Healthcare IT News - October 2008 - (Page 1)

coNfereNce bouND: AHIMA, MGMA head West pAGe 3, pAGe 31 Published in partnership with THE nEwS SourCE for HEAlTHCArE InforMATIon TECHnoloGy n OCTOber 2008 Excellence in Maine Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor is named 2008 HIMSS Davies Award winner. PAGE 39 News McCain plan lacks specifics Obama pledges $10B a year information technology to reduce healthcare costs. epUbliMcCain did Can presnot respond idential candidate Sen. to a survey of John McCain the candidates (R-Ariz.) plans the American to push rapid Academy of Sen. John S. McCain, Arizona Republican deployment of Family Physicians 21st century information systems conducted on healthcare issues. and technology to allow doctors to Though McCain’s Web site practice across state lines. does not list particulars for how His plan, shared with running he would promote healthcare IT mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, adoption, McCain’s senior health would promote the greater use of MCCAIn see page 4 By DIAnA MAnoS, Senior Editor By DIAnA MAnoS, Senior Editor What role for healthcare IT? r that of running mate Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), eMoCratprovides $10 biliC presilion per year for dential five years to help candidate Sen. physicians and Barack Obama other providers (D-Ill.) is in favor adopt healthcare of grants and Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois Democrat IT. loan programs After the first five years, they to help small and medium-sized physician practices acquire health- would phase in requirements for care IT, according to a survey con- providers to adopt IT and would ducted by the American Academy commit the necessary federal funding to make it happen. of Family Physicians. Obama’s platform, along with oBAMA see page 6 Seattle’s slate Medical identity theft, ICD-10 and PHRs top the schedule for this month’s AHIMA convention. PAGE 3 D Board 2.0 AHIC successor panel, often called AHIC 2.0, has named its board of directors. PAGE 10 commeNtary MGMA newsmaker William F. Jessee, MD looks back at year’s achievements, sets new goals, tells what he’s reading. PAGE 17 HosPItaLs & IDNs IT battles infection New HHS plan against healthcareacquired infections has technology doing the heavy lifting. PAGE 21 PHysIcIaN PractIces & ambuLatory care Beyond adoption Jason Mitchell, MD, says physicians are moving beyond adoption of IT to how to get the most out of it. PAGE 31 Payers Green with IT Hospital technology becomes more eco-friendly. By BErnIE MonEGAIn, Editor eMR effort to link docs to el Camino By Molly MErrIll, Associate Editor MoUntain View, Ca - A three-tofive-year electronic medical records initiative will link more than 100 independent physicians affiliated with Mountain View, Calif.-based El Camino Hospital. Hospital officials spearheaded the program in an effort to support independent physicians who typically can’t afford the costs associated with EMR systems Kent Madison implementation. Independent physicians affiliated with El Camino Hospital have formed a nonprofit organization called Independent Physicians of El Camino Hospital (IPECH), made up of 110 members. IPECH will manage the implementation through a service agreement with the hospital and manage the maximum subsidy allowable by Stark Law definition, which according to the organization’s executive director, Kent Madison, is 85 percent. El Camino will deploy a unified electronic medical record and practice management software from eClinicalWorks, a Westborough, Mass.-based company. Girish Kumar Navani, CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks, says the solution will provide physicians with e-prescribing CAMIno see page 37 Carrot and stick Congressman Pete Stark’s legislation gains favor with payers. PAGE 45 VeNDors HP layoffs Analysts predict HP will become a leaner, meaner company after laying off 24,600. PAGE 51 ClInICAl Toolkit Mobile workstations Clinician demand for mobility is driving boost in market. PAGE 56 these days – or retrofitted – they more than likely include ‘green’ initiatives – a little something or a big something that makes building operations more earth friendly. It might be a more efficient heating and cooling system, recycling waste, allowing the sun to shine in and, of course, using much less paper. a s new hospitals are built Hospitals across the country, like the one Palomar Pomerado Health is building in San Diego, shown here in a rendering, are going green inside and out – and with IT. Hospital IT departments around the country also are getting on the eco-friendly bandwagon with a variety of initiatives. Many health systems, including giant Kaiser Permanente in California, are purchasing lowenergy computers, much like a consumer might buy an energyefficient washer and dryer. They survey of It professionals Care about energy-efficient IT 90% Have in their organizations 30% n=778 Source: cDW-G report - 2008 e l Connect: GRApHS 1008 consider the disposal of electronics, too, notes Lara Sutherland, GrEEn see page 28 DOD, VA take heat over lack of interoperability By DIAnA MAnoS, Senior Editor washinGton MAnAGEMEnT Solutions Automating offices P4P will spark a push for more automation in the medical practice, predict industry insiders. PAGE 58 www.HealthcareItNews.com MedTech Publishing Company / Vol. 5 No. 10 – Due to the sheer volume of veterans seeking healthcare services, the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration’s interoperability efforts are seen as a sign of what is possible in the civilian world. Those departments continue to take heat, however, over slow progress in sharing data, though military officials vow interoperability is a priority. A Sept. 24 report by the General Accountability Office criticized the progress, saying the departments have achieved some, but not full, interoperability. The process to date includes exchanging some information in computable form, which is the highest level of interoperability, GAO officials said. However, in other cases, data can be “viewed only” – a lower level of interoperability that still provides clinicians with important information. According to GAO officials, the departments have undertaken a number of initiatives, resulting HEAT see page 29 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com

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Healthcare IT News - October 2008 Contents Seattle's Slate Board 2.0 MGMA Newsmaker IT Battles Infection Beyond Adoption Excellence in Maine Carrot and Stick HP Layoffs Mobile Workstations Automating Offices

Healthcare IT News - October 2008

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