Morning Headlines 5/9/13

Athenahealth and MIT H@cking Medicine Announce Winners of Hack-a-thon

MIT and athenahealth co-hosted a hack-a-thon this past weekend and have announced a winner of among the 20 teams that competed. Top honors and $5,000 went to Project MIST, which came up with a hardware prototype that helps glaucoma patients overcome aiming difficulties and more easily administer their eye drops.

Geisinger Gives Patients Access to Doctors’ Notes

Danville, PA-based Geisinger Health System will give patients complete access to their physician notes within the health systems patient portal in an effort to increase patient engagement. The decision follows a pilot program that showed promising results.

The National Progress Report on e-prescribing and Safe-Rx Rankings: Year 2012

More than 40 percent of prescription were transmitted electronically in 2012, according to a recently released study from Surescripts.

Memorial ‘still on path’ to join MaineHealth despite Maine Med’s financial problems

Conway, NH-based Memorial Hospital’s CEO Scott McKinnon reports that MaineHealth’s recent Epic problems are not enough to derail Memorial Hospital from joining MaineHealth. In earlier interviews, McKinnon had cited working under a system-wide Epic platform as a primary reason for joining MaineHealth.

Morning Headlines 5/8/13

McKesson 4th-Quarter Net Down 50% Amid Lower Revenue, Higher Costs

McKesson reports a fourth quarter profit of $259 million, down from $521 million a year earlier. Revenue was down 3.4 percent, missing analysts’ expectations. The technology solutions sector saw revenue increase 6.2 percent over the year, with a gross annual revenue of $913 million. Stock ended flat on the day and was up 1.5 percent in after hours trading.

A Bold New Vision for Meditech

John Halamka, MD, CIO of BIDMC, reports his initial impression of plans for Meditech 6.1 which he says will be a cloud-hosted system based on standards, Web-centric and mobile-enabled, with both inpatient and outpatient capabilities, complete with analytics, a PHR, and care management tools.

The discriminatory cost of ICD-10-CM transition between clinical specialties: metrics, case study, and mitigating tools

A study published in JAMIA finds that transitioning to ICD-10 will be difficult and disproportionately costly to specialists. The study found that only 60 percent of ICD-9 codes have a direct ICD-10 equivalent, while the other 40 percent will require clarification.

UCSF Creates Center for Digital Health Innovation, Names Director to Lead It

UC San Francisco will create a Center for Digital Health Innovation to lead the institution away from "disease-based treatment approaches" and toward "individualized precision medicine." The new Center will be run by UCSF Medical Center CMIO Michael Blum, MD.

Raleigh clinic says X-rays were stolen, may have included patient information

A Raleigh, NC clinic alerts patients that X-rays were stolen and patient information may have been compromised when a sham scanning and archiving company stole the x-rays for their silver content and then disappeared.

Morning Headlines 5/7/13

Greenway Reports Fiscal 2013 Third-Quarter Results

Following lowered year-end forecasts that caused a 22 percent one-day drop in stock price last week, Greenway sees an additional 2.8 percent drop after releasing its Q3 earnings report. The company suffered a $2.8 million net loss from operations over the quarter due to fewer one-time system sales and lower training and consulting revenue. Shares closed at $11.94, $0.11 higher than their 52-week low.

Electronic Health Information Exchange Governance Framework Released

ONC releases its regulatory framework for health information exchanges. It establishes a common foundation and spells out regulatory exchange conditions for public and private HIEs to align with.

CHIME Calls For One-Year Extension of Stage 2 Meaningful Use

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives sends a letter to six Republican senators recommending a one-year extension to Stage 2 Meaningful Use before progressing to Stage 3.

ATA kicks off its annual meeting with a call for Mercy

The American Telemedicine Association kicked off its annual meeting in Austin, TX with Mercy Health President and CEO Lynn Britton giving the keynote address, in which he spoke of about telemedicine and the return on investment Mercy Health realized from its initiatives.

Morning Headlines 5/6/13

Two Cerner live sites go to tender

In England, two NHS hospitals release an RFP seeking a replacement for their Cerner systems.

AMA says EHRs create ‘appalling Catch-22’ for docs

Steven Stack, MD, chair of the AMA board of trustees. spoke at a CMS listening session on billing and coding within an EHR system. He questioned the government’s mandating the use of EHRs while simultaneously orchestrating a witch hunt over cut-and-paste fraud accusations associated with physician documentation. Sack points to the generic, nearly uniform output of EHR documentation systems for causing a false perception fraud.

TriZetto Corporation Announces Reorganization of Leadership Team

TriZetto announces an executive reorganization as CEO Trace Devanny departs immediately leaving an empty seat that will be temporarily filled by TriZetto board member Vicky Gregg. An executive search is underway for a permanent replacement for Devanny. Jude Dieterman, formerly EVP and COO, has been promoted to the newly created role of president.

Govt moves to roll out ambitious e-health plan

The health department in India has issued an RFP for its recently announced e-health plan, which calls for each citizen to have a health card to hold demographic data and an integrated EHR that will automate hospital processes and bring all information into a centralized state health information system.

Morning Headlines 5/3/13

Financial woes at Maine Medical Center

Maine Medical Center suffers a $13.4 million operating loss in the first half of the fiscal year, a situation CEO Richard Petersen calls a first in recent history. Petersen pointed to declining inpatient and outpatient volumes and an Epic install which is causing issues with billing. The remaining rollout of Epic is on hold until the situation is resolved. The system has also initiated a hiring freeze, cancelled unnecessary travel, and reduced overtime in an overall effort to save $15 million during the second half of the fiscal year.

March 2013 EHR Incentive Program Update

Almost half of all eligible providers have now received EHR incentive payments according to the most recent CMS update.

Post–Acute Care Riddled With Challenges and High Expectations

KLAS evaluates health IT vendors working in the post-acute care market following an ACO-driven surge in interest. HealthMEDX was the top rated vendor.

Hospital Execs Forecast Higher IT Spending

A survey of hospital executives finds that 43 percent say their largest anticipated investment for the coming year will be in health IT.

Morning Headlines 5/2/13

Trinity Health, Catholic Health East complete merger deal 

Trinity Health Systems and Catholic Health East have completed a merger that will make the new 79-hospital organization the second largest not-for-profit system in the country. Interim CEO Judith Persichilli recently said that the new organization will choose which EHR can best support their needs. Trinity uses Cerner, while Catholic Health East runs Meditech.

Project seeking ways to detect diabetes

New York University, NYU Langone Medical Center, and Blue Cross will collaborate on a project to develop machine-learning algorithms to identify cases of undiagnosed diabetes and to predict pre-diabetes.

The Defense-VA-Vendor Conference Nobody Wants You To Know About

The VA and DoD are holding a joint conference with EHR vendors to discuss the stalled iEHR project. The meeting will feature high-ranking speakers from both departments as well as representation from any vendor that expresses an interest in attending. The press has been explicitly prohibited from attending.

Finalists Announced!

The New York eHealth Collaborative’s Patient Portal For New Yorkers project announces nine finalists in its search for a statewide integrated patient portal. The finalists were selected by public voting and will pitch their products to a live audience and a panel of judges.

Morning Headlines 5/1/13

Texas lawmaker introduces bill to ban ICD-10 implementation

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) introduces H.R.1701, "Cutting Costly Codes Act of 2013," which would prohibit HHS from replacing ICD-9 with ICD-10. The bill has no co-sponsors and has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means for further consideration.

Nuance shares sink on profit drop

In Q1, Nuance’s net income drops to $110.4 million, down from $138.8 million last year. EPS $0.34 vs $0.43. Shares dropped 19 percent by the close of trading Tuesday. The company also announced a $500 million share buyback plan today as hostile corporate takeover specialist Carl Icahn continues to build his stake in the company, which now stands at 10.7 percent.

Case study: Breach increases risk of fraud

A case study examining the 2012 Utah Department of Health data breach that compromised 780,000 individuals found that in 2010, one in 10 individuals who received a data breach notification became a victim of fraud, but that in 2012, that number jumped to one in four.

Senators urge Obama to help resolve veterans claims backlog

A bipartisan group of 67 senators sent a letter to President Obama asking that he take direct action in resolving the VA’s backlog of veteran disability claims.

Morning Headlines 4/30/13

Greenway Revises Fiscal 2013 Outlook

Greenway revises its full-year 2013 outlook, lowering total revenue from $145-$150 million to $132-$134 million and revising its EPS forecast from a profit of $0.10 to a loss of $0.13. The stock dropped 22 percent by the closing bell.

Hospital to adopt new record system 

Samaritan Albany General Hospital on Thursday will become the second facility of five-hospital Samaritan Health Services to go live on Epic. The entire health system is scheduled to be implemented by the end of the summer.

athenahealth Hosts Health Care Hack-a-Thon

Athenahealth and MIT partner to host a hackathon at the company’s Watertown, MA headquarters on May 4-5. The event brings together innovators from science, medicine, and health IT to pitch disruptive solutions to the problems faced in healthcare. Judges from Harvard University, Blueprint Health, and others will select the winners.

Patient satisfaction with health care hits two-decade high

A recent American Customer Satisfaction Index report finds that heath care satisfaction has reached 80 on a scale of 100, up 1.9 percent from the previous year, the highest satisfaction scores have climbed in 20 years.

Morning Headlines 4/29/13

Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2013 Results

CPSI announces Q1 results: net income increased 23 percent to $6.9 million on $49.5 million in total revenue, EPS of $0.63.

Providence lays off 132 people in Washington state 

Providence Health & Services announces layoffs for 150 employees as a result of an Epic install that it says will streamline processes and reduce the need for certain positions.

Cybertheft heists $1 million from Leavenworth hospital

Hackers have stolen more than $1 million from Leavenworth WA-based Cascade Medical Center by accessing the hospital’s Automated Clearing House account.

UNM Hospital stands by its outsourcing decision

Sen. Tim Keller of Albuquerque, NM is asking UNM Hospital to halt its recently announced plan to outsource transcription services to Nuance and eliminate 50 local jobs. The hospital says that the move will save more than $500,000 a year and that all affected employees have been offered jobs with Nuance.

Morning Headlines 4/26/13

Cerner profit up as support, maintenance grows

Cerner reports Q1 results with a $110 million profit, up from $88 million, on $680 million in revenue. EPS $0.62 vs. $0.51. Support, maintenance and services revenue increased 16%, but system sales revenue dropped 12%.

Certification for electronic health record product revoked

ONC has revoked the EHR certification status of two EHRs, Santa Fe Springs Cali-based EHRMagic-Ambulatory and EHRMagic-Inpatient, after complaints from customers led auditors to discover that the platforms did not have the minimum required functionality and should never have passed certification tests in the first place.

Doctor: ‘I gave up on health care in America’

A family practice doctor from Colorado unwilling to comply with Meaningful Use requirements moves to Australia where he reports making $100,000 more than he made practicing in Colorado and with a much lighter schedule.

Nuance Communications Taps Goldman for Advice as Icahn Amasses Stake

Nuance has turned to Goldman Sachs for strategic guidance as billionaire Carl Icahn, known for his penchant for hostile corporate takeovers, continues to amass the company’s outstanding stock. Icahn currently holds a 9.3 percent stake in the company.

Morning Headlines 4/25/13

FDA Device Surveillance to Tap Phone App

The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System will be revamped in part by launching a smartphone app for streamlined adverse event reporting by physicians.

Electronic health records key to patient care quality improvement

In England, a survey of physicians reveals that 94 percent believe that patients should have at least some access to their electronic medical records, but only 34 percent like the idea of full access. Physicians also overwhelmingly support allowing patients to update standard sections of their own electronic records, including demographics, family history, allergies, and home medications.

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to Invest Up to $68 Million to Develop a National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network

PCORI has committed $68 million in funding to support the development of a national infrastructure to advance patient-centered clinical research that enables efficient participation from broad patient populations.

athenahealth Marketplace Brings Shopping to Health Care IT

athenahealth launches a marketplace of bolt-on pfferings for its cloud-based practice solution from a variety of vendors, including Experian Healthcare, InHealth Clinical Documentation Solutions (ICDS), NHXS, iTriage, and Entrada.

Morning Headlines 4/24/13

Pentagon Resists Administration’s Mandate For An Open Source Health Records System

A leaked Pentagon memo reveals that President Obama’s administration has repeatedly recommended that DoD implement a more cost effective open source system like VistA, but that the Pentagon has resisted due to "an incorrect assumption that modernizations based on open systems, as opposed to proprietary commercial systems, will take too long."

CMS Listening Session: Billing and Coding with Electronic Health Records

CMS and ONC will hold a meeting to discuss the increase in code levels billed for some Medicare services associated with EHRs and appropriate coding in an increasingly electronic environment.

Bennet, Burr, Harkin, Alexander Release Draft Bill to Improve Safety of Nation’s Drug Supply

Bipartisan senators unveiled a draft bill calling for a uniform standard for drug tracking that would result in an interoperable, unit level drug product tracing.

Doctors-In-Training Spend Very Little Time at Patient Bedside, Study Finds

A recently published Johns Hopkins study finds that medical students are spending just 12 percent of their time with patients and more than 40 percent of their time on the computer. Researchers say residents spend significantly less time with patients now than they did before 2003, when hospitals were first required to limit the number of consecutive working hours for trainees.

Morning Headlines 4/23/13

Nightingale and HealthFusion Partner to Deliver Electronic Health Record (EHR) Benefits to Customers in Kmart

HealthFusion has been selected as the vendor of choice for Nightingale Preventative Care, a Long Island-based primary care center based out of the local Kmart. Nightingale has reported that the Nightingale Kmart clinic is thriving and that it intends to expand its presence across the chain nationally.

The Emerging Benefits of Electronic Medical Record Use in Community-based Care

In Canada, PwC releases a report which suggests that more than $1.3 billion in administrative savings has been realized since Canadian primary care providers began adopting EHRs in 2006.

CHIME to HHS: Extend certification to HIE

CHIME is lobbying to have HHS extend vendor certification criteria beyond just EHRs to include health information exchanges, citing a need for stronger governance in order to promote interoperability.

HIPAA Privacy Rule and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System

HHS files a proposed change to HIPAA regulations that would allow states to share medical records with the National Criminal Background Check System as part of an effort to include mental health information on mandatory gun sale background checks.

Morning Headlines 4/22/13

Why Boston’s Hospitals Were Ready

The city-wide coordination of patient care following the Boston Marathon bombings is profiled by The New Yorker. While three victims were killed in the initial attack, every one of the 170-plus wounded victims that were alive when they arrived at the hospital have survived.

New for-profit company to sell software that powers Indiana’s health info exchange

The seven year old Indiana Health Information Exchange is spinning off a for-profit company which will sell its infrastructure technology and professional services to the new organizations undertaking HIE projects.

Applied Health Analytics sets sights on a national network

Startup Applied Health Analytics, which develops evidence-based population health management software for hospitals, is profiled by The Nashville Business Journal.

Cerner and Ciber Will Provide Full Suite of Infor Application Management and Hosting Services for Health Care Organizations

Cerner partners with Ciber, an IT consulting firm specializing in implementation and optimization of Infor’s ERP solutions, to develop a full suite of services including application management, implementation, upgrades, and hosting services for Infor applications. The services will be offered to new and existing Cerner healthcare organizations.

Morning Headlines 4/19/13

Roper will buy Managed Healthcare for $1 billion

Medical and industrial equipment maker Roper Industries, which acquired Sunquest last year, will buy Florham Park, NJ-based Managed Healthcare Associates for $1 billion in cash. Shares of Roper picked up 86 cents to $121.40 in aftermarket trading following the announcement of the deal.

The next-generation electronic health record: perspectives of key leaders from the US Department of Veterans Affairs

In a recent JAMIA article, senior VA clinical and informatics leaders are interviewed to identify common goals and ideas for a next generation EHR.

Med Student Brings Software to Clinton Global Initiative University

A University of Vermont medical student is working on a secure text-based communication platform that will allow patients to text pharmacists with medication questions.

15 patients possibly given wrong antibiotic after lab error at Regina General Hospital

In Canada, a computer bug in the lab system of Saskatchewan-based Regina General Hospital resulted in erroneous sensitivity reports that led to 15 patients being treated with inappropriate antibiotics.

Morning Headlines 4/18/13

Mostashari defends vendor fee proposal

Farzad Mostashari, MD, defends ONC’s EHR vendor fee proposal by arguing that “having an assured funding base for the agency’s certification program would reduce uncertainty for the industry.”

Lawmakers push Hagel on DoD-VA interoperability

Chuck Hagel has cancelled DoD’s RFP searching for a system to replace its homegrown AHLTA system, saying that the agency would publish clarifying plans shortly.

HIT Q1 2013 Funding and M&A Report

Mercom Capital Group just published its quarterly review of health IT investments. There was $493 million venture capital funds invested this quarter, with Health Catalyst ($41M), xG Health Solutions ($40M), and NantHealth ($31M) inking the largest deals.

Use of Smartphones to Collect Information about Health Behaviors: Feasibility Study

The CDC is doing feasibility studies to investigate potential research bias in using smartphones to collect health information from participants. Specifically, they are looking to verify that selecting only participants that own smartphones for a study does not result in unintentional bias.

Morning Headlines 4/17/13

GOP senators raise concerns with push for electronic medical records

Six Republican senators criticize HITECH, saying that EMRs are increasing healthcare spending, that the government lacks a sound interoperability plan, and that the adminsitration is more interested in pushing money out the door than achieving specific goals.

Bioinformatics experts join Cedars-Sinai to develop personalized treatments based on patients’ DNA

Zhenqiu Liu, PhD has joined Cedars-Sinai as the director of bioinformatics in the Department of Medicine’s Hematology/Oncology Division. Lui will be developing highly personalized treatment plans for patients by uncovering the way individual genes and gene sequences respond to specific therapies.

Impact of Providing Fee Data on Laboratory Test Ordering

A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine concludes that presenting fee data to providers at the time of order entry resulted in a modest decrease in test ordering.

Apps4Tots Health Challenge 

ONC has launched a new challenge which calls for programmers to make use of the Healthdata.gov data API and TXT4Tots message library, a library of short, evidence-based messages focused on nutrition and physical activity, to create a new platform aimed at curbing pediatric health issues by educating caregivers.