Healthcare IT News - January 2009 - (Page 12) 12 Healthcare IT News January 2009 ■ www.HealthcareITNews.com NEWSBRIEFS PhySIcIaN NEtWoRk to uSE gENomIc-BaSEd tEStINg MDVIP, Inc., a national network of physicians based in Boca Raton, Fla., is collaborating with a personal genomics testing company in an effort to integrate genomicbased preventive healthcare in physician offices. This initiative will provide MDVIP’s affiliated physicians with a genomic testing service from Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Navigenics. Navigenics will provide MDVIP patients and their affiliated physicians with insight into their personal genetic predisposition for developing certain medical conditions where primary or secondary prevention could improve health outcomes. e-prescribing cuts drug costs, study reveals By Molly MerrIll, Associate Editor BOSTON - A new study finds physi- Va multI-SPEcIalty gRouP oFFERS EhRS to docS WVVA HealthCare Alliance, a multi-specialty group in West Virginia and Virginia, will provide physicians in its network with electronic medical records systems. WVVA has entered into a 14-year application service provider agreement with InteGreat, a MED3000 company based in Scottsdale, Ariz., which delivers EHR technology to physician groups, IPAs and multi-specialty clinics. N.c. PhySIcIaN oRgaNIzatIoN BooStS commuNIcatIoNS The North Carolina Medical Society, the largest physician organization in the state, is taking steps to improve patientprovider communication for its members using online tools. Raleigh, N.C.-based MedFusion is partnering with NCMS to provide its physicians with communication products and services at preferred pricing NCMS physicians will have access to a patient portal to enhance communication. okla. uNIVERSIty oFFERS StudENtS hIt PRogRam A new program set to launch at the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing aims at helping to educate nursing and medical students about healthcare information technology and clinical informatics. The university has contracted with Carlsbad, Calif.-based Medsphere for the Academic Incubator Program. Medsphere will provide its OpenVista Open Source electronic health records, as well as implementation and support services, at a reduced rate as part of the program. The program will allow university faculty to develop simulated patient data in the EHR system for use in clinical courses, where students will practice documenting and retrieving data using the system. More at cians who use an e-prescribing system with formulary decision support can boost drug cost savings. The report was funded by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. According to the study, physicians can save $845,000 per 100,000 patients per year and possibly more system-wide by Michael A. using a system Fischer, MD that allows them to select lower cost or generic medications. Complete use of an e-prescribing system with formulary decision support could reduce prescription drug spending by up to $3.9 million per 100,000 patients per year, authors found. Many insurers use lists of approved prescription drugs known as formularies. Under these arrangements patients are often charged the lowest co-payment for generic medications . A challenge to physicians’ use of the tiered system is the lack of current data on insurers’ prescription drug formularies because it changes frequently. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston examined data collected over 18 months from two major e-PresCrIBe see page 13 RiverStone Health is also RiverStone Health’s four FQHCs, which employ 69 home to Montana’s only graduate medical education prohealthcare providers. gram, the Montana Family Clinicians have already Medicine Residency. begun training on the “It is a complex group to practice management By Molly MerrIll, Associate Editor consolidate,” says Joseph system and will begin BILLINGS, MT – Four Federally Keel, MD, on the clinical Qualified Health Centers in on the EMR in January, faculty at RiverStone. Keel Montana are poised to connect says Hillman. RiverStone Health Joseph Keel, MD is the ‘Super User’ for the electronically. RiverStone Health, which Clinic provides family prac- clinic and has been “tweaking” the EMR for his peers operates the largest since RiverStone heard FQHC in the state, word they had received serving residents in the a high impact healthYellowstone valley area, care IT grant from the is planning to impleDepartment of Health ment a unified elecand Human Services’ tronic medical records RiverStone Health in Montana will start its EMR training in January. Health Resources and and practice management system from Westborough, tice primary care in Billings, Services Administration. “We had all the pieces in place Mont., with satellite locations Mass.-based eClinicalWorks. Daniel Hillman, vice presi- in Worden, Bridger and Joliet. and the boards were all comdent of information systems, Prior to June 2008, RiverStone mitted to the ongoing costs for says the timeline for the rollout Health did business as the maintaining an EMR but not Yellowstone City-County Health the initial costs,” said Hillman. is one year. The technology will link Department. MoNTaNa see page 13 EMR links Montana centers EHR will connect four health centers and 69 providers. ALBANY, NY - Community Care Physicians, the largest physician-directed multispecialty group practice in the Albany, N.Y. region, will automate billing, scheduling and other back-office functions for its 190 physicians. The practice has selected technology developed by Chicago-based AllscriptsMisys Healthcare Solutions. The group operates 35 office. More at Physician group boosts back-office PHrs could save billions By Molly MerrIll, Associate Editor BOSTON HealthcareITNews.com e ●Connect: BaCK oFFICe 0109 Annual benefit per user by PHR architectures $90 $85 $80 $75 $70 $65 $60 $55 $50 e ● Connect: GraPHS 0109 SOURCE: CENTER FOR INFORMATION TECHNOlOGy lEADERSHIP 2008 Interoperable The results from this model suggest that interoperable PHRs are the most financially viable and produce the greatest net benefit. Third-Party ProviderTethered HealthcareITNews.com PayerTethered e ●Connect: PHYSICIaNS 0109 director of CITL. Eric Pan, MD, senior scientist – Personal health records could save $21 billion and associate fellowship director at CITL, pointed annually on a national out that the prelevel, asserts the lat- ➔ thE NEWS: Study asserts that PHRs diction would est research from the could save billions. be too unstable Center for Information if the timeframe Technology Leadership ➔ What It mEaNS: An 80 percent adoption was any longer (CITL), a nonprofit rate could reap than 10 years. research center based maximum benefits. Erica Drazen, at Partners HealthCare managing partSystem in Boston. CITL examined the financial ner of emerging practices for value of four emerging PHR CSC Global Healthcare Sector architectures – provider-teth- and an expert on PHR adopered, payer-tethered, third-party tion, has some contentions with and interoperable PHR systems, CITL’s findings even though she agrees that PHRs are which at this time do not exist. Researchers based their find- important. ings on a model of PHR Drazen says a more adoption that ensures 80 realistic model would percent adoption by the be to expect a 20 perU.S. population at the end cent adoption rate over of a 10-year timeframe. the next five years. The report says, “This “PHRs are a good assumption represents a idea, but this particular hypothetical adoption rate Eric Pan, MD report shows a potenand is not meant to be a fore- tial value, but we still haven’t cast of the U.S. adoption rate in addressed the issue of how come the next decade and is meant to we have made such low progserve as a benchmark to com- ress and until we do that it’s just pare the different architectures.” potential,” she says. “We chose 80 percent to preThis analysis also assumes dict maximum potential value,” all providers have an EHR, but said Doug Johnston, executive PHrs see page 13 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/physician-group-boosts-back-office http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/physicians-news-briefs-9
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