Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Health Informatics News

Health Informatics News

EHNAC Begins Public Review of HIE Criteria

Posted: 23 Feb 2010 07:35 AM PST

The Farmington, Conn.-based Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) has announced that a 60-day public review of key criteria for its health information exchange (HIE) accreditation program will take place from now through April 23. Those interested in participating in this phase of the public review may visit the criteria page on the EHNAC Web site. A separate set of policies designed to more specifically address privacy and security are still being developed by an EHNAC convened HIE Advisory Board, and will be available for public review during the second quarter of 2010, it says. EHNAC also expects to invite public comment on these policies and will make them available on its Web site for approximately 60 days. All comments and feedback will be reviewed from the public comment period and additional revisions will be incorporated into the final criteria version 1.0, tentatively scheduled for release this summer.

Report: Physician EMR Market Has No Clear Leader

Posted: 23 Feb 2010 07:33 AM PST

Despite the presence of companies such as IBM, 3M, Dell and Wal-Mart, no single vendor dominates the market for EMRs, according to a report from Kalorama Information , a healthcare market research publisher based in New York. The report states that while the EMR market is estimated at $13.8 billion, at least 70 percent of that market represents sales to hospitals and health systems, with large IT companies such as McKesson, Cerner, Eclypsis and MediTech maintaining a fairly strong hold on that segment.  The remainder of the market, consisting of sales to physician practices and Web sales, is a smaller target, but one with more opportunity, according to Kalorama. Allscripts, Epic, eClinicalworks, athenahealth and NextGen are among the leaders in sales to physicians, but no company has even one fifth of the entire market. The primary reasons for this, it says, are a more spread-out market share and a lack of brand awareness among physicians. These trends, however, could soon change, as some of the large companies that entered the market in 2009 show positive results with their marketing efforts. For more information on the report, entitled “EMR 2010 (Market Analysis, ARRA Incentives, Key Players, and Important Trends),” please click here .

Carolinas MC Selects Quality Control Solution

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST

Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast (Concord, N.C.) selected Charlotte, N.C.-based Premier ’s QualityAdvisor solution to improve delivery of patient care and safely reduce costly avoidable patient events, the company says. QualityAdvisor, part of Premier’s QualityConnect, combines clinically proven analytical methods with a benchmark database of more than 600 facilities to provide timely, actionable information in all levels of a healthcare organization, the company claims. The solution identifies clinical and financial improvement opportunities, understands drivers for variation in practice, and monitors quality of care. Premier says, along with supporting The Joint Commission OPPE regulatory reporting needs, QualityAdvisor provides analyses on Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality indicators and hospital acquired conditions, and links core measures data to outcomes.

Vendors Link RTLS, VoIP

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 07:56 AM PST

Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Extension Inc. and Redwood City-based AeroScout have teamed-up to develop integrated solutions. The idea behind the project, the companies say, is to help improve clinical and operational workflow by delivering enhanced patient and asset tracking notifications to Cisco Systems Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) VoIP devices.    AeroScout’s core healthcare offerings provide real-time location, status and condition information about assets, patients and staff. Extension Inc., provides an appliance-based software application that aggregates HL7 and Web-services data from all HIS and EMR systems, delivers relevant information to mobile devices such as Cisco IP Phones and cell phones, and also allows recipients to send automated responses via their device, the companies say. The two claim that together they can provide a more enriched, clinically-relevant tracking and alerting solution integrated with the Cisco Unified Communications platform so that healthcare organizations can improve clinical and operational workflows.

$950 Billion Healthcare Reform Proposal Released

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 07:55 AM PST

The Obama administration today, released a $950 billion healthcare reform proposal which falls squarely in the middle of the wants from both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Though Obama’s plan would increase accountability for insurance companies and set up a new competitive health insurance market, it does not contain the much-discussed government-backed insurance option. The White House says the proposal will make healthcare more affordable, make health insurers more accountable, expand health coverage to all Americans, and make the health system sustainable, stabilizing family budgets, the Federal budget, and the economy, according to its Web site. Some key points it lists include the following:  Making insurance more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today. This helps over 31 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today — and makes coverage more affordable for many more.  Setting up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress will have. Bringing greater accountability to health care by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.   Ending insurance discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions. Putting the U.S. budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by $100 billion over the next ten years — and about $1 trillion over the second decade — by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.

Miami Jewish Deploys End-to-End LAN

Posted: 19 Feb 2010 07:40 AM PST

Miami Jewish Health Systems (Fla.) will use Agilysys (Solon, Ohio) to deploy Schaumberg, Ill.-based Motorola ’s HIPAA-compliant end-to-end wireless LAN (WLAN) and AirDefense solutions. The 802.11n WLAN solution utilizes Motorola’s RFS7000 wireless switches, coupled with dual- and tri-radio AP-7131 and AP-5181 access points that the company says ensures maximum indoor and outdoor wireless coverage, while supporting enterprise applications, including voice and video. In addition, Miami Jewish has installed the Motorola AirDefense wireless security and monitoring solution to protect against wireless security threats and help meet HIPAA compliance guidelines. The Motorola infrastructure supports a variety of handheld medical devices, from mobile computers to VoIP phones, for both enterprise and clinical applications, including asset tracking and electronic medical records, it says. Founded in 1940 as a 23-bed residence for widows, Miami Jewish Health Systems today treats some 3,700 people daily though its on-campus medical, residential, and community programs. About 3,000 of those patients receive their care each day through MJHS’s community ‘nursing home diversion programs,’ which are designed to keep patients out of nursing homes and functioning independently in the community.

Medicaid pilot draws mixed reviews

Posted:

2/23/2010 © Florida Times-Union
Florida’s Medicaid reform pilot could save money for the state, and Rep. Mia Jones says she's open to the idea of expanding it. But some who came to her public meeting in Jacksonville said it's harder to keep the doctors they like.
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