Morning Headlines 6/6/13

States’ Hospital Data for Sale Puts Privacy in Jeopardy

State public health departments have been selling access to hospital patient data that is de-identified, but investigators were able to identify anonymous patients in 35 of 81 cases involving stories mentioned in local media.

Systems move to doc-led treatment standardization

At Washington-based Everett Clinic, clinical decision support tools have reduced overall MRI and CT scans by 30 to 40 percent. Required questions were added to the test orders within the clinic’s CPOE system ,and if the doctor’s answers did not demonstrate that the patient met the criteria for the test, the physician was alerted that the test could not be ordered.

HP captures $220M Indiana Medicaid contract

HP Enterprise Services lands a $220 million contract with the state of Indiana to build a new Medicaid management information system.

House votes to cut salaries, deny bonuses to Veterans Affairs officials

The House passes its 2014 spending bill for the VA with a unanimously approved provision that imposes a 25 percent pay cut for senior VA officials if the VA benefits claims backlog is not reduced by 40 percent before July 1, 2014. A separate, unanimously approved provision strips executive leadership of all scheduled bonuses. The bill also provides funding to continue the implementation of an automated claims processing system and a medical records scanning system.