Healthcare IT News - October 2008 - (Page 31)

www.HealthcareITNews.com October 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 31 NEWSBRIEFS AMGA, PhytEl collABoRAtE oN dISEASE MANAGEMENt The American Medical Group Association and Phytel, a provider of automated patient care management systems, are collaborating to help physicians proactively manage preventive health and disease management protocols. Under the agreement, Phytel will become a member of the AMGA Value-Added Services Program and AMGA members will have access to the Phytel Proactive Patient Outreach product, which is designed to improve care coordination by automating the follow-up process for a practice’s patient population – specifically, patients with chronic conditions. MGMA highlights medical home, PQRI PQRI is set to be a hot topic on this year’s agenda. By Molly MerrIll, Associate Editor SAN DIEGO WEStERN NoRth cARolINA hIE coMPlEtES PhASE 1 The Western North Carolina Health Information Exchange has completed phase I of its e-health initiative, with 16 participating facilities now exchanging patient data electronically. Hendersonville, N.C.-based-Park Ridge Hospital, a member of the Adventist Health System, is the last hospital in the system to go live with a physician portal from Birmingham, Ala.-based MEDSEEK. During phase II, MEDSEEK’s physician portal will connect physician office EMRs to the HIE network. ‘on call’ has new meaning By Molly MerrIll, Associate Editor DALLAS - The Medical Group Management Association’s 2008 Annual Conference kicks off this month at the San Diego Convention Center. The event runs Oct. 19-22. The conference begins this year on a Sunday, and will open with a speech from actress and breast cancer survivor Ann Jillian. According to an MGMA spokeswoman the new schedule was put in place to help curb members’ out-of-office time. She says the show expects to draw 5,000-6,000 attendees this year. Medicare’s Physician Quality The MGMA 2008 conference will be held in San Diego on Oct. 19-22. Reporting Initiative is expected to be a hot topic. Robert Bennett, government affairs represen- tative, MGMA Government Affairs Department, says Payfor-Performance (PRE 106), the electronic medical record (CON 910), quality measures (CON 1015) and risk management (CON 405) are expected to be some of the sessions that address PQRI. Bennett will hold a concurrent session on “Understanding Public and Private Pay-for-Performance and Reporting Initiatives Risk Management.” His session will examine public and private initiatives and how medical group practices are increasingly finding themselves caught in the middle with cost, not quality, as the driving force. This year the conference will stage a new demonstration for the Virtual Practice Manager 2.0. It will simulate the type of real-world decisions a MGMA see page 34 oRthoPEdIc PhySIcIAN GRouP dEPloyS RcM SyStEM The orthopedics and sports medicine group OrthoArkansas has deployed a practice management and billing service for its physician organization. OrthoArkansas, which consists of 21 orthopedic physicians, will use athenaCollector, a Webbased revenue cycle management system offered by Watertown, Mass.-based athenahealth, to update payer knowledge and back-office processing specialists into a single service. E-PREScRIBING SERvIcE lAuNchEd FoR FlA. docS Jacksonville, Fla.-based Availity and Vienna, Va.-based Prematics have launched a new electronic prescribing service for Florida physicians. The new service, called CarePrescribe, is integrated across the Prematics and Availity network platforms, making it accessible through the Availity Health Information Network, a secure online health information exchange, and through a handheld system provisioned by Prematics. All equipment, installation, training and support are provided at no charge to eligible practices. HealthcareITNews.com e ●Connect: PHYSICIaNS 1008 More at – A Dallas-based company of primary care physicians that provide medical care over the phone is gaining traction, and now the company is taking a giant step forward with Microsoft’s HealthVault, says TelaDoc co-founder and CEO Michael Gorton. TelaDoc was founded in 2002 in response to a growing demand for immediate access to care for minor medical problems. As Gorton points out, prior to this service, the company’s members would end up Michael Gorton in the emergency room when they failed to reach their primary care provider. TelaDoc is also a solution to what Gorton calls a “broken system” that occurs when physicians cross cover for each other. Because the on-call physicians don’t have access to the patient’s medical record, care can be jeopardized, causing a “break” in the system, he says. In September, company officials announced TelaDoc would be using the Microsoft HealthVault platform. “EMRs are the holy grails of healthcare right now, and Microsoft has done something quite amazing … they have recognized that there are a lot of medical records out there and they have built an engine that can translate between medical records,” said Gorton. Gorton says the platform will be used as a “tool for translating their standard to ours.” The partnership enables the sharing of patient information among TelaDoc members, their physicians and other healthcare stakeholders. Physicians will also be able to update a patient’s medical record to reflect telephone consults to provide a continuous electronic channel for the patient’s medical home. TelaDoc expects to have 3 million members by 2008. Currently the company has about 200 physicians working for the service. Gorton says the ratio is 8,0009,000 patients per physician. As a member of the service, patients can log themselves onto the site and put themselves in a queue to notify physicians they are seeking care. Gorton says about 40 percent of the company’s members use this contact method. Members can also dial into the company’s call center. Next year the company plans to use text messaging and e-mail as a way to contact physicians, he says. TelADoC see page 36 By rICHArD PIzzI, Contributing Editor SAN DIEGO - Jason Mitchell, MD, assistant director of the Academy of Family Physicians’ Center for Health Information Technology, says AAFP-affiliated physicians are beginning to “move beyond” discussions about IT adoption and implementation. Instead they are talking about how best to utilize healthcare IT tools. Mitchell spoke last month at the AAFP’s 2008 Scientific Assembly in San Diego. “Forty-two percent of our members have already adopted EHRs, and another 11 percent are in the process of implementation,” Mitchell said. “We’re at the stage where members want to look at what types of EHR features are the best for family practice.” Mitchell said discussions facilitated by the AAFP’s Center for Health Information Technology have focused on workflow issues, how to improve quality of care and patient safety, and AAFP see page 32 Docs talk IT best use at AAFP Patient barriers to physician care Problems getting a timely appointment Problems getting an appointment after hours Problems getting doctor on the phone Doctor too far away e ● Connect: GraPHS 1008 33% 24% 12% 12% CENTER FOR STUDyING HEAlTH SySTEM CHANGE, MARCH 2002 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10083

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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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