Morning Headlines 9/2/13

Electronic records conversion loss offset by investment gains for Wake Forest Baptist

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (NC) discloses in its 2013 annual report that its Epic implementation resulted in a $55.1 million operational loss for the year, the report says the install “did have a substantial negative impact on fiscal 2013 operating performance through both direct implementation expenses and associated indirect expenses.” Wake Forest’s stock investment gains for the year were able to offset the losses, so the overall loss for the year was reported at only $571,000.

Army Medical Program Prepares to Upgrade EMR System

The Army’s current battlefield EMR, known by the acronym MC4 (Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care), will undergo a major upgrade between November 2013 and April 2014, that will bring the platform onto a Windows 7 operating system, replace Micromedix, the current medical reference app, with Lexi-comp, and add a new layer of information security features.

New hospital CEO updates board at his first meeting, announces new CNO

68-bed Gila Regional Medical Center (NM) eliminates its CIO position, as well as several other executive level positions, in an effort to cutback on costs at the financially struggling hospital. 67 employees were also cut from full to half time.