Healthcare IT News - June 2008 - (Page 1)

HeartfeLt: Broad tools a trend in cardiology page 34 Published in partnership with ThE nEWS SourcE for hEAlThcArE inforMATion TEchnoloGy n JuNe 2008 HHS to name eHR demo project winners Eastern edge More than 1,500 healthcare IT leaders came together for AsiaPac08 in Hong Kong. PAGE 21 News Government will choose 12 from the 30 applications it received. By BErniE MonEGAin, Editor WASHINGTON - Googling health Mega search engine company Google moves Google Health from beta to mainstream. PAGE 3 defining moment Work groups have developed definitions for five common healthcare IT terms. PAGE 6 commeNtary Physicians in more than 30 communities around the country will know this month whether they have been selected to participate in a government-sponsored EHR demonstration project. The project will n The News: Twelve com provide Medicare munities will be selectincentive payments ed for an EHR pilot. to primary care phyn What It Means: Boost sician practices that in physician uptake of use certified elecelectronic health record tronic health records systems. to improve the qualMichael Leavitt ity of patient care. HHS will select as many as year initiative. 1,200 small- to medium-sized Total payments under the demphysician practices in 12 commu- onstration for all five years may be nities to participate in the five- up to $58,000 per physician or up to $290,000 per practice. HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt on Monday praised the communities that have applied for the pilot project. “This is an outstanding response from communities and, in some cases, entire states,” Leavitt said. “It shows the great appetite for programs that offer incentives to physicians who efficiently use EHRs to improve the quality of dEMo see page 19 Bria on iT, work William Bria, CMIO at Shriners Hospital for Children, talks about what it means to be a CMIO. PAGE 9 HosPItaLs & IDNs Coping with safety crisis For some hospitals, bar code technology is the answer. By Molly MErrill, Associate Editor JACKSON, MS –The Los Angeles Times recently quoted actor Dennis Quaid as saying, “They have a bar code system in every checkout stand of every supermarket in the country. How could it be so complicated, and so expensive?” aHIp forum can set tone for change By PATTy EnrAdo, Contributing Editor Academic dilemma Protecting patient information can be tougher for academic medical centers than elsewhere. PAGE 13 PHysIcIaN PractIces & ambuLatory care Ignagni sees key role for health plans in national discussion. SAN FRANCISCO – With healthcare among the top three issues concerning Americans in this presidential election year, AHIP Institute 2008, in San Francisco June 18-20 is poised to put health plans in a leadership position in the national discussion. “Health plans are the agents of change,” said Karen Ignagni, president Karen Ignagni and CEO of the America’s Health Insurance Plans. “Our mission will be to tell our story.” AHIP’s annual conference is bringing together what Ignagni called the “best speakers in the country” to inform its members, among other things, how to prepare for post-November and what best practices health plans can employ to foment change. She pointed out that health plans are developing a new generation of tools, including personal health record templates and mechanisms to reward quality and clinical outcomes. Citing the importance of offering policy solutions and data-driven strategies, she said, “We bring to the national discussion what works.” Healthcare transformation will be a major conference topic, said Michael Ubl, director of IT Strategy and eHealth for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and AhiP see page 28 Power in numbers IT-driven database program in Kansas tracks patients with diabetes. PAGE 17 Payers bar code technology AdoPTion rATE nExT TWo yEArS Base: 307 respons74% es, representing 207 unique healthcare organizations and more than 35% 700 hospitals. 2008 2007 19TH AnnuAl 2008 HImss lEAdERsHIp suRvEy, sponsoREd By CIsCo Getting mobile WellPoint moves on the demand for information on the go. PAGE 27 veNDors At St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Miss., bar code technology at the point of care has enabled clinicians to match the right medication with the right patient every time. Staffing right New technology helps hospitals take the guess work out of scheduling nurses for work. PAGE 31 e l connect: gRapHS 0608 It is not that hospitals aren’t sold on information technology preventing medical errors, say the experts. Rather, it’s the complexity and cost of such projects that create the greatest barriers. Quaid said in March that he is considering suing Cedars Sinai for a medication mix-up that almost killed his twin babies unless the hospital takes steps to SAfETy see page 14 clinicAl Toolkit Take heart Interest in cardiology systems is on the rise. PAGE 34 Medversant proposes automated credentialing By Eric Wicklund, Managing Editor MAnAGEMEnT Solutions claims automation Segment expected to grow to accommodate quest for faster, more efficient processing. PAGE 35 www.HealthcareItNews.com MedTech Publishing Company / Vol. 5 No. 6 – A Connecticut nurse is spending six months in jail after her conviction in April of second-degree reckless endangerment following the death of a child under her care. She was also convicted of making a false statement – for failing to disclose on her Connecticut nursing license renewal application that her nursing license in Florida had LOS ANGELES “Doctors are human beings and they have issues.” – Matt Haddad been revoked in 2004 following the death of a child under her care. While the situation may seem extreme, a recent survey of close to 10,000 physicians, nurses and ancillary healthcare personnel found that nearly 9 percent of physicians were practicing with one or more of 52 questionable issues regarding their Matt Haddad credentials. Those issues range from sanctions, reprimands of malpractice claim payments to expired or revoked license to having no license at all. The survey, conducted by Medversant Technologies, a Los Angeles-based provider of Webbased healthcare practitioner management applications, points to a need among healthcare providers crEdEnTiAl see page 32 www.HealthcareItNews.com

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Healthcare IT News - June 2008

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