I had hoped to be in Washington next week to cover the TEDMED conference, but apparently I am either not important enough or don’t have enough money. Earlier this week, I requested press credentials for the event, the first one since Priceline founder Jay Walker bought TEDMED from Marc Hodosh. I went through Rogers & Cowan, the boutique PR agency Walker hired to represent TEDMED, and got a rather terse and surprising response: Due to TEDMED’s press badge policy that is available at www.tedmed.com, (also see attached), we are unable to provide press badges to trade outlets due…
Healthcare IT
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Most Topular Stories
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TEDMED to healthcare press: pay up
Meaningful HIT News6 Apr 2012 | 2:15 am -
What's Up With EMC?
Dalai's PACS Blog20 Apr 2012 | 6:57 pmI don't like SPAM, and I don't like cold-calls from vendors. Today, I received both from representatives of EMC. For about the 10th time. My storage needs for the present time have been met, thank you, and I'll be sure to call EMC if I should decide that I need their services.In the meantime, as I told the young lady who called my cell wanting to speak to someone who made IT decisions in my organization, if I receive one more unsolicited contact from EMC, my next communication will be with their CEO. We'll see how HE likes cold calls... -
The Cost of Deploying an Epic EMR and the "Oreo Cookie" Analogy
Lab Soft News9 May 2012 | 11:23 amMr. HIStalk recently dropped this little tidbit on us: The bond rating agency of Dartmouth-Hitchcock (NH), noting the health system’s weak operating performance, blames two factors: reduced state funding and the cost of implementing Epic. This item reinforces what I have been hearing constantly on the street, particularly from lab colleagues. Many are experiencing embargoes on lab capital spending and LIS enhancements emanating from the hospital C-suite because of the high cost of deployment of their Epic EMRs. In the past, hospital budgetary problems frequently revolved around the high… -
Two Primary Obstacles to PHR Adoption per Epic
EMR and HIPAA11 May 2012 | 2:01 pmI recently happened upon the interoperability page on Epic’s website. Yes, I realize the irony of Epic and interoperability in the same sentence. In fact, that’s why I was so intrigued by what Epic had on their website about interoperability. I’ll leave what they called the “physician-guided” interoperability using their Care Everywhere product for another post. In this post I just want to highlight their “freestanding Personal Health Record (PHR)” section. I was most intrigued by what Epic lists on that page as the “two primary obstacles to… -
Four myths about ObamaCare that just won't die - StandardNet
healthcare IT news - Google News16 May 2012 | 12:25 pmFour myths about ObamaCare that just won't dieStandardNetMany supporters of the ACA continue to blame its popularity problems on the ultimate preventable health care error: a failure to communicate. "Barack Obama repeatedly botched, bungled and bobbled the health reform message," patient safety advocate and more »
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healthcare IT news - Google News
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Four myths about ObamaCare that just won't die - StandardNet
16 May 2012 | 12:25 pmFour myths about ObamaCare that just won't dieStandardNetMany supporters of the ACA continue to blame its popularity problems on the ultimate preventable health care error: a failure to communicate. "Barack Obama repeatedly botched, bungled and bobbled the health reform message," patient safety advocate and more » -
HHS' Measurement Project presents comprehensive data on U.S. healthcare system - FierceHealthIT
16 May 2012 | 12:01 pmHHS' Measurement Project presents comprehensive data on U.S. healthcare systemFierceHealthITFierceHealthIT 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 » -
We still deliver quality health care west of Asheville - Waynesville Smoky Mountain News
16 May 2012 | 8:18 amWe still deliver quality health care west of AshevilleWaynesville Smoky Mountain NewsBy Gwang S. Han • Guest Columnist Simply put, I question if there is a problem with the current system at Harris Regional Hospital and Haywood Regional Medical Center, supervised by Carolinas HealthCare in Charlotte. Since retiring in 2007 after 33 -
Piramal Healthcare To Buy US Firm For About $635 Mln - Wall Street Journal
16 May 2012 | 3:30 amBloombergPiramal Healthcare To Buy US Firm For About $635 MlnWall Street JournalBy Anirban Chowdhury and Rumman Ahmed MUMBAI (Dow Jones)--Piramal Healthcare Ltd. (500302.BY) said Wednesday it will acquire US-based health-information manager Decision Resources Group for about $635 million, the second recent overseas buy by the Billionaire Piramal Buys Drug Data Firm for $635 MillionBloombergPiramal to buy US drug data firm for $635 mlnFirstpostPiramal to buy US drug data firm for $ 635 mnIBNLive.comModernHealthcare.comall 105 news articles » -
VitalHealth Software Appoints Healthcare IT Veteran to Leadership Team - EON: Enhanced Online News (press release)
16 May 2012 | 2:00 amVitalHealth Software Appoints Healthcare IT Veteran to Leadership TeamEON: Enhanced Online News (press release)With over 20 years of management experience in new market and business development, strategic marketing, product strategy and government initiatives related to healthcare information technology, Mr. Butterfield will expand the company infrastructure and more »
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Health IT News
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Kinect works toward degree in early autism diagnosis
16 May 2012 | 1:37 pmResearchers at the University of Minnesota are playing around with Microsoft's Kinect sensors as part of some important work: finding ways to diagnose autism earlier. In fact, the university was awarded two grants totaling more than $3 million from the National Science Foundation to create robotic devices and computer vision algorithms to diagnose disorders such as autism, attention deficit disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. At the university's Institute of Child Development in Minneapolis, five Kinect cameras capture the play of children ages 3 to 5 in groups of about 10. -
Mostashari: Government should play booster role in health IT innovation
16 May 2012 | 1:12 pmThe government is no longer the main source of health IT innovation, Farzad Mostashari, M.D., the national coordinator for health information technology, told the Boston Globe earlier this week. But it can--and should--play a supportive role, he told the Globe before delivering a speech at the Health 2.0 conference in Boston this week. "The investments in research and development that are going on in the consumer technology space are now dwarfing the investment and innovation that are happening in, say, the military," he said. In the… -
Even opt-in doesn't protect data exchange privacy
16 May 2012 | 12:58 pmThe healthcare industry still has room for improvement when it comes to health information exchange privacy, even in states that have an opt-in or opt-out option, according to a recent article from Bloomberg News. Although not all states are required to tell patients if their medical data is being used, even those that do so aren't necessarily doing a good job, according to the article. In New York, for example, a state with an opt-in option for patients, studies published in March by the state's civil liberties union and the Consumers Union determined privacy "rules of the… -
HHS' Measurement Project presents comprehensive data on U.S. healthcare system
16 May 2012 | 12:57 pmThe Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a web-based tool that makes it easier to find detailed U.S. healthcare industry data. The Health System Measurement Project "will allow policymakers, providers and the public to develop consistent data-driven views of changes in critical U.S. health system indicators," according to an HHS announcement. The project combines datasets culled from a number of different federal agencies. The data spans topic areas such as access to care, cost and affordability, prevention and health information technology. It presents these… -
Berwick: Meaningful Use still in its adolescence
16 May 2012 | 12:50 pmThe use of analytics in healthcare has potential, former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D. told HealthLeaders Media in a recent interview. According to Berwick, CMS trials with analytics adoption at Oak Ridge (Tenn.) National Laboratory showed success with regard to the use of predictive analytics for fraud prevention. Predictive analytics, he said, allows officials to "take the data and turn loose the ability to go through it looking for weird patterns." Berwick also commented on current Meaningful Use efforts, saying that the…
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The Healthcare IT Guy
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Guest Article: In a world of cloud services, are HL7 interface engines dead?
8 May 2012 | 5:57 amI spend a good deal of time with clients these days who are trying to connect web services, implement service oriented architecture (SOA), and moving to the cloud. All these requirements are focused on integration of multiple, sometimes legacy sometimes modern, systems but most of them still require lots of HL7 interfacing. Some of my clients start their integration efforts hoping that there is something better or more modern than HL7 but the truth is that HL7 and interfacing remains the backbone of health system integration. Choosing an integration tool is time consuming so I reached out to… -
What I learned at the HIMSS Conference about developments in Health IT for the rest of 2012
27 Mar 2012 | 5:30 amLike many of you, I made the annual pilgrimage to the HIMSS Conference last month but I didn’t write much publicly about it (I mostly wrote private analyst reports for specific clients). There’s so much noise at such a big conference that I like writing about HIMSS gatherings after a little time has passed and I can discuss the market landscape with vendors outside the craziness of the conference. Here’s what I learned while I was in Vegas and my takeaways for the rest of the year. Major developments in Health IT for the rest of 2012 It was discussed a lot in the educational… -
Take new practice management technologies to the bank as patients push for online services
25 Mar 2012 | 7:16 pmI was recently interviewed for a nice article on why and how private physician practices should push for new technologies. Andrea Downing Peck did a pretty good job putting together a collage of views from me and some of my well known colleagues online: Mary Pat Whaley, David Henriksen, Dr. Jaan Sidorov, Shari Crooker, Rosemarie Nelson, David Harvey, David Williams. Here are some of my favorite quotes (taken directly from the article): Mary Pat Whaley: "Patients are saying, ‘If I can’t register for your practice online or ask for an appointment or get a prescription online, I… -
Join me on Friday afternoon for the Military EHR Conference in Arlington, VA
14 Mar 2012 | 6:01 amThe Military Electronic Health Records Conference is being held at the Holiday Inn Rosslyn in Arlington, VA on Thursday and Friday this week. Military EHRs are a complicated topic and I have been invited to deliver a talk called Using Connected Medical Devices to Improve Military EHRs & Integrating Social Media into Military EHRs. I will be presenting on Friday afternoon at 1:45p but should be around at the conference before and after as well if you’d like to meetup. Answers to some of the key questions that participants will learn about include: What are the goals and objectives of the… -
Guest Article: Do’s and Dont’s of RFID in Hospitals
4 Mar 2012 | 10:20 amI’ve written and presented recently on a number of “Do’s and Dont’s” around medical device integration, mobile health, EHRs, and various related topics. Some of you have asked if I could do something similar on the subject of RFID. Since I’m not an expert on the topic, I reached out to Yedidia Blonder, a Product Manager at Vizbee RFID Solutions. Vizbee offers RFID applications for multiple industries, including a patient and hospital asset tracking application for healthcare institutions. They’re really good at what they do and I agree with their general approach. Here’s what…
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HIStalk
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Quality Systems Acquires The Poseidon Group
16 May 2012 | 6:23 amQuality Systems, Inc. announced this morning that it has acquired The Poseidon Group, an Atlanta-based emergency department information systems vendor. Quality Systems will integrate the Navigator PC and NavigatorWeb EDIS modules into its NextGen Inpatient Solutions small hospital product line. NextGen Healthcare Inpatient Solutions EVP Steve Puckett was quoted as saying, “This acquisition provides our clients additional value by extending our hospital suite portfolio of advanced solutions to the Emergency Department. This product along with our surgical services suite will help… -
News 5/16/12
15 May 2012 | 3:46 pmTop News Accretive Health sends a detailed response to Senator Al Franken, who is investigating the company’s hospital collection practices. The company says its primary purpose is to help patients by making sure they use the benefits to which they are entitled, also adding that the company follows HFMA guidelines, including making it clear that services won’t be withheld for financial reasons. Accretive says it complies with all federal laws, including HIPAA, and that all but one of its missing laptops was encrypted and that one was because a now-fired employee messed up. The company… -
Curbside Consult with Dr. Jayne 5/14/12
14 May 2012 | 6:20 pmOver the last several months, there have been quite a few articles and studies about the growing phenomenon of mobile device distraction. Smart phones, tablets, and other devices have become ubiquitous. It’s almost unusual to see a group dining in a restaurant without devices littering the table. I don’t need to mention the danger of distraction while driving or otherwise being on the street and using a mobile device. I wasn’t surprised then to see four Tweets in the last 24 hours that addressed the issue. There’s quite a buzz around psychologist Larry Rosen’s book iDisorder:… -
EHR Design Talk with Dr. Rick 5/14/12
14 May 2012 | 6:09 pmPane Management — Part 1 The quantity of detail is an issue completely separate from the difficulty of reading. Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information. – Edward Tufte, Envisioning Information We’ve been considering a high-level EHR user interface design that employs multiple panes within a single screen to display all the categories of data in a patient encounter. In my last post, I discussed how mouse hovers or clicks can be used to expand and contract panes as needed. Excellent reader comments by Dr. Gregg and Dr. Robert Lafsky have… -
Monday Morning Update 5/14/12
12 May 2012 | 8:21 pmFrom McPACS: “Re: McKesson. Pulling out of the UK PACS market.” Unverified. From The PACS Designer: “Re: iPad at Sears. TPD decided to look for a new dishwasher at Sears and was surprised that the sales consultant used an iPad to show the features. Not only are the sales consultants using them, but so are customers as they travel through the various departments. Hopefully healthcare institutions will put iPads in patients’ hands so they can understand what diagnostic tools and procedures are being used to treat their ills.” HIStalk readers are evenly split in which political party…
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Meaningful HIT News
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HIMSS12 sets record for tweets
26 Apr 2012 | 5:13 pmThe folks at HIMSS are claiming that the 2012 conference in Las Vegas a couple months ago set a world record for the most tweets at a health conference. (I’m checking to see who keeps such records.) By the numbers, according to HIMSS: The #HIMSS12 hashtag was used 28,434 times. HIMSS12 averaged 167 tweets per hour. HIMSS12 was mentioned 33,247 times in social media, more than double HIMSS11 (which itself was more than double HIMSS10). The keynote by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone generated 7,595 tweets, beating out the 7,047 tweets from Dr. Farzad Mostashari’s keynote. This… -
$10M settlement in death from medical error
25 Apr 2012 | 1:01 amRemember James C. Tyree, the University of Chicago Medical Center board member who died last year from a preventable medical error at the very same hospital he was on the board of? His estate has reached a $10 million settlement with the prestigious teaching hospital for “alleged negligence,” the Chicago Tribune reported. As I previously wrote, Tyree died from an intravascular air embolism, the result of an improperly removed catheter. That just happens to be one of the National Quality Forum’s so-called “never events.” Tyree, as chairman and CEO of financial services firm… -
Poor healthcare quality hits home
22 Apr 2012 | 11:39 pmMy dad, who already was dealing with a serious health issue, was hospitalized a week ago with what turned out was a urinary-tract infection. That cleared with antibiotics in a couple of days, but then he developed a fever, so he could not be released. While we were waiting for that to subside, he developed a hospital-acquired infection, namely pneumonia. He’s still in the hospital and the hospital is still able to bill Medicare for all these extra days — plus the physical therapy he will get in a rehab center that the hospital owns once he’s discharged because being in bed… -
Mastering Health Wonk Review
13 Apr 2012 | 4:21 pmThe newest edition of Health Wonk Review is up at Brad Wright’s Wright on Health policy blog, and Wright uses last week’s Masters golf tournament as his theme. He conveniently picks 18 posts to highlight from around the blogosphere (what, no 19th hole?). At the sixth tee, he gets to my post about the questionable media policy at TEDMED. I’m even more flabbergasted now that I’ve learned others who might be considered “trade press” — really bloggers, not what might be termed traditional publications — got credentialed, too. I guess you have to know… -
TEDMED to healthcare press: pay up
6 Apr 2012 | 2:15 amI had hoped to be in Washington next week to cover the TEDMED conference, but apparently I am either not important enough or don’t have enough money. Earlier this week, I requested press credentials for the event, the first one since Priceline founder Jay Walker bought TEDMED from Marc Hodosh. I went through Rogers & Cowan, the boutique PR agency Walker hired to represent TEDMED, and got a rather terse and surprising response: Due to TEDMED’s press badge policy that is available at www.tedmed.com, (also see attached), we are unable to provide press badges to trade outlets due…
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HealthBlog
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Cost versus worth of technology in healthcare
16 May 2012 | 11:40 amTwo articles caught my attention this week amid of the flurry of news about jobs, the market and the economy. The first, Not retiring at 65: Physician goes from anti-EHR to pro-ACO , was about a 65 year old physician in Tucson who is not only delaying...(read more) -
A Whirlwind of Activity at WoHIT eHealth Week in Copenhagen, Denmark
10 May 2012 | 1:51 amThe view from my room high atop the Bella Sky Comwell Hotel pretty much symbolizes what my past two days have been like at the World of Health IT Conference in Copenhagen – whirlwind . Well, actually the view is of a gigantic wind turbine that supplies...(read more) -
Creative Destruction – What it means for healthcare, clinical practice and consumers
7 May 2012 | 11:43 amLast Wednesday, I had the pleasure of providing a keynote address at the Group Practice Improvement Network (GPIN) conference that was held in Seattle. I say “pleasure” for two reasons. Unlike most of the conferences I speak at these days...(read more) -
Research4Life “Library in a Box” to be honored at GBCHealth Awards in NYC
1 May 2012 | 11:05 amA public-private partnership known as Research4Life that is sponsored in part by Microsoft, has been commended by the Global Business Coalition on Health and will be honored during that organization’s annual GBCHealth conference and awards dinner in New...(read more) -
Health Tech Spending and Profitability - Chicken, Egg or Omelet?
30 Apr 2012 | 2:46 pmAs someone whose entire career has been steeped in clinical medicine and technology, I’m a big fan of the American publication, Hospitals and Health Networks . I especially like reading the commentaries on the publication’s digital feed, H&HN...(read more)
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Candid CIO
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Real-time Documentation
20 Apr 2012 | 4:03 pmMinistry has been championing “real-time documentation”, that is, the practice of entering patient information into the EHR at the time it is collected. Historically, caregivers have clung to the old process of writing on paper and then re-entering it into the EHR later. Our Nurse Informaticians are doing the hard work of changing that practice. In the areas where we have seen the change, the nurses are reporting that it has given them more time to spend with their patients. The elimination of transcription also means real-time documentation is a more accurate practice. -
Inaccuracies Told In The Software Sales Cycle
24 Mar 2012 | 12:46 pmThe following headline caught my eye as I was reading through my RSS feed: How to deploy ERP in 120 days As soon as I read this headline I knew I was going to unleash a rant. Caron Carlson wrote this piece, and it was a good story about Johnson & Johnson’s acquisition of a new business unit and how that business unit was transitioned to J&J’s ERP system (and other technologies) in 3 months. I am sure that this was a phenomenal accomplishment by J&J that required a lot of bright and talented people. I would bet that they have prepared for acquisitions like this and… -
HITECH is not a mandate
11 Mar 2012 | 3:25 pmRemember, the HITECH act (aka Meaningful Use) is a an incentive program, not a mandate. As we look at stage 2 we will be evaluating the increasing effort against against the decreasing financial incentive – remember stage 2 is worth less than half than stage 1. Sure there is a supposed penalty, and we will need to take that into account too. But that penalty, starting in 2015 (or later), will be based on the amount of Medicare increase. Medicare may not be increasing by 2015. Before I pitch a multi-million dollar effort to the senior management team we have to evaluate the ROI. The… -
EHR Incentive ROI – Your Milage May Vary
4 Feb 2012 | 12:31 pmOur first hospital to attest for EHR Incentives is expected to receive $3,173,094 for Stage 1. To qualify for that incentive we spent $381,133. This includes the cost for 5,219 hours of IT time to complete the work. So, it surprised me when I was listening to a CIO discuss Meaningful Use on one of the hscio.com podcasts. He stated that Meaningful Use was an underfunded mandate. That is far from our early experience at Ministry. I don’t think either of us are incorrect. We just appeared to be starting from different positions and we took different paths to attest for Stage 1. In our… -
Telling People About The Fire Is As Important As Putting It Out
30 Jan 2012 | 2:26 pmIn January I wrote about the importance of using Root Cause Analysis at Ministry Health Care as a way to learn from our mistakes. This process is so important to us that we have an employee (Fred) that oversees Root Cause Analysis and facilitates the meetings. Those meetings are generally calm meetings that take place after the IT service interruption is addressed. That is not the case when we are in actual firefighting mode. We have learned a couple of things about fighting fires, that is, addressing customer impacting service interuptions. We have learned that best way to respond to service…
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Lab Soft News
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Hospital at Full Census; Surgery Patients Discharged Too Early?
16 May 2012 | 12:31 pmWe need beds. Discharge every patient you can. Most hospital-based physician will be familiar with this refrain. The problem is that it can lead to premature discharges of some patients, particularly post-op ones who may require closer monitoring and sophisticated nursing care. Revenue-driven surgery and poor planning result in some surgical patients being discharged too early concludes a pair of logistical studies conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland (see: Revenue-driven surgery drives patients home too early). Below is an excerpt from the article: The studies… -
The Emerging Role of ACOs; How to Define and Reduce Unnecessary Services
15 May 2012 | 7:44 amThe need to develop an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) is one of the leading priorities of most hospital executives but there continues to be ambiguity about what an ACO is and what it is designed to accomplish (see: Hospital Executives Search for the Formula for an Accountable Care Organization; The End of Health Insurance Companies by 2020?). A recent article in The Atlantic discusses emerging healthcare models and then provides more details about ACOs (see: The 5 Mega-Trends That Are Changing the Face of Health Care). Below is an excerpt from the article about emerging models… -
Revlimid Raises Secondary Cancer Risk for Second Primary Malignancies
14 May 2012 | 9:45 amA new subdiscipline within oncology is getting increased attention -- survivorship (see: Cancer Survivorship, an Emerging Subdiscipline in Oncology; Cancer Survivorship and the Role of PCPs in Continuing Care of Cancer Patients). As cancer increasingly comes to be viewed as a chronic disease, more attention is being paid to the long-term medical problems of cancer survivors such as the drug damage to normal organs and also new cancers secondary to cancer therapy. Here's an account of second primary malignancy risk due to Revlimid (see: Cancer drug Revlimid (lenalidomide) raises… -
Practice Fusion Announces a Laboratory API; the "Democratization" of Test Results
11 May 2012 | 12:47 pmThe business model for Practice Fusion, a web-based physician office EMR that can be obtained free, has been a source of great interest for me (see: Practice Fusion CEO Calls His Company the Largest EMR Provider; Practice Fusion Supported by Advertising and Owns Anonymized Data). A recent press release from the company caught my eye (see: Practice Fusion Launches API to Democratize Lab Integrations). Here's an excerpt from it: Practice Fusion, the free Electronic Medical Record (EMR) company,...announced the launch of its new lab API, which allows any laboratory in the country… -
The Cost of Deploying an Epic EMR and the "Oreo Cookie" Analogy
9 May 2012 | 11:23 amMr. HIStalk recently dropped this little tidbit on us: The bond rating agency of Dartmouth-Hitchcock (NH), noting the health system’s weak operating performance, blames two factors: reduced state funding and the cost of implementing Epic. This item reinforces what I have been hearing constantly on the street, particularly from lab colleagues. Many are experiencing embargoes on lab capital spending and LIS enhancements emanating from the hospital C-suite because of the high cost of deployment of their Epic EMRs. In the past, hospital budgetary problems frequently revolved around the high…
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eHealth
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Video Introducing eResearch
9 May 2012 | 9:35 pmHaving written a chapter on eResearch for a book on Health Informatics, I decided to make a video which will be used by the editor, Bob Hoyt, in an eBook edition to come out soon. Both the video and the chapter emphasize the progress that has been made in informatics tools to support every phase of clinical research. Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS -
Usability in Healthcare
1 May 2012 | 9:16 pmUX has always been one of my favorite topics. So often ignored in application development, usability is key to the success of any website or app. Fortunately, there is a Usability Professionals Association dedicated to the concept. A recent presentation at the Northeast Ohio Chapter focused on the evaluation of the usability of the Cleveland Clinic website. This comprehensive review lead to the development of standards for the website based on user input. Check out the presentation by Kaitlan Chu: Challenges Faced & Lessons Learned Conducting Cleveland Clinic’s First UX… -
Favorite Quotes from TEDx Maastricht
10 Apr 2012 | 9:36 pmLast week I was fortunate to attend TEDx Maastricht in person for the second year in a row. There were several great talks, all inspiring and some surprising. The beginning and end represented innovations in care of very different types. Beginning with a demonstration of FaceTalk, a live demo of an interdisciplinary consultation between 3 physicians on 3 continents sharing CT scans and more in real time. The final presentation of a video of interviews with young adult cancer survivors even facing death with courage. Patients were certainly invited and had an impact on the overall tone of the… -
At American Medical informatics Association Clinical Research Informatics Association
21 Mar 2012 | 11:00 amThis Conference in San Francisco about all thiNgs research. It looks like some great content on secondary use, omics in EHRs, big data, platforms and ontologies. Heady stuff. This is the third year for this conference and it is combined with translational bioinformatics. The 350 participants represent a strong support for this speciality. Can this group help to transform healthcare? http://www.amia.org/jointsummits2012/cri-schedule Share and Enjoy • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS -
Thoughts on Sentiment Analysis in Health Care
6 Mar 2012 | 9:59 pmThere is increasing interest in Sentiment Analysis of social media. The brief messaging systems like Twitter and Facebook allow for picking out words and phrases using algorithms to find positive or negative sentiment. There are an increasing number of tools to do sentiment analysis and market research firms willing to do it. Using a simple tool like TwitterSentiment can get quick results but are they meaningful for healthcare? For instance, looking at “Mayo Clinic”, the results are rated as negative but examining the tweets show a mix of statements and some rated negative (78%)…
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EMR and HIPAA
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The Current Health IT and EHR Bubble
16 May 2012 | 9:39 amI had a really great conversation with Shahid Shah, Jenny Laurello and John Moore at Health 2.0 about the bubble that we’re sitting in right now. John Moore’s response to my question, “When do you think the bubble will pop?” was priceless: “Which bubble?” Yes, we might be seeing multiple bubbles in healthcare IT: EHR, HIE, mobile health, etc. For this blog, I’m most interested in the EHR bubble. Obviously, the bubble in this case is the creation of the $36 billion in EHR stimulus money that’s being handed out thanks to ARRA and the HITECH act. -
Making the Case for EMR VARs
15 May 2012 | 10:18 amIn the comments of a post by Dr. Gregg, someone made a really interesting case for going with an EMR VAR instead of the EMR vendor itself. Of course, this commenter was named “EMRVAR” which probably means they come from a VAR. So, you have to take these comments with a grain of salt, but their comments are worth considering. Here’s the case they made for VARs. My Advice: Seek out a VAR – Value Added Reseller that cares more about you and your practice then any BIG NAME EMR CORPORATION that only cares about its stock valuation on any given day. VARS A VAR is an advocate for… -
Government Healthcare IT Dashboard from ONC
14 May 2012 | 9:40 amOne movement that I and I’m sure many of you have seen unfolding by HHS and ONC in particular is what Todd Park calls Data Liberacion. As Todd Park has moved to CTO of the US, I expect he’s going to take the data liberation movement beyond healthcare. The latest addition to the Healthcare Data Liberation movement by ONC is the Health IT Dashboard that was put up by ONC. Here’s the description of what’s possible for the website: The Dashboard currently provides summary information about all ONC HITECH grant programs, and detailed data from the Regional Extension Center,… -
EMR Data Inaccuracies, EMR and Labs, and the Database of Healthcare
13 May 2012 | 11:37 pmAs you read this post, I’m probably on a red eye flight to attend Health 2.0 Boston. I’m really excited to attend Health 2.0 Boston. I think Matthew Holt is always interesting and so I hope I get a chance to interview him while I’m there. Plus, I think it’s large enough to bring out some important people, but not so large that you’re overwhelmed and can’t connect with those who attend. Also, even if you’re just in Boston and not planning to attend Health 2.0 Boston, we’re going to be doing a tweetup on Tuesday evening. I call it the after party. -
Two Primary Obstacles to PHR Adoption per Epic
11 May 2012 | 2:01 pmI recently happened upon the interoperability page on Epic’s website. Yes, I realize the irony of Epic and interoperability in the same sentence. In fact, that’s why I was so intrigued by what Epic had on their website about interoperability. I’ll leave what they called the “physician-guided” interoperability using their Care Everywhere product for another post. In this post I just want to highlight their “freestanding Personal Health Record (PHR)” section. I was most intrigued by what Epic lists on that page as the “two primary obstacles to…
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Medgadget
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EchoBlog Joins EchoJournal
16 May 2012 | 12:28 pmA community of physicians who are actively involved with our video sharing site EchoJournal now has a collaborative blog where they’re discussing the latest echocardiography videos, clinical concepts and ideas. EchoBlog can be accessed from the EchoJournal website, or directly by going to EchoBlog.com.If you are a cardiologist, anesthesiologist, radiologist, medical student, or just a person interested in cardiac ultrasounds, EchoJournal is where you can develop your knowledge and consult with others. To learn and discuss, you can watch new cardiac videos that are added almost every… -
Angel Catheter Combines Central Venous Catheter with IVC Filter for Pulmonary Embolism Prevention (video)
16 May 2012 | 11:40 amBiO2 Medical has received CE Mark approval for the Angel Catheter, a nitinol inferior vena cava (IVC) filter permanently attached to a central venous catheter, for the use of preventing pulmonary embolism in critically ill patients. The multi-lumen catheter can be used like a normal central venous system for administering medications, fluids or blood products, blood sampling and monitoring of central venous pressure. At the same time it provides pulmonary embolism prophylaxis by means of the attached IVC filter.The primary patient population is critical care patients in whom anticoagulation… -
An Update on Altapure’s Ultrasonic Clinical Environment Sterilization System
16 May 2012 | 10:42 amBack in February, we wrote about Altapure‘s adaptation of military sonar technology to sterilize clinical environments. During our recent trip to northeast Indiana, we had the opportunity to visit Altapure’s home on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.Since our last mention, Altapure has been able to not only get their product on the market, but is already working on a newer version of the device that clocks in at 1/3 the size of the current model but has the same power.Read More -
Nidek AFC-330 Automated Fundus Camera Cleared in U.S.
16 May 2012 | 10:23 amNIDEK (Gamagori, Japan) has received FDA clearance to market its AFC-330 fundus camera in the U.S. The unit is an all-in-one system that contains both the camera and the processing computer, negating the need for another machine to remain nearby.The device is the company’s most automated model, and features automatic alignment along the three axis, uses a lower brightness flash, and has dampened mechanical components, among other advances.Read More -
St Jude Medical Launches EnligHTN Renal Denervation System
15 May 2012 | 3:18 pmIt seems that renal denervation systems are popping up like daisies these days. Today at the EuroPCR meeting in Paris, France, St. Jude Medical announced CE Mark Approval and the launch of its EnligHTN renal denervation system. Like other renal ablative systems, this one is approved to reduce blood pressure in patients with hypertension resistant to medical therapy.Similar to the Vessix Vascular V2 system, the EnligHTN has multiple electrodes which potentially saves time during the ablation procedure, as four ablations can be performed without catheter repositioning.Read More
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Dalai's PACS Blog
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This Is NOT ME, I Promise!!!
16 May 2012 | 9:12 amImage courtesy of PoorMD.com and DiagnosticImaging.com.Do visit PoorMD.com for some absolutely hilarious medical cartoons... -
Atlas Shrugged: The Trial of Hank Rearden
7 May 2012 | 11:00 amTo continue the uncannily accurate quotes from Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," we move to the trial of industrialist Hank Rearden, charged with an illegal sale of his miraculous alloy, Rearden Metal. Hank's defense, if you can call it that, is a certainly a lesson for our times:For a month in advance, the people who filled the courtroom had been told by the press that they would see the man who was a greedy enemy of society; but they had come to see the man who had invented Rearden Metal.He stood up, when the judges called upon him to do so. He wore a grey suit, he had pale blue eyes and blond… -
Atlas Shrugged: Francisco d'Anconia's Money Speech
6 May 2012 | 11:46 amFYI, this is NOT a PACS entry, and it could be considered slightly to the right of center. Therefore, Left Wing NutJobs might want to skip today's post and return to the nurturing bosom of one of their favorite sites.Anyway...After last year's "Christmas Carol" send-up, I was asked to consider next a parody of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" with a radiological bent. Since I had not yet read the book, I figured that doing so might be wise before starting such a project. I'm about half-way through, and I'm not sure my meager talents are adequate for the job, but in the meantime, I've been… -
"If I Wanted America To Fail..."
25 Apr 2012 | 5:49 pm -
What's Up With EMC?
20 Apr 2012 | 6:57 pmI don't like SPAM, and I don't like cold-calls from vendors. Today, I received both from representatives of EMC. For about the 10th time. My storage needs for the present time have been met, thank you, and I'll be sure to call EMC if I should decide that I need their services.In the meantime, as I told the young lady who called my cell wanting to speak to someone who made IT decisions in my organization, if I receive one more unsolicited contact from EMC, my next communication will be with their CEO. We'll see how HE likes cold calls...
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Australian Health Information Technology
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It Is Time For the Readers Of This Blog To Do Some Work And Help With Australian E-Health Openness and Transparency.
16 May 2012 | 1:30 amAs I reported a few days ago we are in the twice yearly process of Senate Estimates Committee hearings. This is an opportunity for Senators to ask bureaucrats and responsible Ministers probing questions on just what is going on behind the scenes in their Department and to try and winkle out some information and accountability. Both NEHTA and the E-Health Team from DoHA attend and are questioned for about 1 hour. It is likely this will be happening in the sessions between Monday 28 May to Thursday, 31 May 2012. It would be fair to say that my experience of having watched the live feeds… -
It’s Time To Check What We Were Promised With The PCEHR Two Years Ago.
15 May 2012 | 1:30 amHere is the press release - (I have highlighted the important and not delivered bits in italics): Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records for All Australians Australians will be able to check their medical history online through the introduction of personally controlled electronic health records, which will boost patient safety, improve health care delivery, and cut waste and duplication. 11 May 2010 Australians will be able to check their medical history online through the introduction of personally controlled electronic health records, which will boost patient safety, improve health… -
Weekly Australian Health IT Links – 14th May, 2012.
14 May 2012 | 1:30 amHere are a few I have come across the last week or so. Note: Each link is followed by a title and a 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. General Comment Clearly the big news of the week was the recent Federal Budget. It seems overall that over the forward estimates e-Health (very broadly defined) are being cut back just a little. Go here to see the overall picture. (E-Health is about 1/3 way down the page)… -
AusHealthIT Poll Number 121 – Results – 14th May, 2012.
13 May 2012 | 11:48 pmThe question was: Should NEHTA and The E-Health Group From DoHA Be Merged To Form A New E-Health Agency Under Standard Federal Government Controls? For Sure - 16 (45%) Probably - 6 (17%) Maybe - 5 (14%) Definitely Not - 8 (22%) Votes 35 Quite an interesting outcome with almost ½ the votes saying for sure and a good deal more supporting the idea - only 22% strongly against. Again, many thanks to those that voted! David. This is the initial part of the post - read more by clicking on the title of the article. David. -
With The Senate Estimates Committee Reviewing DoHA and NEHTA Very Soon We Know What Some Questions Will Be About.
13 May 2012 | 1:00 amThe following appeared yesterday: Gravy train on the move by: Sue Dunlevy and Karen Dearne From: The Australian May 12, 2012 12:00AM PHARMACEUTICAL companies have been forced to curb their extravagant entertainment of doctors, but e-health is emerging as the latest gravy train in the health sector and this time it's the taxpayer footing the bill. ..... Yet the biggest e-health gravy train is being run by the body in charge of setting up the new personally controlled e-health record, the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA). The e-health system will barely be operational from its…
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GNUmed for the masses
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GNUmed 1.2 - more screenshots
15 May 2012 | 2:12 pmIt is time for some more screenshots of the upcoming GNUmed release. Enjoy -
GNUmed 1.2 - first release candidate is out
22 Apr 2012 | 7:23 amGNUmed 1.2 release candidate 1.2 has been made available to the public for testing. Get it from.http://www.gnumed.de/downloads/client/1.2/The server part (version 17) is available fromhttp://www.gnumed.de/downloads/server/v17/This includes the new patient overview widget and the billing widget. Please give it some serious testing. -
GNUmed client 1.1.13 released
21 Apr 2012 | 12:52 amGNUmed. 1.1.13 has been released. Get it from http://wiki.gnumed.de -
GNUmed team planning a mini conference - get together
10 Feb 2012 | 3:07 amGNUmed has been around a while. Most communication happens via the mailing list. Not everyone is comfortable with mailing lists and users tend to stay away from it. That is why we are planning a get together in Leipzig, Germany.There is no formal agenda yet but here are some possible action items.* presentation of GNUmed by a user* presentation of GNUmed by the lead developer* workshop on how to build a plugin* workshop on GNUmed installation (Windows, Mac, Linux)* introduction to GNUmed for developers* training on how to use GNUmed for usersTo plan ahead we kindly ask anyone interested to… -
GNUmed 1.1.12 released
10 Feb 2012 | 2:36 amGNUmed 1.1.12 has been released to address problems reported by users. Most notable are various fixes which enhance the experience on MS Windows.Get if from http://wiki.gnumed.de/bin/view/Gnumed/InstallerGuideHomeShort
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Bob on Medical Device Software
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Healthcare IT Q&A: R.I.P.
1 May 2012 | 9:00 amAfter close to two years of effort (see here) the Healthcare IT Stack Exchange Site is closing for good. HealthCare IT is closing: it simply does not appear that this topic has a strong enough following on our network to support the site long-term That says it all. -
Design Patterns for EMR/EHR Performance
31 Mar 2012 | 11:28 pmHealthy Architectures – Using CQRS and Event Sourcing for Electronic Medical Records presents a couple of interesting patterns for the management of healthcare data. The two patterns are: Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS) Event Sourcing (ES) Here’s another article that provides further clarification on the CQRS pattern and how it compares to ES and Task-Based UIs: CQRS, Task Based UIs, Event Sourcing agh! These are high level design patterns that result in non-traditional and more complex system architectures when implemented. The healthcare domain is complex and… -
OTS/SOUP Software Validation Strategies
16 Feb 2012 | 10:55 amMy last discussion of Off-The-Shelf software validation only considered the high-level regulatory requirements. What I want to do now is dig deeper into the strategies for answering question #5: How do you know it works? This is the tough one. The other questions are important, but relative to #5, answering them is pretty easy. How to answer this question (i.e. accomplish this validation) is the source of a lot of confusion. There are many business and technical considerations that go into the decision to use OTS or SOUP software as part of a medical device. Articles and books are… -
Building Safety into Medical Device Software
7 Jan 2012 | 6:54 pmThe 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
17 Dec 2011 | 7:17 pmI 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…
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Medicine and Technology
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I hope to see you at the #ASCO12 tweetup
15 May 2012 | 11:52 pmASCO is the American Society of Clinical Oncology and their annual meeting is coming up June 1-5 in Chicago. I hope to see you at the #ASCO12 tweetup on Saturday, June 2 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm (CDT). This year, the tweetup will be led by: Dr. Robert Miller @rsm2800 • Trends in Twitter Use by Physicians at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, 2010 and 2011 • Practical Guidance: The Use of Social Media in Oncology Practice Dr. Mike Thompson @mtmdphd • The Role of Twitter and Social Media in Clinical Trials • Decoding QR Codes for ASCO Posters Dr. Brian McGowan… -
Diagnostic Error in Medicine Conference 2012
14 May 2012 | 4:09 pmI hope to see you at the 2012 Diagnostic Error in Medicine Conference that will be held at Johns Hopkins University this November 11-14, 2012. More information about the conference can be found here. The Diagnostic Error in Medicine Conference (DEM) is dedicated specifically to diagnostic error in medicine. The ultimate goal of this conference is to improve patient safety by reducing the likelihood of diagnostic error in medicine. Minimizing diagnostic error is an essential component of safe patient care, and towards this end the conference activities are organized to summarize the… -
How much do you know about telemedicine or telehealth?
8 May 2012 | 8:29 pmThere are a growing number of organizations around the country that have received funding from the U.S. government to provide telemedicine education, training, and support to regional health care provider groups. Given that I went to medical school in Arkansas (UAMS), I wanted to share what the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences was up to these days. The UAMS Center for Distance Health (which didn't exist when I was a student back many years ago) has set up a website called LearnTelehealth.org and they are featuring courses and even a telehealth game so that you can test your… -
New York Digital Health Accelerator
4 May 2012 | 8:52 pmYou won't want to miss this exciting event! New York Digital Health Accelerator Thursday, May 10, 2012 5:15 PM - 8:00 PM (Eastern Time) The TimesCenter 242 West 41st Street Between 7th & 8th Avenues New York, New York 10036 United States Recently, the New York eHealth Collaborative along with the New York City Investment Fund and the NYS Department of Health, launched the New York Digital Health Accelerator (NYDHA) to fund 12 early- and growth-stage companies that are developing cutting-edge technology products in care coordination, patient engagement, analytics, and message alerts for… -
Medweb & HP providing telemedicine support in Afghanistan
2 May 2012 | 9:22 pmHere is a video recorded at the 2012 American Telemedicine Association (ATA) annual conference explaining how Medweb and HP provided telemedicine support in Afghanistan. ATA12 coverage is sponsored by HP. HP’s extensive portfolio of products, solutions, services and relationships can help your healthcare organization achieve quality business practices and provide quality patient care.
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EMR and EHR
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Healthcare IT’s Success is Truly in the Eye of the Beholder
16 May 2012 | 9:20 amI’ve come across few articles recently that really validate the notion that the success of healthcare IT is really in the eye of the beholder, or in some cases, the editorialized results of a study. Take, for example, the following headlines: “EHR Use Not Linked to Improved Diabetes Care Quality, Study Finds” and “App Improves Diabetes Management Among Teenagers, Study Finds” I find it hard to believe that if formally connected, the second study couldn’t somehow influence the first. In other words, if a mobile health app can improve diabetes management among teenagers, shouldn’t… -
Health 2.0 Boston
15 May 2012 | 10:07 amI’m in Boston enjoying meeting with a lot of really smart people at Health 2.0. As usual, the biggest value of the conference is the people you meet and the hallway conversations you have with those people. I’ll certainly be doing posts over the next couple weeks related to those conversations. The other highlight of Health 2.0 was hearing Jonathan Bush speak. He was in true Jonathan Bush form and he’s great because you can guarantee that he’ll never give the same speech twice. As one person said in the hallway, the connection between him thinking it and him saying it… -
Affordable Care Act and Employee Health
14 May 2012 | 12:41 pmOver at healthaffairs.org, there was a super interesting brief on Affordable Care Act and its forthcoming changes regarding employee health. Starting in 2014, employers will be able to offer incentives to employees regarding their enrollment in employee wellness programs. Employers can offer incentives such as monetary rewards for positive employee behavior like enrolling in a smoking cessation program, or joining a gym at discounted rates. Or these can work like the proverbial stick, by imposing penalties on non-compliant employees, e.g. increasing the cost of participating in an employer… -
EHSD, Computing In Front of Patients, EMR Workflow, and more – This Week in HealthCare Scene
13 May 2012 | 7:07 pmDidn’t have a chance to read everything that other HealthCareScene.com websites had to offer this week? Here is a round-up of some of the best articles this week EMR and HIPAA EHSD – EHR Hunt Stress Disorder Are you “worn out, drug out, and generally pooped” about the search for the perfect EMR? If so, the diagnosis might be what Dr. Gregg describes as EHSD — the EHR Hunt Stress Disorder. Sometimes it is hard to know which EHR company to go with, with over 600 out there. Knowing how to narrow the options down quickly might make the decision a little bit… -
Doctor Describes 15+- Year EMR Integration Project
11 May 2012 | 1:46 pmWouldn’t it be great if you rolled your EMR and, bam, all of the problems you hoped to solve were solved, just like that? Sure, but in most cases the technical rollout will do little to solve workflow problems unless you have them analyzed in advance, according to one doctor who’s taken part in a long, slow rollout. Here’s a quick overview of his organization’s progress: see what you think. Going live is a far cry from having truly adopted an EMR, and getting to adoption is a very long, drawn-out process, said Dr. Fred M. Kusumoto, who spoke at a recent meeting of…
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Healthcare IT Weblog
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Doubting the cost savings of health information technology
13 May 2012 | 9:47 pmReblogged from My Lymphoma Journey: A post indicating the results of a study that showed that imaging orders increased with computerized health systems, with increased duplication and costs. Concluding quote: Perhaps it is not enough just to have a health IT system but rather it is the quality of connectivity between health IT systems (coupled with a less litigious environment) that produces the anticipated cost-saving advantages of health IT and the true effects on physician behavior? Read more… 22 more words -
Why do Most EMRs Cause Disappointments?
12 May 2012 | 9:44 pmReblogged from EMR Blog - EHR, Practice Management and Medical Billing: Electronic medical records (EMR) seem to be the current trend in the healthcare industry today. You’ll find many physicians, allied health professionals and hospitals using some form of electronic recording of patient data. Despite the many advantages of a more uniform approach to medical -
EMR Customization May Make or Break Your Practice
11 May 2012 | 9:39 pmReblogged from EMR Blog - EHR, Practice Management and Medical Billing: In recent years, EMR has taken the healthcare industry by storm. While some of us choose to blame the industry and EMR vendors for placing technology between a doctor and his patient, the government’s relentless promotion of EMR adoption is the main cause for -
More on privacy and security.
11 May 2012 | 9:30 pmProtecting patients’ privacy and securing their health information is a core requirement for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid incentives programs for electronic health records (EHRs)1. Further, effective privacy and security measures protect your clinical practice from potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) civil and criminal liabilities2. Currently, your practice may have some privacy and security measures in place, such as private exam rooms, a notice of privacy practices, or a secure way to transmit patient information for billing. -
New realxed rules on MU
1 Dec 2011 | 11:25 amDoctors’ adoption of health information technology doubled in two years, according to a new report, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released Wednesday. Sebelius also announced extension of the meaningful use qualification date to 2014. See link for more info – http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/hhs-extends-mu-stage-2-deadline-spur-faster-emr-adoption?topic=01,08
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Medical Quack
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Former FDA Commissioner Andrew Von Eschenbach Joins Another Board–Banyan Biomarkers
16 May 2012 | 2:10 amBanyan Biomarkers provides analytical services to pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and investigators at academic research institutes. The company has a focus on traumatic brain injury and developing assays to qualify biomarkers. BD Former FDA leader von Eschenbach Named to Viamet Board of Directors Former FDA Commissioner, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach Finds a Home on the Board of HistoSonics Former FDA Chief Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach Appointed to the Board of Directors For BioTime and OncoCyte ALACHUA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Banyan Biomarkers, Inc. today… -
MyMedicalRecords PHR 30 Day Account To Be Offered at Mickey Fine Pharmacy Chain in California
10 May 2012 | 4:17 pmWho says the old traditions don’t mix with the new, and here’s an example of what is said to be the last pharmacy with a soda fountain in the store. If you under around 40 years old, you won’t know what one looked like as pharmacies today don’t have them any longer. MMR Global as you all know gained nationwide recognition over stocks and shares and the Hollywood suicide that occurred. Sometimes people say any publicity is good but in this case with getting the financials in order the company did get some press. At any rate if you have never heard of Micky Fine… -
Blue Cross Venture - Blue Health Intelligence Proving to Be Very Costly And Received Another 9 Billion From Undisclosed Source–Subsidiary Watch
10 May 2012 | 12:06 pmSo far according to this article it has been hard to quantify the real dollar amounts that have been saved. We all know there’s a lot more data out there of course with the creation of the venture. Recently it was announced that the firm that manages the Blue Cross venture was moving to San Francisco to start up an incubator so is this a sign of perhaps where some of the funding may have come from? With starting an incubator this is a sure sign that they are looking for more code for analytics. Sandbox VC Firm that Manages Blue Cross/Blue Shield VC Funds Is Moving to… -
Pebble Watch–Companion for iPhone and Android As a Companion for mHealth Apps With Crowd Source Funding (Video)
10 May 2012 | 11:36 amThis entire story is interesting in going just beyond what the watch does in the fact that it was funded by a company called Kickstarter. You can review the page and see the folks that pledged money to get the project off the ground here and this relates to the hot topic of crowd funding. All it took to contribute was a dollar and 283 backers jumped in. The watch supports blue tooth and connects to your phone, so just convenience with being on your wrist to check emails, get alerts, and so on shows how this will probably be a big hit. It is water resistant. There… -
Congress Drops the Ball While Children Can’t Get Their Drugs for Cancer Treatment–And Many of the Cancers Can be Cured–Shame on Boehner’s Response–For 14 Months the Bill Has Been In the Works
8 May 2012 | 1:03 amOver a year ago the bills started and today drug shortages are still looming. The bill is stuck in the Senate, why does it take 14 months before anything begins to happen. The FDA commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg has called for the law to put through so they can be notified when there are drug shortages looming. Watch the video and see what Boehner has to say, he respect the system..boy are in bad shape if that’s the case. Many of the drugs in short supply are generic as some companies are no longer making them due to not enough profit. The bill needs a…
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Medical Software Guides
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The Value of the Checklist When Selecting Your EMR / EHR
14 May 2012 | 8:09 pmBy Sheldon Needed The famous doctor and medical writer/professor Atul Gawande has written extensively on the huge benefits that a simple checklist affords in medicine, in industry, in life: Checklists offer protection against arrogance and forgetfulness, as well as being mindful of every last and important detail. Dr. Gawande explains how surgery, the construction of airplanes, and any other multi-stepped and multi-faceted procedure that involves multiple decisions –each simple, but dependent on each other– benefit from the use of a simple checklist. That is: Before going ahead… -
EMR Patient Portals
7 May 2012 | 8:16 pmBy Sheldon Needle When considering a Patient Portal for your EMR, don’t take an all-or-nothing attitude about the features you can manage to incorporate. Many small to medium practices cannot get excited about the use of patient web portal modules for their still-new EMRs. They feel it will require too much input from their side (HIPAA issues, security issues, possible billing for e-visits, portability and export options to other systems) and just something else large to go wrong. Patient portals can incorporate so many functions, and they do require the attention of doctors, nurses and… -
Migrating from an old EMR to a new EMR: Where to Begin without Falling Apart
27 Mar 2012 | 7:35 pmBy Sheldon Needed What if this is not the first time you have chosen an EMR? If this sounds like reality TV rather than nightmare on Elm Street, console yourself by knowing you are not the first practice that has had to move from one EMR to another. There are many reasons why, in this first serious generation of Electronic Medical Records, you might have to switch from your current EMR to a better model EMR. This is often not a matter of pique or keeping up with the Joneses, but of practice necessity. Any of the following scenarios could require a switch: You are using an uncertified EMR and… -
Speech Recognition Software Can Increase Ease-of-Use for Doctors
25 Mar 2012 | 6:18 pmBy Sheldon Needle Before Electronic Medical Records, there was speech recognition software: Doctors have long used speech recognition software to dictate their notes for their records, and then used transcriptions specialists to type the notes up and add them to patient records, whether written or electronic. In the old days, a doctor had to “train” his speech recognition software extensively to get used to his voice, inflection, and speech patterns. But now the same speech recognition technology has been improved to “learn” new voices and speech patterns quickly. And… -
A Brief Overview of Differences between ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM Codest
25 Mar 2012 | 10:47 amBy Sheldon Needle If you have not yet moved to Electronic Medical Records, you are fortunate in one sense: If you had, and you were still coding procedures and diagnoses with ICD-9 codes, you would have to go about transitioning to the ICD-10 codes. This way, if you haven’t yet moved to EMR, you will go directly to ICD-10. A quick review of the differences between the two coding systems: Like ICD-9-CM, the ICD-10-CM is based upon the International Classification of Diseases, which is published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and which uses unique alphanumeric codes to identify…
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Laura O'Grady, PhD
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Implications of indexing eHealth and Social Media articles in PubMed
13 May 2012 | 4:58 pmThere are 5615 journals currently indexed in PubMed. I was curious to know which of these journals is publishing articles on eHealth. I searched the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) using the word: “eHealth” and found three entry terms: eHealth, Mobile Health and Telehealth. I adapted a script and ran individual searches on the years 2010, 2011 and another search that included records from 1977 to the present. This resulted in 4908 articles. The findings are graphed in Figure 1. Figure 1: Journals indexed in PubMed using MeSH term “eHealth” (If you wish to know the full name of the… -
Minard’s map of Napoleon’s March: the missing pieces
25 Apr 2012 | 3:23 pmIntroduction Many of us are familiar with Charles Minard’s map of Napoleon’s March to Moscow in 1812 (Figure 1). This map has been reproduced in various publications including Edward Tufte’s “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information”. As Tufte noted the map provides us with various pieces of data: the width of the brown line indicates the size of the army as it travels east and the black line as it retreats in a westerly direction. The dates and temperature that correspond with progress of the march are included. Also provided are the longitude and latitude, which situate the… -
Patients and providers: identifying a diabetes dialogue gap?
2 Apr 2012 | 4:46 pmIn a previous post I used Google Charts to explore how data from a web-based source (Statistics Canada) can be mined and displayed in format that provided us with some insights. The data visualization (in the form of bar charts) demonstrated that rates of diabetes are increasing and more so in certain geographical areas of Canada. To help reduce these rates we need to further elucidate causative factors if and where possible. Some individuals become diabetic because they are unaware they are at risk. Many not be consciously aware of why they do not engage in behaviour change(s) despite known… -
Top ten missing Twitter Analytics
19 Mar 2012 | 10:09 amLike most people I have a hectic schedule and a lot of information to process. As an interdisciplinary researcher my interests include but are not limited to: health care, technology and emerging methodologies to measure effectiveness. To curate and parse this material I use a variety of web-based sources. Some of the content comes from automated searches of peer reviewed journal articles, email subscriptions of new issues of journal articles, RSS feeds, app-based tools such as Zite and also Twitter. Perhaps the most difficult to maintain the best signal to noise ratio is the latter. I have… -
Visualizing Canadian diabetes rates with Google Charts
4 Mar 2012 | 11:14 pmI have wanted to explore data using some of the advanced charting tools that are now available on the Internet for some time now. I’ve looked at quite a few options including Tableau and some GIS (Geographic Information System) programs such as ArcGIS and Instant Atlas. Most of these were expensive or used complex and cumbersome interfaces that had a steep learning curve. When I first looked at the Google Data Public Explorer I was impressed by the “higher order” use of CVS files to store the data, the XML to parse it and its use of HTML to render the output. The use of…
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Most Popular Items from healthcareitnews.com
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6 keys to the future of analytics and big data in healthcare
8 May 2012 | 12:47 pmA recently released report by Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation proves the value of big data is certainly something to take seriously. read more -
Top 6 tips for e-patients
4 May 2012 | 8:31 amGone are the days when patients can afford to be passive about their healthcare, says Nancy Finn, author of the new book e-Patients Live Longer: The Complete Guide to Managing Health Care Using Technology. read more -
Allscripts: Debacle or silver lining?
30 Apr 2012 | 10:01 amAfter what turned out to be a sea-changing Q1 earnings meeting April 26, which saw the ejection of its board chairman and three other board members reportedly quitting in protest, Allscripts on Monday moved quickly to begin to right the ship, with the announcement of a new chairman. read more -
6 things to know about an OCR/HIPAA audit
27 Apr 2012 | 10:19 amIt's one thing to know which hot buttons can trigger a visit from OCR. But according to Mahmood Sher-Jan, vice president of product management at ID Experts, and Chris Apgar, president and CEO at Apgar & Associates, organizations should also know what to expect if they're chosen to undergo an audit -- and know how to prepare for one. Apgar and Sher-Jan outline six things to know about an OCR/HIPAA audit. read more -
Allscripts in skid mode as shares plunge, chairman ousted
27 Apr 2012 | 10:03 amIt was no ordinary quarterly meeting Thursday for Allscripts. Its chairman Phil Pead was, by many accounts, forced out. Three board members apparently resigned in protest. And this morning, the EHR vendor's shares have plunged almost 43 percent to $9.15. The company also reported that CFO Bill Davis would be exiting May 18 for another position outside the healthcare sector, leaving analysts downgrading the firm's stock from “buy” to “neutral.” read more
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News from healthcareitnews.com
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Healthcare leads jobs growth, reports show
16 May 2012 | 10:06 amThe Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 155,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, with the healthcare industry alone responsible for 19,000 of these newly added positions. According to the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, State University in New York, more than 4.2 million healthcare employment opportunities are expected to be added by 2020. read more -
Quadrant4 Systems to acquire empowHR
16 May 2012 | 9:44 amQuadrant4 Systems Corporation, which makes enterprise resource planning and business intelligence software, will acquire Atlanta-based empowHR, a developer of SaaS platform technology for health insurance and employee benefits administration. read more -
No 'bubble' for healthcare IT, analysts say
16 May 2012 | 9:27 amLeading financial analysts scoffed at the notion of a healthcare IT “bubble” that could slow the pace of mergers and acquisitions this year. Speaking on a panel called “Financing The Deal” at the Nashville Health Care Council, they predicted that 2012 M&A activity would be brisk, though not superheated. read more -
Q&A: 3M spurs interoperabilty, innovation with DoD and VA iEHR
16 May 2012 | 9:02 amFor 3M President Jon Lindekugel, the fun part of what's about to happen with the VA and DoD iEHR is the innovation it will spark. Not coincidentally, that’s also something of an opportunity for 3M, which he describes as a "content company." read more -
HHS aims to help public gauge how healthcare is doing
16 May 2012 | 8:34 amThe Department of Health and Human Services has made available an online tool that makes it easy for the public to monitor and measure how the nation’s healthcare system is performing. The Health System Measurement Project enables policymakers, providers and the public to develop consistent data-driven charts and views of changes in important health system indicators. read more
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News from healthcareitnews.com
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Healthcare leads jobs growth, reports show
16 May 2012 | 10:06 amThe Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 155,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, with the healthcare industry alone responsible for 19,000 of these newly added positions. According to the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, State University in New York, more than 4.2 million healthcare employment opportunities are expected to be added by 2020. read more -
Quadrant4 Systems to acquire empowHR
16 May 2012 | 9:44 amQuadrant4 Systems Corporation, which makes enterprise resource planning and business intelligence software, will acquire Atlanta-based empowHR, a developer of SaaS platform technology for health insurance and employee benefits administration. read more -
No 'bubble' for healthcare IT, analysts say
16 May 2012 | 9:27 amLeading financial analysts scoffed at the notion of a healthcare IT “bubble” that could slow the pace of mergers and acquisitions this year. Speaking on a panel called “Financing The Deal” at the Nashville Health Care Council, they predicted that 2012 M&A activity would be brisk, though not superheated. read more -
Q&A: 3M spurs interoperabilty, innovation with DoD and VA iEHR
16 May 2012 | 9:02 amFor 3M President Jon Lindekugel, the fun part of what's about to happen with the VA and DoD iEHR is the innovation it will spark. Not coincidentally, that’s also something of an opportunity for 3M, which he describes as a "content company." read more -
HHS aims to help public gauge how healthcare is doing
16 May 2012 | 8:34 amThe Department of Health and Human Services has made available an online tool that makes it easy for the public to monitor and measure how the nation’s healthcare system is performing. The Health System Measurement Project enables policymakers, providers and the public to develop consistent data-driven charts and views of changes in important health system indicators. read more
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News from healthcareitnews.com
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Healthcare leads jobs growth, reports show
16 May 2012 | 10:06 amThe Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 155,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, with the healthcare industry alone responsible for 19,000 of these newly added positions. According to the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, State University in New York, more than 4.2 million healthcare employment opportunities are expected to be added by 2020. read more -
Quadrant4 Systems to acquire empowHR
16 May 2012 | 9:44 amQuadrant4 Systems Corporation, which makes enterprise resource planning and business intelligence software, will acquire Atlanta-based empowHR, a developer of SaaS platform technology for health insurance and employee benefits administration. read more -
No 'bubble' for healthcare IT, analysts say
16 May 2012 | 9:27 amLeading financial analysts scoffed at the notion of a healthcare IT “bubble” that could slow the pace of mergers and acquisitions this year. Speaking on a panel called “Financing The Deal” at the Nashville Health Care Council, they predicted that 2012 M&A activity would be brisk, though not superheated. read more -
Q&A: 3M spurs interoperabilty, innovation with DoD and VA iEHR
16 May 2012 | 9:02 amFor 3M President Jon Lindekugel, the fun part of what's about to happen with the VA and DoD iEHR is the innovation it will spark. Not coincidentally, that’s also something of an opportunity for 3M, which he describes as a "content company." read more -
HHS aims to help public gauge how healthcare is doing
16 May 2012 | 8:34 amThe Department of Health and Human Services has made available an online tool that makes it easy for the public to monitor and measure how the nation’s healthcare system is performing. The Health System Measurement Project enables policymakers, providers and the public to develop consistent data-driven charts and views of changes in important health system indicators. read more
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News from healthcareitnews.com
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Healthcare leads jobs growth, reports show
16 May 2012 | 10:06 amThe Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 155,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, with the healthcare industry alone responsible for 19,000 of these newly added positions. According to the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, State University in New York, more than 4.2 million healthcare employment opportunities are expected to be added by 2020. read more -
Quadrant4 Systems to acquire empowHR
16 May 2012 | 9:44 amQuadrant4 Systems Corporation, which makes enterprise resource planning and business intelligence software, will acquire Atlanta-based empowHR, a developer of SaaS platform technology for health insurance and employee benefits administration. read more -
No 'bubble' for healthcare IT, analysts say
16 May 2012 | 9:27 amLeading financial analysts scoffed at the notion of a healthcare IT “bubble” that could slow the pace of mergers and acquisitions this year. Speaking on a panel called “Financing The Deal” at the Nashville Health Care Council, they predicted that 2012 M&A activity would be brisk, though not superheated. read more -
Q&A: 3M spurs interoperabilty, innovation with DoD and VA iEHR
16 May 2012 | 9:02 amFor 3M President Jon Lindekugel, the fun part of what's about to happen with the VA and DoD iEHR is the innovation it will spark. Not coincidentally, that’s also something of an opportunity for 3M, which he describes as a "content company." read more -
HHS aims to help public gauge how healthcare is doing
16 May 2012 | 8:34 amThe Department of Health and Human Services has made available an online tool that makes it easy for the public to monitor and measure how the nation’s healthcare system is performing. The Health System Measurement Project enables policymakers, providers and the public to develop consistent data-driven charts and views of changes in important health system indicators. read more
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News from healthcareitnews.com
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Healthcare leads jobs growth, reports show
16 May 2012 | 10:06 amThe Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 155,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, with the healthcare industry alone responsible for 19,000 of these newly added positions. According to the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, State University in New York, more than 4.2 million healthcare employment opportunities are expected to be added by 2020. read more -
Quadrant4 Systems to acquire empowHR
16 May 2012 | 9:44 amQuadrant4 Systems Corporation, which makes enterprise resource planning and business intelligence software, will acquire Atlanta-based empowHR, a developer of SaaS platform technology for health insurance and employee benefits administration. read more -
No 'bubble' for healthcare IT, analysts say
16 May 2012 | 9:27 amLeading financial analysts scoffed at the notion of a healthcare IT “bubble” that could slow the pace of mergers and acquisitions this year. Speaking on a panel called “Financing The Deal” at the Nashville Health Care Council, they predicted that 2012 M&A activity would be brisk, though not superheated. read more -
Q&A: 3M spurs interoperabilty, innovation with DoD and VA iEHR
16 May 2012 | 9:02 amFor 3M President Jon Lindekugel, the fun part of what's about to happen with the VA and DoD iEHR is the innovation it will spark. Not coincidentally, that’s also something of an opportunity for 3M, which he describes as a "content company." read more -
HHS aims to help public gauge how healthcare is doing
16 May 2012 | 8:34 amThe Department of Health and Human Services has made available an online tool that makes it easy for the public to monitor and measure how the nation’s healthcare system is performing. The Health System Measurement Project enables policymakers, providers and the public to develop consistent data-driven charts and views of changes in important health system indicators. read more
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News from healthcareitnews.com
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Healthcare leads jobs growth, reports show
16 May 2012 | 10:06 amThe Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 155,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, with the healthcare industry alone responsible for 19,000 of these newly added positions. According to the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, State University in New York, more than 4.2 million healthcare employment opportunities are expected to be added by 2020. read more -
Quadrant4 Systems to acquire empowHR
16 May 2012 | 9:44 amQuadrant4 Systems Corporation, which makes enterprise resource planning and business intelligence software, will acquire Atlanta-based empowHR, a developer of SaaS platform technology for health insurance and employee benefits administration. read more -
No 'bubble' for healthcare IT, analysts say
16 May 2012 | 9:27 amLeading financial analysts scoffed at the notion of a healthcare IT “bubble” that could slow the pace of mergers and acquisitions this year. Speaking on a panel called “Financing The Deal” at the Nashville Health Care Council, they predicted that 2012 M&A activity would be brisk, though not superheated. read more -
Q&A: 3M spurs interoperabilty, innovation with DoD and VA iEHR
16 May 2012 | 9:02 amFor 3M President Jon Lindekugel, the fun part of what's about to happen with the VA and DoD iEHR is the innovation it will spark. Not coincidentally, that’s also something of an opportunity for 3M, which he describes as a "content company." read more -
HHS aims to help public gauge how healthcare is doing
16 May 2012 | 8:34 amThe Department of Health and Human Services has made available an online tool that makes it easy for the public to monitor and measure how the nation’s healthcare system is performing. The Health System Measurement Project enables policymakers, providers and the public to develop consistent data-driven charts and views of changes in important health system indicators. read more
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Latest Podcasts from healthcareitnews.com
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The uncertain future of health insurance exchanges
8 May 2012 | 8:07 amIn this episode of the Political Malpractice podcast, Government Health IT Senior Editor Mary Mosquera discusses legislative wrangling inhibiting health insurance exchanges and looks at some states that are making tangible progress anyway. No -
SCOTUS ACA: What we know, what we don't, and how both might affect the ruling
30 Mar 2012 | 11:40 amSenior Editor Mary Mosquera was in the Supreme Court for all four oral arguments and shares with Editor Tom Sullivan her insights about what the justices might be thinking about the individual mandate, Medicaid expansion, and the broader Affordable Care Act. No read more -
Joyce Sensmeier, HIMSS VP, informatics, discusses the growing role of nurses in health IT
29 Mar 2012 | 9:20 amJoyce Sensmeier, RN, is vice president for informatics at HIMSS. She talks with Healthcare IT News Editor Bernie Monegain about her early years as a nurse, her work with HIMSS, particularly with the Connectathon and the Interoperability Showcase. She also discusses her vision for increasing health IT leadership from nurses across the country. No read more -
Inside the Court: SCOTUS Day 3 with severability, Medicaid, the Godfather and Dirty Harry
29 Mar 2012 | 9:18 amSenior Editor Mary Mosquera was in the Supreme Court for Day 3 of ACA oral arguments, and tells Editor Tom Sullivan about the sessions on severability, which could become the most important aspect of the hearings, and Medicaid, where a pair of stars made rather unlikely appearances. No -
Inside the Court: Day 2, the individual mandate hearings
28 Mar 2012 | 8:50 amSenior Editor Mary Mosquera was in the Supreme Court for Day 2 of ACA hearings, and tells Editor Tom Sullivan about the justices’ reactions to individual mandate arguments, the sense she got on how they might proceed, and what it was like outside the court. No
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Latest healthcareitnews.com Events
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HIMSS Virtual Conference & Expo
3 May 2012 | 2:08 pmToday’s health IT environment is dynamic, fast-paced and every changing. Transforming healthcare to be both meaningful and sustainable is a paramount challenge for senior executives, health IT professionals, and others involved in the forefront of change. Recognizing this, the HIMSS Virtual Conference & Expo will equip attendees from the C-Suite and beyond to understand the challenges, the complexities, and the opportunities that will enable transformation with a focus on both a strategic and tactical perspective. read more -
HIMSS Virtual Briefing: The Future of Mobile Technologies and mHealth
3 May 2012 | 1:57 pmThe advancements in mobile health technologies are occurring at a rapid pace: new apps, devices, and other tools enabling these technologies are being introduced at a rapid pace across many stakeholder groups, including consumers. Learn what’s next in this evolving industry from nationally recognized speakers at the forefront of the developments. Register Today! -
Ninth Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference & Exhibition
3 Apr 2012 | 2:28 pmread more -
21st Annual Physician-Computer Connection Symposium
23 Mar 2012 | 2:29 pm -
AHIP's Institute 2012
20 Mar 2012 | 2:37 pmSalt Lake City, location of Institute 2012, prides itself on being "different by nature." You’ll find that Institute, by nature, is a very different conference enjoyed by thousands of health insurance decision makers year after year. read more
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Healthcare IT News Resources
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The Dell KACE Systems Management Appliance HIPAA Approach
16 May 2012 | 11:29 am -
June 5th @ 1PM ET--Get Control of Your Medical Images with a Cloud-Based Vendor-Neutral Archive
10 May 2012 | 10:46 am -
Securing Mobile Devices in the Business Environment
7 May 2012 | 9:12 am -
The Key Findings of the 2012 HIMSS Analytics Report: Security of Patient Data
4 May 2012 | 7:33 am -
Lehigh Valley Health Network: Achieves 100% uptime and future-proofs network for Mission Critical eHealth and IT applications
3 May 2012 | 2:59 pm
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Latest Blog Entries for heathcareitnews.com
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14 Ways Social Media May Soon Change Your Doctor's Visit
16 May 2012 | 9:22 amIn 2006, Pew Research Forum discovered that 80% of American adults used the Internet to research medical information. Election Feature Content: No sticky read more -
Positioning ONC for Continued Success
16 May 2012 | 8:00 amToday, we announced two exciting changes within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT – the creation of an Office of the Chief Medical Officer and an Office of Consumer eHealth. Election Feature Content: No sticky read more -
CPHIMS the Virtual Way
14 May 2012 | 7:00 amHere at Professional Development, Career Services we always support the need for our members to distinguish themselves when attempting to position their career tracks. Election Feature Content: No sticky read more -
Living in Beta
11 May 2012 | 11:30 amRecently the CEO of LinkedIn vlogged about how we need to live in constant beta. This applies to both our professional and personal lives. People are constantly seeking ways to improve themselves; this is evident with the size of the self-help section in bookstores. Professionally, though, how many of you know someone who is stuck? They are content with doing the same job day in and day out until they retire? This used to be the norm for the baby boomer generation where thirty or more years were spent at the same company. Election Feature Content: No sticky read more -
How the repeal of ACA could affect the uninsured
9 May 2012 | 11:54 amA decay in access to medical services for American adults could continue even if President Obama is re-elected in November, according to a recent Health Affairs study. The study shows access to healthcare worsened for U.S. adults aged 19 to 64 between 2000 and 2010, even for adults with private health insurance. According to U.S. Census data, that age group represents 195 million people. Election Feature Content: No sticky read more
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healthcareitnews.com
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Keeping loved ones in touch with patients
16 May 2012 | 12:34 pmWaiting: it is something that we as a society have come to both loathe and accept, especially in a world where the population is expected to increase 17% by the year 2020, according to the latest U.S. Census. We wait in line at the grocery store, the gas station, the ever-dreaded DMV. But perhaps the most agonizing of all waits is that which involves a loved one, or more specifically, the welfare of that person. read more -
Objective Health announces comprehensive strategy solution to help hospitals grow and thrive in uncertain healthcare environment
16 May 2012 | 10:07 amObjective Health, a specialized group within McKinsey & Company that serves healthcare providers, today announced its Strategy Solution, a comprehensive offering designed to enable hospitals to grow and thrive amidst the still challenging healthcare environment. The new Strategy Solution combines McKinsey’s globally recognized strategy consulting expertise, advanced data analytics, and proprietary, web-based software tools that ensure effective implementation and drive sustainable results for hospitals. read more -
CompuwareUEM tames complexity at the edge for web 2.0, mobile and streaming apps
16 May 2012 | 10:03 amCompuware Corporation, the technology performance company, today announced the industry's deepest and most flexible User Experience Management (UEM) solution for mastering complexity at the edge. The Compuware APM Spring 2012 Platform Release introduces a new generation of UEM with industry-first innovations that help large and small organizations optimize the performance of their applications by providing the deepest visibility of performance at the edge of the internet, pinpointing problems impacting business performance and conversion rates. read more -
Amerinet Inc. introduces alliance for financial efficiency
16 May 2012 | 9:59 amAmerinet Inc., a leading national healthcare group purchasing organization, today introduced the Amerinet Alliance for Financial Efficiency. To meet today’s challenging trends of increasing self-pay and uninsured patients, ever-changing regulatory requirements, competition and tightening margins; Amerinet has created an alliance of market-leading companies providing best-of-class revenue cycle and financial performance improvement solutions that support hospitals of all sizes, quickly, cost-effectively, strengthening financial performance. read more -
Viztek debuts upgraded opal-ortho appliance offers small “one box” footprint for private practices combining CR/DR and PACS
15 May 2012 | 10:36 amViztek, the digital imaging solution provider, announced today an upgrade to its Opal-Ortho PACS solution for orthopedic practices. The solution offers one single appliance that controls every aspect of orthopedics imaging, integrating the DR or CR solution and the PACS for optimal efficiency. read more
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Healthcare IT Insider
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Home health services as a way to help reduce healthcare costs
11 May 2012 | 9:29 amBaby boomers have started reaching their retirement age in 2011, and with over 78 million of them as patients they will require care during their senior years. Baby boomers are commonly known as the more self-reliant, gadget early adopters, and active individuals. But with their high population number they are bound to put demand more from our health system. In the current care delivery model we have today for senior citizens, nursing homes, hospital visits and assisted living are costly to both payers and patients. And for that reason payers are looking to see what cost benefits would… -
Top considerations when planning on joining an HIE
11 May 2012 | 9:28 amMore independent physicians are being solicited to connect to a community, local, or state HIE. Since many of these entities have gone live in higher numbers this past year, and continue to see an increase especially due to the meaningful use stage 2 proposed ruling, physicians will continue to find themselves with several vendors and options from which to choose. Below are a few important areas of considerations for all providers taking the next steps forward in data exchange: Connectivity with other existing community based (private HIEs) and state or national (NHIN): One of the core… -
Task and Time Management Tools
23 Aug 2011 | 2:01 pmFor several years now I have benefited from using a centralized to-do list integrated with my Outlook calendar.It offers a complete view of what activities and items I needed to accomplish everyday in an easy to use integrated fashion. But as I started relying more and more on mobile devices and tablets to conduct everyday business, I found out quickly that I needed to begin utilizing different apps that would allow me to easily view my tasks and calendars from any device, at any time. Fortunately there were several mobile apps that allow me to maintain all my devices in sync with my… -
The building blocks for an ACO technology infrastructure
17 Aug 2011 | 7:46 amACOs have become quite a hot topic among health care leaders today, with some of the main concerns being governance, payment structure, infrastructure and architecture challenges. Some feel strongly that ACOs will require a more complex and advanced technology infrastructure than the ones currently being employed in HIEs, and many are left wondering just what that will mean to providers in terms of moving forward. The goal of an ACO, or a set of health care organizations that work together and collaborate on and coordinate care for a set of patients, is to not only reduce costs and increase… -
Other areas that physicians will look at closely when selecting a new EHR product
11 Aug 2011 | 7:55 amTo date, over 900 EHR applications have been certified through an ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ATCB). While this has added a plethora of choices for physicians in terms of which to choose and how to attain meaningful use, given the tight deadlines and limited timeframe, the high number of vendors and technology options can prove to create more challenges and added layers of complexity for many health care organizations still working to identify the best-fit solution for their needs. For many products in the EHR market today, there are actually only subtle differences in…
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Healthcare Finance News
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Best hospitals have lower Medicare costs
15 May 2012 | 7:39 pmThe best hospitals in the country also have Medicare costs that are below other facilities, reported Kaiser Health News. The news organization compared the 16 hospitals placed on the U.S. News and World Report "Best Hospitals Honor Roll" and their costs to other hospitals. At $17,808, they are 1 percent below the national median Medicare hospital cost of $17,988. More than 25 percent of the nation's hospitals cost more than those on the honor list, while another 25 percent were less costly than those on the roll, according to KHN. Article -
Former CMS chiefs want SGR repeal
15 May 2012 | 7:18 pmFour former administrators of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were all in agreement last week: The sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for physicians is completely broken and needs to be replaced, reported Kaiser Health News. Gail Wilensky, Bruce Vladeck, Mark McLellan and Thomas Scully all testified in front of the Senate Finance Committee on May 10 that the current SGR is completely unfeasible. "There is no reward for efficiency, no reward for quality, and no link to how physician practices (operate)," Wilensky said, according to KHN video footage. The SGR,… -
Children's hospitals have stronger financial bearings
15 May 2012 | 7:13 pmChildren's hospitals are faring better financially than their general acute counterparts, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings. The ratings firm reported that the average standalone children's hospital had a rating of AA-, one point higher than the average A- rating for all other hospitals and hospital systems. "The higher average rating reflects children's hospitals' robust liquidity, unique market positions, strong philanthropic support, and specialized clinical services," the report said. It noted that capital spending is much higher than among… -
Hospitals ask HUD to drop interest rate hike
15 May 2012 | 7:08 pmThe American Hospital Association (AHA) is urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to back off from a proposal to increase interest rates for its Section 242 program that insures mortgages on hospitals, AHA News Now reported. According to a recent entry in the federal register, the proposal includes boosting the interest rate by 20 basis points--a 2 percentage point bump in interest and a 40 percent increase from the current interest rate of 5 percent per year. The Federal Register does not give any reason for the changes in financing. "The proposed increase is… -
Providers missing out on billions of incentives
15 May 2012 | 7:01 pmNew research suggests that providers are missing out on as much as $20 billion a year in incentives because their availability is poorly communicated. The study, by Illinois-based ZS Associates, concluded that up to 75 percent of incentives are going uncollected. Provider incentives have proliferated in recent years. Altogether, there are more than 170 pay-for-performance programs nationwide, compared to just 10 in the 1990s, according to Physicians News Digest. Although 85 percent of providers--including individual nurses and physicians--are eligible to receive some form of incentives, 75…
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Forum Discussions - Health Informatics Forum
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Career paths in Health Informatics
16 May 2012 | 8:53 amCould you please help me find the career paths in health informatics? currently pursuing BSc in Public health Informatics. what do I study to become a good lecturer in Health Informatics? -
Best HI Course Between Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm and City University, London
16 May 2012 | 5:20 amWhat is in your opinion the best Health Informatics course (taking in account also future job opportunities) between the ones offered by Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm and City University, London? Thanks, Andrea -
The 'Print' button on Healthcare IT systems
13 May 2012 | 5:47 pmHi all, I'm a fan of paperless hospitals, I believe there may be only a few hospitals in the world that has gone completely paperless. I like the fact that healthcare IT systems are helping hospitals to improve performance and digitize patient records. However, I've seen product demo's of some major health IT industry players in the UK..and I've noticed that all of the systems provide the option to print documents/forms of patient records although they are securely entered and stored in the system. How do you think, the option of printing electronic notes, prescription, test results, etc off… -
IN LOVE WITH THE COURSE, FINANCE IS JUST LIMITING ME
11 May 2012 | 2:01 pmPLEASE HOW CAN ONE GET SPONSORS OR SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDY MASTERS IN HEALTH INFORMATICS. I ALREADY GOT ADMISSION IN UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS. ALREADY DEFERRED IT FOR ONE YEAR. ANOTHER YEAR IS GOING. ALL KINDS OF ADVICE WILL BE MUCH APPRECIATED -
Health Informatics Doctoral Degree in New Zealand
8 May 2012 | 6:08 amHi all, I am a Medical doctor in Sri Lanka (MBBS) who has finished my MSc in Bio medical informatics. I have being searching in order to extend my studies towards a doctoral degree. I will be grateful if anyone can give me some advice on the availability of a doctoral degree in New Zealand. I have looked in the web, and the list given in this site, but mostly found certificate courses. Thanks in advance, Regards, Manjula Dharmawardhana
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hCentive Blog
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Making the Case for Using Predictive Analytics in Healthcare
14 May 2012 | 2:33 amToday, 8 out of 10 US healthcare companies boast of an online presence on the World Wide Web, reports PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in its April 2012 consumer survey report. However, only a select few firms are strategically regulating and managing their virtual presence. This is surprising, considering social media is changing interaction between consumers and health [...] -
Innovative Wellness Plans and Measures Augment Employer-Sponsored Wellness Packages
23 Apr 2012 | 2:17 amPost the PPACA reforms there has been an ever-growing interest among the US employers for introducing wellness programs at the workplace. Healthier employees require lesser medical assistance vis-à-vis unhealthy employees, a factor that helps employers cap their healthcare costs to manageable limits. The wellness program trend is growing in popularity among the US corporates and [...] -
The Implications of the Supreme Court’s Decision for Health Insurance Exchanges
5 Apr 2012 | 2:38 amMuch has been said about the potential of the Supreme Court’s decision to jeopardize the upcoming federal and state exchanges’ implementation plans. ACA is a lengthy act but it has a few key pillars that if modified have the biggest potential of to re-define the insurance markets of the future. These pillars are: 1. Individual [...] -
SHOP Exchange Part IV – Key concerns for operating successful exchanges (Part -1)
28 Mar 2012 | 4:25 amIn our last SHOP exchange blog, we covered various functional and structural aspects that states need to consider while designing SHOP exchanges. In the following blog, we talk about various issues that states might face while designing SHOP exchanges. States and exchange implementers are aware that the SHOP exchanges need to be tailored specifically to [...] -
Designing a Better Shopping Experience for Health Insurance Buyers
20 Mar 2012 | 6:35 amDesigning exceptional shopping experiences for intra-webs is like a mountain. Funnily though, this mountain is a slippery one. As soon as you’re at the top, you slowly slide back down. Nowhere is the phrase ‘You snooze, you lose’ more appropriate. Simply put – Product Design per se is a slippery slope, but one every company [...]
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iQ the innovation lab of GSW Worldwide
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Facebook Adds Organ Donor Feature
1 May 2012 | 10:54 amFacebook is running a social experiment…are you planning to participate? Today on Good Morning America, Mark Zuckerburg & Sheryl Sandberg announced Facebook has added an organ donation status option for Timeline. Zuckerberg talked about the tool’s impact with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America: “We came up with a pretty simple thing which we’re hopeful can help out. There are more than 100,000 folks just in the US who are waiting for organ donations and 18 people on average who die a day because they don’t have the organs they need. Simply by telling your… -
201: Social Media for Health
1 May 2012 | 8:36 amTwo years ago, we created a Social Media 101 class – basically, a bootcamp for pharma marketers who wanted to understand how social media was changing how people learn about, evaluate, and ultimately make healthcare decisions. Then, the trust graph was in major flux. People were figuring out how to use social connections (not just Dr. Google) to benefit their health. And, deciding if they were willing to interact with brands in that space. Today, social destinations are among the most popular on the web. They are an essential part of many of our lives. And, they have truly revolutionized… -
What’s Next From the FDA on Social Media
26 Apr 2012 | 6:00 amI’m happy to report that it has been months since I heard someone say in a meeting: “We’re waiting to see the FDA’s guidance on social media before we get involved.” Sometime in 2011, we all seemed to collectively realize: It’s just not going to be that easy. Instead, pharma would have to find its own way. To date, at least 60 pharma brands have done just that. They’ve built internal guidelines, tested approaches, and actively gotten involved in social media. Still, who doesn’t want to know what the FDA might have in store next? Here’s… -
Social Marketing to Improve Health
25 Apr 2012 | 9:30 amHow often do you hear the buzz words “social web”? On a daily basis, I bet. Depending on your interests and preferred online interactions it could be as much as hourly. In either case, social platforms whether online, offline, or both, have combined to become a great launching point for some highly effective social health campaigns. The refreshing thing is that when it comes to health campaigns, they aren’t based on selling merchandise for profit. At the core these campaigns are about bringing people together to create better health outcomes on a large scale. It gives many… -
Thoughts on Social Scrapbooking
24 Apr 2012 | 6:00 amRemember that vacation you took back in the late 90′s? If you do, chances are you have a photo from it framed on the wall, a shoebox of random photos, maybe a VHS video, and if you’re really lucky, you or your loved one created a scrapbook of the event. Now, remember that vacation you took a couple years back? Chances are you have a ton of digital photos on your iPhone that you never got around to printing but uploaded your favorites to Facebook and Twitter. When you remembered to break out the SLR you uploaded those to Flickr and any digital video you took was either uploaded to…
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anthelio
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Retirement: What Can You Afford?
9 May 2012 | 3:45 pmThere’s always a commercial on TV that reminds you that you must plan for retirement: sometimes it’s a rock or a blimp, sometimes it’s a guy following a green path … -
Smart Meters: what do they tell us about patients going online?
1 May 2012 | 3:46 pmMy region is probably the last part of the country to get smart meters for electricity. Ours was installed this week. Smart meters provide instant power outage notifications to your … -
100th Anniversary of the Titanic and Healthcare
23 Apr 2012 | 11:46 amPeople like to think they have control over a situation or, at least if bad things happen, they happen for a reason. For the 100th anniversary of the sinking of … -
Health Literacy Affects US All
19 Apr 2012 | 10:08 amNow I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent person, but a recent medication prescribed by my physician has me scratching my head. Let’s look at the instructions for taking … -
Understanding Encryption
11 Apr 2012 | 10:08 amIf you’ve been following HIPAA breaches at all, you know that many of the largest could have been prevented if the stolen devices (laptops, drives, etc.) had been encrypted. The …
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FierceMobileHealthcare
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Debate: Can mobile apps achieve what pills can't?
15 May 2012 | 11:47 amIn a pair of point-counterpoint articles at Forbes, contributors Dave Chase and David Shaywitz face off on the question of whether mobile apps could someday be more effective than prescription drugs--a response to health app company Happtique's plans to build a platform for physicians to "prescribe" apps to their patients. Chase, the CEO of patient portal and relationship-management company Avado.com, sounds a dire warning that apps pose a huge threat to a lethargic pharma industry. He likens pharma execs to those of the newspaper industry 15 years ago, who saw the… -
Banner, Aetna build mobile tech into ACO program
15 May 2012 | 9:42 amHealth insurer Aetna and Phoenix-based hospital network Banner Health are digging deep into the technology toolbox to boost their evolving accountable care organization partnership. Seeking ways to reduce costs but improve outcomes, the two groups are building a hefty "technology stack" into the ACO system, and improve physician-patient coordination of care, company officials say. The partners are installing an across-the-board health information exchange to allow clinicians two-way access--that is, read and input--to the core electronic medical record. Seventeen of… -
Reaching mHealth's Holy Grail: Behavior change
15 May 2012 | 5:25 amHealth apps continue to hit the market in droves, promising your patients faster weight loss, reduced blood pressure, improved cardiac health. But the true Holy Grail of mobile health--getting patients to make healthier choices, stick to health regimens, etc.--remains elusive. So I dug in to find some real strategies that hospitals and developers can use to truly engage patients in their own healthcare, and turn their mobile phones or tablets into actual instruments of health change. Perhaps the most important starting point is to make the smartphone a friend, according to Margaret Morris, a… -
BYOD continues to challenge hospitals' security boundaries
14 May 2012 | 1:28 pmAs "Bring Your Own Device" continues its march into healthcare--remember Aruba Networks' recent data showing 85 percent of hospitals allow BYOD--CIOs continue to adapt their security policies to control a myriad of devices and security settings. Mobile cheerleader John Halamka, CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, put forward a few new tweaks to his own organization's policy in an post to his Life as a Healthcare CIO blog last week. For instance, Halamka believes that CIOs need to: Make passwords still top priority: Halamka uses a remote wipe… -
Tablet use continues to increase among docs
14 May 2012 | 12:32 pmPhysician use of tablets has grown more than 75 percent in the past year, according to new findings from Manhattan Research published last week. The research company studied the mobile habits of more than 3,000 physicians in the first quarter of 2012, and compared those findings to the same period of 2011. A full 62 percent of doctors are using tablets--Apple iPads still being the favorite--compared to only 35 percent a year ago, the study found. Perhaps even more interesting: More than half of those physicians using tablets are employing them at the point of care. Physicians are evolving in…
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EMR News
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New research disputes claims EHRs improve diabetes care
15 May 2012 | 12:24 pmContrary to previous research, the use of electronic health records failed to improve care for diabetic patients in a study published in the Annals of Family Medicine. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey researchers compared data from 16 practices in the Northeast that used EHRs and 26 practices that did not, assessing the care for 798 patients. They found, in fact, that patients at clinics using paper records were more likely to meet all of three targets for hemoglobin A1c levels, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and blood… -
'Way Ahead' architecture to serve as backbone for iEHR
15 May 2012 | 12:10 pmNew work on the enterprise architecture (EA) created for the joint integrated electronic health record effort of the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs will be based on work already completed by each department, according to a DoD report. The Military Health System's "EHR Way Ahead" architecture will serve as the backbone for the iEHR EA, according to the report. Way Ahead is the EHR system DoD plans to implement to replace the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) and the Composite Health Care System (CHCS). "This architecture has… -
'Accountability tool' reduces CT scans in the ER
14 May 2012 | 11:12 amA tool embedded in an electronic health record can reduce the number of CT scans performed in the emergency room and help patients avoid unnecessary radiation, concludes a University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine study. Abdominal pain is the most common reason for emergency room visits in the United States; since diagnosis is often difficult, many patients receive CT scans, even though in many instances the scan--and the radiation--turns out to have been unnecessary. In the study of 11,176 patients in two University of Pennsylvania emergency rooms, the researchers… -
Experts: Use patients to reduce errors in electronic records
10 May 2012 | 9:07 amGiving patients better access to their electronic health records is not only part of Stage 2 of Meaningful Use. It's also an effective way to improve the quality of the data, according to a panel of experts who spoke on a recent webinar hosted by the National e-health Collaborative, a public-private partnership established by a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to foster national health information exchange (HIE). "You can't proofread your own stuff. You have to have a second pair of eyes," said speaker Dave deBronkart, co-chair of the Society for… -
Society: Give patients 'immediate' access to EHR data
10 May 2012 | 8:59 amThe Society for Participatory Medicine (SPM) has expressed concern that proposed delays in allowing patients access to their EHR records under Stage 2 of the Meaningful Use EHR incentive program are "arbitrary" and will hurt patient care. In a comment letter submitted to CMS May 4, the SPM warned that the proposed four-day grace period between the time that eligible professionals obtain patient records and when they must provide access to the patient impedes the continuity of care--as does the proposal to give providers 36 hours to provide discharge information after a patient leaves…
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ICMCC » Articles
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Health information exchange: persistent challenges and new strategies
16 May 2012 | 1:14 pmSource: Vest JR, Gamm LD. J Am Med Inform Assoc, 17(3) Content: Recent federal policies and actions support the adoption of health information exchange (HIE) in order to improve healthcare by addressing fragmented personal health information. However, concerted efforts at facilitating HIE have existed for over two decades in this country. The lessons of these [...] -
JAMIA: Why do some providers use HIEs and others not?
16 May 2012 | 12:41 pmSource: Jeff Byers, CMIO Content: “Understanding end users’ perspectives towards health information exchange (HIE) technology is crucial to the long-term success of HIE, according to researchers from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn., who developed an in-depth understanding of HIE usage by applying qualitative methods. Publishing their findings in the May edition of the [...] -
Health information exchange technology on the front lines of healthcare: workflow factors and patterns of use
16 May 2012 | 12:27 pmSource: Unertl KM et al, J Am Med Inform Assoc, 19(3) Content: Objective The goal of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of how a health information exchange (HIE) fits into clinical workflow at multiple clinical sites. Materials and Methods The ethnographic qualitative study was conducted over a 9-month period in six emergency [...] -
Effects of an online personal health record on medication accuracy and safety: a cluster-randomized trial
16 May 2012 | 9:39 amSource: Schnipper JL et al, J Am Med Inform Assoc, 2012 Content: Objective To determine the effects of a personal health record (PHR)-linked medications module on medication accuracy and safety. Design From September 2005 to March 2007, we conducted an on-treatment sub-study within a cluster-randomized trial involving 11 primary care practices that used the same PHR. Intervention practices [...] -
Health and Digital Moms – getting underneath the hood of the Mobile Mom
16 May 2012 | 9:14 amSource: Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, Health Populi Content: “Mom is the Chief Health Officer of her family, she’s mobile, and seeking health information and community on-the-go. But underneath the persona of the Mobile Mom, she’s consuming information and sharing perspectives on many other ‘screens,’ too. And that’s the challenge for marketers seeking to grab the attention of this [...]
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ClinicServer - Clinic Management Software
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ClinicServer ReleasesPencilThat: An Affordable, Easy to Use Appointment Diary with Built in Client Self-Scheduler
16 May 2012 | 11:08 amFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada (05-16-2012) ClinicServer offers a time-saving, revenue increasing solution to their cloud-based practice management software. This new feature, called PencilThat, enables clients to book their own appointments online, instantly filling scheduling gaps and significantly reducing no-shows for appointment-based businesses. PencilThat incorporates full security and intricate controls to service [...] -
Finally, a client-centred practice management solution!
15 May 2012 | 9:18 amOne of ClinicServer’s happy users, and early adopter of PencilThat, Tania Boulos, explains the benefits of using this affordable ClinicServer subscription as an essential part of her everyday business. PencilThat is a simple practice management software package with an online self-scheduler that allows clients to securely book and manage their own appointments from any place at [...] -
Top four reasons why our Mobile Android App will rock your world
9 Mar 2012 | 8:32 amIn today’s busy climate, we need software that matches our on-the-go lifestyle instead of trying to adjust our lifestyle to fit our software. The same is true of how we manage our professional lifestyle. Many clinicians find themselves on the road to see clients on location, travelling from clinic to clinic, or catching up on [...] -
Five reasons why our clinic is using ClinicServer, and why you should too.
7 Mar 2012 | 8:11 amA few months ago our clinics were in need of new on-line clinic management software. We had a long list of specific criteria that we were looking for as we have multiple interdisciplinary clinics. We filtered through many different software programs, and sat through several demonstrations from different clinic software companies only to find that [...] -
5 Self-Care Tips for Clinicians
5 Mar 2012 | 7:53 am1. Cut the fluff There are many aspects of running a business that don’t require your clinical expertise. Confirming appointments with clients, managing billing and other administrative tasks can be outsourced to give you back time to execute on the skills that are uniquely yours. As a business owner, I know it can be difficult [...]
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EHR Bloggers
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Free EMR is also Best in KLAS
15 May 2012 | 4:32 pmPractice Fusion has been named a top EMR vendor by medical providers in a new annual KLAS report on SaaS technology. Our EMR ranked No. 1 in Product Response Time and No. 2 in Overall Performance, surpassing athenahealth, Quest and AdvancedMD. Our debut in the prestigious KLAS ranking comes just four years after the product’s initial launch. Practice Fusion follows in the footsteps of many great Silicon Valley innovations. The region has produced some of the most disruptive, world-changing ideas:... read more > -
An Orthopedic Surgeon Discusses His Free EMR
15 May 2012 | 11:39 amAfter a bad experience with another EMR, Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Andrew Bronstein stumbled across Practice Fusion and hasn’t looked back since. Check out the latest case study below. Interested in becoming a Practice Fusion case study? Email community@practicefusion.com with your story! -
Avoid CMS e-Prescribing Penalties
14 May 2012 | 12:35 pmAs a Medicare provider, you may be subject to federal penalties if you don’t send and report a certain number of e-prescriptions. You need to send in 10 G-codes by June 30th in order to avoid a 1.5% Medicare deduction in 2013. You may have heard of the CMS Medicare e-Rx Incentive Program designed to encourage adoption of e-prescribing. Though you cannot qualify for both Meaningful Use and the separate eRx program, all Medicare providers (subject to exceptions below) are... read more > -
Health News Highlights from Across the Web: Volume 2
14 May 2012 | 10:00 amFrom live tweeting brain surgeries to the best EHR implementations, health technology news moves between consumer to enterprise and everything in between. Here are a few health sector news highlights from the past week: • US News & World Report featured a piece focused on Health IT that looks at the pros and cons of electronic medical records. The article, “Continuity of Information: Will EMRs Remedy Discontinuity of Care?”, discusses government incentives. • eWeek’s Brian Horowitz wrote a story highlighting... read more > -
Top 5 Meaningful Use Myths
11 May 2012 | 10:00 am2011 marked the inaugural year of the EHR Incentive Program that has motivated a substantial amount of medical professionals to begin adopting EHRs and start thinking about how technology can improve healthcare. Meaningful Use, which was coined from the ARRA legislation of 2009, is what every provider aims to achieve – it simply refers to using an EHR effectively to improve patient outcomes. Here at Practice Fusion, the Customer Engagement and Support teams spend a great deal of time answering... read more >
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Project HealthDesign Blog
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What Will Estrellita Be When She Grows Up?
15 May 2012 | 8:45 amKaren Cheng, Estrellita Co-Principal Investigator, University of California, Irvine As our team’s data collection winds down, it is inevitable that we begin thinking about the next steps for the project. The feedback from parents has been overwhelmingly positive. They have found the data entry to not be too burdensome and have found it useful to have the data so readily accessible. They report feeling cared for and feeling a sense of security that they have an easy way to communicate with the Early Developmental Assessment Center (EDAC) nurse case manager. Through this work, we have… -
RWJF Comments on Meaningful Use Stage 2 NPRM
7 May 2012 | 3:22 pmLibby Dowdall, Communications Coordinator, Project HealthDesign National Program Office Today, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) formally commented on the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program’s Stage 2 proposed rule, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). As a national program of RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio, we, too, recognize health IT’s role as an important tool for improving health and health care in the U.S., and we applaud this effort toward the truly meaningful use of EHRs. We encourage you to read a selection from RWJF’s general comments… -
Snapshots from the Project HealthDesign Workshop
1 May 2012 | 9:05 amLibby Dowdall, Communications Coordinator, Project HealthDesign National Program Office Last week, we convened in Nashville, Tennessee for our final Project HealthDesign workshop. Since the program’s inception in 2006, facilitators at the Vanderbilt Center for Better Health have helped us hone our ideas and collaborate across teams. These workshops have also served as critical opportunities for building a program that’s more than the sum of the individual projects. Our workshops typically include participants from each grantee team, our National Advisory Committee, Robert Wood Johnson… -
Implications for Patient Engagement if the Health Reform Law Falls
26 Apr 2012 | 8:15 amRobert Belfort, Project HealthDesign Regulatory and Assurance Advisory Group, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP It is hard to escape the news coverage about the constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and the attention being paid to the case is understandable. The ACA is arguably the most far-reaching piece of domestic legislation that Congress has passed since it enacted Medicare in the 1960s. Although the focus of the legal challenge to the ACA is on the individual mandate, which requires that almost all Americans without health insurance buy individual health insurance… -
Greetings from the Project HealthDesign Workshop
25 Apr 2012 | 8:15 amLibby Dowdall, Communications Coordinator, Project HealthDesign National Program Office Be sure to follow along today and tomorrow as we gather in Nashville for our final Project HealthDesign workshop. Facilitated by the Vanderbilt Center for Better Health, these workshops have been vital to helping our grantee teams collaborate successfully, as well as for helping us identify themes and ideas at a program level. However, this is a unique workshop — even for us — in that we’ve invited the inspiring members of our National Advisory Committee, as well as a small group of special guests,…
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Relational IT
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Social Media Evaluation for Candidates
11 May 2012 | 10:24 amAs recruiting professionals working in the technology sector, we are extraordinarily aware of the importance of social media in recruitment strategies. This is true for both recruiters and candidates. As a candidate for a career move, are you taking full advantage of what social media can do for you? To be effective recruiters of people for our clients, we are actively involved in social media activity each day. We update our Facebook and Twitter accounts with news, career advice, and open positions and we continually qualify prospective candidates for our new opportunities. Social media… -
IT Jobs in Massachusetts – Perspectives for 2012
17 Apr 2012 | 6:50 amTechnology continues to transform job development across the country, impacting the rapid growth of some industries and occupations and the decline in importance of others. Using Boston’sNew England BLS Information Office’s report as a tell tale, we see that Massachusetts’ high tech industry, as well as the accompanying occupations, are significant contributors to the overall high tech recruitment market and the Massachusetts economy. Recent research published by www.Boston.com in collaboration with Monster identified the top 10 in-demand jobs across Massachusetts. Among jobs in retail,… -
IT Careers: Mobile Application Developer
13 Apr 2012 | 6:56 amThe demand for mobile application development skills has grown dramatically over the past few years up 82% year-over-year from February 2011, 295% compared to 2010, and more than 400% from February 2009, according to WANTED Analytics™. In February 2012 alone, more than 19,000 online ads were placed for mobile application developers in the United States alone. There is no doubt that the mobile application industry will continue to grow rapidly. If you are a software developer with experience building web applications, consider a shift to mobile application development and add highly demanded… -
IT Professionals Are Writing History in Healthcare IT
4 Apr 2012 | 2:24 amWith the current job markets unprecedented demand for specialists in healthcare, IT Professionals have a new challenge to face as they re-evaluate their expertise and prepare to embrace a career change andplay an important role in U.S. healthcare history. In this blog, I am going to take a brief look at Healthcare IT and the likelihood of long term growth in this segment of the employment market. In order to provide better health care at lower cost, the U.S. healthcare industry is making significant investments to build a powerful interconnected information technology system. The… -
Best Mobile Apps to Manage Your Job Search
29 Mar 2012 | 8:30 amLiving in the era of social media eases our efforts in finding our dream job. Whether you own a smartphone, iPhone or a tablet, running iOS, Android or Windows 7, you have a large range of mobile apps to choose from if you want to find a job at lightning speed. Due to their rich intuitive features, mobile apps can assist you at all stages of the job search process. You can track job listings, get access to hiring company’s videos, tweets and blogs, make use of job search tools and alerts, create your mobile resume, and connect with recruiters on Facebook or Twitter, on the go. After testing…
