Healthcare IT News - August 2007 - (Page 7)

www.HealthcareITNews.com industry news August 2007 ■ Healthcare IT News NewsMonitor: Keep aHIC panel part of government By rICHarD PIzzI, Associate Editor s of Healthcare IT News readers who responded to the most recent News Monitor poll said that converting the American Health Information Community from a federal advisory group to a private-sector organization is a bad idea. Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, is leading the charge to have AHIC privatized. HHS wants to have a new organizaIxty-fOUr PerceNt tion launched by January 2009. Thirty-six percent of News Monitor poll respondents agreed with Leavitt that AHIC would be more useful if privatized. One hundred and five people responded to the question. Almost all the readers who included comments with their responses stood opposed to the privatization of AHIC. AHIC “needs to be a government function with authority and control over federal healthcare IT initiatives,” wrote Peter Andersen, MD, clinical informatics officer for HIT solutions at Lockheed Martin. “Private sector governance bodies have uniformly been ineffective at driving convergence.” Raymond Peter Zambuto, CEO of Technology in Medicine, Inc., in Holliston, Mass., also said privatization of AHIC would be a bad idea. “Unless and until the federal government commits to take a continu- news MONItOR At CDW, we’re focused on providing technology. So you can focus on providing the best care possible. ing active role in the process, the NHIN (Nationwide Health Information Network) and reduction in medical errors…will not occur,” Zambuto wrote. “The federal government is the largest stakeholder in terms of patient populations, and by privatizing the AHIC effort, it is abandoning it to a marketplace with conflicting incentives.” A few endorsed HHS’ plan to privatize AHIC. “Healthcare IT experts will be more willing to participate in a private initiative rather than a bureaucratic one,” wrote one anonymous reader. “As a consumer, we don’t need another layer of government.” AHIC intends to deliver a recommendation to Leavitt by Sept. 18 on how best to transition to a successor organization. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: NeWSMoNItor 0807 ● KeNNeDy Continued from page 5 Ergotron Neo-Flex™ Mobile WorkSpace Height-adjustable and versatile enough to support either notebooks or LCDs, this low-cost cart supports your hospital’s mobile computing needs with ease. Wyse V10L Get a fast, safe and easy-to-use thin client computer that works in any medical environment. It’s powered by Wyse Thin OS, a virtually zero management OS, perfect for all your computing needs. Symbol® DS6608 Digital Scanner Capture accurate patient data with ease. Provides unmatched performance while scanning one-dimensional and two-dimensional bar codes. Built to read omni-directionally for increased productivity. policy expert, said that as she understands it the argument over a federal healthcare IT advisory panel has basically to do with the amount of federal oversight and the membership required. “It’s a real rub for the coalition because we want to develop consensus to pass health IT legislation this year that improves the lives of patients,” Phelps said. “We want to create a process that is durable and moves us forward to create an interoperable healthcare system.” John Halamka, MD, chairman of Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) told Healthcare IT News that it is not clear how the existing HITSP would relate to the advisory panel proposed in the bill. “Since the bill does describe the need for standards recommended by the Partnership, I can only presume that the intent is to incorporate HITSP into the Partnership to continue the harmonization that is already in progress,” he said. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: KeNNeDY 0807 ● CDW Technology Services CDW can configure a cart solution to fit your exact needs. Our configuration center technicians meet with you to create a point-of-care solution that will work best for you. MaNos Continued from page 5 We’re there with the healthcare solutions you need. The more time you can spend on patient care the better. At CDW, we’re there when you need point-of-care technology. Our wide selection will provide more quality time with patients, fewer medical errors and faster, more precise diagnoses. CDW has all the point-of-care technology you need. And, experts who understand the healthcare industry and your needs. So call today to have better care at your fingertips. CDWHealthcare.com 888.419.7377 e ● Connect: CDW 0807 information and protecting privacy. “For too long, the balance has been tilted too far against patient privacy, and our bill is a needed effort to correct that imbalance,” Kennedy said at the bill’s release. These bills face more than summer recess as obstacles. If a flat budget and partisan bloodshed over whether children should be insured isn’t enough to stall passage, there’s the small matter of presidential campaigns, which could pose a distraction. Good news, though: The candidates are talking about healthcare. Many in Washington say healthcare could be a “vote-maker.” Most candidates have left out the major details to their healthcare platforms, but Democrats aren’t messing around. This promises to be an issue in the Democrat primary; not so much for the Republicans, who didn’t rate healthcare as high in preliminary election polls. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: MaNoS 0807 ● 6/27/07 1:23:38 PM http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=7509 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=7503 http://CDWHealthcare.com http://CDWHealthcare.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=7555 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=7504

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare IT News - August 2007

Contents AHIC Redux IT Saving Lives IT, Wal-Mart Style OR Workflow Counting on Quality PHR Position Tapping Talent Slimming Down E-Prescribing Claims Processing

Healthcare IT News - August 2007

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