Healthcare IT News - October 2008 - (Page 16)

16 Healthcare IT news n October 2008 www.HealthcareITNews.com MedTech Publishing office in New Gloucester, Maine, where we publish Healthcare IT News and Healthcare Finance News, we are keenly aware that Planet Earth needs to be handled with care. We are surrounded by rolling farmland. Cows, the Dutch Warmbloods at the riding stable up the hill, and the farmers’ market are part of our everyday scene, as is a view of Mount Washington from our office windows – always snow-capped in winter. ere at the H Hospital CIOs do the ‘green’ thing At the University of Colorado Hospital, Director of Information Technology Joe Bajek is encouraging the hospital’s suppliers to recycle by insisting that they do so as a condition of doing business with the hospital. At first it was a matter of saving space, he said. He didn’t want 2,000 computer and monitor boxes and 3,000 Styrofoam pieces Bernie monegain, editor around after new computers were delivered. Then it became an energy-saving, waste-reduction initiative. We say hurrah for IT executives like Pelot and Bajek and the many others like them across the country. Because there are many others. “This sector (healthcare) more than other sectors I have seen, is involved in MY TWO CENTS “it chiefs like Pelot and Bajek see it as part of their jobs to do the green thing – all in a day’s work. they see it as the right thing to do. and, of course, it is.” We want to do our part to treat the environment with the respect it deserves. We started a paper-recycling program in our office complex where there was none. We established a ‘green’ day when each of us works at home one day during the week to save the gasoline and emissions we would otherwise put out. We are energy-efficient in our computer purchases, too, and we turn off our equipment when we leave. But all of this seems so little compared with what many hospitals across the country are doing. This month we talked with the IT chiefs at two Colorado hospitals who have undertaken initiatives that save energy – and money. Chief Technology officer Jeff Pelot and his team at Denver Health are replacing servers by the hundreds, converting to virtual machines. He says Denver Health is already reaping the promised benefits of savings, and there’s more to come as the health system moves to complete this initiative with yet more conversions. communicating to suppliers their desire for less toxic components, take-back programs, upgradability, roHS compliance and other environmental features for non-computer IT equipment,” Lara Sutherland, of Practice Greenhealth told us. IT chiefs like Pelot and Bajek see it as part of their jobs to do the green thing – all in a day’s work. They see it as the right thing to do. of course, it is. And, in so doing, they are an inspiration to others in their field and perhaps in the publishing world, too. Surely, there are other green projects just waiting for MedTech Publishing to take on. There are vendors who could be persuaded to do the green thing, and there are our neighbors here at our office campus who jumped on the paper recycling bandwagon who would relish yet another opportunity to do their part. Thanks to you Mr. Pelot and Mr. Bajek for showing us how it’s done. n www.HealthcareITNews.com Published in partnership with 71 Pineland Drive, Suite 203 New Gloucester, ME 04260 T (207) 688-6270 F (207) 688-6273 Neil Rouda neil.rouda@medtechpublishing.com MedTech Publishing Company PUBLISHER EDITORIAL Jack Beaudoin, Editorial Director jack.beaudoin@medtechpublishing.com Patty Enrado, Contributing Editor patty.enrado@medtechpublishing.com Diana Manos, Senior Editor diana.manos@medtechpublishing.com Molly Merrill, Associate Editor molly.merrill@medtechpublishing.com Bernie Monegain, Editor bernie.monegain@medtechpublishing.com Eric Wicklund, Managing Editor eric.wicklund@medtechpublishing.com Nancy Vitucci, nvitucci@himss.org For advertising contacts, see page 44 or visit http://www.healthcareitnews.com Karen Diekmann, Production Manager karen.diekmann@medtechpublishing.com EDITOR, HIMSS INSIDER EDITORIAL STAFF More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: MoneGain 1008 ● ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MARKETING Danielle Hartley, Director, Marketing and Business Development danielle.hartley@medtechpublishing.com Nicole Carter, Manager, Audience Development nicole.carter@medtechpublishing.com Jenna Perez, Coordinator, Marketing/Circulation jenna.perez@medtechpublishing.com READER SERVICES T (978) 671-0449 Email: cs-hitn@e-circ.net F (978)671-0460 Online: www.myHITN.com P.O. Box 9369, Lowell, MA 01853 The YGS Group T (717) 399-1900, ext. 139 HITN@theygsgroup.com REPRINTS CUSTOMER SERVICE ft view on the Allscripts-Misys merger from the Wall Street analyst Sean Wieland in the “Analysts expect Misys will land $305M it needs for Allscripts deal” story . Wieland, who says he’s “not a fan of the merger,” claimed that A4, which Allscripts bought in 2006, “has never really been merged” into Allscripts. As a former client of A4 who became an Allscripts client through the acquisition, I want to say that Wieland’s view is both out of touch and out of date. The merger between Allscripts and A4 was handled extraordinarily well, at least from the perspective that matters most - my perspective as a client. I anticipate that the Misys clients willbenefit in the same way. The one thing I can tell you unequivocally is that Allscripts is a company that admits their mistakes and then fixes them. And that’s exactly why they stand apart in this industry. i talking back to the analysts on merger Want to take IssUe WIth the 10,000 Healthcare it myths Information Refinery, 800-529-2600, dfoster@inforefinery.com John Glaser, vice president, CIO, Partners HealthCare, Boston Denni McColm, CIO, Citizens Memorial Healthcare, Bolivar, Mo. Jane Olds, COO, Louisiana Health Network, New Orleans Wes Rishel, vice president, Gartner, Inc. William Spooner, senior vice president, CIO, Sharp Healthcare, San Diego Paul Tang, vice president, CMIO, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, California Steven Waldren, director, Center for Health IT, American Academy of Family Physicians LIST RENTALS MAILBOX our client service has always been extraordinary and has gotten even better after the acquisition. Moreover, the product that we use (HealthMatics EHr) has taken dramatic steps forward, which is exactly what they promised when they announced the acquisition, and exactly what they delivered. In fact, our Davies award-winning practice in Georgia with 12 physicians, has documented an annual roI of nearly $1 million from our EHr. It’s disappointing to see misinformed comments in print, but ultimately all that matters is whether a company delivers for their clients, and this company does. I may be a country doctor with a small family practice, not a “Wall Street expert,” but I thought it was important to share another point of view. – James R. Morrow, MD, VP and CIO, North Fulton Family Medicine, PC EDITORIAL BOARD s foUnDer anD Ceo of heaLth reCorD Corporation, developer of a consumer-focused personal health record, I must disagree with those who believe care providers should be subsidized for adopting EMr systems. I do so because I disagree with their underlying assumption that we need elaborate, costly electronic healthcare IT networks. We don’t. And if we don’t need the networks, we don’t need forced adoption of EMrs or physician subsidies! Conventional wisdom has it that both are necessary for care providers to access a patient’s complete personal health record when and where they treat the patient. Unfortunately, this “wisdom” is based upon erroneous assumptions, which I call myths. (I discuss them on our corporate Web site, http://healthrecordcorp.com/ healthcareitmyths.html). By dealing with the “realities” rather than these myths, we take a decidedly different lETTERS see page 18 Neil Rouda Jack Beaudoin, John D. Payne PRESIDENT Neil Rouda VICE PRESIDENTS VICE PRESIDENTS PRESIDENT Jack Beaudoin John D. Payne 2005 JESSE NEAL AWARD WINNER http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10049 http://www.healthcareitnews.com http://www.myHITN.com http://healthrecordcorp.com/healthcareitmyths.html http://healthrecordcorp.com/healthcareitmyths.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare IT News - October 2008

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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