Healthcare IT News - September 2008 - (Page 3) www.HealthcareITNews.com industry news September 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News industry news ICD-10 countdown begins Healthcare IT News posts original news stories on its Web site daily. Here are recent top stories, as selected by the editors. Proposed 2011 deadline has some nervous, others enthusiastic. By BernIe MonegaIn, Editor Louisiana hospitaLs Learn from Katrina for Gustav BATON ROUGE, LA - Officials of Ochsner Medical Center say the hospital system remained open throughout Hurricane Gustav and fared better due to lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. Officials kept the hospital’s electronic records system powered throughout Gustav’s visit. Gustav, a category 2 hurricane, hammered the Gulf Coast beginning early Monday morning and left most of Louisiana without power. DATE: 9/3/08 himss announces pubLic heaLth it awards The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society announced the 2008 recipients of the HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Public Health Award of Excellence at the Centers for Disease Control Public Health Information Network Conference this week. The two public health recipients honored are the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority, Cherokee, N.C., and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton, N.J. The HIMSS Davies Public Health Award recognizes the impact of information technology and information management on improving the health of a defined population. Date: 8/28/08 WA S H I N G T O N – T h e M e d i c a l G r o u p Management Association, which represents 21,500 members, says the government’s proposed Oct 1, 2011, deadline for the healthcare industry to convert from ICD-9 code sets to ICD-10 is too short. However, even as the MGMA decried the deadline as one that could wreak havoc on medical practices and other healthcare organizations, the American Health Information Management Association, which represents 51,000 health information management professionals, said it’s about time. “we regard this as a significant step forward in the march toward the use of classification systems that reflect 21st century medical knowledge within a foreseeable timeframe. – Linda Kloss “The proposed regulation simply does not give the industry the time necessary to implement ICD-10,” William F. Jessee, MD, president and CEO of MGMA, said in a statement released last month. Because ICD-10 contains 10 times the number of codes as ICD-9, the newer code set will require vast changes for medical groups, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, he said. ICD-9 contains 17,000 codes and is expected to start running out of available codes next year. The ICD-10 code sets contain more than 155,000 codes. American Health Information Management Association CEO Linda Kloss said ICD-10 will better allow for the measurement of quality patient care and the international exchange of information on public health, pandemic and research that will help make policy and care decisions. “The American Health Information ICD-10 see page 8 hhS pushes for top-value care Leavitt to expand program to 25 chartered value exchanges by year’s end. By DIana Manos, Senior Editor KentucKy hie KicKs off e-prescribinG initiative HealthBridge, a health information exchange operating in the Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky region, has launched its community e-prescribing application enabling physicians to send prescriptions electronically to area pharmacies. The HIE hosted a demonstration recently for Congressman Geoff Davis of Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District of the e-prescription application and how it shares clinical data. “We are making it easier for doctors to have the information and the tools they need to give patients the highest quality care possible,” Davis said. Date: 8/27/08 – The Department of Health and Human Services plans to expand a nationwide network of local organizations, called chartered value exchanges (CVEs), that will have access to Medicare data for reporting care and cost outcomes to the public. At an Aug. 12 town hall meeting co-hosted by the North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance, Inc., HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt said he would like to allen Dobson, MD increase CVEs from the current 14 to 25 by year’s end. Upon Leavitt’s prompting, the NCHICA has passed a resolution to establish the first CVE in North Carolina. Leavitt said CVEs would help change the U.S. healthcare sector into a healthcare system. “We need national standards, but local control,” he said. reSeArcH TrIANGLe PArK, Nc Leavitt said Medicare is at the heart of America’s healthcare woes because other insurance companies pattern themselves after Medicare. Incentives based on volume, not value, are part of the problem, he said. L e a v i t t l a s t year designated NCHICA as a community leader for value-driven healthcare, one of the requirements for desighhS Secretary Michael Leavitt nation as a CVE. aims to add value exchanges. Allen Dobson, MD, chairman of Community Care of North Carolina, said adding a CVE to other initiatives already under way in North Carolina is an important step. The leadership of NCHICA in promoting collaboration in this effort will prove to be extremely important to our future success,” Dobson said. “North Carolina is now poised to be a national leader in building a better healthcare system for all our citizens.” Over the last year, HHS has designated more than 100 value-driven healthcare community leaders. From among 38 applications, CVe see page 6 Second wind blows for IT By DIana Manos, Senior Editor Group to study heaLthcare appLications on ceLL phones The Medical Records Institute has introduced a membership-based organization, called the Center for Cell Phone Applications in Healthcare (C-PAHC) that will study and advocate the advancement of cell phone applications in the industry. C-PAHC will act as a clearinghouse and collaboration center in regard to cell phone technologies in healthcare. The organization believes healthcare applications on cell phones are the future conduit of interoperability for essential health information. Date: 8/26/08 More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: WeBBrIeFS 0908 Study questions value of transparency By DIana Manos, Senior Editor WASHINGTON – Though the federal govern- ● ment is full throttle into promoting transparency in healthcare, a new study releasedlast monthby the Center for Studying Health System Change questions its current usefulness. Health plans are developing tools to help consumers compare price and quality information across hospitals and physicians, but the tools’ pervasiveness and usefulness are limited, HSC researchers said. “None of the health plans we interviewed believed that price and quality information is being used extensively by their enrollees today, in part, because few have incentives in their benefit structures to encourage cost comparisons,” said Ann Tynan, HSC health researcher and co-author of the study. According to the study, large employers are those most interested in healthcare price and quality transparency, with health plans generally providing some price information on inpatient and outpatient procedures and services. However, information on individual providers is often lacking and limited for enrollees in health plans. In addition, few plans provide price information on physician services, the study said. Health plans generally rely on third-party sources to package publicly available information instead of using information from sTuDy see page 6 Convention under way Aug. 25-28 as this column goes to press, it’s not hard to let thoughts wander to the future of healthcare IT and what could happen under a new presidency. Almost overnight, healthcare itself seems to have awakened from somewhat of a sleeping position as a campaign topic, where it has been dozing behind the more vibrant discussions of the economy and the war in Iraq. The first night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver reminded Americans washin Gton o f t h e l o n g hard trail some have blazed for healthcare reform. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is battling cancer, made an appearance to drive the point home that every American deserves healthcare. Hillary Clinton, a long-time soldier for universal healthcare, added to Kennedy’s championing of healthcare reform in her speech the following night. When the Republican National Convention gets under way Sept. 1-4 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, no doubt healthcare will get a boost there as well. Both presumptive presidential candidates have fleshed out healthcare platforms that include healthcare IT advancement. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says increasing the use of healthcare IT can reduce costs. “We should promote the rapid deployment of 21st century information systems and technology that allows doctors Manos see page 4 w ITH THe DemOcrATIc National Watch http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9877
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