Healthcare IT News - May 2008 - (Page 1)

ProDuct sPotLIgHt: EHRs push paper off the shelves pagE 34 Published in partnership with tHE nEwS SourCE for HEaltHCarE inforMation tECHnoloGy n May 2008 record registration Third virtual conference draws more than 2,500 to education sessions and exhibit hall. PaGE 21 News Medicare to crack down nationwide IT may help docs, hospitals prepare for billing audits. By diana ManoS, Senior Editor WASHINGTON Help wanted As healthcare organizations launch IT projects, a study suggests IT personnel will be in demand. PaGE 3 Speeding up The head of a panel charged with developing IT standards says the work is accelerating. PaGE 5 commeNtary – Coding experts say doctors and hospitals that don’t prepare now for the upcoming federal crackdown on Medicare billing could face payback bills in the sixfigures, referrals to fraud enforcers and possible jail time. Bolstered by the success of its pilot Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC), which recovered some $304 million in 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Ser vices (CMS) will go nationwide to find errant Medicare billing as early as this fall. A CMS final report on the RAC project is expected out in this month. RACs are paid based on what they find. According to Michael Miscoe, a certified professional coder with almost two decades of billing experience, that’s hardly an “watcH your billing profiles and DoN’t cLuster around one level of code.” – Michael Misco unbiased audit. Miscoe provides coding advice to attorneys defending providers who’ve been socked with Medicare audits and paybacks ranging from $10,000 to $1.2 million. “Compliance is way cheaper than the post payment gunfight,” Miscoe said. To take an audit review to the highest level of Medicare’s review system can cost a provider up to $30,000. Miscoe said the cases have been rising exponentially over the past 10 years. He predicts CMS will “have a field day” when the crackdown begins. Miscoe’s best advice to providers: “Listen to your coders and document the way you need to in CraCkdown see page 5 Government silos HHS and other agencies need to heed the GAO’s recommendations and get rid of their data silos. PaGE 8 HosPItaLs & IDNs New Mexico pilot links rural docs By BErniE MonEGain, Editor ALBUQUERQUE, NM – A pilot project that employs Webbased technology to combat hepatitis C cases in rural New Mexico is poised to become a worldwide model not only for hepatitis C, but for several other chronic diseases. The technology links primary care clinics in rural parts of the state, the Indian Health Service and state prisons with the University of New Mexico’s School of Medicine in Albuquerque. Called Project ECHO, the pilot makes it possible for Sanjeev Arora, MD rural doctors to consult with specialists who can help them treat their patients, many of whom are poor and uninsured and often go untreated. ECHo see page 17 Privacy pressures Hospitals are feeling the stress of patient data vulnerable to breaches from inside and outside. PaGE 11 PHysIcIaN PractIces & ambuLatory care tracking disease Children’s Hospital of Boston will create a pediatric-specific disease registry linked to EMRs. PaGE 16 Payers rah rah health! Humana’s care-coaching program targets chronic illness. PaGE 27 VeNDors Two times a week clinicians who practice in rural New Mexico communities link with each other and with Hepatitis C specialists at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque to present and discuss their cases. triZetto suit TriZetto shareholders file suit, looking for a better price from Apax Partners’ planned purchase. PaGE 30 North Dakota hospitals build integrated electronic record By riCHard PiZZi, Associate Editor NORTHWOOD, ND How consumers eVaLuate providers Word of mouth News reports about area hospitals Online physician comparison tool Online hospital comparison tool Online forums or health discussion boards e l Connect: gRapHS 0508 Source: 60% 18% 10% 9% 6% Blue croSS and Blue ShIeld aSSocIaTIon-MedIcal coST reference GuIde 2008 CliniCal toolkit ambulatory EHrs More vendors offering practice management with EHRs. PaGE 34 ManaGEMEnt Solutions outcomes watch After years of talking about outcomes, some move beyond talk to measuring. PaGE 33 www.HealthcareItNews.com MedTech Publishing Company / Vol. 5 No. 5 – North Dakota may be predominantly rural and sparsely populated, but some hospitals in the state are looking to move to the head of the healthcare IT adoption curve. The University of North Dakota’s Center for Rural Health won a $1.6 million grant last year from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, and is using the money to implement electronic health record systems at three critical access hospitals, or CAHs, in consumers mainly use word of mouth to evaluate provider quality, but more than one in four use tools for evaluation. Chad Peterson, CIO at Northwood Deaconess Health Center in Northwood, N.D. Minnesota plan masters its data By Patty Enrado, Contributing Editor EAGAN, MN – the state’s northeast region. Each facility has its own timetable, but dakota see page 12 handle data and boost efficiency. Since going live with the software The ability to identify in February 2006, BCBS of members and the quality Minnesota has seen cost of Blue Cross Blue Shield of savings in maintenance Minnesota’s data improved associated with reducing with its implementation of misidentification and dupliInitiate Systems’ master data cation of members. management (MDM) soft“We couldn’t depend on ware a couple of years ago. Nathan Funk social security numbers Today the insurer is poised to roll out additional applications to data see page 28 http://www.HealthcareItNews.com

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Healthcare IT News - May 2008 Contents Help Wanted Speeding Up Government Silos Privacy Pressures Tracking Disease Rah Rah Health! TriZetto Suit Outcomes Watch Ambulatory EHRs

Healthcare IT News - May 2008

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