Health Informatics News

Probst, Tang Among HIT Policy Committee Appointees Posted: 03 Apr 2009 09:39 AM PDT Marc Probst, CIO at Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City) and Paul Tang, M.D., vice president and CMIO at Palo Alto Medical Foundation (Mountain View, Calif.) were among the 13 healthcare industry leaders appointed to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee, a new advisory body established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The appointments were announced by Gene Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General and head of the Government Accountability Office (Washington, D.C.). The committee will make recommendations on creating a policy framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health IT infrastructure, including standards for the exchange of patient information. Also earning nods were Judith Faulker, CEO and president of Epic Systems Corporation (Verona, Wis.) and Charles Kennedy, M.D., Camarillo, vice president for Health Information Technology at Wellpoint, Inc. (Camarillo, Calif.) An additional seven members will be appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Majority and Minority leaders of the Senate, and the Speaker and Minority leader of the House of Representatives. The President can appoint other members as representatives of relevant federal agencies. To access the entire list of appointees, click here .

Faxton-St. Luke’s Selects Performance Management Solution Posted: 03 Apr 2009 09:18 AM PDT Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare of New Hartford, N.Y. will deploy a comprehensive business intelligence solution from HospitalMetrics , Toronto-based ABS’ performance measurement solution, to facilitate hospital wide decision support. According to the company, the program targets clinical and financial areas as part of its ongoing efforts for continual improvement. The software layers on top of the hospital’s enterprise-wide data systems including HIS, ADT, EMR, HR and Finance, providing hospital executives and managers with aggregated performance information, it says. Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare is a not-for-profit organization that includes three campuses and a total of 614 beds.

Wandering WiFi Donates Services to Children’s Posted: 03 Apr 2009 09:15 AM PDT Atlanta-based Wandering WiFi , a provider of public and private wireless technology solutions, has donated equipment, installation, services and on-going technical support to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta . Children’s has launched the service, offering Wandering WiFi’s wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) free to all visitors, patients and physicians in its office park and three Atlanta hospitals, serving over half a million patients a year. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is a 510-bed, three-hospital system that also includes 16 neighborhood locations.

SunGard, Orchestrate Unite to Improve EMR Availability Posted: 03 Apr 2009 09:13 AM PDT SunGard Availability Services (Wayne, Pa.) is partnering with Orchestrate Healthcare (Greenwood Village, Colo.), a technical consulting service, to help healthcare organizations improve information availability for EMRs. The companies say they will help hospitals develop and execute cost-effective business continuity plans that address the requirement to access EMR data in the event of an IT systems outage to safeguard quality of care.

Two Hospitals Sign On for Allscripts Solutions Posted: 03 Apr 2009 09:12 AM PDT San Diego-based Scripps Health and Ottawa Regional (Ill.) Hospital and Healthcare Center have selected Chicago-based Allscripts for their EHRs. Scripps Health will use Allscripts to automate its electronic prescription orders, lost charge capture, and clinical quality solutions for nearly 550 physicians in its 19 outpatient clinics in San Diego County. In addition to the EHR, Scripps will implement the Allscripts Clinical Quality Solution, a tool that delivers clinical decision support information at the point of care, says the company. Scripps will implement the EHR for its physicians in Scripps Clinic, with nearly 450 physicians in 50 medical specialties, and Scripps Coastal Medical Center, a primary care group. Similarly, Ottawa Regional selected a comprehensive suite of Allscripts solutions to electronically connect its providers across all of its care settings, including the ED, physician offices, and the hospital’s home health network. Ottawa is also deploying Allscripts Assure Disaster Recovery, a solution that securely stores up-to-date patient information remotely for easy access during emergencies, says the company. Scripps Health is a $2 billion nonprofit community health system with 2,600 affiliated physicians and five acute-care hospital campuses in San Diego County. Ottawa Regional is a non-profit healthcare organization located southwest of Chicago. It is anchored by Ottawa Regional Hospital (a 118-licensed bed facility) and includes a medical staff of 160 physicians, its own medical group and a home healthcare network.

Initiate Systems Unveils Data Sharing Solution Posted: 02 Apr 2009 08:42 AM PDT Chicago-based Initiate Systems, Inc. is introducing a solution designed to help healthcare organizations reduce medical errors, increase operational efficiencies, and lower costs. Initiate Interoperable Health links data from multiple systems and sources with a number of entities, including patients, care providers, health plan members and their records. This, says the company, will facilitate data exchange between hospitals, providers, insurers and government agencies.

KLAS Reports Eye M&A, CPOE and Ambulatory EMRs Posted: 02 Apr 2009 08:21 AM PDT Three new studies from Orem, Utah-based KLAS detail the success of mergers and acquisitions, examine how CPOE may be a key indicator of the meaningful use of EMRs, and look at how the ambulatory EMR market is poised for significant growth. The report on mergers and acquisitions states that the fate of an acquired company’s senior management proves a key factor in determining customer satisfaction following an acquisition. It also identifies the warnings signs providers should watch for to determine whether to migrate to a new solution if one of their IT system or service vendors is acquired. In the CPOE study, KLAS estimates that CPOE adoption has grown by 28 percent since its 2008 report. Cerner, Eclipsys and Epic lead the charge with CPOE adoption among their customer bases. Cerner has more hospitals doing CPOE than any other vendor, while Eclipsys has the most physicians doing CPOE nationwide with its SCM product, it says. In the ambulatory EMR report, KLAS reports the following: Allscripts was the company most often considered by providers in EMR buying decisions, being named 38 percent of the time, followed by NextGen (27 percent), eClinicalWorks (25 percent) and GE (23 percent). 54 percent of providers were changing or evaluating their buying strategies based on the changes to the Stark Law, compared to only minimal activity last year. 42 percent of providers would purchase an ASP or remote-hosted EMR, while a further 22 percent might consider such an arrangement. For more information on any of the three reports or to purchase them, healthcare providers and vendors can visit www.KLASresearch.com .

Bethesda Memorial Automates Scheduling Posted: 01 Apr 2009 08:51 AM PDT Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach, Fla., is installing ScheduleRx, a pharmacy-specific staffing solution from Bellevue, Wash.- Pharmacy OneSource, Inc . The hospital will use the solution, which features Web-based shift changes and vacation requests, to reduce the time required to schedule its pharmacy and technician staff, says the company. As the flagship of Bethesda Healthcare System, Bethesda Memorial is a 401-bed, not-for-profit, community hospital offering a full array of services through its Centers of Excellence.

Articles: Direct to Consumer: Women are a powerful, but untapped, audience Posted: 03 Feb 2006 12:04 AM PST "Women influence many family decisions—from choosing what's for dinner to selecting the medications their children take. In fact, nearly two-thirds of women are responsible for family healthcare decisions, according to a 2004 national survey conducted by Plan for Your Health. Many women also assume the care-giving role outside their nuclear families. Today's middle-aged woman may also look after her parents and in-laws too, often determining how long they can live on their own and how to best care for them. In addition, she often influences the important health decisions of grandchildren, co-workers, and friends." Read more at PharmExec.

Consumer tools: Really Personal PHRs Posted: 27 Jan 2006 01:05 AM PST "If we're committed to fostering the adoption of personal health records, we should take a page out of the consumer marketing textbooks — not the primers of health IT marketers. This was my conclusion after attending a recent meeting in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Markle Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Quality Research and Quality. " Read more about this at iHealthBeat .

Consumer trends: Manhattan Predicts Online Health Trends Posted: 27 Jan 2006 12:06 AM PST "US healthcare specialist Manhattan Research has published a summary of the major trends for health and pharmaceutical marketers to consider in 2006. The trends chart the increased use of the web and other new technologies as a health information and communication tool for both patients and physicians." Read more at Daily Research News Online.

News: Wall Street Journal Looks at Tools That Identify Low-Cost Care Options Posted: 26 Jan 2006 01:07 AM PST "The Wall Street Journal on Thursday looked at efforts by insurers to provide patients with tools - including a cell phone Web browsing service - to help them find low-cost treatment options. Lumenos, a unit of WellPoint, in February will launch the cell phone service, which lets patients type drug names into their cell phones' Web browsers and get lists of lower-cost alternatives. The program is designed so that patients can ask their physicians about cost-effective alternatives while they still are at their appointments." Read more at iHealthBeat.

Consumer tools: Consumer Health Complete Now Available from EBSCO Publishing Posted: 25 Jan 2006 12:09 AM PST "In continuing with the company's goal of providing the most comprehensive collection of online health and wellness resources, EBSCO Publishing has announced the release of Consumer Health Complete (CHC). This full text database is designed to support consumer and patients' information needs as well as foster an overall understanding of health-related topics." Read more at Managing Information News.

You are subscribed to email updates from Health Informatics News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Inbox too full? Subscribe to the feed version of Health Informatics News in a feed reader.
If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: Health Informatics News, c/o Google, 20 W Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610