Morning Headlines 12/12/12

WebMD to eliminate 250 jobs in cost-cutting push

WebMD announces that it will lay off 250 employees as it concludes a year in which its stock is down 63 percent.

Patient records held to ransom in Australia

In the latest ransom-ware attack, Russian hackers hijack the EMR servers of an Australian medical practice, demanding $4,200 to decipher the now-encrypted files

Oroville Hospital Open Sources eRx VistA Module

Oroville Hospital releases a freeware eRx solution that supports all of the capabilities required for Meaningful Use 2 and integrates with the VistA EHR.

Souerwine Leaves McKesson Provider Technologies

McKesson Provider Technologies confirms on HIStalk that David Souerwine, president of the group, has left the company “to reassess where he wants to spend the remaining time of his career.”

Charlotte healthcare software firm hires new CEO, changes name

Rothman Healthcare renames itself PeraHealth and hires Stephanie Alexander as CEO.

Morning Headlines 12/11/12

ACOs, already surging, poised for even more growth

The American Medical Association publishes a snapshot on ACO growth which it says shows significant traction leading into 2013, based on the more than 500 organizational applications submitted to CMS this year requesting ACO recognition.

Bipartisan Policy Center Calls for Greater Use of Electronic Tools to Engage Patients and Drive Improvements in the Cost and Quality of Health Care

ONC’s Farzad Mostashari, MD and former US Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle host a technology discussion in conjunction with the release of a BPC report calling for greater use of mHealth technology to streamline care and reduce healthcare costs.

Epic Systems close to owning more land in Verona

Epic is in the process of adding 40 acres and 8-10 office buildings to its “Intergalactic Headquarters.”

Central Tennessee ACO adopting clinical analytics software

The Cumberland Center for Healthcare Innovation, a central Tennessee ACO, will implement Clinigence clinical analytics software to help meet Medicaid Shared Savings Program goals.

Bassett Medical Center Implementing Inpatient EMR

Bassett Medical Center goes live on Epic Inpatient after ambulatory clinics completed their Epic implementation this summer.

E-Mail Incident Involves Some Patient Information

Carolina HealthCare System notifies 5,600 patients of a data breach after a hacker was discovered to have accessed  a physician’s e-mail account over a six-month span.

Morning Headlines 12/10/12

Health IT training center opens

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, and Health Careers Futures form the Pittsburgh-based Quality Information Technology (QIT) training center, with the goal of training health professionals on emerging technologies that will add emphasis on coordinating care and measuring the quality of care.

For ER doctors, an extra hand on the keyboard

Rochester General Hospital’s use of scribes in the ED, which realized an annual $600,000 savings last year and is credited with allowing ED staff to treat 30 percent more patients per shift, is profiled in a local paper.

Third-party revenue cycle expertise reduces healthcare costs, tightens processes

Strong growth in the revenue cycle management segment is being attributed to meaningful use, ICD-10 plans, and reduced payments.

Panetta says DoD, VA to ‘meet or beat’ iEHR rollout goals

DoD announces a revised plan that will expedite the completion of the iEHR rollout, culminating in a 2017 go-live.

Morning Headlines 12/7/12

Athenahealth to buy Watertown complex for $169M

Athenahealth completes a deal with Harvard University to buy a 760,000 square foot Watertown, MA campus for $168.5 million.

Ninety-Four Percent of Hospitals Surveyed Suffered Data Breaches; Estimated Cost to Healthcare Industry Averages $7 Billion

Survey results from the Ponemon Institute reveal that 94 percent of hospitals experience data breaches in the last 12 months, with 45 percent reporting more than five breaches over the past two years.

T-Systems Wins Major IT Outsourcing Agreement in US Health Industry

T-Systems expands its presence in HIT as it closes a “pay-as-you-go” IT outsourcing for Presbyterian Healthcare Services.

Reuters – Thoma Bravo, Francisco, THL Final Suitors for Merge

Thoma Bravo LLC, Francisco Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners have submitted revised takeover offers to Merge Healthcare.

SAIC Announces Financial Results for Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2013

SAIC announces Q3 results: revenue up 3 percent, EPS $0.33, missing on expectations of $0.35. The company reported that it had signed over $100 million in consulting contracts through its Vitalize and MaxIT acquisitions.

Morning Headlines 12/6/12

ONC, CMS revise EHR Stage 2 rules

ONC and CMS revise several stage 2 rules, publishing an interim final rule with a 60-day comment period.

Allscripts Releases Sunrise Revenue Cycle Management Solution

Allscripts announces a newly developed revenue cycle management solution designed to track costs across the enterprise and support value based care models.

Truven Health Analytics HIE Advantage Customers Receive National Recognition for Achieving Health Information Exchange Milestones

West Virginia and Alabama, both running HIE infrastructures put in place by Truven Health Analytics, receive federal recognition for reaching full query based, and directional information exchange.

Vitera Healthcare Solutions Partners with DecisionOne Corporation to Deliver Superior Hardware Services and Support to EHR/PM Customer Base

Vitera closes its hardware support business unit through a partnership with DecisionOne. All affected Vitera employees will be absorbed by DecisionOne, which will take over support functions for Vitera starting in 2013.

Morning Headlines 12/5/12

Nuance Communications Acquires Accentus

Nuance acquires medical transcription, document imaging and remote coding vendor Accentus of Ottowa, CA for an undisclosed sum.

Children’s Hospital Central California Selects Athenahealth To Help Achieve Higher-Quality, Comprehensive Patient Care

Children’s Hospital of Central California will implement Athenahealth’s cloud-based EHR across its 127-provider system.

VA Taps GetWellNetwork To Provide Patient Engagement Platform to Transform Care for Veterans

The VA choses GetWellNetwork to implement enhanced patient education and patient communication tools across 21 VA medical centers.

Imprivata Cortext Sets Pace as the Fastest Growing HIPAA Compliant Text Messaging Solution with More Than 250 Healthcare Organizations Enrolled within 60 Days of General Availability

Imprivata signs 250 organizations up for its HIPAA-compliant text messaging system, which ranges in price from free to $5 per user/month.

Morning Headlines 12/4/12

AMA calls pre-pay meaningful use audits a ‘burden’ on docs

AMA and CMS raise concerns with an OIG recommendation to implement pre-pay audits as part of the Meaningful Use payment program.

University of Missouri Health Care touts success in implementing electronic medical records

A local newspaper reports that that the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, Missouri Orthopedic Institute, Missouri Psychiatric Center, Women’s and Children’s Hospital and University Hospital have all achieved HIMSS Stage 7.

Efficacy of a Clinical Decision-Support System in an HIV Practice: A Randomized Trial

A newly published study ties improved patient outcomes to increased sophistication and design of clinical decision alerts.

For Second Opinion, Consult a Computer

The New York Times covers the Watson in Healthcare project, an IBM initiative aimed at increasing the clinical potential of computers, by highlighting some of medicine’s most brilliant diagnosticians.

Morning Headlines 12/03/12

Exclusive: Blackstone in lead for Allscripts, deal uncertain

Blackstone Group looks to be the front runner for the Allscripts acquisition after the second-round bidding ended. However, insiders at Blackstone report that a deal is still uncertain because of unreasonable premium demands by Allscripts.

”60 Minutes” says HMA set admission quotas

“60 Minutes” airs a piece on Sunday reporting that HMA, the nations fourth-largest for-profit hospital chain, set patient admission quotas for its emergency room physicians, which resulted in unnecessary patient admissions and costs.

CDC link will let Kansas network track health threats in real time

The Kansas Health Information Network has become the nation’s first HIE to connect with the CDC to report clinical information as part of the CDC’s BioSense program, which tracks public health data in an effort to preempt outbreaks.

CareFusion And Cerner Implement Integrated Solution To Help Improve Patient Safety, Streamline IV Medication Management

Cerner customer Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota has implemented a new IV medication administration process that interfaces physician ordering data from the Cerner EMR to the IV infusion pump through a wireless connection.

Morning Headlines 11/30/12

Medicare Is Faulted on Shift to Electronic Records

A review by the Office of the Inspector General finds that Medicare is not adequately overseeing the Meaningful Use program, leaving it vulnerable to paying incentives to Eligible Providers and hospitals that have inaccurately claimed their compliance.

After All the Time and Money is Invested, Will e-Health Ever Deliver on its Promise?

A Toronto newspaper reviews Canada’s ambitious and expensive e-health program that still leaves it behind much of the industrial world, with 80 percent of physician practices still using paper charts.

MIT Media Spin-Out Ginger.io raises $6.5 Million Series A Round

The startup, which summarizes its smartphone-based population management tool as a “check engine” light for humans, raises its investment total to $8.2 million in a round led by Khosla Ventures.

Guidance Regarding Methods for De-identification of Protected Health Information in Accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA ) Privacy Rule

HHS issues a guide describing acceptable method for de-identifying patient information to comply with HIPAA’s privacy rule.

Hospitals Get New Grades on Safety

Leapfrog Group issues its second set of hospital grades on patient safety, with a significant number of hospitals moving two letter grades up or down due to new data and an adjusted methodology. One of the 25 hospitals that earned an F is Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, while Cleveland Clinic’s grade slipped from a C to a D.

Morning Headlines 11/29/12

Report finds ACOs serving more patients than expected

A recent report suggests that 45 percent of the population now lives in an area covered by at least one ACO.

State Variation in E-Prescribing Trends in the United States

E-prescribing rates show significant increase as more than half of MDs nationwide have adopted e-prescribing.

NextGen Healthcare Forges Partnership with Aviacod

NextGen partners with Aviacod, a medical coding service, to provide cloud-based coding to NextGen customers.

AMDIS President Bria named Dataskill CMO

The Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems president William Bria, MD is named chief medical officer of Dataskill, a San-Diego based integration engine.

Morning Headlines 11/28/12

KLAS Report Shines Light on Global PACS Marketplace

The newest KLAS report looks at the global PACS marketplace from a high level, as well as vendor-specific perspective.

Medsphere Systems Marks 10 Years of Better Patient Care Through Affordable Healthcare Technology

Medsphere celebrates 10 years of implementing OpenVista, which it says has successfully allowed 70 percent of its eligible customers to attest for Stage 1 Meaningful Use.

Cleveland Medical Mart Signs on Cleveland Clinic, GE Healthcare as Tenants

The highly publicized Cleveland Medical Mart has signed Cleveland Clinic and GE Healthcare as tenants in the newly constructed $465 million facility.

Healthrageous and Partners Healthcare Continue Partnership to Support Company’s Growth

Healthrageous, a 2010 spinoff of Partners HealthCare, returns to the founding organization for $700,000 in Series B funding.

Morning Headlines 11/27/12

Merge to Connect to Surescripts Network for Clinical Interoperability to Deliver Imaging Results Directly to Physician EHR Systems

Merge and Surescripts have reached an agreement that will connect the networks to allow hospitals and imaging centers to send reports and images to practice EMRs through the Surescripts network.

OIG lists EHR incentives abuse, security among top HHS challenges

OIG releases its 2012 Top Management and Performance Challenges Report, citing Integrity and Security of Health Information Systems and Data among its top 10 continuing issues for the new year.

Hello Health Raises $11.5M from First Generation Capital, Inc. and Others to Meet Market Demands for Free Revenue Generating EHR Platform

EHR and patient portal vendor Hello Health announces an $11.5 million investment from First Generation Capital that it will use to bolster its freeware EHR platform to create a revenue positive EHR for private practice physicians.

MMRGlobal Receives Fifth Patent Expanding Rights to Control of Online Medical Record

Patent troll MMRGlobal Receives a fifth patent involving patient portals and personal health records.

Syndromic surveillance for health information system failures: a feasibility study

A recent JAMIA study suggests syndromic surveillence methods may be used to monitor health information technology systems to detect system failures earlier.

Morning Headlines 11/26/12

RSNA 2012 Begins

The 98th Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America  begins this weekend under a unifying “Patients First” theme.

GP blames computer for man’s death from ulcer

A UK physician blames the poor usability of his practice EMR as the root cause of a patients death after he failed to prescribe the patient a medication to treat a stomach ulcer.

Welsh First Minister Opens Clinithink’s Development Centre

First Minister of Wales Rt. Hon Carwyn Jones opens Clinithink, a Healthcare IT R&D firm based in Bridgend, Wales.

Matching DNA With Medical Records To Crack Disease And Aging

A recently published research project is matching DNA sequencing data with information from Kaiser Permanente EHR data to identify at risk patients before chronic diseases develop.

Morning Headlines 11/21/12

Nuance Communications Posts Q4 Profit

Nuance releases Q4 results, reporting that revenue was up 28 percent with adjusted EPS $0.51 vs. $0.42, beating expectations of $0.48.

CareCloud Appoints Ralph Catalano as Vice President of Operations

CareCloud announces that Ralph Catalano, former athenahealth VP of client development, has joined the company as VP of operations.

Association of Online Patient Access to Clinicians and Medical Records With Use of Clinical Services

A recent JAMA study tracking clinical services consumption before and after implementation of a patient portal concludes that patient access to medical records correlates to an increased use of clinical services.

Aurora Health Care Selects Humedica MinedShare to Support Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Efforts, Joins Anceta to Collaborate with Other Leading Medical Groups

Aurora Health Care partners with Humedica to provide population risk analysis, improve coding accuracy, and develop ambulatory physician scorecards.

Morning Headlines 11/20/12

NextGen Healthcare Launches New 8 Series Electronic Health Record (EHR) Content

NextGen releases its newest platform, dubbed 8 Series, which promises a faster and easier clinical user experience.

Medical education provider Pri-Med buys Amazing Charts, an electronic health records firm

Pri-Med, a Boston-based medical education firm, buys EHR vendor Amazing charts for an undisclosed sum.

National Football League Selects eClinicalWorks

The NFL has announced it will implement a league-wide eClinicalWorks EHR to better manage player injuries.

The Patient Engagement Framework

The National eHealth Collaborative publishes a five-tier framework for strengthening patient engagement strategies.

McKesson Announces $1 Million Software Give-Away to Help Benevolent Physicians Bring Better Health to Patients Across America

McKesson will donate more than $1 million in free EHR licenses to physicians providing charity care to the needy.

Morning Headlines 11/19/12

Healthcare Information Technology: Trends and Transformations

Greenway releases results of an expansive survey of the HIT marketplace, including within its findings that 50 percent of surveyed hospitals say they have no ACO plans.

US firms drawing a line on after-hours email

The Advisory Board Company is featured in an article about its corporate e-mail policy which prohibits employees from checking company e-mail after business hours.

Health Information Technology; HIT Policy Committee: Request for Comment Regarding the Stage 3 Definition of Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

ONC initiates a 45-day Request for Comment period for Stage 3 Meaningful Use rules, starting this week and ending on January 14.

Quest Diagnostics’ CEO Hosts Investor Day

Quest Diagnostics, parent company of ChartMaxx and Care360EHR, announces that it will re-evaluate its EHR business strategy in an effort to focus on its core business, diagnostic information services.

Epic Systems Corporation, Applicant v.McKesson Technologies, Inc.

Epic receives a 30-day extension for a Supreme Court appeal request it is preparing in response to the recent “induced infringement” case it lost in the Federal Court of Appeals.

Morning Headlines 11/16/12

A Survey Of Primary Care Doctors In Ten Countries Shows Progress In Use Of Health Information Technology, Less In Other Areas

A study of 10 high-income countries finds that America is rising in adoption of EHRs, with 69 percent of US primary care physicians reporting that they are using an EHR.

Vt. GE Healthcare outpost lays off 10 percent

GE Healthcare announces layoffs for approximately 50 employees at its Burlington, VT offices.

Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs Award EHR Integration Subcontract to DSS, Inc. for Fully Integrated Data

DSS is awarded the iEHR project, migrating VistA and legacy DoD systems onto a single integrated platform.

Cerner to Standardize Health Care for NBA Players

Cerner will implement a single EHR across all 30 NBA teams to securely manage the health of the athletes.

CACI Announces Intent to Acquire Emergint Technologies, Inc.

CACI, a government information systems provider specializing in Intelligence and Defense, acquires Emergint technology to expand its Healthcare IT position and broaden its portfolio.