Healthcare IT News - January 2008 - (Page 1) ProDuct sPotLIgHt: Surgical information systems page 42 Published in partnership with THE NEwS SOuRCE fOR HEAlTHCARE INfORMATION TECHNOlOGy n JaNuary 2008 IT elite The HIMSS Davies Award appllications for 2008 are ready and awaiting the next winners. PAGE 25 News Docs see peril, promise for IT By RICHARd PIzzI, Associate Editor tion of healthcare information technology remains low nationwide, many observers are hopeful that things will change for the better in 2008. Healthcare IT News spoke with industry experts who say that U.S. doctors will be focused on multiple IT-related issues in the coming year. w hile physician adop- Next challenge SureScripts’ CEO will leave at the end of the month - in search of something new to build. PAGE 3 IT complaints Nurses who responded to a recent survey say IT is not always what it’s cracked up to be. PAGE 7 commeNtary Michael Barr, MD, vice president of practice advocacy and improvement at the American College of Physicians, says the high cost of IT adoption in the small practice space limits investments in technologies like electronic medical records. “We’d love to see a healthcare IT bill that helps practices invest in IT,” Barr said. “We’ve been advocating The ACP and other phyfor various options, like lowsician organizations were cost loans and grant funds. very concerned about the Practices have to make the proposed 10.1 percent cut in investment, but the biggest the Medicare physician payreturn goes to other parties, ment rate that was initially like the payers. The ACP is scheduled to take effect on supportive of healthcare IT, Michael Barr, MD Jan. 1 under the sustainbut it’s not going to be taken up by a lot of physicians until there’s able growth rate formula. Less an appropriate amount of financial income means fewer IT purchases, support.” 2008 see page 20 Three questions Robert Wah, MD, has three healthcare IT questions for the next U.S. president. PAGE 11 HosPItaLs & IDNs banner health to expand eICU to all 390 beds. By BERNIE MONEGAIN, Editor all eyes on critically ill ECIN buy takes Allscripts into hospital market By ERIC wICkluNd, Managing Editor chicaGo – Allscripts, long known for its clinical software and information systems for physicians, is taking aim at hospitals now with the purchase of the Extended Care Information Network, a provider of hospital care management Glenn Tullman and discharge planning software, based in Chicago. The deal, valued at roughly $90 million, enables Allscripts, also based in Chicago, to coordinate the exchange of information between hospitals, physicians based outside the hospital and post-acute care facilities. Following the announcement, the company also announced the formation of a new Hospital Solutions Group to MARkET see page 39 IT ‘snapshot’ A new Golden Consulting Group survey aims to gauge what hospital IT systems are deployed. PAGE 13 PHysIcIaN PractIces & ambuLatory care P4P dollars Michigan practice puts IT to work on pay-for-performance reporting for chronic diseases. PAGE 19 Payers EHR promotion Two New York State health plans aim to stimulate EHR adoption. PAGE 33 VeNDors Take that pill InforMedix automates medication adherence with Med-ePhone reminders. PAGE 36 phoeniX – With more than two years of operating an e-ICU program under its belt, Banner Health is poised to expand the care to more of its hospitals – to cover all 390 of its 390 intensive care unit beds by 2009. Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit healthcare systems in the country. It has 20 hospitals, six long-term care centers, family clinics, home care services and home medical equipment services. It operates in seven states - Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. eICU technology – in this case from Baltimore-based Visicu – uses proprietary early warning software and remote monitoring to provide off-site critical care physicians and BANNER see page 16 ClINICAl Toolkit Surgical info systems Clinical documentation models now widely used. PAGE 42 Payers favor Medicare e-prescribing mandates Digital prescriptions seen as step toward adopting EHR. By PATTy ENRAdO, Contributing Editor WashinGton – Payers are supporting HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt’s call for large payers, including Medicare and Medicaid, to mandate e-prescribing. Payers say existing technology The eICU program at Phoenix-based Banner Health provides critically ill patients an extra layer of safety at both urban and rural sites, according to Banner officials. MANAGEMENT Solutions RHIO struggles Health information exchanges across the country experience various levels of success and challenges. PAGE 40 www.HealthcareItNews.com MedTech Publishing Company / Vol. 5 No. 1 can support the call and a mandate would drive adoption of other important healthcare IT such as electronic health records. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is urging Congress to require physicians – with exceptions for certain small providers – to use e-prescribing in Medicare by 2010. “Many IT experts believe that once physicians become famil- iar with the ease and benefits of eprescribing, it will serve as a steppingstone to adoption of EHRs,” said Steve Fox, vice president of provider network management. Pilots can serve to verify the technology is integrated with the MANdATES see page 32 e-prescribing pharmacies: annual growth 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 ESTIMATEd 24,000 15,000 34,000 41,000 45,000 e l Connect: gRapHS 0108 SOURCE: PhaRmaCy hEalth InfORmatIOn ExChangE, OPERatED by SURESCRIPtS http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8394 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8396 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8395 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8397 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8433
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