Monday, July 6, 2009

Health Informatics News

Health Informatics News

Survey: Privacy compliance has declined

Posted: 14 May 2006 01:56 AM PDT

Three years after federal rules governing the privacy of patients' medical records went into effect, compliance seems to have declined for 6 percent, according to an annual survey conducted by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Read more about this at here.

E-book: Making E-Health Work

Posted: 14 May 2006 01:53 AM PDT

E-Health has become an integral part of present-day healthcare delivery. With healthcare consumers, increasingly the focus of most health systems, the widespread implementation of health information and communications technologies offers cost-effective opportunities to meet their increasingly sophisticated healthcare needs.Bankix Systems Ltd has released its latest e-book. It is a 200-page in-depth analysis of the issues involved in "Making E-Health Work," the e-book's title. Read more about this e-book at here.

Consumer tools: UCompareHealthCare Offers Free Reports on Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Physicians

Posted: 11 Mar 2006 01:01 AM PST

"UCompareHealthCare has just unveiled its Web site, ucomparehealthcare.com, which features free reports on the nation's nursing homes, hospitals and physicians to help consumers make informed healthcare decisions. I checked the web site and found it very informative for health consumers to help them make informed decision about their choices of doctors, hospitals and others." Read more about this at UCompareHealthCare

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.

16 FL clinics part of risky study

Posted:

7/3/2009 © AP/Health News FL
Sixteen Florida clinics are taking part in a controversial study of chelation therapy in heart attack survivors, a study that is under investigation for including clinicians with troubled pasts and for telling the patients enrolled too little about the risks. See the list of participating sites in Florida.

Patients kept going to ER; clinic gives up

Posted:

7/5/2009 © Daytona Beach News-Journal
A primary care clinic run by Halifax Health is dropping its attempt to get non-emergency patients to come there instead of the hospital emergency room because there were so many no-shows, the health system says. Since patients were going to the hospital anyway, the new emergency department includes a non-emergency service.

Medical bloat 'going to get hit'

Posted:

6/27/2009 © Miami Herald
Financing healthcare reform will likely require Medicare spending cuts in South Florida and other areas of the country where there is bloat -- excessive hospitalization, tests, and frequent referrals to specialists. Bundling services into a package deal for payment is one plan for cost-cutting.

WellCare CEO to leave

Posted:

6/29/2009 © Reuters
Heath Schiesser, CEO of WellCare Health Plans Inc., notified the board on Friday that he will resign as soon as his replacement is found. He took over in January 2008 after the Tampa company was raided by the FBI and other law-enforcement officials in a Medicaid fraud investigation.

Millions of patients gouged?

Posted:

By Carol Gentry
6/26/2009 © Health News Florida
Patients enrolled in popular health plans sponsored by large insurers have been paying more than they really owed for out-of-network treatment for years, according to a Senate committee report. If  it's correct, consumer advocates say, the state should go after it.

Orlando Health using new brain implant

Posted:

6/25/2009 © Orlando Sentinel
Michel Medina Gonzalez, 40, is among the first Parkinson's disease patients to get the newest generation of deep-brain-stimulation implants. Neurosurgeons at Orlando Health did the procedure earlier this month.

USF-Moffitt center receives $6 million grant

Posted:

6/24/2009 © St. Petersburg Times
University of South Florida and Moffitt Cancer Center will use a $6 million, five-year federal grant to study why black patients do so much worse than whites with similar kinds of disease. Meanwhile, Polk health educators are taking the HIV/AIDS message to minority groups at beauty salons, churches, wherever they are likely to listen, The Ledger reports.

Dr. DUI: This time, I'll make it

Posted:

..in jail
...before
By Maya Bell
6/24/2009 © Health News Florida
Now that he has a green light from the state, dermatologist Hal Ridgway hopes to be back in practice in a month or two, with his bipolar disorder, drinking problem and history of relapses under control. As an old friend put it: “Doctors get sick, too, and as long as he treats his disease, it will be OK.’’ 

Fixing the 'revolving door'

Posted:

By David Gulliver
6/23/2009 © Health News Florida
A decade ago, Sarasota Memorial created a program that cut readmission rates for congestive heart failure patients to a tiny fraction of what they had been, and saved money in the process. Other hospitals could do it, too. But data show most of them haven't. (Last in a series.)

Hospital system sues foundation

Posted:

6/20/2009 © Naples Daily News
NCH Healthcare System, which traditionally holds seats on the board of a benefactor, the Telford Foundation, is suing to get its president and CEO on the board.

Doctor with 6 DUIs returns

Posted:

By Maya Bell and Carol Gentry
6/19/2009 © Health News Florida 
Hal Ridgway, 58, a Palm Beach County dermatologist who racked up six drunken-driving arrests and served two prison terms has persuaded state health authorities that he can stay sober and safely treat patients again. His attorney calls him the "poster boy for rehabilitation."

Latest scam is oxygen concentrators

Posted:

6/19/2009 © Miami Herald
State investigators announced Thursday a sweep of 12 medical supply companies suspected of billing Medicaid for oxygen concentrators that weren't needed. They also visited 120 patients, they said, and are looking at whether some received kickbacks from the suppliers.

Where are Floridians in D.C. action?

Posted:

Brown-Waite
6/18/2009 Kaiser Health News
A Senate committee began the long slog on health reform Wednesday, but no Floridians are on that panel.  Where are they? On TV. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite touted the GOP plan, which was announced without details,  on Youtube. Meanwhile, CNN interviewed Democrat Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who has had seven surgeries for cancer, about her insurance coverage.

Docs on drinking: OK, but just a glass

Posted:

6/18/2009 © St. Petersburg Times
Is moderate alcohol intake healthy? Nagi Kumar, director of nutrition research at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, tells patients to enjoy a glass of wine a day, the redder the better.  

Bartering for health care on the rise

Posted:

6/17/2009 © Kaiser Health News
Bartering for health services has provided a temporary safety net for the uninsured and underinsured. David Mroz, an independent broker based in Broward County and listed on a directory at Itex Corp., said he has many Florida doctors, dentists and chiropractors on the list. Those who barter for services worth at least $600 a year have to pay tax.

Doctors debate health overhaul

Posted:

6/16/2009 © Fort Myers News-Press
Lee County physicians applaud President Obama's push for an overhaul of health care, but want protection from malpractice suits to help them rein in excessive tests and treatments.  On the other coast, as Florida Today reports, doctors debate the idea of a public plan.

3 women doctors suing VA hospital

Posted:

6/15/2009 St. Petersburg Times
Four Bay Pines VA Medical Center employees, including three doctors, accuse executives of retaliating against them for filing gender-discrimination claims. The federal-court trial is scheduled to open today.

Hospital tracks down 'frequent fliers'

Posted:

By Bill Hirschman
6/12/2009 © Health News Florida
A hospital system in Broward got tired of seeing the same expensive patients cycling through its emergency room instead of getting preventive care in a lower-cost clinic. So the staff set out to find those patients -- even if meant going door to door.

Crist signs controversial PPO bill

Posted:

06/11/2009 © Tallahassee Democrat
Gov. Charlie Crist sided with doctors and signed a hotly debated health insurance bill (SB 1122) that had been opposed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield and some consumer advocates. He said it will improve access to care as well as payment for doctors. He also signed into law a kidney transplant bill.

Model: Green Bay, the anti-Miami

Posted:

6/11/2009 © Washington Post 
Today, President Obama visits Green Bay, Wis., one of the highest-value health communities in the nation. There, Medicare patients' health is at least as good as in Miami but costs dramatically less.

UM tests online link for diabetics

Posted:

6/11/2009 © Miami Herald
If low-income diabetics frequently communicate with nurses online, will they stay healthier? Microsoft and the University of Miami are testing the theory on 25 patients from Overtown.

State capital's trauma center official

Posted:

6/11/2009 © Tallahassee Democrat
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare will be designated as a Level II trauma center on July 1. Before the facility gained provisional trauma status last year, Tallahassee was the only urban area in Florida not served by a trauma center.

Shands forms unusual partnership

Posted:

6/8/2009 © Gainesville Sun
Shands HealthCare and Solantic are partnering to open a Gainesville medical clinic. That puts the University of Florida's teaching hospital system in business with Rick Scott, who has become the most visible opponent of national health reform (see Health News Florida's article on Scott).

''Natural'' cures on rise, can kill

Posted:

6/8/2009 © AP/Bradenton Herald
Unproven alternative treatments are making a comeback, offering patients with deadly diseases hope with outlandish claims of cures. Instead, they rob the patient of money and precious time.

Hospitals cut back to stay afloat

Posted:

6/6/2009 © Miami Herald
Hospitals, once considered recession-proof, are now suffering economically, say speakers at the annual South Florida Healthcare Summit. But some for-profit hospitals are doing surprisingly well.

Decoding cancer gene to help patients today

Posted:

6/7/2009 © St. Petersburg Times
The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa is using its bank of cancer samples to decode the unique genetic makeup of cancer genes. Researchers hope to use their findings to target the right treatments for patients.

Board cracks down on pain doctors

Posted:

6/5/2009 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Florida Board of Medicine leveled stricter-than-usual penalties today against doctors found to have doled out narcotic painkillers excessively or improperly. A bill that would give the board more authority over rogue pain clinics awaits action from the governor.

Joint replacement? Consider this

Posted:

By Carol Gentry and David Gulliver
6/4/2009 Health News Florida 
Patients at some Florida hospitals were much more likely to have an unexpected return following knee- or hip-replacement surgery last year than those who had the procedure at other hospitals, new state data show. These potentially preventable readmissions cost Floridians a bundle. Special report: Florida hospitals' "revolving door syndrome, " Part 2.

Doctor agrees not to see patients

Posted:

5/29/2009 © Bradenton Herald
Internist C.G. Rao, arrested on charges of sexually molesting five patients and accused of other incidents that now are beyond the statute of limitations, has agreed not to see patients while his legal cases are pending. Bail was set at $20,000.

Reporting law ignored, group says

Posted:

By Carol Gentry
5/28/2009 © Health News Florida
Nearly half of the state's hospitals have never reported a single incident of physician discipline to a databank set up to protect patients from questionable doctors, a consumer group reported Wednesday. Earlier this year, the same group cited Florida's Board of Medicine as particularly weak.

Doctors' foes unveil poll

Posted:

 By Christine Jordan Sexton
5/28/2009 Health News Florida
Opponents of a bill backed by Florida’s doctors released a poll today that contends Floridians are on their side of the fight. But the Florida Medical Association dismissed the results, saying the poll questions were "skewed to get the answers they wanted."

Pro-doctors' bill draws legal question

Posted:

Shaw

 By Christine Jordan Sexton
5/27/2009 © Health News Florida 
The heat keeps rising over a bill pushed by doctors that would force insurers to change the way they pay. An attorney says it may be unconstitutional, and state Insurance Consumer Advocate Sean Shaw urges the governor to veto. But the docs plan TV ads.
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