Morning Headlines 1/28/14

Where Are We on the Diffusion Curve? Trends and Drivers of Primary Care Physicians’ Use of Health Information Technology

EHR adoption in the practice environment hit 69 percent in 2012, but a large divide still exists between solo practices, which have only reached 50 percent adoption, vs. large practices of 20 or more physicians, which have reached a 90 percent EHR adoption rate.

ACOs struggle with data sharing

The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations publishes the results of a survey that solicits the opinions of 35 ACOs. Respondents report that the average cost to transition to an ACO model was $2 million. The ACO organizations rated their IT satisfaction at 6.4 on a 10 point scale, with an “overwhelming number" of participants reporting that learning to access and process CMS data was a significant hurdle. Predicted gains from the transition range from a $9 million increase to losses of $10 million.

Epic launches at Yale Health

Yale Health (CT), a three-hospital health system, goes live on Epic, replacing Allscripts.

Morning Headlines 1/27/14

Athenahealth Seaholm deal faces tough questions at City Council

Several Austin (TX) City Council members are questioning the decision to offer athenahealth incentives to open a new office in its busy downtown business district. The council members hold the opinion that the city is capable of attracting new jobs and filling office space in the business district without offering perks.

Dynamic modeling of patient and physician eye gaze to understand the effects of electronic health records on doctor–patient communication and attention

The International Journal of Medical Informatics publishes a study that correlates EHR use with a drop in doctor-patient eye contact when compared to practices that use paper charts.

UK ministers cap government IT contracts at £100m

In England, new rules published Friday limit government IT contracts to $165 million unless there is an "exceptional reason", eliminates automatic contract renewals, caps hosting contracts at two-years, and requires that software be implemented by a company other than the software or hardware vendor.

BIDMC Aims To Engage Patients and Families in Effort to Eliminate Preventable Harm in Intensive Care Units

Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center receive a $5.3 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation of California to develop an IT system that will help monitor for, and reduce, preventable harm in ICU patients.

Morning Headlines 1/24/14

Quality Systems, Inc. Reports Fiscal 2014 Third Quarter Results

Quality Systems Inc., parent company of NextGen, release their Q3 results: total revenue decreased five percent compared to the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was $0.11 vs $0.26, a 62 percent decline. Still, shares rose eight percent on the results by the end of trading.

Best-of-breed oncology vendors hold their own

KLAS finds that McKesson is leading the medical oncology market, while Cerner and Epic continue to improve. Best of breed vendors are still leading the radiation oncology market.

US and UK working to strengthen use of health IT for better patient care

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.K. Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt sign a bi-lateral agreement between the nations committing to: share medical data, share and co-develop quality indicators, promote the adoption of EHRs, and foster innovation in health IT.

Healthcare Information Technology and Healthcare Information Services: 2013 Year-End Review

Healthcare Growth Partners publishes its annual review of the healthcare IT market, and its current and predicted future financial drivers.

Morning Headlines 1/23/14

Results of Health IT Research Review Positive Overall, but Some Topics Need More Focus

An ONC EHR literature review finds that the number of EHR-related studies is increasing about 25 percent each year, most of them focused on clinical decision support and CPOE. Other important EHR functions, such as e-prescribing and interoperability, were the subject of fewer studies.

VMware to buy mobile security firm AirWatch for $1.54 billion

VMware announces plans to acquire mobile security company AirWatch for $1.54 billion, allowing VMware to offer PC-level security solutions for smartphones and tablets used by employees.

Government health data sharing may break EU law

In England, a plan to collect health information on all citizens, store it in a centralized database, and share it with care providers across the nation may hit a roadblock as the European Union drafts a data protection law that requires citizens to opt in for data sharing.

Morning Headlines 1/22/14

GE to Acquire API Healthcare

GE announces that it will acquire workforce management software vendor API Healthcare for an undisclosed sum. API Healthcare’s administrative solutions are used by more than 1,600 hospitals and staffing agencies in the U.S. The company’s time and attendance solution has been rated by Best in KLAS for the last 10 years.

Three EMRs lead the pack in the midsize-practice space

Epic continues to lead performance scores in the midsize physician practice market, with athenahealth and Greenway rounding out the top three.

Use and Characteristics of Electronic Health Record Systems Among Office-based Physician Practices: United States, 2001–2013

In 2013, 78 percent of office-based physicians used some form of EHR, but only 13 percent reported using systems that comply with Stage 2 Meaningful Use. In total, only 69 percent of respondents report that they intend to participate in MU.

‘Defect’ on VA benefits site shares vets’ personal details online

The VA’s online eBenefits program is suspected of exposing thousands of veterans personal information after an upgrade-related defect causes other veteran’s data to be erroneously presented to users when they logged into the system. Exposed data reportedly including past and current medical conditions, bank routing numbers, and social security numbers. The VA has shut the eBenefits system down pending an investigation, and will provide credit monitoring for affected users.

Morning Headlines 1/21/13

EDs with HIE more likely to avoid repeat imaging

One of the first large-scale studies on the links between HIE participation and imaging in hospital emergency departments finds that redundant CT scans, x-rays, and ultrasounds decreased significantly, with savings in the millions of dollars, at hospitals connected to an HIE.

How Data Analytics Helped Spark a $36.5M Turnaround at Boston Medical Center

Boston Medical Center President and CEO Kathleen Walsh attributes a data analytics project to the hospital’s financial turnaround in which it went from a $32 million loss to a $4 million surplus in two years.

Survey says: EHR incentive program is on track

National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD outlines the progress made thus far under the EHR incentive program.

St. John embraces digital records

A local paper covers St. Johns Medical Center’s (WA) Epic go-live. St John’s is Part of PeaceHealth’s system-wide Epic install.

Morning Headlines 1/20/14

GE Healthcare revenue flat, earnings up 4%

GE Healthcare reports Q4 earnings, revenue declined one percent to $5.12 billion, but profits were up four percent.

Netherlands hospital staff visits St. Rita’s Medical Center

Epic appears to be expanding its presence in Europe as nine members of St Jansdal Hospital, located 40 miles from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, go on a site visit to St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, OH.

Girish Navani, on Why Titles Don’t Matter

Girish Navanti, CEO of eClinicalWorks, is interviewed by the New York Times on his leadership style. Navanti hires directly from college, and does not believe in firing people. He enjoys an 80 percent approval rating on employee review website Glassdoor.com, higher than the CEO’s of Greenway, Allscripts, or Epic.

Royal Berkshire Hospital booking system ‘still flawed’

In England, the new CEO of Royal Berkshire Hospital addresses employee concerns over the hospital’s $47 million Cerner Millennium system which went live in 2012.

Morning Headlines 1/17/14

Streamline Health Signs Definitive Agreement To Acquire Unibased Systems Architecture, Inc.

Streamline Health Solutions, which offers a variety of health information management and revenue cycle solutions, will acquire the St. Louis-based Unibased Systems Architecture, vendor of the ForSite2020 enterprise scheduling and surgery systems. Terms were not disclosed.

ONC Releases SAFER Guides

ONC releases the Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) Guides, which include checklists and recommended practices to help providers assess and optimize the safety and safe use of EHRs.

Doctors sue NC over Medicaid billing system

Several North Carolina doctors sue the state and its software vendors and consultants for Medicaid payment delays caused by its $484 million NC Tracks system that was rolled out on July 1. The doctors, who have stopped accepting new Medicaid patients, said in the lawsuit, “The proof of CSC’s wrongdoing was the disastrous state of the software upon go-live.” The system has been criticized by the state auditor, but the Department of Health and Human Services says it outperforms its 35-year-old predecessor and issues are being addressed.

U.S. Hospitals Show EMR Growth Opportunities for Patient Portals, Clinical Data Warehousing and Radiology Barcoding Applications

A HIMSS Analytics report shows that among applications that support its EMR Adoption Model, those with the most five-year promise due to first-time purchases are patient portals, clinical data warehouses, and radiology barcoding applications. It also predicts high replacement sales of laboratory barcoding systems, pharmacy management systems, and radiology and laboratory department solutions.

Morning Headlines 1/16/14

Surgical Information Systems Acquires Healthcare Software Leader AmkaiSolutions

Surgical Information Systems, a perioperative specialty EHR vendor, acquires AmkaiSolutions, an ambulatory EHR vendor that provides software for ambulatory surgery centers. The partnership extends SIS’s reach into the ambulatory space within its niche EHR market segment.

Allscripts rises after giving 2014-16 outlook

Allscripts reports that it expects five to eight percent annual growth per year through 2016, while analysts were expecting the company to report a flat five percent growth rate. The aggressive forecast drove Allscripts’ share prices up seven percent by the end of the trading day Wednesday.

HHS makes progress on Health IT Safety Plan with release of the SAFER Guides

The ONC releases a set of guides and tools to help healthcare providers and organizations assess and optimize EHRs for improved safety. The guides represent a part of the Health IT Patient Safety Action and Surveillance Plan, which was published in July of 2013 to address EHR safety concerns.

Morning Headlines 1/15/14

NantHealth Unveiled at J.P. Morgan 32nd Annual Healthcare Conference

Healthcare billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, launches his long awaited healthcare IT startup NantHealth. Soon-Shiong spent $800 million on 60 acquisitions in preparation for the launch. His company will focus on population health management, cancer care coordination, care transition management, in–home monitoring, and personalized wellness.

Navicure Announces Key Findings from Second ICD-10 Readiness Survey

A new ICD-10 readiness survey of physician practices finds that 74 percent have not started their ICD-10 preparations, with 27 reporting that they are unsure of how or where to start preparing for the transition.

Providers seeking more strategic integration of CDS tools

KLAS evaluates clinical decision support systems which survey respondents reported are not integrated enough with core EMR systems to deliver the kind of strategic direction providers are looking for.

New Peer-Reviewed Study Shows Mixed Results in ACO Medication Readiness To Achieve Quality, Cost Goals

A new study published by the Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy questions whether ACOs are ready to be held accountable for medication prescribing and adherence, as the report finds that most ACOs do not have policies in place to prevent duplicate medications from being prescribed, and do not have the ability to notify physicians once prescriptions have been filled.

Morning Headlines 1/14/14

Vocera Acquires mVisum to Address Alarm Fatigue

Secure mobile communications vendor Vocera acquires mVisium for $3.5 million. mVisium markets an FDA approved, mobile optimized, closed loop alert management platform.

OhioHealth and IBM Scientists Join Forces to Prevent Infections in Hospitals

OhioHealth pilots a new RFID monitoring system that is integrated into the hand washing stations and tracks hand washing compliance of individual hospital employees, as well as compliance of overall units, and shifts. The new technology led to a 90 percent hand washing compliance rate within the hospital, a 20 percent increase from before the system was installed. 

Edward Marx Named CHIME-HIMSS 2013 John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year

Ed Marx, a frequent HIStalk contributor that writes CIO Unplugged, is awarded the 2013 John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year Award by HIMSS. Ed is the CIO of Texas Health Resources, a 25 hospital ACO that has achieved HIMSS Stage 6 or Stage 7 EMR adoption across all of its acute facilities, and has been recognized as a leader in pioneering population health practices. Congratulations Ed!

Morning Headlines 1/13/14

Obama administration to end contract with CGI Federal, company behind HealthCare.gov

CGI Federal, the Canadian contractor responsible for developing Healthcare.gov, will lose its contract for the job because of the failed rollout, and ineffective performance since. Accenture, who developed California’s insurance exchange, is expected to sign a one-year $90 million deal to take over responsibility for fixing the site.

NHS data move opt-out ‘damaging’

In England, the NHS is sending pamphlets to all households to educate the public on its care.data program after widespread public concerns over privacy resulted in an increase in opt-out requests. The care.data program connects NHS databases with private practice offices to help the government assess diseases, examine new drugs on the market, and identify infection outbreaks.

Quality Systems, Inc. Announces Expected Impairment in Its Hospital Solutions Division

QSII, parent company of NextGen, announces that it expects to record a loss on its Q3 financial reports once its Hospital Solutions Division completes a long-lived asset impairment analysis. The company could write down as much as $30 million depending on the results of the review.

IBM Set to Expand Watson’s Reach

In an effort to increase profitability of its Watson business unit, IBM announces that it will invest $1 billion in the project. The money will be used, in part, to expand its sales and marketing force, and to launch a $100 million VC fund aimed at kick starting Watson-based development efforts.

Morning Headlines 1/10/14

Merge Revises Previously Announced Subscription Backlog Totals

After an internal audit at Merge uncovers that 25 percent of its backlog contracts were fraudulently submitted by a salesperson attempting to collect unearned commissions, the company is forced to republish its previously reported subscription backlog. Merge stock prices have dropped 16 percent since Wednesday’s announcement.The salesperson has since resigned and offered to pay restitution, and incident has been reported to the US Attorney’s office.

Are drug companies using your health records to sell you stuff?

According to a Reuters report, pharmaceutical companies are partnering with freeware ambulatory EHR vendors to push medication ads into the exam room and, in some cases, are even emailing patients refill and vaccination reminders in the physicians name.

AHIMA: Board of Directors

AHIMA members elect Angela Kennedy, EdD, MBA, RHIA as president and chair of the board of directors. Kennedy is the chairman of the department of health informatics and information management at Louisiana Tech University.

Morning Headlines 1/9/14

The HIMSS Health IT Value Suite

HIMSS launches a platform designed to help hospitals substantiate the value of healthcare IT investments by collecting hundreds of case studies that demonstrate EHR related safety, quality, or financial improvement, and then creating a nice data visualization that lets you explore the information.

A Standard Model For Evaluating Return On Investment From Electronic Health Record Implementation

Citing a wealth of conflicting studies that base their findings on non-standardized research methodologies, the Institute of Medicine proposes a standard framework to help providers identify and quantify both the costs and benefits of EHR implementation.

FDA Wants to Leverage Electronic Medical Records to Probe for Adverse Events

The FDA is looking for contractors to help it begin mining EHR data for signs that a post-market drug may be causing unknown adverse events.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Reaches Stage 7

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, an Epic hospital, earns HIMSS Stage 7 designation for both its hospital and 14 of its associated ambulatory offices. 2.2 percent of US hospitals and 1.2 percent of ambulatory practices have now achieved Stage 7 designation.

Morning Headlines 1/8/14

Governor Blames IBM For Minnesota’s Troubled Obamacare Website

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton blames IBM for the state’s health insurance exchange problems. IBM was not the main contractor of the $46 million website, but is taking the brunt of the blame because it provided the critical components that failed.

Providers Look For Next Level of Healthcare Analytics

KLAS evaluates the the healthcare analytics market, which it says has yet to deliver products that offer robust functionality while being easy to use.

Whidbey General Hospital billing system gets pricey

Coupeville, WA-based Whidbey General Hospital’s $7.5 million Meditech implementation caused billing issues that prevented claims from being sent out, leaving the hospital with just 2.5 days of cash on hand at one point.

House leader unveils exchange security act

Representative Joe Pitts (PA) will introduce The Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act, which would require that HHS notify individuals of any data breach on the health insurance exchanges within two business days.

Morning Headlines 1/7/14

IMS Health files for potential billion-dollar offering

IMS Health, a health care data analysis and consulting firm that works primarily in the pharmaceutical industry, filed initial IPO paperwork Thursday. Analysts estimate that the company should raise between $500 million and $1 billion with the offering.

McKesson Introduces Paragon Ambulatory Care Practice Management Solution

McKesson extends its Paragon HCIS footprint into the ambulatory space with a new practice management solution that promises scheduling, billing, registration, patient education, and health maintenance support along with an enterprise-wide integrated database and a unified look and feel.

Usability of EHRs remains a priority for ONC

Jacob Reider, MD, acting national coordinator for health IT publishes a blogpost calling for a renewed emphasis on EHR usability, saying "But as a physician who has used an EHR in my clinical life since 2001, I worry that some of the usability challenges that we early adopters tolerated “for now” (a decade ago) remain unresolved."

Senators press for EHR interoperability

Senators John Thune (SD) and Mike Enzi (WY) added an amendment to the recently passed short term budget deal that calls for meaningful EHR interoperability to be achieved by 2017. A separate, more specific, amendment was also added that directs HHS to adopt a common interoperability standard by 2017, as part of the rules for Meaningful Use Stage 3.

Morning Headlines 1/6/14

Biotech Firm: We Will 3D Print A Human Liver In 2014

Organovo, a San Diego-based biotech company, says it will produce functional 3D printed human livers by the end of 2014. The organs will be used for pharmaceutical testing, not implanting.

Online Doctor’s Notes a Hit with Patients, Study Shows

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine follows three hospitals as they go live with patient portals that include unedited physician notes. The year-long study found that 80 percent of participating patients had read their physician’s notes, and that "large majorities reported having better recall and understanding of their care plans and feeling more in control of their health care. Moreover, two thirds of patients who were taking medications reported improved adherence."

Computer failure adds to ambulance patients’ pain

In Australia, an ambulance service is seeking a government bailout after its electronic billing system malfunctioned and left it with $7.5 million in unbilled services.