Healthcare It News - February 2008 - (Page 26)

26 Healthcare iT News ■ February 2008 HoSPItaLS & IdNs www.HealthcareITNews.com Assessing the value of genetic tests for hospitals, insurers By Fred Bazzoli, Contributing Editor – A new service is looking to assess the value of genetic tests to determine if they work as advertised and are worth the cost for treating patients. Hayes Inc., a Philadelphia-based company that provides evidencebased research for various segments of the healthcare industry and policymakers, has launched Genetic Test Evaluation, a subPHILADELPHIA scription-based online service. Hayes officials said the service will help sort through the information and clinical trial data on nearly 1,200 genetic tests that are currently available. The service could be especially useful for hospitals and payers. The service is intended to provide objective information on the science behind the tests, the clinical evidence that supports them and the use of the tests in clinical practice. “Millions of dollars are being spent on genetic tests by hospitals and insurers and by consumers,” Hayes said. “But our initial analysis indicates that the evidence is insufficient to substantiate the clinical validity and utility of many of these tests.” MoRe At HealthcareiTnews.com e connect: teStS 0208 allina Continued from page 1 l both hospitals and clinics. Heichert and the rest of the Allina implementation team are already looking to what comes next – how to make best use of all the data they are collecting and how to link with other healthcare systems in their region. However, there are three more hospitals to transform – one of them an eye hospital, which makes things a little different from the others, says Heichert, and another a hospital that Allina will build in the first quarter of 2009. Davies Organizational Committee Chairman Brian Jacobs, MD, said the committee noted at Allina a remarkable level of data integration achieved by few organizations. Ja c o b s , w h o is chief medical information officer and executive director of the Center for Pediatric Susan Heichert Informatics at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C., said Allina has many valuable lessons it can share with other health systems consid- Artromick Understands Mobile Computing Artromick understands reliability. It’s about ease-of-use. It’s about davies organizational committee chairman Brian Jacobs, md, said the committee noted at allina a remarkable level of data integration achieved by few organizations. ering an EHR implementation. They include: ■ A clear commitment of the organization’s executive level and board to the project; ■ A well thought out and effective governance structure; ■ The assignment of ownership of risk areas to senior leaders with appropriate mitigation strategies; and ■ A very high degree of clinician engagement. One reason Allina applied for a Davies Award, Heichert said, was to call attention to what it had accomplished – “to let people know that it can be done.” Heichert, too, stressed the commitment of the top executives to the project as critical to success, singling out Allina President and CEO Richard Pettingill. The return on investment from this project, said Heichert, is better patient care – both on the clinical and business sides. There are also some anticipated financial benefits to the organization. Accordng to Allina’s Davies Award application, total capital expenditure and operating expenses over four years is $408,726. The total estimated savings over the same period is $730,995. Projected net savings: $322,269. One of the unique characteristics of the implementation, said Allina spokeswoman Sarah Hlusak is that an entirely separate group – outside the IT department – was established to design and implement the electronic health record. Many on the implementation team came from a clinical background. “That said, there was integration between the two groups,” Hlusak said. ■ MoRe At HealthcareiTnews.com e connect: ALLINA 0208 there is more to mobile computing carts than simply mounting a computer to a battery and wheels. It’s about providing an open platform of computing and New! mobility options that gives your facility choices. That is the foundation upon which Artromick develops and delivers an advanced line of mobile computing cart solutions to the acute care market. From the trim-line Artromick TX20 WorkStation, to the advanced Artromick TX10 MedServer, to our NEW NX10 compact solution developed to uniquely accommodate laptop computers Artromick offers your IT team a wide selection of next-generation products designed for superior performance. Artromick understands mobile computing, and what it takes to ensure a successful healthcare IT program in your facility. NX10 Mobile Computing WorkStation TX10 IMC TX20 Advancing Healthcare Delivery www.artromick.com See us at HIMSS booth #2871 e l connect: ARtRoMIck 0208 800 848 6462 l http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8611 http://www.artromick.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8581 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=8685

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare It News - February 2008

Healthcare It News - February 2008 Contents Hot Potato Wal-Mart Focus CIO Role Wasteland Linking Docs Katrina Work P4P Team Fire Sale? Emergency Systems Beyond Business

Healthcare It News - February 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.