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Electronic Health Records News & Views Archives
December 2006 - March 2007
(in reverse chronological order)
(See menu on left for EHR Notable Quotes and latest News & Views)
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March
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States collaborate on Medicaid EHRs
About half of the 27 states that received $103.6 million in
federal grants for Medicaid information systems this year
have agreed to share the results of their projects to
develop e-health records and related systems. “Basically,
once it’s built, it’s shared” among the 12 collaborating
states and Washington, D.C., said Anthony Rodgers, director
of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.
(March 30, 2007)
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Florida Hospital Digitizes Entire New Facility
Homestead Hospital in Florida soon will open a revamped
complex that will feature technology upgrades such as online
test results and patient tracking systems.
(March 30, 2007)
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Proof of Impact: New Study Sheds Light on Economics of
Health IT Investment
While many in the health care industry say that investment
in IT leads to better quality and performance, there is a
dearth of solid evidence to support that claim. A new report
from PricewaterhouseCoopers aims to "retire the question of
whether IT has a positive impact on hospital business
performance." The report, titled "The Economics of IT and
Hospital Performance," used "econometric" techniques to
study the relationship between IT adoption and
organizational performance at nearly 2,000 U.S. hospitals
over a five-year period.
(March 30, 2007)
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CHC takes information technology to new level
Cascade Healthcare Community, parent company to St. Charles
Medical Center, announced this week its intention to move
forward with the next major phase in its transition to fully
deploy electronic records for patients throughout the
region. The new initiative, called HealthSync, is
unprecedented in scope for the region, and will set the bar
for similar technology and healthcare initiatives on a
national level. Hospitals across the region are currently
using multiple systems (paper and technology), and
caregivers, physicians and most importantly, patients, will
benefit from the move to an interconnected system which will
streamline processes and contain all necessary health
information in one place.
(March 30, 2007)
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Errors, Delays Linked to Disuse of Military EHR System
Inconsistent use of a Department of Defense electronic
health record system has caused medical errors, redundant
testing and delays in treatment, and it has prevented many
wounded soldiers from receiving benefits, according to
former defense and military medical officials.
(March 30, 2007)
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Free E-Prescribing Program Could Lead to More Health IT
Purchases
Glen Tullman, CEO of Allscripts, said that a partnership
with Dell and a variety of technology, insurance and other
health care firms to provide electronic prescribing systems
to physicians at no cost could lead to physicians purchasing
more health IT products from Allscripts.
(March 30, 2007)
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Congress should help physicians adopt IT, advocacy groups
say
The president of the American College of Physicians told
members of a Congressional subcommittee this week that a
full-scale adoption of healthcare information technology
would significantly improve quality in the U.S. healthcare
system. Lynne Kirk, MD, president of ACP, testified before
the Subcommittee on Regulations, Healthcare and Trade of the
House Committee on Small Business. She urged Congress to act
decisively to promote adoption of healthcare IT at the solo
and small practice level. “To achieve immediate quality and
healthcare savings through HIT (Healthcare IT), Congress
must recognize the significant financial barriers for solo
and small practices,” Kirk said. “It must offer creative
solutions to stimulate adoption of HIT (Healthcare IT) where
most Americans receive healthcare – in offices of one to
five physicians.”
(March 29, 2007)
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Kolodner says PHRs will advance healthcare IT adoption
Personal health records may be the fastest way to grow
healthcare IT, said Interim National Coordinator of Health
Information Technology Robert Kolodner at a summit held
yesterday in the nation’s capital. At the Fourth Information
Technology Summit -- held for the first time in conjunction
with the Fourteenth National HIPAA Summit—Kolodner said
consumers will push their doctors to use electronic health
records, thus bringing the U.S. closer to the tipping point
for healthcare IT advancement. “It’s a matter of speculation
when the tipping point will take place,” Kolodner said. “We
won’t really know when it will take place until we look
back.”
(March 29, 2007)
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Bill Clinton Backs Electronic Health Records
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton on Thursday advocated an
electronic medical records (EMR) law and said blogs could
aid the U.S. political process... Electronic medical records
could cut US$100 billion of administrative costs of the U.S.
health-care system, on which Americans spend $800 billion
per year, Clinton said, referring to a McKinsey & Co. study.
An EMR bill backed in the U.S. Senate by his wife, Senator
Hillary Clinton of New York, and former Republican Senate
leader Bill Frist failed despite three years of bipartisan
effort, Clinton said. "That's the number-one thing that can
be done right now to make the American health-care system
more efficient and cut costs," Clinton said. For one thing,
EMR would save the cost of patients recounting their medical
history every time they change doctors, which can also
introduce errors because they may misremember things, he
said.
(March 29, 2007)
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AMIA Announces the Formation of the Academic Forum
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) today
announces the formation of The Academic Forum, to promote
the development of biomedical and health informatics as a
formal academic discipline.
(March 29, 2007)
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Doctors Community Hospital Selects HealthMatics Emergency
Department Information System from Allscripts
Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX), the leading provider of clinical
software, connectivity and information solutions that
physicians use to improve healthcare, today announced that
Doctors Community Hospital has selected the HealthMatics(R)
ED Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) to
automate operations and improve access to patient
information for its more than 50,000 annual emergency room
visits.
(March 29, 2007)
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Survey: Most U.S. Adults Satisfied With Health Data Privacy,
but Concerns Linger
Sixty-three percent of
U.S. adults said they agree completely or somewhat that
increased use of computers to collect and share patient
health data can be accomplished without jeopardizing patient
privacy, according to a
survey by Harris Interactive.
(March 29, 2007)
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Delaware first with statewide health information exchange
The Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN) will go live
this week with initial functionality for a small group of
users. The network's builders say the network is the first
implementation of a statewide health information exchange.
“All indications are that we’re going to be the first,” said
Paula Roy, executive director of the Delaware Health Care
Commission, which is developing DHIN. At first, the network
will deliver lab test results, radiology reports, and
admission, discharge and transfer reports to the
participants -– three hospital systems, five doctors’
practices with 30 offices and 70 physicians among them, and
LabCorp. More users will be added while the next phase -– a
record locator system --- is developed. The network will
deliver all lab results, regardless of where they originate,
in the same standard format, said Gina Perez, the project's
director. The reports can be delivered by fax or e-mail or
transferred into a provider’s e-health records system.
“About 30 percent of Delaware physicians have electronic
medical records,” Perez said, an above-average percentage.
However, they need only a PC running Microsoft Windows and a
high-speed Internet connection to use DHIN services. Two of
the medical practices in the initial user group will receive
lab results into their EMR systems in April, Perez said.
Hospitals and doctors in the state are eager to use the
network, she added.
(March 28, 2007)
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CIO Leadership Series: Tanya Townsend, Saint Clare's
Hospital
Tanya Townsend didn't
have much time to pass the all-digital challenge, but she
wasn't dreading it, either. How many other information
technology directors have an opportunity to start fresh with
a new building, new network architecture, new people, and
new processes? Not many, and when the still-to-be completed
Saint Clare's Hospital in Weston went shopping for a
chief technology executive in 2004, Townsend beat out all
comers. Her mission - and, yes, she chose to accept it - was
to set the technological foundation for an all-digital
hospital that would hit the ground running with electronic
medical records,
Computerized Physician Order Entry, and the clinical
processes needed to support them.
(March 28, 2007)
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Misys' focus is back on doctors
Misys Healthcare Systems' new general manager is charting a
new direction for the company -- and that could mean good
things for Raleigh. Roger L. "Vern" Davenport arrived at the
Raleigh health-care software company a month ago with a
mandate from its London parent company to shape up the
business. Davenport's strategy focuses on increasing Misys'
business with doctors' offices, a sharp contrast to the
former CEO's ambitions of competing aggressively for
hospital customers.
(March 28, 2007)
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Adoption of Health Information Technology Will Lead to
Higher Standard of Quality Care
The benefits of full-scale adoption of health information
technology (HIT) will be significant, leading to a higher
standard of quality in the U.S. health care system, Lynne M.
Kirk, MD, FACP, president of the American College of
Physicians (ACP), today told a hearing of the Subcommittee
on Regulations, Healthcare and Trade of the House Committee
on Small Business. “Congress has an important role in
promoting HIT adoption and providing the necessary initial
and ongoing funding mechanisms to assist physicians in solo
and small practices,” Dr. Kirk emphasized. “Unfortunately,
without adequate financial incentives, solo and small
physician practices and their patients will be left behind
the technological curve.”
(March 28, 2007)
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Wal-Mart, University of Arkansas and Blue Cross Blue Shield
Announce Center of Excellence to Boost Use of Information
Technology in Health Care Operations
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (NYSE: WMT announced today it will
partner with the University of Arkansas and Blue Cross Blue
Shield to create a research center to focus on improving the
health care delivery system with the use of information
technology. The Center for Innovation in Health Care
Logistics will be dedicated to conducting research aimed at
identifying and addressing gaps and roadblocks in the
application and delivery of health information technology,
and highlighting and replicating proven applications that
are working to
benefit patients and providers. The goal of the Center's
work is to put the right materials in the hands of doctors
and nurses where and when they need them; it also aims to
eliminate the threat of medical errors arising from wasteful
and unreliable practices in health care supply networks.
(March 28, 2007)
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Lipscher: Veterans shouldn't have to wade through tons of
paperwork
The recent headlines coming out of Walter Reed Army Medical
Center have shocked the conscience of our nation. The health
care process failed veterans in every way imaginable, from
forcing hospitalized veterans to live in vermin-infested
wards to requiring them to fill out reams of paperwork just
to be seen by a doctor. I can't suggest much to do about the
rats, but I can offer advice for a long-term solution to
make the entire military medical experience more streamlined
and efficient, avoiding the long delays and the
transmissions of inaccurate information, or no information
at all, between departments causing vets to receive
inadequate care or be denied care completely.
(March 28, 2007)
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Cerner's Role in U.K. Health IT Project Grows
Cerner has been awarded two contracts to help hospitals in
northwest and southwest England meet a government goal that
patients wait no more than 18 weeks between a physician
referral and hospital treatment.
(March 27, 2007)
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Survey: EHRs Can Be Used Securely, but Data Privacy Concerns
Remain
Sixty-three percent of respondents said that the transition
to electronic health records could be made without
compromising their privacy, compared with 25% who disagreed,
according a new Harris Interactive survey.
(March 27, 2007)
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Wyoming studies health information sharing
Many people aren't wary of giving out their Social Security
number or typing their credit card number into the computer
to buy something off of Amazon.com. It is very different
when it comes to medical records, though, said Dr. Jerry
Calkins, an Cheyenne physician.
(March 27, 2007)
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FirstHealth Helps Develop National Model
FirstHealth of the Carolinas is so far one of only a few
health-care organizations around the country that are part
of the process to develop a nationwide system for the
exchange of electronic health record information.
(March 27, 2007)
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Midland Memorial Goes Live with VistA-based EHR
Midland Memorial Hospital in western Texas has become the
first private-sector hospital in the nation to fully adopt a
commercialized version of the Veterans Health
Administration’s VistA electronic medical record system.
VistA, or the Veterans Health Information System and
Technology Architecture, is a much-touted open source system
developed and currently used in more than 170 Veteran’s
Administration (VA) hospitals. VistA is credited with
helping turn the VA into a national leader in quality
patient care.
(March 27, 2007)
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Texas med school builds on VA EHR software
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of
Medicine has begun deploying a public domain version of the
Department of Veterans Affairs' electronic health record
(EHR) system developed by Document Storage Systems,
according to the vendor. The El Paso, Texas-based school is
the first medical school in the United States to fully
deploy the Veterans Health Information Systems and
Technology Architecture (VistA).
(March 27, 2007)
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Health providers slow to sign up for national IDs
Nearly one in five of the health care providers in the
United States have failed to obtain a new identification
number from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
although the deadline for using the so-called National
Provider Identifier (NPI) is less than two months away. Even
those who have obtained the new ID numbers are not always
giving their new numbers to their business associates and
ensuring that the numbers are entered into payment and
claims databases, according to experts who testified before
the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics
(NCVHS) earlier this year. The results could include doctors
going unpaid and prescriptions going unfilled, the NCVHS
chairman, Dr. Simon Cohn, said in a letter to Health and
Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.
(March 27, 2007)
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Physician flies solo - Innovative doctor creates a one-man
medical office
Encinitas physician James Ochi usually plays the role of
healer on trips to impoverished communities in developing
nations, but last November in Uganda, he traded his
stethoscope for a camera... Years before President Bush
started touting electronic medical records as a way to make
the nation's health care system less costly, more efficient
and better for patients, Ochi cut the cords to a big office
and a barely manageable patient list. “The way most doctors
run their practice, they employ a large number of people who
just push paper around,” he said. “That gets in the way of
the doctor-patient relationship. It didn't make any sense to
me.” Using a laptop computer and off-the-shelf software,
Ochi created what literally is a one-man medical practice.
(March 27, 2007)
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HHS Launches Personalized Health Care Initiative
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday detailed a personalized
health care initiative that will combine gene-based medical
care with health IT.
(March 26, 2007)
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Connor discusses latest HL7 balloting
A new batch of proposed healthcare information transmission
standards aimed at affording patients more privacy controls
over the flow of their healthcare information are up for
review, revision and possible approval by the healthcare
standards development organization Health Level Seven (HL7).
The 30-day balloting period opened last week under the HL7
ballot process on what Olympia, Wash.-based consultant
Kathleen Connor described as "e-consent standards."
(March 26, 2007)
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Northrop Grumman Wins Department of Defense Clinical
Information Systems Engineering Contract
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been awarded a
follow-on contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to
provide systems engineering and integration support to
AHLTA, the nation's largest electronic health record system.
AHLTA is the clinical information system managing electronic
health records for the Department of Defense Military Health
System. AHLTA supports more than nine million active service
members, retirees and their families worldwide.
(March 26, 2007)
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Home Monitoring Device Reduces Hospitalizations
The Home Care Services at Saint Francis Hospital in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., provides about 30 patients with home
medical monitoring systems to improve care and reduce
hospitalizations.
(March 23, 2007)
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New York County To Build Health Information Network
The Genesee Valley Health Partnership in Livingston County,
N.Y., has received a $100,000 grant from Excellus Blue Cross
Blue Shield to develop a countywide electronic health data
network.
(March 23, 2007)
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Telemedicine's Benefits Could Extend to Quality of Life
Health IT proponents
often tout the technology's ability to improve care and
reduce costs. But what about its ability to improve
patients' quality of life? A study in the current issue of
the Journal of the American Medical Informatics
Association suggests that telemedicine can have a
significant impact on the quality of life of patients with
head and neck cancers.
(March 23, 2007)
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Electronic records system assists
The Bush administration announced in 2004 that every
American citizen should have an electronic health record by
2014, yet only about 10 percent of hospitals currently
utilize such technology. Mercy Health Partners, a
seven-hospital health care system that serves Northwest Ohio
and Southeast Michigan, is among the small percentage of
health care providers that have implemented EHR systems.
(March 23, 2007)
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HIMSS issues how-to book on setting up a RHIO
“The Guide to Establishing a Regional Health Information
Organization,” a 144-page, step-by-step resource for anyone
exploring or actively involved in setting up a RHIO, is now
available for sale on the Healthcare Information and
Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Web site. The book
regularly sells for $78.00, but HIMSS members can get it at
a discounted price of $65.00. Written collaboratively by a
HIMSS task force of RHIO veterans and health IT experts, the
book provides practical “how to” advice on such issues as
financing; organizational structure; governance models;
master patient indexing; privacy and security; common models
for data exchange; and barriers to long-term financial
sustainability and survival. Readers will learn about
real-life case studies and ideas for potential uses for
RHIOs.
(March 23, 2007)
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Ga. telemedicine program takes off
About once every hour during the work week, someone in rural
Georgia visits a specialist physician without going far from
home, thanks to one of the largest integrated telemedicine
programs in the country. The program began 18 months ago
with an $11.5 million grant from WellPoint, owner of Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Georgia. Now in 39 rural counties,
patients and their doctors can visit a local presentation
center and meet remotely with one of 75 specialists in areas
such as dermatology, cardiology and pediatric medicine.
(March 23, 2007)
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Study affirms information technology-productivity link
With the U.S. economy
showing alternating signs of strength and weakness, a recent
study has given pause to business organizations that might
want to slow the pace of information technology investment
due to fears of a housing-induced recession. The
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation's
recent report titled “Digital Prosperity: Understanding the
Economic Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution,”
focused on the role information technology plays in the
economy. Among its conclusions is that money spent on
computing technology delivers three to five times the gain
in worker productivity of other types of investments.
(March 22, 2007)
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California Hospital Converts to Digital Images
Children's Hospital Central California in Madera, Calif., in
December 2006 adopted a picture archiving communication
system that provides physicians with instant, and even
remote, access to digital images of patients.
(March 21, 2007)
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Survey Gauges National Provider Identifier Compliance
The National Provider
Identifier compliance deadline is May 23, but just two in
five health IT professionals say their billing software and
practice management systems are ready, according to a
survey by the Healthcare Information and Management
Systems Society.
(March 21, 2007)
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State leads pack in electronic health records
Arizona appears
to be in the forefront of a U.S. drive to
have all patients' records available in
electronic form. At a summit meeting Tuesday
for the newly created non-profit Arizona
Health-e Connection board, members were
talking about creating a secure Web portal
as well as developing a system that would
allow physicians to communicate more easily
with each other about patient care. The
first milestone could be reached in 2009,
when all of the state's 1 million Medicaid
patients are targeted to have electronic
records. Arizona is ahead of the curve in
bringing providers, employers and insurers
together to talk about electronic medical
records, said Janet Marchibroda, CEO of
eHealth Initiatives, a non-profit,
electronic health care information group.
Only 6 percent of the states surveyed by
eHealth are as far along as Arizona, she
said. President Bush has instructed federal
health officials to make electronic records
widely used by 2014. Gov. Janet Napolitano
told the 400 health care leaders meeting in
Phoenix that getting electronic records is
an achievable goal "for the whole state."
(March 21, 2007)
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HITSP work group provides panel with update
A federally funded committee seeking to harmonize healthcare
information technology standards received an update from its
new security and privacy work group Monday. In so doing, the
Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel took stock
of the chicken-or-egg situation now faced by the government
in its efforts to promote IT: Which comes first, the privacy
protection policy or the privacy protection IT standards?
(March 21, 2007)
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Colorado Foundation Steps Up Health IT Help
The Colorado Health Foundation will distribute $2.5 million
in grants this year to help safety-net providers in the
state adopt health IT.
(March 20, 2007)
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Canada Boosts Health IT Budget by $400M
The Canadian federal government on Monday announced an
additional $1.4 billion for health care, including $400
million for the Canadian health information network.
(March 20, 2007)
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E-Prescribing Takes Off in Florida
Transitioning to an electronic prescription system can be
expensive, but physician practices, insurers and pharmacies
in Florida are embracing the technology.
(March 20, 2007)
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CPOE Adoption Remains Low, Slowly Increasing
The first U.S. hospital to adopt a computerized
physician order entry system did so 34 years ago; however,
more than half of all health organizations still do not have
the technology, according to a survey.
(March 20, 2007)
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Lessons for Health Care Could Be Found Abroad
The U.S. health care system is among the best in the world.
It has achieved a 5-year breast cancer survival rate that is
at least a few percentage points higher than that in almost
all other industrialized countries, the highest rate of
screening for cervical cancer, better hypertension control,
and a sharply reduced smoking rate. Patients rarely have to
wait long for needed procedures and medicines. Physicians
receive intensive training and keep current with continuous
education. Hospitals are well-equipped and fully staffed to
meet health needs. This country also spends more on health
care than any other country in the world. But contrary to
popular belief, the health care here isn't always the best.
Many other industrialized countries provide health care that
is just as good and sometimes better.
(March 20, 2007)
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MO HealthNet gets a boost
Restructuring the state’s Medicaid program and getting an
oil change seem an unlikely fit. But for Gov. Matt Blunt,
the way a company keeps track of a car’s condition could
provide insight on how to gauge a person’s health. "You may
wonder why we’re at a Jiffy Lube to talk about health care.
Well, I think it makes some sense," Blunt said today at a
Jiffy Lube station on Sandman Lane in south Columbia. "You
know that you can get your oil changed at the Jiffy Lube or
a Jiffy Lube in Florida, and they know about your car."
Transferring that approach to the health-care arena, Blunt
said time, money and patient safety could be enhanced
through electronic records, something he said he’d like to
enhance through his MO HealthNet initiative. Blunt used the
example of a boy who steps on a nail while playing baseball.
With access to electronic health records, a doctor would be
able to know right away whether the boy has had a tetanus
shot - something Blunt said could prevent a second,
unnecessary dose. "Electronic health records can help
improve and save lives," Blunt said.
(March 20, 2007)
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In the Year 2024
Where will you be in the year 2024? As a health care
forecaster, my clients have been asking me to scale my
health forecasts back to three to five years, shortening the
long-term, 10-year strategic planning trajectories we used
to do. However, David Brailer's crystal ball envisions that
2024 is when the "full benefits" of health care IT will be
realized.
(March 19, 2007)
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Democrats gain the advantage on health IT issues
In the past year, lawmakers have struggled in their efforts
to pass health information technology legislation. The
Senate and House each passed a bill that they sent to a
conference committee by early fall, but the prospects for
creating a framework for a National Health Information
Network died without ever being presented for a full vote in
either chamber.
(March 19, 2007)
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Eclipsys Sunrise Clinical Manager(TM) Selected by SUNY
Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
Eclipsys Corporation(R) (Nasdaq: ECLP), The Outcomes
Company(R), today announced that SUNY Downstate Medical
Center's University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB) will
implement Sunrise Clinical Manager and its fully integrated
modules, including Sunrise Acute Care(TM), Sunrise
Ambulatory Care(TM), Sunrise Pharmacy(TM), and
Knowledge-Based Medication Administration(TM) as part of an
organizational initiative to improve care delivery through a
clinical information system. Using Sunrise Clinical
Manager's single integrated clinical platform,
SUNY Downstate Medical Center/UHB will connect its acute and
ambulatory care providers, enabling patient information to
flow seamlessly between the acute and ambulatory care
environments while integrating with the Pharmacy to improve
medication management. The medical center will also use
Sunrise Clinical Manager's Knowledge-Based CPOE(TM) system
to establish standard care processes throughout the medical
center to help improve patient-care outcomes.
(March 19, 2007)
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One Scan at a Time: Moving Paper to Electronic
For many provider organizations, using document imaging as a
bridge to an electronic medical record (EMR) offers the best
solution to achieving a more fully digitized record until
more effective, enterprisewide solutions to electronic
documentation capture can be implemented. Not a
plug-and-play component of an EMR system, document imaging
requires sound processes and practices for an organization
to achieve not only its document imaging goals but also its
larger EMR and health data goals. It’s no small task, to say
the least.
(March 19, 2007)
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EMR Selection: Checking out the Lineup
With electronic medical records (EMRs), selecting the right
system can often be as intimidating as the implementation
process. With so many systems touting the same functions and
features, it can be difficult to determine which most
closely meets a practice’s or facility’s needs. Nor do most
providers have the depth of understanding required to make
that determination.
(March 19, 2007)
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Hospital EMR use not yet widespread
Only 11% of community hospitals have fully implemented EMR
systems, while 57% have "partially" implemented systems and
32% have not started. About 16% of hospitals said they had
most or all functions of an EMR in place in 2006, up from
10% in 2005. The rate of EMR use in physician practices is
estimated at 20%. Cost is the main barrier to EMR
implementation, as cited by 86% of the hospitals responding.
(March 19, 2007)
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Initial investment high, but move to electronics records
improving efficiency and care
Meg Warren sat on an exam table at the Westchester Medical
Group and her doctor peppered her with questions. Heart
palpitations? Dizziness? Medications? As she answered, a
discordant sound filled the air - the clicking of computer
keys. Dr. Steven Meixler made notes in Warren's chart as
doctors have done for generations, but there was not a
manila folder in sight. The information was entered in the
computer and when Warren, a 41-year-old nurse who lives in
Washingtonville, asked for some test results, Meixler pulled
them up in seconds. In the old days he'd be as likely to be
rifling through papers for a report that may nor may not be
there.
(March 18, 2007)
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JRMC Honored for ECLIPSYS Use
Jefferson Regional Medical Center has been honored for its
use of an electronic documentation program, and personnel
from other hospitals are traveling to Pine Bluff to observe
the system. The Eclipsys program creates electronic medical
records for patients at the hospital and will eventually
eliminate paper processes. The system has improved
efficiency in accessing information, according to Michelle
Powell, clinical nurse manager. Hospital personnel are just
a “click away” from access to the records of patients.
(March 18, 2007)
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Lack of Competition Hinders Technology Innovation, Increases
Costs
It seems employers and government leaders constantly are
complaining about the lack of transparency and the soaring
costs of our health care system, but could they actually be
to blame? "A lot of people estimate that one out of every
three health care dollars is wasted," John Goodman,
president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, said,
adding, "This is the kind of waste that doesn't exist in a
normal competitive market."
(March 16, 2007)
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EHR still top health IT priority: survey
Moving toward an
electronic health record remained the top healthcare
information technology systems priority, although other
applications gained ground, according to respondents to this
year's annual Modern Healthcare Survey of Executive
Opinions on Key Information Technology Issues.
(March 16, 2007)
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EHR vendor links with Google for free service
Start-up electronic health record vendor Practice Fusion has
struck a deal with Web search giant Google to provide a
full-featured EHR for free, the first time such a product
has been available to physicians at no cost as an on-demand
Web service.
(March 16, 2007)
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Does Santa Barbara RHIO shutdown affect California HIE
efforts?
The Santa Barbara Co. Care Data Exchange (SBCCDE) was the
oldest regional health information organization (RHIO) in
the country until it ended its efforts last week. Depending
upon whom you talk to, the shutdown is either major news or
a mere blip on the health information exchange (HIE) radar
screen. Karen Hunt, director of communications for CalRHIO,
sees no impact from SBCCDE’s closure. “CalRHIO and local and
regional efforts have been moving forward during all the
time that Santa Barbara was stalled and finally closed,” she
said. “California healthcare organizations and payers in the
state recognize the importance and benefits of HIE.” She
pointed out that Governor Schwarzenegger issued an executive
order supporting healthcare information technology and HIEs
earlier this week. Furthermore, CalRHIO announced a few days
later that it had selected its technology partners to
connect communities and the entire state with a suite of
affordable, secure, privacy-protected services.
(March 16, 2007)
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Analysts see healthcare IT as good investment choice
Electronic health record systems and other healthcare
information technology are safe bets for investors as they
look to the stock market, say analysts at William Blair &
Company, a Chicago-based investment firm. In a conference
call last week, the analysts said the change to a
Democratic-controlled Congress in the last election worried
many investors in the healthcare sector.
(March 16, 2007)
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CCHIT approves 2007 ambulatory EHR testing criteria
The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information
Technology (CCHIT) announced Wednesday that it unanimously
approved its new 2007 criteria for ambulatory electronic
health records to be published March 19. The criteria will
take effect May 1 when CCHIT will begin taking applications
for certification, according to a statement released by
CCHIT. The Commissioners also approved test scripts for
inpatient hospital-based EHRs and are seeking public comment
online through April 13, according to CCHIT. Among a number
of new requirements this year in the ambulatory EHR
certification is that systems must be able to send
prescriptions and refills to pharmacies electronically and
demonstrate their product’s ability to electronically
receive standards-based lab result messages, CCHIT
representatives said.
(March 16, 2007)
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EHRs: The Feds get something right
Last summer, FP David S. Zalut of Voorhees, NJ, installed an
electronic health record in his practice. What gave him the
courage to write the check and take the plunge was a
little-known CMS program called Doctor's Office
Quality-Information Technology (DOQ-IT). Under this
three-year program, which ends in 2008, Medicare's Quality
Improvement Organizations (QIOs) in every state are required
to help primary care physicians adopt EHRs. "It's the first
government program I've ever been involved with that worked
perfectly," says Zalut. "The QIO consultant came out and
interviewed me, saw what I needed in my practice, saw the
problems I was having, and quickly identified nine systems
that she thought would be sufficient for the size of my
practice." The consultant from Healthcare Quality Strategies
didn't stop there, says Zalut. She gave him in-depth
information that the QIO had gathered on all of these
products, along with feedback she'd picked up from small
practices that used them. She also helped him analyze his
office workflow and make changes that would aid EHR
implementation. The "go-live" phase still had rough spots,
he says; but four months later, he's documenting visits
during patient encounters without slowing his workflow.
(March 16, 2007)
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AMIA and AHIMA Announce Support for 10,000 Trained by 2010
Act (H.R. 1467)
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the
American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
announced joint support yesterday for legislation that calls
for a trained work force capable of innovating,
implementing, and using health communications and
information technology (IT). Introduced by Congressman David
Wu (D-OR), HR 1467 or the ‘‘10,000 Trained by 2010 Act,’’
would authorize the National Science Foundation to award
grants to institutions of higher education that would
develop and offer educational and training programs for
healthcare workers and professionals in applied health and
medical informatics.
(March 16, 2007)
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Facing the Future: New Report Looks at the Next Generation
of Health IT
While most hospitals to date have taken a "wait-and-see"
approach to adopting health IT, the challenges and pressures
the health care system faces in 2007 demand the use and
adoption of IT, according to a new report by First
Consulting Group. Health care organizations must achieve and
maintain a minimum level of IT, including computerized
physician order entry and clinical decision support, to
counter increasing costs, sicker patients and clinical staff
shortages, the report asserts. To be successful, health IT
efforts need to be seen as quality projects as opposed to
simply IT initiatives and must be usable and provide
improvements in the future. For years, health IT has been
more in a state of imagination and contemplation than real
progress and action. However, now that the business,
provider and legislative stars are beginning to align, it's
time to take a glimpse at what's to come for health IT.
(March 15, 2007)
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