Healthcare IT News - December 2008 - (Page 22)

22 Healthcare IT News ■ December 2008 NEWSMAKERS www.HealthcareITNews.com The P e o Ple , S To r i e S a n d i n n ovaT i o n S o f 20 0 8 year In revIew Continued from page 21 HHSTONAmeeHrDemOPrOJeCTWiNNerS Physicians in more than 30 communities around the country will soon know whether they have been selected to participate in a governmentsponsored EHR demonstration project. The project will provide Medicare incentive payments to primary care physician practices that use certified electronic health records to improve the quality of patient care. ATiONAliTPlANDrAWSCriTiCiSm The government’s plan for boosting healthcare IT adoption is part of a response to a 2006 Government Accountability Office Report that found planning for a nationwide health information network lacking. Some Healthcare IT News readers say the new plan is still lacking. “It’s more of a wish list than an actual plan,” said Karen Duncan of Health Information Systems. “I would favor going slowly on health IT adoption.” AUSeSiTTOHelPTreATTrAUmAiNJUrieS The Veterans Health Administration is using information technology to augment care provided by its mental health clinicians to veterans throughout the United States. Research in VHA has shown that remote treatment of depression by means of telemental health has comparable outcomes to face-to-face care. OVerNmeNTTACKleSmeDiCAliDeNTiTYTHefT A government-sponsored town hall meeting on medical identity theft in a digital age has been slated for October 15 in the nation’s capital. The meeting, organized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, will focus on how medical identity theft should be addressed in a healthcare information technology environment administration. HimA,DOCSATODDSOVeriCD-10 The American Health Information Management Association leadership wants to be clear: Even though it will cost millions of dollars and the process is likely to be disruptive, U.S. healthcare must embrace a new, expanded code for diagnostics and billing. Bigbudgetstranslatetobigtechnology Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser Permanente projects stand out among the rest. w By molly merrIll, Associate Editor hen it comes N V to implementing technology, money – and whether you have it – really can make a difference. This year there have been some high profile, high-budget implementations that have made big news. Cleveland Clinic’s plans to open two new, spacious facilities this fall struck a chord with Healthcare IT News readers, who chose it as having the biggest impact on healthcare information technology. One reason the $634 million facilities will be so roomy is to house all the technology they’ll be using. The facilities, the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Pavilion and the Glickman Tower, will house state-of-the-art technologies, including advanced heart and urological, advanced 3-D imaging, robotic interventional surgical devices and a fully computerized communi- TheClevelandClinic’sSydellandArnoldmillerfamily PavilionandGlickmanTowerwillhouseleading-edge informationtechnology. cations system. One Healthcare IT News reader said, “I appreciate their ability to accomplish ‘big news’ producing projects and still provide excellent patient-centered care.” “Cleveland Clinic has not only pushed its healthcare technology internally, they’ve been very vocal on what they are doing that works,” said Michael Wallace, of the PrimaryData Corporation. Another big budget item was Kaiser Permanente’s massive electronic health records system, called KP HealthConnect, which had a price tag of $4 billion. HealthConnect is the world’s largest privately funded electronic health record, covering 8.7 million members. Kim D. Slocum, a HIMSS Fellow and president of KDS Consulting, called it a “groundbreaking success, not just in getting HIT in place, but in using it to improve care.” “I believe that the implementation process that Kaiser has gone through can teach many large facilities the rights and wrongs of EMR,” agreed Deborah Smith, RN, of Grand Strand Hospital in Myrtle Beach, S.C. ■ More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: iMpleMeNtatioN 1208 ● HIMSS conference happening place G By paTTy enrado, Contributing Editor AcrowdofHimSS08conferenceattendeesflocktothe exhibitionfloorinOrlando,fla.foralookatthelatest informationtechnology. ONFERENCES, announcements, hospitals and provider practices rose to the top of the list as places where something important in the healthcare industry occurred in 2008, according to Healthcare IT News readers. Leading the way in the category of conferences was HIMSS08 in Orlando. “HIMSS conference continues to be the industryleading event where all forces in healthcare IT come together,” one respondent said. “HIMSS Annual Conference & Expo is the place for sharing and providing information about industry trends and new technology,” said another. Many respondents listed major announce- ments, such as the Microsoft and Google PHRs, and regular features, such as the Interoperability Showcase, as the reason for choosing HIMSS08. “Eric Schmidt’s announcement of the Google Health Initiative at HIMSS08 was the most significant and important event of the year,” said one respondent. “The Google endorsement for health IT more than anything else that happened this year truly excited the public interest and furthered acceptance that health IT is coming soon.” The Medical Group Management Association’s annual conference was also cited. One respondent said this year’s conference was notable because it highlighted plaCes see page 23 newsmakers Continued from page 21 “Completely the clear winner here,” she said. “Not only are his ideas cost effective but also eco-friendly, using his purchasing power as leverage to get smarter and greener solutions by those he does business with is brilliant.” VENDORS Glen Tullman, CEO of the newly merged Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, pulled in 66 percent of the vote to run away with the win as the vendor-based leader who advanced the cause of healthcare IT furthest in 2008. “The Allscripts-Misys merger was the ‘biggest news of 2008’ aside from the election of Barack Obama,” said one reader. “However, they share a commonality of wanting to assist in getting all practices/healthcare up to speed so that physicians can reduce the margin for error by handling data electronically.” Another said: “Of all of the folks listed, Tullman is the only one who is hitting on all cylinders (1) merger was big news, (2) is on the Board of Trustees for CCHIT, (3) was an advisor to Obama on healthcare in the campaign, and (4) has a client base of 150,000+ MDs (so real change happening every day which is what really counts.)” ■ More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: NeWSMaKerS 1208 J a n u a r y 11 –13 , 2 0 0 9 | H yat t r e g e n c y J a c k s o n v i l l e r i v e r f r o n t | J a c k s o n v i l l e , f l o r i d a you’re invited to the first major healthcare summit of 2009. 2009 will be an unprecedented year of change and opportunity in the healthcare marketplace—and it’s time to make the most of it at “Health it insight” featuring content from idc. Network with a national audience of payer and provider decision makers, hear research presentations and meet privately with top analysts, and evaluate transformational healthcare technologies from leading solution providers in boardroom case studies. Plan NOW to be there. www.healthitinsight.com Produced By official content Partner e ● Connect: ppM 1208 Payer and Provider it and Business executives: To apply for a complimentary invitation, contact Lisa Jones at 603-668-7144 or lisa.jones@ppmmedia.com it vendors: To present your healthcare solutions to this exclusive audience, contact Paul Samargedlis at 603-668-7141 or paul.samargedlis@ppmmedia.com Premier media Partner ● http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10538 http://www.healthitinsight.com http://www.healthitinsight.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10536 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=10561

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

Healthcare IT News - December 2008 Contents AHIC 2.0 Debuts See How It Works Monitored to Health Right Decisions Neurologist Needed HiMSS Insider: Four to the Board Heartened Generation Next Clinical Toolkit: Inpatient EMRs Management Solutions: Asset Tracking

Healthcare IT News - December 2008

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