Monday, May 17, 2010

Health Informatics News

Health Informatics News

NGHS Improves Nurse Productivity 60%

Posted: 17 May 2010 09:03 AM PDT

QuadraMed Corporation  (Reston, Va.) has announced that its AcuityPlus nurse-staffing management program has helped the Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) in Gainesville, Ga., improve nursing productivity goals by approximately 60 percent, generating a return on investment of $901,000 in the first year after introducing the project. Before the 557-bed health system adopted AcuityPlus for nurse-staffing management, the organization was using the solution to classify patients by the severity of their illness. When NGHS moved from a decentralized to a centralized mode of staffing, it enabled AcuityPlus to pinpoint opportunities for changes in nurse-staffing parameters and the patient-assignment process to best utilize available resources. NGHS officials report that nursing overtime dropped 8.5 percent the first year, and open shift incentive pay fell 48 percent. Contract labor expense also declined by 74 percent. The ROI in the first year included $659,000 in reduced overtime and contract work, plus an additional $241,000 of savings in incentive pay. The next year, the health system saved $847,000. During this period, the average salary expense remained constant. Northeast Georgia Health System is a not-for-profit community health system dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of the people of Northeast Georgia. Led by volunteer boards made up of community leaders, the health system, which includes 557 inpatient beds, and 261 skilled nursing beds, serves almost 700,000 people in more than 13 counties across Northeast Georgia.

Humber River Selects Versus RTLS

Posted: 17 May 2010 07:19 AM PDT

Humber River Regional Hospital   has selected Versus Advantages, a Real-time Locating System from  Versus Technology, Inc. (Traverse City, Mich.) for emergency department real-time patient flow management across its Church and Finch Street locations in Weston and Downsview, Ontario. The Real-time Locating System from Versus will provide real-time patient locating at each facility and track key metrics such as Total Length of Stay based on patient acuity to facilitate easy reporting of patient wait times to the Ministry of Health. Long-term Care Performance goals set forth by the Ministry in 2008 provide funds to support hospitals that show improvements which help patients obtain more timely care. Humber River Regional Hospital is one of Canada’s largest regional acute care hospitals, serving a catchment area of over 850,000 people. Humber River is affiliated with the University of Toronto.

Loophole already found in pain-pill law

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5/15/2010 © Palm Beach Post The new pain-clinic law bars doctors from giving out more than 72 hours' worth of pills to those who pay by cash, check or credit card. It doesn't prevent them from charging a flat fee for an “office visit” and simply giving away pills for free.

FL's medical discipline lax, critics say

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5/15/2010 © South Florida Sun Sentinel Year after year, national consumer groups rank Florida's doctor-discipline system as one of the most lax in the country. Patients' complaints are usually dismissed with no explanation and no public record. But the head of the program says it's working just fine.

Pain-doctor limits set

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 By Carol Gentry 3/1/2010 © Health News Florida Doctors who haven’t passed certification exams in pain management will be able to keep working in pain clinics as long as they have hospital privileges and a qualified supervising physician, under a rule adopted by a state board this weekend.

Senate paging Dr. Welby

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By Jim Saunders 2/19/2010 © Health News Florida  As Florida lawmakers struggle to overhaul the Medicaid system, state Rep. Ed Homan describes the choice in stark terms: Expanding the controversial "reform" pilot or creating "medical homes," with primary-care doctors offering "Marcus Welby medicine." See also, "Living in a Medical Home."

Health rankings follow the money

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By David Gulliver 2/17/2010 © Health News Florida Florida’s richest counties tend to be healthiest, according to a nationwide study released this morning. A Health News Florida analysis found a strong statistical correlation between prevention -- lower smoking and obesity rates, access to doctors -- and good outcomes.

Could vaccine forms spook parents?

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By Jim Saunders 2/17/2010 © Health News Florida State Rep. Kevin Ambler says he wants to make sure parents have adequate information about vaccinations that children need to enroll in school. But doctors say it could scare parents away, leaving kids unprotected.

Over-billing: just FL culture?

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By Cynthia Washam 2/16/2010 © Health News Florida Brevard County’s largest medical group is close to settling a complaint that it overbilled Medicare $8 million by giving cancer patients more expensive treatments than they needed. Is this a case of fraud, as the Justice Department maintains, or an example of Florida's overheated style of medical treatment?

Patients decry C-section rate

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2/12/2010 © Health News Florida Advocates for women's health are hosting a seminar today and Saturday on the alarming rate of unnecessary Cesarean sections in Miami, where the surgery accounts for more than half of births. Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reports on another patient-education effort: on the dangers of MRIs for pacemaker patients.
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