Thursday, May 6, 2010

Health Informatics News

Health Informatics News

Merge Healthcare Acquires AMICAS

Posted: 06 May 2010 08:36 AM PDT

Merge Healthcare  (Milwaukee) successfully closed a merger agreement with Amicas, Inc. last week. The deal creates a medical imaging software and healthcare IT solutions provider with a combined customer base of approximately 1,500 hospitals and 2,200 outpatient sites in the U.S., a complementary product suite, and distribution agreements in over 35 countries. For outpatient imaging businesses, the newly combined company offers solutions for revenue cycle management, radiology information systems, referring physician connectivity solutions, radiology PACS and CAD solutions. For hospitals, Merge will offer interoperability and healthcare IT solutions, as well as comprehensive departmental solutions for cardiology, radiology, and perioperative departments. Additionally, Merge will deliver the entire solution set internationally, through established global channels. In 2009, Merge signed distribution contracts in 24 countries. Merge Healthcare specializes in the automation of healthcare data and diagnostics to improve electronic records of the patient experience and enhance product development for health IT, device, and pharmaceutical companies.

Carolinas, Catholic Health East Announce Leadership Changes

Posted: 06 May 2010 08:36 AM PDT

Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS, Charlotte, N.C.) has announced several executive team changes that will become effective on May 10, including the appointment of Brent Lambert, M.D., as vice president and CMIO. Previously, Lambert was vice president of medical informatics at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va. Other appointments are as follows: Phyllis Wingate-Jones — division president of Carolinas Medical Center (CMC)-NorthEast in Concord Spencer Lilly — president of CMC-Mercy Martha Whitecotton — president of Levine Children’s Hospital Laura Thomas — president of CMC-Randolph, the CHS Behavioral Health center in Charlotte Curtis Copenhaver — interim president of CMC-University Carolinas HealthCare System includes 32 affiliated hospitals in North and South Carolina, and serves patients at more than 500 care locations, including physician practices, nursing homes, surgical and rehabilitation centers, home health agencies and other facilities. Its flagship facility is Carolinas Medical Center, an 874-bed hospital in Charlotte that includes a Level I Trauma Center, a research institute and numerous specialty units. Catholic Health East  (CHE), a multi-institutional  network spanning 11 states, has also announced several appointments and promotions to its leadership team. Judith Persichilli has been named president and CEO of the health system, succeeding Robert V. Stanek, who is retiring after seven years in the position and 18 years of service to Catholic Health East. Nora Triola, Ph.D., R.N., has been named the executive vice president and chief nursing officer. Triola currently serves as senior vice president and CNO for Holy Cross Hospital (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Mercy Hospital (Miami), both members of the Catholic Health East system. In her new role, Triola will be responsible for leading CHE’s nursing practice in anticipating and adapting to changes in the healthcare environment. Other appointments include the following: Peter DeAngelis — executive vice president and chief operating officer John Johnson — executive vice president of ministry operations Jenny Barnett — executive vice president of finance Clayton Fitzhugh — executive vice president of shared services Sharon Duffy, R.N. — vice president of nursing practice Debbie Coakley — vice president of workforce management John Capasso, president of CHE’s Continuing Care Management Services Network, will assume additional responsibilities for several regional health corporations, including Maxis Health System (Carbondale, Pa.), St. James Mercy Health System (Hornell, N.Y.), and the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System. Based in Newtown Square, Pa., Catholic Health East includes 34 acute care hospitals, four long-term acute care hospitals, 25 freestanding and hospital-based long-term care facilities, 14 assisted-living facilities, four continuing care retirement communities, eight behavioral health and rehabilitation facilities, 37 home health/hospice agencies, and numerous ambulatory and community-based health agencies.

MRO Updates Audit Tracker Online

Posted: 06 May 2010 08:00 AM PDT

MRO Corp., a provider of disclosure management applications and services for healthcare organizations, has announced the launch of software upgrades for Audit Tracker Online, MRO’s request management program, to improve functionality in effectively managing payer audits and denials from initial medical records request through appeals and payment resolution. The newest modifications to the customizable software include: Expanded ability to track additional types of audits such as ZPIC, MIC, CGI Federal/Medicaid and many others; Enhanced workflow to manage audit review process; Ability to send and track appeals shipments to various appeal entities; Updated user management screens and dashboard features; Improved compliance protection for email notifications; and Advanced data compatibility through American Hospital Association RACTrac application. With the software, healthcare facilities can manage patient information, workflow, correspondence, audit determinations and the various stages of the appeals processes. Based in King of Prussia, Pa., MRO provides health information disclosure management services, partnering with thousands of healthcare practitioners and administrative personnel across the country.

Premier to Host Healthcare Reform Briefings

Posted: 06 May 2010 07:40 AM PDT

Charlotte, N.C.-based Premier healthcare alliance will host a series of Healthcare Reform Executive Briefings to prepare providers for the implications of healthcare reform, led by health policy experts who will break down the provisions of the bill. The sessions, open to both Premier member and non-member hospitals and non-acute care healthcare providers, will provide detailed analysis of the reform bill in the areas of payment, compliance, and hospital policies. While the reform law reduces hospital payments by about $200 billion over 10 years, the law imposes new requirements that tie additional reimbursement dollars to improve quality and clinical processes, prevent harm in the areas of healthcare-associated infections and hospital-acquired conditions, and reduce readmissions. Briefing dates, locations and local times are: May 17 – Chicago from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. May 26 – Dallas from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. June 24 – Charlotte, N.C. from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. July 8 – San Diego from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Premier is a performance improvement alliance of more than 2.300 U.S. hospitals and over 66,000 other healthcare sites.

Commission Calls for Health Information Superhighway

Posted: 06 May 2010 07:38 AM PDT

A commission of national healthcare experts convened by the Washington-based Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) has unveiled a roadmap for a better healthcare system that includes a “health information superhighway.” The report — entitled, A 21st Century Roadmap for Advancing America’s Health: The Path from Peril to Progress — features a list of actions needed to build a 21st century system. Commission Co-Chairs, Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal, M.D. (ret.) and Denis Cortese, M.D. say that, despite passage of healthcare reform legislation, no one has fully focused on the next steps necessary to ensure that all Americans gain maximum value out of the current system. The keys to accomplishing the transformation, according to Cortese, include the adoption of new value-based payment methods, promoting team-based medicine, strengthening primary care, and conducting comparative effectiveness and health systems research. Another key component of transformation is building a health IT infrastructure. “Just as President Eisenhower built a Federal Interstate Highway System to connect communities, boost the economy and protect national security, so must we construct a health information superhighway system in the 21st century,” says Blumenthal. The commission also called for a focus on prevention. “Public health and prevention are also essential elements of healthcare reform, with more than 75 percent of healthcare costs in the U.S. resulting from chronic diseases that are linked to preventable factors, yet only three to five percent of the nation's health budget is spent on prevention,” says the report.

Mather Memorial Selects Eclipsys

Posted: 06 May 2010 07:11 AM PDT

The Eclipsys Corporation (Atlanta) announced that the John T. Mather Memorial Hospital (Mather), a 248-bed community hospital located in Port Jefferson, N.Y., has chosen to implement the company’s Sunrise Enterprise integrated suite of solutions to create a single electronic health record. Mather expects the utilization of the new system will support its goal of meeting the “meaningful use” definition of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to become eligible for stimulus payments. Mather will deploy Eclipsys’s computerized physician order entry system to support evidence –based practices and clinical decision making, along with the company’s clinical documentation solution, Knowledge-Based Charting, and pharmacy information system, Sunrise Pharmacy. Mather will accelerate the implementation of the services to satisfy expected timeline requirements under ARRA. John T. Mather Memorial Hospital is an accredited non-profit community hospital providing care to 13,000 inpatients and 44,000 Emergency Department patients annually in Suffolk County. Eclipsys is a provider of integrated clinical, revenue cycle and performance management software.

Rural Nebraska Healthcare Network to Deploy $20M Network

Posted: 05 May 2010 08:56 AM PDT

The Rural Nebraska Healthcare Network (RNHN), an association of nine rural hospitals and related clinics in western Nebraska, announced a pending transaction with Louisville, Colo.-based Zayo Group  and Omaha, Neb.-based  Adesta LLC to deploy a new $20 million fiber optic medical network. The network will be funded by the Rural Healthcare Pilot Program of the Federal Communications Commission, with additional funding from the Zayo Group, who will also serve as a partner in the construction of the network. The proposed network will span 12 counties in western Nebraska over 750 miles, connecting RNHN’s 9 primary care hospitals and dozens of affiliated clinics to national research networks. Local Nebraska company Adesta LLC has been selected to design and build the network. The project, which is in the final stages of federal approval, has a planned completion date of fall 2011.

Jersey Health Connect Gets Stimulus Funds

Posted: 05 May 2010 08:54 AM PDT

The Northern and Central New Jersey Health Information Exchange (HIE) Collaborative, incorporated February 1 under the name “Jersey Health Connect,” has been awarded a grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Jersey Health Connect is one of four HIEs to be granted funds from the $11.4 million that the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority received from the Department of Health and Human Services. The funds will help the collaboration of competing providers to support rapid stakeholder expansion and adoption of current data exchange efforts regionally and state-wide. The Collaboration selected Atlanta-based RelayHealth ’s connectivity network as the platform for clinical network sharing. Jersey Health Connect is comprised of over 25 healthcare facilities and two large physician practice groups. Together they connect 700 physicians, two participating hospital systems, more than 385,000 patient records, and more than 25,000 local residents actively communicating with their physicians in large and small practices across the region.

Just Named AHIMA Fellow

Posted: 05 May 2010 08:52 AM PDT

Beth Just, CEO and President of Just Associates , a Centennial, Colo.-based consulting firm specializing in patient data integrity solutions, has been accepted as a Fellow with the  American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA, Chicago). The AHIMA Fellowship Program recognizes members who have made significant and sustained contributions to the health information management and health informatics professions. Just, who currently serves on the AHIMA Board of Directors, has been an AHIMA member since 1978, and has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She founded Just Associates in 2002 to provide consultation services to healthcare organizations and vendors regarding patient identification software and HIM systems. Prior to founding Just Associates, Just held numerous executive positions with healthcare organizations, including Presbyterian/St.Luke’s Medical Center, QuadraMed, Pyramid Health Group, New Era of Networks and Quality Visions, Inc.

Premier, CDC Partner on E-prediction of Bloodstream Infections

Posted: 04 May 2010 09:43 AM PDT

The Premier healthcare alliance , headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., will collaborate with the  U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on a joint research initiative to test new technologies for predicting incidents of central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), as well as to automate their reporting to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network. The initiative will analyze the specific traits of positive blood cultures across a subset of Premier’s more than 2,300 member hospitals to develop an automated electronic surveillance tool that could be used to accurately predict the presence of CLABSIs. The Chicago Prevention Epicenter at Stoger (Cook County) Hospital in Chicago will evaluate the tool in a real-world setting. If successful, the CDC anticipates the tool could replace traditional surveillance methods for detecting CLABSIs, which are often dependent on time-consuming manual collection of clinical data and force resources to be spent on monitoring infection rates rather than preventing them. According to the CDC, CLABIs affect approximately 250,000 patients in the U.S. each year, with additional costs ranging from $5,734 to $22,939 per patient.

Crist bombarded with abortion pleas

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By Jim Saunders  5/6/2010 © Health News Florida From the Christian Coalition to the ACLU, groups who oppose or support the bill to require an ultrasound before abortion are waging an e-mail campaign. Meanwhile, doctors protest the intrusion.

Child abuse program funds cut

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5/6/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Healthy Families initiative loses more than a third of its budget. Some 4,500 families may be cut from program. In other news, doctors and nurses at Shands discover that an infant has several broken bones, inflicted on separate occasions.

Can voice-recognition help fight fraud?

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5/6/2010 © NBC Miami David Marrero was convicted Tuesday of running a $5.8 million health care fraud scheme, involving his 76-year-old aunt as one of several fake "patients" in need of care. In other news, the state will launch a voice recognition program to fight Medicaid fraud.
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