Healthcare IT News - June 2008 - (Page 19)

www.HealthcareITNews.com phySICIaN pRaCtICES & amBUlatoRy CaRE June 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 19 eTHeRNeT Continued from page 17 deMo Continued from page 1 East Bremerton and Bainbridge Island. The goal of The Doctors Clinic, Goddard said, was to improve patient care by boosting physician productivity. The sooner the results of a CT scan or a lab test could move into the right hands, the sooner treatment could begin. “Today, there is no film at all,” Goddard said. The Doctors Clinic rolled out Qwest’s Metropolitan Optical Ethernet, or QMOE, across its eight clinical locations. The idea, says Goddard, was to provide added bandwidth that would sustain the new operational expectations and also to set the foundation for deployment of Sage Software EMR and practice management technology, which is under way this month. Speeding up deployment of broadband technology could save more than $800 billion in healthcare costs while boosting the nation’s economy, economist Robert E. Litton said in his 2005 report for the New Millennium Research Council. Apparently, the government agrees. Late last year the Federal Communications Commission launched a pilot program that gave $417 million in telehealth network grants to rural communities. “In order to receive the benefits of telemedicine, electronic healthcare records and other healthcare benefits, health providers must have access to underlying broadband infrastructure,” FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said in making the announcement. After implementing Qwest’s system, one way The Doctors Clinic was able to increase productivity was by decreasing the time needed to download and review images – a savings Goddard figures at $37,500-$50,000 a year for every three CT scans reviewed. Round-the-clock service and Qwest’s willingness to roll over The Doctors Clinic’s previous contractual agreement for DS3 and T1 service into its new broadband plan were key selling points, said Melissa Reffel, a spokeswoman for Qwest. “With bandwidth/broadband upgrades, the implementation, network reliability and ultimately customer service are key, especially in an outage,” Reffel said. Another plus, Goddard added, is that The Doctors Clinic can buy the broadband it needs now. If it needs more in the future, it can expand. ■ More at care they provide to their patients. I congratulate the applicants for their energy and vision in seizing this opportunity to help transform the way healthcare is delivered.” Quality will be gauged by physician performance on specific clinical quality measures. Additional bonus payments will be available, based on a standardized survey measuring the number of EHR “the real beneﬁts of healthcare It can be found at the INdIVIdUal pRaCtICE lEVEl.” – Tevi Troy functionalities incorporated by the physician practice. Leavitt, Deputy Secretary Tevi Troy, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Kerry Weems have visited communities across the country to promote participation in the demonstration project. When Troy visited Portland, Maine, last February, he told the physician community there that the demonstration aims to get smaller practices to be early adopters of healthcare information technology. “The real benefits of healthcare IT can be found at the individual practice level,” Troy said. “It has tremendous potential and can transform the practice of medicine.” More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: DeMo 0608 ● In your view what role does government have in boosting the adoption of electronic medical records across the country? e-mail your comments to editor Bernie Monegain at bernie.monegain@medtechpublishing.com HealthcareITNews.com e ●Connect: etHerNet 0608 How has access – or lack of access – to broadband service enabled or hindered your plans to upgrade IT at your medical practice? send your comments to editor Bernie Monegain at bernie.monegain@ medtechpublishing.com e ● Connect: allSCrIPtS 0608 www.HealthcareITNews.com HealthcareITNews.com HealthcareITNews.com medtechpublishing.com

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Healthcare IT News - June 2008

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