Healthcare IT News - April 2008 - (Page 3)

www.HealthcareITNews.com industry news April 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 Experts say new media key to PhR push Government looks to Facebook, blogs, podcasts to promote PHR uptake. By DIana Manos, Senior Editor WASHINGTON new Orleans health systeM autOMates surgical tasks The Ochsner Health System in New Orleans is rolling out technology to automate a number of surgical processes. Ochsner, which includes seven hospitals and 33 health centers throughout southeast Louisiana, selected technology developed by Mobile, Ala-based DocuSys Inc. The new software includes anesthesia information management, medication management and pre-surgical care management systems. Date: 3/25/08 – Promoting personal health records will take a whole host of online and other technological multimedia strategies, experts told the consumer empowerment workgroup of the American Health Information Community recently. AHIC advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on healthcare IT matters. Jay Bernhardt, director of the National Center for Health Marketing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the group a federal push to promote the uptake of PHRs might not be as simple as merely pushing their use. It will take multiple approaches and differ- really no longer accept vertical media like they ent social media applications, with an empha- once did,” Bernhardt said. “People trust ‘people like me.’ That’s why social media sis on horizontal, or peer-tois most trusted.” peer, sharing. Bernhardt said the CDC The CDC has begun is not dismissing traditional exploring methods of social media, but is “looking for the health campaigning through sweet spot between the vertical such venues as newsgroups, and the horizontal way of getnewsboards, instant messagting information across.” ing, blogs, podcasts, Wikis, Information an organization eGames, social networking, would release through a press sharing services, mashups, release should now also be intromobile messaging and avaduced through blogs, Webinars tars, Bernhardt said. Podcasts, blogs and other social and social networking platforms Traditional media, such as media are likely to be more such as MySpace. Streaming TV, newspapers and expert effective in marketing PhRs than video is also gaining in popularWeb sites, give informa- traditional media, such as tV. ity, he said. ■ tion vertically, where the big people or experts tell the “little people” what to More at HealthcareITnews.com do. “Consumers have changed a great deal and ●Connect: PHrS 0408 e help sOught nailing dOwn healthcare it definitiOns The National Alliance for Health Information Technology is seeking more public input on how best to define five healthcare IT terms. The alliance is holding a second public comment period through April 9 on the work completed so far. The alliance, with the help of Bearing Point Inc., is defining five terms: electronic medical record (EMR), electronic health record (EHR), personal health record (PHR), health information exchange (HIE) and regional health information organization (RHIO). Date: 3/25/08 Healthcare It bill in the wings, but no money yet By DIana Manos, Senior Editor WASHINGTON – The Senate recently approved Wedged ’tween money, politics By DIana Manos, Senior Editor califOrnia hOspital reaches gOals with new technOlOgy Tri-City Medical Center, a community hospital that serves Oceanside, Vista and Carlsbad, Calif., has rolled out new technology to update its emergency department. The intent, say officials at Tri-City, is to better handle staffing shortages, increased caseloads and the rising number of uninsured patients. Tri-City has implemented the Cerner Millennium healthcare computing platform developed by Kansas City, Mo. -based Cerner Corp., designed to boost patient care throughout the hospital and in the emergency department. Date: 3/24/08 funding for healthcare IT advancement, but legislative insiders aren’t optimistic the money will be available anytime soon. The bi-partisan healthcare IT funding measure, part of the senate fiscal year 2009 budget resolution, was introduced by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Mike Enzi (RWyo). The amendment would create a deficit-neutral reserve to back healthcare IT bills over the next five years. The resolution was passed March 14 and does not yet specify how much would be set aside for healthcare IT. The Whitehouse amendment would also fund an interoperable electronic health record system for the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. According to Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, reserve funds “i hope making health it – especially initiatives supporting the young men and women now returning from war – a priority in our budget will help encourage greater inVestMents and speedier reforms.” – Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) allow the chairman of the committee to adjust the budget resolution when certain legislation is passed. Whitehouse and Stabenow successfully passed a similar amendment during last year’s budget debate. BIlls see page 4 i intersysteMs lands $19M cOntract fOr sweden’s ehr InterSystems has landed a $19 million, five-year contract to provide a platform for Sweden’s national electronic health record. The agreement includes an option to extend for an additional two years. European-based software company TietoEnator will serve as prime contractor to deliver the development, implementation and hosting of the electronic health record, known as the National Patient Overview (NPO), while Cambridge, Mass.based InterSystems will roll out its health information network platform InterSystems HealthShare. Date 3/19/08 More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: WeBBrIeFS 0408 By BernIe MonegaIn, Editor WASHINGTON Government awards NhIN contract ● – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has tapped the Harris Corporation to build a piece of the Nationwide Health Information Network. The communications and technology company, based in Melbourne, Fla., will develop an opensource “gateway” solution for the government. The company did not reveal the financial terms of the contract. The gateway will enable federal healthcare agencies and healthcare providers to more quickly and easily share patient information, Harris executives said. Initially, the gateway will connect government healthcare providers in the Department of Defense, Veterans Administration, Social Security Administration and Indian Health Service to provide access to and exchange of vital patient medical records. The second phase of the gateway deployment will move the core components into the public domain, essentially creating a World Wide Web for healthcare information exchange among providers of all specialties and sizes. The gateway will integrate and re-use technology based on the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid used by the National Cancer Institute and the Bi-directional Health Information Exchange that provides for medical information exchange between the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration. Harris teamed with Agilex, Inc. and ScenPro, Inc., both recognized experts on technologies used in these programs. ■ More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: CoNtraCt 0408 politics and a tight year for money, so where does that leave healthcare IT? According to a survey conducted by Healthcare IT News, respondents weren’t overwhelmingly disappointed with where healthcare IT sits in the grand scheme of reform so far; slightly less than half felt it is about right. Yet one down-heartened respondent said it is falling “woefully short of its potential.” In a recent statement, Curt Selquist, board chairman of the National Alliance for Health Information Technology expanded that a bit to “the enorwa shi ngtOn mous unfulfilled potential,” requiring new s trategies to unleash, sooner than later. However woefully wedged it may be, healthcare IT champions continue to fight on even though the upcoming election has most progress thwarted on Capitol Hill. And some say the three top candidates have only a meager interest in healthcare IT at best. Bound up with healthcare IT advancement and the election, is privacy, a topic that seems less and less willing to stay swept under the rug. “Our next President faces huge challenges, including restoring our trust and control over our health information,” said Deborah Peel, MD, founder of the Patient Privacy Rights in a recent letter. “We are very concerned that neither Clinton, McCain nor Obama have responded to our Manos see page 5 T’S A bIG yeAr fOr Watch ● http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITnews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8975 http://www.HealthcareITnews.com http://www.HealthcareITnews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8978

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare IT News - April 2008

Healthcare IT News - April 2008 Contents New Media Push Stepping Down BI Headaches Decision Grants Safety Alerts Summit 08 Growing an EHR Year 24

Healthcare IT News - April 2008

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