Healthcare IT News - October 2008 - (Page 21)

www.HealthcareITNews.com October 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 21 NEWSBRIEFS GEoRGIa hoSpItal applIES It to REducE patIENt tImE IN ER Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia, Ga. has reduced the average length of stay per patient in its emergency department from 247 to roughly 125 minutes through an application of Lean Manufacturing principles common to the automotive industry. At the heart of Meadows’ new process is The T SystemEV Emergency Department Information System, a computerized solution that coordinates registration, triage, patient tracking, documentation and other critical care factors. A hospital trustee who attended a seminar at Georgia Tech introduced Meadows, a 122-bed combination acute care and skilled nursing facility, to the Lean Manufacturing concept. UPMC hospital puts patients in the know Web-based sessions provides patient information. By BerNIe MoNegaIN, Editor PITTSBURGH – Women Care Associates at Magee Women’s Hospital at the University of Pittsburg Medical Center has rolled out a Web-based patient education platform. To make sure physicians encourage patients to use it, the hospital has developed a “prescribing” piece as part of the physician incentive program. Initially the program was rolled said, though he can’t not out as a risk management give the return a specific tool and also with the idea number. that “an informed patient “If this helps us avoid a is likely to do better than law suit, the ROI is proban un-informed patient, ably quite high,” English said Dennis English, MD, said. vice president of mediSo far, the topics cal affairs and director of Dennis English, include labor and delivWomen Care Associates. MD “We believe it’s a quality initia- ery, recovery after a hysterectomy tive,” English said. It also helps and what to expect when taking on the litigation side, too, he said. hormone replacement. “It’s useful whenever you have And in that way, the Web-based patient sessions, created specifi- to convey a lot of information,” cally for UPMC by Chicago-based said Stephanie Nicolas, MD, Emmi Solutions Inc., shows a who developed some of the great return on investment, he uPMC see page 26 A patient reviews one of the labor and delivery sessions at home. advENtISt hEalth takES EducatIoN to BEdSIdE Adventist Health System is deploying interactive patient care technology across its 37 hospitals. Adventist recently signed an exclusive contract with Bethesda, Md.based GetWellNetwork to provide the technology that delivers patient education and patient services at the bedside. By integrating the GetWellNetwork’s PatientLife System with hospital IT systems, the technology pushes pertinent information to patients at the point-of-care – automating and documenting quality and service. California hospital pulls data onto one platform By BerNIe MoNegaIN, Editor MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA Hospitals slow to help docs with EMRs By BerNIe MoNegaIN, Editor WASHINGTON – Though a relaxation of the so-called Stark law was expected to spur hospitals to help physicians buy electronic medical records, a new study finds hospitals are moving slowly and cautiously on that score. The Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan policy research organization, conducted the study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “While hospitals have strategic incentives to provide support, particularly to tie referring physicians to their institution, the effects of the regulatory changes on physician EMR adoption will ultimately depend both on hospitals’ willingness to provide support and physicians’ acceptance kICkBaCk see page 26 moNtaNa hoSpItal StREamlINES REGIStRatIoN St. James Healthcare in Butte, Mont., a 100-bed hospital, is deploying new technology to make sure patient registration goes as smoothly as possible. The hospital tapped AHI Software, Inc., based in Miami ,for its AHIQA registration quality assurance service. AHIQA is automatically and objectively reviews 100 percent of patient registrations and identifies errors in the process that prevent accurate and timely insurance claim submission and billing. – El Camino Hospital, with a stated mission of being among the 5 percent of top-performing hospitals in the country, has pulled disparate data together with Microsoft’s Amalga technology. The Amalga platform aggregates all of the hospital’s information from separate systems and integrates it into a single system. The investment is part of a three-year initiative aimed at helping El Camino Hospital achieve a top 5 percent ranking among U.S. hospitals across all of its service lines. “Achieving the highest standards in patient care is the single most important goal of El Camino Hospital,” said Eric Pifer, MD, chief medical information officer at the hospital. “But we cannot reach that goal without the ability to measure our progress against specific quality standards. Amalga allows us to quickly collect, view and analyze data of any type, giving us unprecedented insight into the hospital’s performance and greater “achieving the highest standards in patient care is the single most important goal of El camino hospital.” – Eric Pifer, MD opportunity to innovate for improved quality.” El Camino is using Amalga to build a scorecard DaTa see page 22 St. aNthoNy’S SavES mIllIoNS WIth BuyING GRoup St. Anthony’s Medical Center in St. Louis, Mo. has identified nearly $2.4 million in savings opportunities as the result of expanding its relationship with the Premier healthcare alliance, its executives say. The third-largest medical center in the St. Louis metropolitan area, St. Anthony’s has realized more than $775,000 in exact match savings for supplies it was buying through its former group purchasing organization and another $1.6 million in savings opportunities await implementation. More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: HoSPItaLS 1008 IT critical to infection fight By CHelsey leDue, Contributing Editor ARLINGTON, VA haI prevention strategies Aside from funding, which of the following is the most important resource to meet your current infection prevention? Adequate staffing for infection prevention Information technology, support Visible support from administration Visible support from clinical leaders Other e l Connect: GraPHS 1008 l and improve patient care, accord– A nationwide ing to a new survey of more than redesign to reduce healthcare- 930 infection prevention specialists nationwide. associated infections “ The information is in the works, using technology workgroup information technology has one of heaviest lifts to build a national defiin the project because it nition of prevention. MRSA under a holds the building blocks An increase in execu- microscope to insure definitional tive and physician leadership and improvements in gener- alignment across the country’s al infection prevention practices systems and also in attempting is needed to help prevent HAIs HaI see page 23 42% 25% 16% 14% 2.5% SouRCE: ASSoCIATIoN foR PRofESSIoNALS IN INfECTIoN CoNTRoL AND EPIDEMILoLoGy/PREMIER HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10062

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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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