ADDITIONAL CCHIT CERTIFIED PRODUCTS ANNOUNCED

CCHIT has announced the certification of two additional ambulatory (office and clinic based) electronic health record (EHR) products and full certification for two products that were conditionally certified. This brings the total number of CCHIT CertifiedSM products to 22 .

iMedica Patient Relationship Manager 2005, version 5.1 , by iMedica Corporation and Praxis® Electronic Medical Records, version 3.4 , by Infor-Med Corporation underwent inspections that demonstrated compliance with CCHIT’s published criteria and received CCHIT Certified status for 2006.

The two products announced earlier as pre-market, conditionally certified that have now achieved full certification status are MEDENT 16 by Community Computer Service and Medical and Practice Management Suite, Client Server Version 5.5, (Service Release 2.1) by LSS Data Systems. CHIT certified the EHR component of the LSS product.

CCHIT

Capital Health of Canada chooses Epic Systems to create electronic health records

Capital Health selects Epic to develop Canada’s largest electronic medical record system.

Capital Health

CCHIT:Certification Commission Healthcare Information Technology publishes "buyer's guide"

CCHIT is the recognized certification authority for electronic health records and their networks, and an independent, voluntary, private-sector initiative.

CCHIT’s criteria for Ambulatory EHR certification criteria include more than 300 items across three areas – functionality, interoperability and security. These criteria provide a baseline for selecting a comprehensive EHR for your practice. CCHIT has prepared a guide book to help you understand the existing criteria and how it applies to your practice.

CCHIT

New DOQ-IT website address at Qualitynet.org

Established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), QualityNet provides healthcare quality improvement news, resources and data reporting tools and applications used by healthcare providers and others.

Qualitynet.org

PIER Launches Quality Measures Tool Prototype

For members of the ACP

Assess and improve ambulatory care by accessing this easy-to-use tool. The Quality Measures Prototype is designed to help physicians understand and navigate the "starter set" of measures issued by the Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance (AQA). Included in this tool is a list of quality measures, the criteria for applying them, and links to supporting recommendations and evidence in PIER.

You will need your ACP ID number if you are not already registered. SV


ACP

California Governor calls for start on medical e-records

The momentum continues to grow.SV

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Monday asking state department heads to develop plans for spending $240 million creating electronic medical records for rural communities and health safety-net providers.

Contra Costa Times

Electronic Medical Record Use by Office-Based Physicians: United States, 2005

Here is the CDC link, the actual number using a full EHR is closer to 11.2%,SV

The latest data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) indicate that one-quarter of office-based physicians report using fully or partially electronic medical record systems (EMR) in 2005, a 31% increase from the 18.2 percent reported in the 2001 survey (1).

CDC

A patient,aged 82, sent us an email request to forward a copy of her labs to a sub-specialist!

Total time to process <90 seconds,
read the email, identify the document, and fax all from within the same application!

No chart to pull,
no documents to pull from the chart
no documents to feed into the fax machine
no documents to then re-assemble within the chart
no chart to re-file

I just had to send her an email to thank her for her "bold" move.


Take home message, never underestimate who is willing to participate in this new communication paradigm.

This is pretty darn good.

CDC finds 25% of physicians use some form of EHR

I will try to find out how the CDC defines EHR.
I have not seen such use in the NYC area. SV

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly a quarter of U.S. physicians used some form of electronic patient record in 2005, a report said on Friday, as officials try to meet a presidential goal of having digital health data for every American by 2014.

Reuters

IOM reports suggests 1.5 M Americans are injured due to medication errors

Here is more evidence in support of e-Prescribing.SV

WASHINGTON - Medication mistakes injure well over 1.5 million Americans every year, a toll too often unrecognized and unfought, says a sobering call to action.

At least a quarter of the errors are preventable, the Institute of Medicine said Thursday in urging major steps by the government, health providers and patients alike.

Topping the list: All prescriptions should be written electronically by 2010, a move one specialist called as crucial to safe care as X-ray machines.

Dept of Veteran Affairs

West Virgina to begin work on introducing Electronic Health Records


With a new grant and new board members, the West Virginia Health Information Network is getting ready to dive into the process of transforming the state's medical records system.

Gov. Joe Manchin has said he wants the Mountain State to be at the forefront of implementing a statewide electronic medical records system. The Legislature passed Manchin's bill creating the Health Information Network during the 2006 legislative session to go about doing just that. Now Manchin has named the network's board of directors, and he selected West Virginia University's chief of neurosurgery, Dr. Julian Bailes, to be its chairman.

StateJournal

WellPoint to package records online

WellPoint Inc. wants you to have your own medical record.

A "personal health record," made up of the insurance claims, lab tests and similar information, is at the heart of an initiative the Indianapolis insurer is rolling out nationwide.
The 360 Health program, announced Monday, also is designed to give people ready access to advice and information on wellness, diseases and conditions, as well as online tools to help them manage their own health care, according to WellPoint.

IndyStar

Health chief prods for new system

Governors make no commitments
By DOUG SIMPSON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS - The medical problems encountered by Hurricane Katrina evacuees should prompt health care providers to stop storing patient data on paper and instead use electronic systems that can be accessed around the country, the nation's top health official said Monday.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told four governors attending the annual conference of the Southern Governors' Association they could help spur such a change by denying state contracts to health care companies that resist using federally approved software standards in the push to store patient data in an electronic form.

Use of those standards is key to ensuring that health care providers' computer systems are compatible, he said. Beginning this fall, Leavitt said, federal agencies will not deal with companies that resist using those standards.

"It'll be a condition of doing business with us," he said.

SUN HERALD

Rethinking Potential of Personal Health Records Is Goal of New Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Program; Project HealthDesign Accepting Proposals Through Sept. 19

PRINCETON, N.J., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today issued a call for proposals for a new program to stimulate innovations in personal health information technology. The national initiative, called Project HealthDesign: Rethinking the Power and Potential of Personal Health Records, encourages technology pioneers to design the next generation of personal health record (PHR) systems in ways that empower patients to better manage their health and health care.

The $3.5 million program will support up to 10 multidisciplinary teams in a collaborative effort to design and test innovative PHR applications that can be built upon a common technology platform. All teams will work closely with patients and consumers throughout the process to ensure that their designs align with end users' needs and preferences. Upon completing the design phase of the program, teams will test prototype applications with patient populations.

RWJF.ORG

CCHIT certifies 18 products that meet 2006 Ambulatory Criteria

CCHIT Certified Products by Company

* Allscripts (HealthMatics Electronic Health Record 2006)
* Allscripts (TouchWorks Electronic Health Record 10.1.1)
* Cerner Corporation
(PowerChart 2005.02)
* Companion Technologies
(Companion EMR v8.5)
* eClinicalWorks (eClinicalWorks Version 7.0 Release 2)
* Emdeon Practice Services
(Intergy® EHR v3.00)
* e-MDs (e-MDs Solution Series 6.1)
* Epic Systems (EpicCare Ambulatory EMR Spring 2006)
* GE Healthcare
(Centricity® EMR 2005 Version 6.0)



* JMJ Technologies
(EncounterPRO® EHR 5.0)
* McKesson (Horizon Ambulatory Care Version 9.4)
* MCS-Medical Communication Systems (mMD.Net EHR 9.0.9)
* MedcomSoft (Record 2006 (V 3.0))
* Medical Informatics Engineering(WebChart 4.23)
* Misys Healthcare Systems
(Misys EMR 8.0)
* NextGen Healthcare Information Systems (NextGen EMR 5.3)
* Nightingale Informatix Corporation (myNightingale Physician Workstation 5.1)
* Practice Partner
(Patient Records 9)


Conditional Pre-market Certification

* Community Computer Service (MEDENT 16)
* LSS Data Systems (Medical Practice Management (MPM) Client/Server 5.5 Service Release 2.1)

CCHIT.ORG

Share your experiences on these products at the HIT FORUM. SV
HIT FORUM

Report: Drugstore chain CVS expected to buy MinuteClinic

The anticipated proliferation of "MinuteClinic" type centers should accelerate the demand for EHRs that use standard terminology, ie. SNOMED, to facilitate the coordination of care between this new venue and existing venues, ie. traditional doctors offices, emergency rooms and hospitals.SV

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A published report says CVS is expected to purchase Minneapolis-based MinuteClinic in a cash deal worth 170 (m) million dollars.

The Star Tribune reports the deal is to be announced today.

MinuteClinic is Minnesota's model for quick-service medical clinics in retail stores. The company has 83 outlets in ten states -- 66 of those outlets are in CVS drugstores.

EyeWitness News

Illinois Gov's remedy for doctors' messy penmanship: electronic prescriptions

Gov. Blagojevich says patients shouldn't have to suffer from potentially deadly drug mix-ups at the hands of doctors with messy handwriting.

Suntimes

Massachussetts Medical Society Chooses to recommend four EHRs

Alliance Helps Bring Integrated EMR and Practice Management Solution to 18,500 Member Physicians

Here are the links


ALLSCRIPTS

eClinical Works

e-MDs

NextGen

Massachussetts Medical Society

ALTEER TAKES THE RISK OUT OF EMR

This press release came out last month, but I thought it was interesting. SV

IRVINE, CA – June 15, 2006 - According to industry experts, doctors lose the opportunity to collect as much as $100,000 in billings each year due to imprecise and antiquated practice management. With the insurance industry’s reimbursement system under pressure, staff turnover costs increasing, patient loads escalating and unbilled procedures slipping through the cracks, it’s no wonder practices are hemorrhaging money.

In response, leading practice management services company Alteer Corporation today extends an unprecedented offer in the healthcare IT industry: unless a medical practice increases its bottom line by an agreed upon goal, the company will not charge for its best of breed Alteer Premiere™ software and services. “By predicating our fees on meeting the financial goals of our clients, we are offering the medical community a risk-free EMR system,” says Gene Barduson, Alteer’s Chief Executive Officer.

ALTEER

Request for Grant Applications - HEAL NY Phase 2 Due July 31, 2006


Link to forms

Link to RGA

General information

OASIS has approved the Emergency Data Exchange Language


This a major step towards providing sharing information between first responders and others. SV

The OASIS international standards consortium today announced that its members have approved the Emergency Data Exchange Language Distribution Element (EDXL-DE) version 1.0 as an OASIS Standard, a status that signifies the highest level of ratification. Developed by the OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee, EDXL-DE facilitates emergency information sharing and data exchange across local, regional, tribal, national, and international organizations in the public and private sectors.

OASIS

System would share ER information
Linking data could save money, improve care

What's going on in your community?SV

Doctors and nurses in Milwaukee County hospital emergency rooms could gain nearly instant access to records from patients' past visits -- even at competing hospitals -- with a computer system clinicians believe would improve care and save millions of dollars.

Participate in our reader survey.

Click here


Milwaukee Business Journal

Health Insurers Work With American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to Reduce Physician Quality Data Reporting Burden

Here is another reason for practices to get automated:

Re-certification and better reimbursement.SV

ABIM's Maintenance of Certification program data to be incorporated into major insurers' quality recognition and pay for performance programs; will lead to enhanced care for millions of Americans.

Press Release - Philadelphia, PA June 28, 2006
Recognizing the need to reduce redundancy in reporting of physician performance data, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey will begin incorporating ABIM’s Maintenance of Certification program data into their physician recognition and incentive programs over the next several months. This initiative will enable more than 100,000 internists and subspecialists nationwide to more easily qualify for recognition and potential pay for performance rewards, and will create the potential for improvements in health care for millions of Americans.


ABIM link

Louisville's ZirMed will expand

ZirMed, a fast-growing Louisville company that provides Web-based billing and payment services to health-care providers, plans to expand its staff of 95 by two-thirds and add 15,000 square feet of work space.

The company, which was approved yesterday for up to $1.3 million in Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority incentives, will begin hiring software developers and customer-support workers within 30 days and continue adding staff for up to 18 months, said Jim Lacy, ZirMed's chief financial officer and counsel.

The Courrier-Journal

Fla.-made microchip to be used in volunteers with memory loss

Four hospitals in Puerto Rico will begin implanting a Florida.m.ade microchip the size of a rice grain in patients who suffer from illnesses that cause memory loss, like Alzheimer's disease, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Ledger