Healthcare It News - February 2008 - (Page 5)

www.HealthcareITNews.com industry news February 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News industry Healthcare IT News posts original news stories on its Web site daily. Here are recent top stories, as selected by Healthcare IT News editors. news “americans are ready for e-prescribing.” –Newt Gingrich In December, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that would require physicians who treat Medicare patients to use electronic prescribing, starting Jan. 1, 2011. So far this bill has drawn widespread bi-partisan support but remains buried in committees for consideration. Meanwhile, the market and many proponents are champing at the bit for some action. “Americans are ready for e-prescribing,” said former Speaker of the House, Newt epresCrIBe see page 6 E-prescribing emerges as ‘hot’ issue Described as the on-ramp to EHRs, e-prescribing could stir political pot. By DIaNa MaNos, Senior Editor WaSHinGton – Experts for and against eprescribing say it will bubble up as one of the hottest and most debated healthcare information technology issues this year. According to Deborah Peel, MD, founder of Patient Privacy Rights, when it comes to healthcare IT, Congress is likely to address e-prescribing first because it may seem a simple and somewhat easy place to start. Peel has major concerns, however, with the routine sale of e-prescribing data, a current practice that does not require a patient’s consent. “No privacy group will support e-prescrib- democratic presidential hopefuls tout healthcare it During a January Democratic presidential debate hosted by CNN, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton made healthcare one of their first debate topics. Both agreed healthcare IT would be beneficial in lowering costs. Both candidates have made it clear throughout their campaigns they consider it a moral obligation to provide healthcare coverage to every American. As one way to fund their plans, they said they would let topend income tax breaks expire. In addition, Clinton said she would move for electronic medical records. Date: 2/01/08 No privacy group will support e-prescribing unless patients have control, says one privacy advocate. ing unless patients have control,” Peel said. “It would be insane.” florida hospital system prepares for disasters Broward Health, a community health system in Florida, has been awarded a Critical Incident Management Systems for Healthcare grant to provide Florida’s Region VII hospitals with a new level of preparedness and coordination during times of disaster. The Human Health & Services Office of Public Health and Science awarded the grant to provide Broward Health with a region-wide implementation of PortBlue’s CommandAware hospital incident management system. Date: 1/30/08 Contractors begin work on building aHIC 2.0 By BerNIe MoNegaIN, Editor WaSHinGton – LMI Consulting of McLean, Va., in association with the Brookings Institution, has been awarded a grant to american hospital dubai signs software deal Executives at the American Hospital Dubai, a Joint Commission Internationalaccredited hospital, have signed a deal with Lawson Software that should not only ease administrative processes but also track and share data of traveling patients. Lawson will install Lawson S3 Human Capital Management, Enterprise Financial Management, Supply Chain Management and Business Intelligence suites. The contract was signed during Lawson’s second quarter of fiscal 2008, which ended Nov. 30, 2007. The 143-bed, acute care hospital has a 60-physician multi-specialty group practice and Centers of Excellence for joint replacement, heart, cancer and diabetes care. Date: 1/28/08 “by securing a successor to the ahic in the private sector we will help to ensure that the health it standards process is truly self-sustaining.” – Michael Leavitt establish a public-private successor to the American Health Information Community, a federal panel that advises the government on healthcare IT matters. The work of creating what has been dubbed AHIC 2.0 is expected to be complete by December. “I am confident that this partnership has the experience needed to convene a successful organization to advance adoption of health IT in the United States,” Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said last month. “By securing a successor to the AHIC in the private sector while maintaining broad public-private collaboration, we will help to ensure that the health IT standards process is truly self-sustaining.” LMI Consulting is a not-for-profit government consulting firm with 50 years of experience in providing management and logistical support on a range of projects. The Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution provides objective policy analysis. It will provide its services and expertise to this project at no cost to the federal government. The team will develop a two-stage collaborative process to ensure that key stakeholders in the public and private sectors are engaged and represented. Phase 1 will focus on stakeholder outreach and the design and development of governing documents for AHIC 2.0. This phase, to which AHIC has allocated $2 million, is expected to take approximately four months. aHIC see page 6 What grade does congress deserve? By DIaNa MaNos, Senior Editor i accuro healthcare files with sec for ipo Accuro Healthcare Solutions Inc. has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell an initial public offering. The company hopes to raise as much as $144 million through the stock offering. The filing did not detail the number of shares it expected to sell or the offering price for the stock. The Dallasbased company sells Internet-based solutions and services to hospitals and other healthcare providers. Date: 1/25/08 More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: WeBBrIeFS 0208 Identity verification key to PhR uptake New report recommends common practices for authenticating identities. By BerNIe MoNegaIN, Editor neW YorK ● – A new report by Connecting for Health, a public-private collaborative operated by the Markle Foundation, recommends widespread adoption of several common practices for validating identities of online consumers, which in turn would help stimulate the growth of personal health records. “Your health information is likely scat- tered across several providers and organizations,” said Clay Shirky, chairman of the Connecting for Health Work Group on Consumer Authentication Policies for Networked Health Information. “To access your information in an electronic environment, all those organizations must be satisfied that you really are who you say you are.” The report recommends that in-person proofing – checking government-issued identification documents in a face-toface setting – continue to be a common approach, especially for organizations that IDeNTITy see page 8 – one that President Bush called “uncertain” with concerns abroad and now increasingly at home – the President stood up for healthcare IT advancement, a plan he has backed since 2004. In his Jan. 28 final State of the Union speech the president recommended healthcare IT as one of a handful of healthcare reform measures that could make U.S. healthcare affordable and accessible.Bush told reporters recently that he would rather not discuss his past, only look to his future. washington His past regarding healthcare IT includes executive orders to establish federal programs to advance the adoption of IT, the building of a network of networks for health information exchange and getting electronic medical records up and running for every American by 2014. His value-driven healthcare plan, with healthcare IT as one of the cornerstones, has drawn commitment from more than 800 private companies and other organizations. But what of Congress? Will they carry forward Bush’s vision of healthcare IT advancement? If the fate of the handful proposed bills so far were a sign, then the commitment is not as strong as it needs to be to push the effort through. This year, the only bills in MaNos see page 9 n a troubled time Watch http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8588

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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

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