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June 8, 2010 News 12 Comments

From Mandy Manilow: “Re: HIEs. I am trying to determine whether HIEs are eligible for Meaningful Use reimbursement from ARRA.” I don’t think so, but comments are welcome. HITECH funds HIEs through (a) money for individual states to distribute as HIE grants, and (b) the Beacon Community program. Neither are specifically related to Meaningful Use as far as I know since that’s for providers. Some of the presumptive MU requirements for those providers involve sharing data via HIEs, but that’s to qualify for their own ARRA money.

From The PACS Designer: “Re: iPhone 4 arrives. The iPhone 4 is announced, with dual cameras which Apple calls FaceTime video calling. Also in the new iPhone 4 you’ll find 960-by-640 resolution, multitasking, and HD video recording. The case is a new ultra-durable glass, scratch-resistant and virtually unbreakable.” Steve Jobs repeatedly urged the 570 audience members using WiFi during his demo to get off since he couldn’t connect (video above). All the Apple fanboys have to breathlessly Tweet the conference in real time to their home-bound peers, of course.

From MaxPayneUK: “Re: iSoft apologizes. The question is whether iSoft’s shareholders are being served well by its UK division’s management.” iSoft formally apologizes for blaming its revenue shortfall on the UK’s political climate, which the company originally said had hurt its revenue by slowing down NPfIT. Shares are down to $0.28, even after a successful, much-delayed go live at Morecambe Bay, dropping the market cap to $290 million (I assume that’s in Australian dollars, each worth about 83 cents US). If it wasn’t for the company’s UK exposure, you’d think a US company would grab it.

Listening: reader-recommended Paper Tongues from Charlotte, NC, an amalgam of positive hip-hop and rock that’s hard to characterize, but eminently listenable (to me, it’s Flo Rida meets Muse with a soupcon of Beastie Boys, an admittedly odd admixture). They’re at Bonnaroo this weekend, then touring all over the place.

gary

The local paper writes up the Epic implementation at Methodist Hospitals of Gary, Indiana (or Gary Methodist as we used to call it when I worked for a vendor).

Cedars-Sinai CIO Darren Dworkin is quoted in a USA Today article about the iPad:

It won’t magically solve all our issues, because medical data-entry will still require a computer (and keyboard), but the iPad could be the next evolution in sharing information with patients. We’re eager to make the evolutionary step from doctors entering information with their backs to patients to holding a screen that they can then turn around and share. It’s early stages yet, but there’s great potential.

This just in from the Weird News Andy breaking news center … hundreds of patients in Australia in need of surgery, some for painful conditions or cancer, are ignored for up to a year after a hiring freeze prevents assigning someone to re-key information from their paper forms into the computer. WNA also notes that 11,000 unionized University of California nurses plan to walk off the job Thursday in sympathy with their colleagues from Minnesota who are protesting what they claim are unsafe hospital staffing levels. If a judge denies UC’s request to stop the strike, it will be the largest medical strike in US history.

Our super-CIO blogger Ed Marx has updated his Office Without Walls piece with answers to reader questions and added some pictures.

capzule

Webahn announces that its Capzule PHR is available for the iPad for $5.99.

St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers (IN) names David Mandelbaum, MD as physician champion for its Epic implementation.

celltrak

In Canada, Saint Elizabeth Health Care rolls out the CellTrak GPS-powered homecare system on BlackBerry devices.

GE Healthcare previews Centricity Dashboard at the SIIM conference that just ended in Minneapolis.

Anesthesiologists at New York Presbyterian Hospital report positive study findings in their use of an electronic system to hand off patients from the cardiothoracic OR to the ICU. It lets ICU employees monitor the patient’s surgical progress, reducing the time from closure to transfer.

Varian announces that its Aria oncology EMR has received Surescripts e-prescribing certification.

A former computer tech at North General Hospital (NY) is arrested for hacking into the hospital’s network after he was fired, when he allegedly logged in as a doctor and e-mailed employees that CIO Michele Prisco was a racist for firing him.

E-mail me.

HERtalk by Inga

One of these days, I hope to make it to an AHIP conference, which runs this week in Las Vegas. I’m sorry that I’ll miss MEDecision’s big bash on Wednesday, which features Natasha Bedingfield and adult beverages. My kind of party.

In addition to (or perhaps in spite of) throwing big parties, MEDecision apparently does a good job of keeping its employees healthy. The Philadelphia Business Journal awards the company a Healthy Workplace Award for encouraging physical activity and positive health choices among its staff.

Enterprise Software Deployment becomes a certified consulting partner of Eclipsys to provide implementation services for Sunrise Enterprise.

HIE provider Halfpenny Technologies acquires Laboratory Management Services, which specializes in clinical data acquisition and reporting for health plans and clinical labs.

mark laret

UCSF CEO Mark Laret joins the Nuance Communications board of directors.

Tri-City Medical Center (CA) will fire five employees who discussed patients on Facebook. Thee hospital did not provide details about the posts, but the CEO says the information did not include patient names, photographs, or similarly identifying information. Regardless of any potential wrongdoing on the part of the nurses, look for health systems to tighten up their social media policies.

Not that social media and healthcare can’t co-exist.The CIO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles claims his hospital’s social networking presence has helped steer patients to its online portal, which is responsible for $3 million in revenue since 2008. Other CIOs claim social media has helped with patient recruitment and retention, as well as enhanced patient satisfaction.

West Georgia Health goes live on Hospital BPM, a analytics solution from Integrated Revenue Management.

NaviNet and MEDecision align to provide MEDecision’s Patient Clinical Summaries to any provider enrolled in the NaviNet Network.

Maimonides Medical Center (NY) implements Allscripts Care Management Solution, following up on its deployment of the Allscripts ED solution earlier this year.

Speaking of Allscripts, the company selects RemitDATA to broaden its revenue cycle solution offering for physician groups.

red bull stadium

Soccer fans are notoriously rowdy, but New Jersey’s new Red Bull Arena will be ready to address medical emergencies. The soccer stadium signs up Clara Maass Medical Center to provide EMS services at its event. The EMS staff will connect remotely to the medical center ED and its EDIMS system.

If you missed yesterday’s HIStalk Practice, then you won’t be able to steal my brilliant idea for an iPhone app. Not to mention you missed my musings on consultants and ambulatory EMR vendors and the latest recommendations from an HHS advisory workgroup.

Cook Children’s Medical Center (TX) selects Patient Care Technology Systems’ Amelior Tracker to track medical equipment.

Which reminds me: just this morning a friend was sharing that her teenage son got a summer job as a security specialist with a hospital. Turns out he is not some sort of patient bouncer, but will actually be helping perform inventory tracking.

seemyradiology1

Orlando Health will implement Accelarad’s SeeMyRadiology.com to exchange diagnostic imaging information, giving clinicians the ability to review medical image information via the Web or with mobile devices.

The University of South Alabama Health System engages MEDSEEK to develop a consumer Web site.

Streamline Health announces a first quarter loss of $1.2 million, compared to last year’s net earnings of $16,000. Revenues fell from $3.8 million to $3.5 million while expenses grew from $3.7 million to $4.7 million. Not the prettiest results, to say the least.

Susan Steele joins Precyse Solutions as director of marketing communications. She was previously with Siemens Health Services.

jwit

SCIOinspire introduces Just InTime Wellness, which uses predictive modeling  tools and clinical algorithms from health claims to provide patients with targeted health messages. Health plans or hospitals can use the system to send patient-specific messages about gaps in care or the need for prevention services. From a patient standpoint, it sort of sounds like Big Brother is watching over your medical record. On the other hand, who doesn’t appreciate a reminder every now and then?

Delta Air Lines will be the first US company to use OptumHealth NowClinic, a virtual clinic option offered through UnitedHealth Group. For $10, a patient can spend 10 minutes with a physician using a webcam and live computer chat.

Edward Hospital & Health Services (IL) goes live on CPM Marketing Group’s Instant CRM system, which uses behavioral targeting technology much like when Amazon recommends books based on your searching and purchasing habits. CPM’s president and CEO says the tools allow hospitals to create “up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.” Something like, “Would you like a rhinoplasty with that septoplasty?”

inga

E-mail Inga.



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Currently there are "12 comments" on this Article:

  1. Mandy Manilow asked whether HIEs are eligible for ARRA meaningful use incentives. The answer is no. The ARRA Meaningful Use incentives are only available to providers. The HIEs can, however, apply for various grants from ONC.

  2. “Tri-City Medical Center (CA) will fire five employees who discussed patients on Facebook. Thee hospital did not provide details about the posts, but the CEO says the information did not include patient names, photographs, or similarly identifying information. Regardless of any potential wrongdoing on the part of the nurses, look for health systems to tighten up their social media policies.”

    I’m thinking that this will apply to blogs like HISTALK as well as sites like facebook. Employees of hospitals need to be very careful about what they post on sites regarding what happens in their organizations. There are very easy ways for them to determine what computers these posts come from – just like high schools track all the web sites that each students go to. Employees’ posts become a legal liability for them.

  3. At NY Presbyterian_”It lets ICU employees monitor the patient’s surgical progress, reducing the time from closure to transfer. ”

    The link did not work so it is not clear what they were trying to say. Which ICU employees, exactly?.

    Were the pre op orders all canceled automatically and new ones reclicked, or did the docs have to pick through 501 hundred orders to click-cancel the ones they do not want post operatively, as what Cerner requires?

    oeratively

  4. Inga here, burning the midnight oil. Don’t blame Mr. H if I have my facts wrong but looks like we’ll wake up to news of an Allscripts/Eclipsys merger. We’ll let you know details in the a.m.

  5. can confirm the allscripts/eclipsys merger. Got an email from Phil Pead in my inbox today announcing it.

  6. I figure HISTalk would give me a good start on my buzzword bingo: three words, two in a row (see this post for more info)! Addressing the iPhone event: while I completely understand why it made the demo difficult and sympathize with Jobs’ frustration (I’ve been there), to have to ask everyone to turn off their wireless devices in order to demo a “better” device strikes me as ironic at the least. After all, isn’t the goal of the iPhone/iPad/iWhatever to get everyone up and connected? Shouldn’t that necessarily mean everyone at an event sponsored by Apple should be encouraged to be using their devices, many of them probably bought from Apple?

    @Veteran of Healthcare IT: Agreed. One should always be aware of what you’re saying, since it will live eternally on the Internet. Type that email or post, sit on it for an hour, then read it again before you send it. You may find you want to rephrase things or not publish it at all. That’s not possible after you hit the send button.

  7. Broadcast text messaging, via proprietary or commercial, is there any data on such applications and the resulting traffic?

  8. From the GE blurb: “we spoke with some thought leaders about where they see things heading and they all concluded the same thing: Operational dashboards will shape the future of the field.”

    Shoot me in the head. Can we all agree that using the term “thought leader” puts a person in last place thought-wise?

  9. Shortly after reading an article that questions the goals of computerization of medical records:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/health/policy/08health.html?src=me&ref=health
    came across this research on how people think about social and economic subjects stratified by self-described political bent:
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575282190930932412.html?KEYWORDS=libertarian
    Should candidates be asked to complete this simple questionnaire and have the results published say a week before an election? No blathering on, no spinning, no changing the subject to an opponent’s marital indiscretions, just put your mark on the paper and turn it in.

  10. Just in Time Wellness is Just What I always Needed:” Health plans or hospitals can use the system to send patient-specific messages about gaps in care or the need for prevention services.”

    This product reminds me of the story of the 80 yo papa man with abdominal pain, who, upon leaving a Portland, Oregon hospital ER, received a computer generated instruction sheet for wellness care of his pregnancy.

  11. Suzy, computers don’t just generate instruction sheets out of thin air. A user like you had to add that instruction to the list of instructions that was printed for that patient.







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