

• What We’re Reading in iQ

  Tyler Durbin, Marketing Manager

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am

  University Program Examines Efficacy of Health Messages via Social Media & Mobile | FierceHealthIT Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida is tacking the challenge of how best to gauge the effectiveness of delivering health and wellness messages to patients via social media and mobile devices. Specifically, they will be testing the effectiveness of this messaging for chronically ill patients (ie, diabetes and hypertension). Patience Patients – Are e-Patients Waiting for e-Docs | Eye On FDA Technology is changing. Patients are changing. Are physicians keep up? This articles…

• Innovation in Healthcare: OhioHealth’s Innovation Institute

  Tyler Durbin, Marketing Manager

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:19 am

  Yesterday afternoon, the minds responsible for innovation at GSW and iQ took a field trip to Columbus-based Riverside Hospital, part of the OhioHealth System. OhioHealth, one of Ohio’s largest health systems, houses over 16,000 associates, 2,400 physicians and nearly 3,000 volunteers. But it wasn’t the hospital we were visiting; it was an opportunity to meet the brilliant minds behind their Center for Medical Education and Innovation (CME+I). Founded in 2006, the Center’s mission is simple: improve healing and patient safety in a safe environment. It was out of the challenges and…

• What We’re Reading in iQ

  Tyler Durbin, Marketing Manager

  20 Jan 2012 | 10:37 am

  Are ePatients Self-Diagnosing Too Much? |  DTC Marketing As healthcare becomes more digitalized, we are seeing more and more patients each month accessing health information online, on their own. While, initially this seems like it would have  a positive impact on self-health management, one trend that is emerging is patients inaccurately self-diagnosing themselves. Has readily available health information lead to people try to replace their physician at the mercy of their health? Mobile Technology is Transforming the Health Industry, But to What Extent? | TechCrunch The current landscape…

• Mid-Week Stat: Accessing Mobile Health Information on the Rise

  Leigh Householder, VP/Managing Director of Innovation Strategy

  18 Jan 2012 | 10:09 am

• CES 2012: Innovation Awards – Health and Wellness

  Ben Harben, Associate Creative Director of Innovation

  16 Jan 2012 | 8:36 am

  Each year CES holds The Innovations Design and Engineering Awards. These awards give consumer electronic makers an opportunity to have their newest products judged by a preeminent panel. It’s the place to see, touch, feel and understand the future of consumer electronics. Best of Awards are given to one product within each category. Below is this year’s Best of Award and a list of honorees within the Health and Wellness category. BEST OF AWARD Company: Basis Product: Basis band Description: The world’s first connected health and heart rate monitor wearable on the wrist. A…

• 

  anthelio

• The Tragedy of the Commons

  Wendy Whittington, MD, MMM

  19 Jan 2012 | 10:37 am

  The original article The Tragedy of the Commons was published in Science in 1968. [1] The basic story goes like this.  The shepherds in a village share a common pasture …

• Transformation in Healthcare Requires Reflection

  Wendy Whittington, MD, MMM

  12 Jan 2012 | 10:07 am

  My iPhone has an app for NEJM.  This week’s table of contents opened with an article on the 200th anniversary of the New England Journal of Medicine. [1] How far …

• The Sale of Not-for-Profit Hospitals

  Wendy Whittington, MD, MMM

  5 Jan 2012 | 9:32 am

  The city of Weslaco, Texas claims that Knapp Medical Center can’t be sold to a hospital chain from Pennsylvania without permission of the Weslaco Hospital Authority.  The Authority was created …

• 10 Healthy New Year’s Resolutions

  Wendy Whittington, MD, MMM

  29 Dec 2011 | 9:09 am

  1. Listen to your mother: “cover your mouth, wash your hands, eat your vegetables.” 2. Try a new fruit or vegetable.  The grocery stores are full of exotic and yummy …

• I saw something that worked!

  Wendy Whittington, MD, MMM

  22 Dec 2011 | 10:15 am

  Whether it’s ICD-10, the IOM report on patient safety and health IT, healthcare reform, Meaningful Use schedules, or the delay of the 5010 form implementation, we are reminded daily of …

• 

  FierceMobileHealthcare

• CDC launches health information iPad app

  Sara Jackson

  27 Jan 2012 | 12:04 pm

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just launched its first-ever app specifically enabled for iPads, CDC officials said today. The new app, called the CDC Mobile iPad Application, is optimized for iPad touchscreen functionality, officials say. The presentation is pretty slick, and the main screen appears comparable to most commercial apps, with small icons available for users to tap. The app offers access to CDC health articles, popular journals, health news updates, blogs, and podcasts, CDC officials say. The app also includes tabs for users to engage with social media, including…

• iPad proves equal to regular screens for TB evals

  Sara Jackson

  27 Jan 2012 | 10:03 am

  iPads are just as good as LCD monitors when it comes to diagnosing tuberculosis, according to a follow-up study recently conducted by the University of Maryland. The original study, which took place in mid-2010, tested only 30 images  found that the original iPad's resolution wasn't quite as good as that of LCD monitors and wasn't sufficient for a primary diagnosis. In the new study, five radiologists tested 240 images--200 positive and 40 negative--on iPad 2 tablets and on a 27-inch Mac monitor. The agreement between the two displays was statistically equal, researchers report.

• MRC pushes for more time on FDA's mobile medical app guidance

  Sara Jackson

  26 Jan 2012 | 12:33 pm

  In a bit of a surprise move, the mHealth Regulatory Coalition has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revamp and republish its proposed guidance for mobile medical apps--but as a second draft, not a final regulation. MRC made the request in a letter, crafted by founding member and attorney Bradley Thompson of Washington, D.C.-based law firm Epstein Becker Green, which it posted on its website on Tuesday. The letter lays out industry fears that FDA regulators, overwhelmed with more than 500 pages of industry comments from more than 100 interested parties, are planning to scale…

• West Wireless to test Sense4Baby in Mexico

  Sara Jackson

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:12 am

  West Wireless Health Institute will conduct a year-long study of its experimental remote fetal monitoring device, Sense4Baby. West Wireless is partnering with the Carlos Slim Health Institute in Yucatan, Mexico, to study whether using the monitor can improve maternal health and reduce costs at the same time. The technology itself is a handheld mobile unit that monitors both mother and baby during high-risk pregnancies, and transmits readings to clinicians via cellular service, according to a West Wireless statement. The study will run in two phases. The first clinic-based phase starts in the…

• Hospital CIOs: App developers may be doing an end-run around you

  Sara Jackson

  24 Jan 2012 | 9:22 am

  Be on the lookout for mobile app developers trying to find a way into your enterprise without your knowledge or consent. A recent article at CIO.com sounded the alarm on this practice, saying entrepreneurial app developers are learning at conferences, and from each other, to go around the IT department and sell their wares directly to the end user. It's a chilling idea for a hospital CIO trying to manage thousands of mobile devices, and the even greater number of apps, services and software that users download onto them. CIO.com paints a picture of app developers meeting with users, business…

• 

  EMR News

• From Meaningful Use Stage 2 to stronger HIPAA regs, HHS gets ready to juggle

  Marla Durben Hirsch - Contributing Editor

  26 Jan 2012 | 10:10 am

  We all know that 2012 will be a watershed year for electronic health records systems. The Department of Health and Human Services' fall 2011 agenda, which it presented to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week, contains four rules directly impacting providers' use of EHRs. Everyone wants to know: What will the regulations require? Good question. It looks like the Stage 2 Meaningful Use regulations and its companion regulations (which establish the standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria to enhance EHR operability, functionality and utility under Stage…

• EHRs improve care given to diabetics

  Marla Durben Hirsch - Contributing Editor

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:32 am

  Type 2 diabetic patients being treated by doctors who use electronic health records are more likely to receive "optimal care" for their condition, according to a recent study published in Health Services Research. The researchers studied the care of 14,051 adult diabetic patients seen at 34 primary care practices. Of those, 6,376 patients' physicians used an EHR. Those patients enjoyed better outcomes--including positive improvement in blood pressure, aspirin prescriptions, and smoking cessation--than patients whose doctors did not use an EHR. Specifically, reminder features of the…

• Use EHRs to avoid unnecessary care

  Marla Durben Hirsch - Contributing Editor

  26 Jan 2012 | 9:03 am

  Electronic health records can do more than identify which patients should be receiving preventive and other additional services. They can also help providers pinpoint who shouldn't receive care.  That's the upshot of a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. The researchers studied EHR data from clinics affiliated with Northwestern University to see if the data could flag and measure whether certain patients were receiving pap smears too frequently.  Clinical guidelines recommend that women at low risk for cervical cancer be screened…

• Better provider support needed for EHR data capture

  Marla Durben Hirsch - Contributing Editor

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:57 pm

  Electronic health records can help providers document their performance. But they're only as good as their users--and plenty of providers are abdicating their responsibility to add information to their EHRs that can't be done automatically, adversely affecting their performance measures. That's the cautionary tale from a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, which found that workflow and documentation habits have a "profound" negative impact on quality measures. Accurately capturing quality measures not only affects the quality of patient care;…

• Meaningful Use Stage 2 a high priority on HHS regulatory agenda

  Marla Durben Hirsch - Contributing Editor

  25 Jan 2012 | 1:42 pm

  The next few months are going to be chock-full of new regulations affecting electronic health records systems. That's the scoop from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' latest regulatory agenda, submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and published Jan. 20. According to the agenda, EHRs are one of the agency's top priorities for the first half of 2012. HHS has accordingly sent to OMB proposed rules both on Stage 2 of Meaningful Use and on new standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria that EHRs would need to support Meaningful Use. "The…

• 

  ICMCC » Articles

• 10 Best Practices for Implementing Telemedicine in Hospitals

  Lodewijk

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:09 am

  Source: Sabrina Rodak, Becker's Orthopedic, Spine & Pain Management Content: “Telemedicine and telehealth have the potential to increase access to care, improve quality of care and decrease costs. For instance, the American Telemedicine Association proposed legislation that would expand telemedicine and save an estimated $186 million over the next 10 years. In addition, the U.S. [...]

• 5 dos and don’ts of EHR interface design

  Lodewijk

  28 Jan 2012 | 5:03 am

  Source: Michelle McNickle, Healthcare IT News Content: “Sometimes, small tweaks can make a big difference, and according to Bob Hunchberger, a clinical informaticist for a 500-bed hospital, that couldn’t be truer when it comes to your EHR. Hunchberger suggests five dos and don’ts of EHR interface design.” Article Michelle McNickle, Healthcare IT News, 27 January 2012

• AMA lobbies for ICD-10 delay

  Lodewijk

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:53 am

  Source: Ron Shinkman, FierceHealthIT Content: “The American Medical Association has sent a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner asking his help in halting the implementation of the ICD-10 coding system, reported The Hill’s Healthwatch and iHealthBeat. The Jan. 17 letter, sent by AMA President James L. Madara, said that the timing of ICD-10 implementation [...]

• Researchers analyze doctor-patient email interactions

  Lodewijk

  28 Jan 2012 | 4:46 am

  Source: MedicalXpress Content: “Many working professionals wouldn’t want to imagine what their job would be like without email. However, many physicians go about their profession with little or no email communication with patients. A new study by two University of Kansas professors examines email communications between doctors and patients in a primary care setting, finding [...]

• Social Media: Healthcare Privacy Tips

  Lodewijk

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:45 am

  Source: Howard Anderson, Healthcare Info Security Content: “The privacy risks involved in using social media in healthcare can be minimized through innovative staff education, says risk management expert Paul Anderson. “If you use social media in a thoughtful, planned way, the potential benefits of improved patient and community communication can far outweigh the risks,” says Anderson, [...]