Thursday, March 29, 2007

Eclipsys Sunrise Clinical Manager™ Selected by SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY

Eclipsys Corporation® (NASDAQ: ECLP), The Outcomes Company®, today announced that SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB) will implement Sunrise Clinical Manager and its fully integrated modules, including Sunrise Acute Care™, Sunrise Ambulatory Care™, Sunrise Pharmacy™, and Knowledge-Based Medication Administration™ as part of an organizational initiative to improve care delivery through a clinical information system.

Using Sunrise Clinical Manager’s single integrated clinical platform, SUNY Downstate Medical Center/UHB will connect its acute and ambulatory care providers, enabling patient information to flow seamlessly between the acute and ambulatory care environments while integrating with the Pharmacy to improve medication management. The medical center will also use Sunrise Clinical Manager’s Knowledge-Based CPOE™ system to establish standard care processes throughout the medical center to help improve patient-care outcomes.


Eclipsys
eClinicalWorks And Utah Medical Association Team Up To Deliver Electronic Health Records

"The Utah Medical Association is committed to offering our members access to the best tools to help them care for their patients, said Dr. C. Kerry Stratford, president of Utah Medical Association. Electronic medical records can benefit all of our members, whether they care for patients in large or small practices. Having used eClinicalWorks in my own practice, I know that many of our members will benefit from this comprehensive EMR and practice management solution.

eclinicalworks

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Cerner secures two more contracts in England

Kansas City Star
CCHIT Inpatient EHR 2007 Pilot Applications still being accepted

Remember you have to be in it to win it.
Send in your applications.SV


Organizations with inpatient EHR products may apply to participate in the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) inpatient EHR pilot test taking place in the latter part of April and early May 2007.

Participation in the CCHIT Inpatient EHR Certification pilot is open to any organization that has an inpatient EHR product offering clinician electronic order writing (commonly called CPOE) and electronic medication administration (commonly called eMAR) functions. Companies that only offer eMAR are also invited to apply as CCHIT offers a test configuration for that situation as well. Applications will be accepted through March 30, 2007.

CCHIT
Ohio boasts two major hospitals systems using EHRs: Mercy Health Partners and ProMedica Health System

As the advantages become better known, more will follow their lead. SV


Toledo Free Press
Mobile 12 lead ECG uses cellphone technology to transmit data

Until now most units use 2 or 3 leads.SV


San Franciso Chronicle

Monday, March 26, 2007


Motion LE1700:The first slate tablet PC to offer Intel® Core™2 Duo mobile technology

Now here is a supercharge Slate Tablet!. SV

Motion Computing Announces New Tablet PC




Motion LE1700 Integrates Compelling Features, Ultimate Slate Mobility

ANNOUNCEMENT HIGHLIGHTS:

* Exclusive WriteTouch™ for dual-mode writing and touch input, with automatic switching between modes
* Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) capabilities to stay connected
* Optimized by the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ operating system and first slate tablet PC to enable Windows Aero Glass
* The first slate tablet PC to offer Intel® Core™2 Duo mobile technology
* The first slate tablet PC with a high-resolution SXGA+ LCD screen; providing unparalleled graphic clarity and detail
* Up to 4GB of 667-MHz memory – double the maximum capacity of Motion’s prior generation tablet PC
* Enhanced data security via ComputraceComplete tracking and recovery service and Motion DataGuard™ hard drive accelerometer

Motion Computing

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Genesee Valley Health Partnership receives $100,000 to set up County wide Information Network

Cudos to to Excellus. Hopefully more health plans will follow their example. SV


The grant is being provided by Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield

The health partnership plans to use the grant for:

A centralized electronic health record system for emergency medical services;

A single entry-point portal to link patients with chronic illnesses or disabilities with services and providers; and

An EHR storage and retrieval system for providers.

This is part of a 1.1 Million dollar project.

Rochester Business Journal

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

UnitedHealthCare recruiting large physician groups for Diabetes Pilot


The groups must have at least 60 physicians.
The use of an EMR and Registry would improve chances of participation. SV


UnitedHealthcare is pleased to announce an opportunity for your diabetes care team to receive the services of the International Diabetes Center (IDC) free of charge. The International Diabetes Center is a world renowned leader in diabetes management and they have developed a program called Diabetes Connections which is a holistic diabetes curriculum for care teams.

Sites participating in the pilot will receive the following:
A two day onsite assessment by the IDC
Customized training for your entire health care team
Baseline & ongoing measurement of performance for 24 months post implementation
Monthly conference calls with the experts at IDC
Care teams successfully completing this program may be eligible for the NCQA Diabetes Physician Recognition Program and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Diabetes Education Certification
Eligibility- Medical Groups with a minimum of 60 physicians who have been contracted with UnitedHealthcare for at least a year.

Space is very limited so please apply today for consideration;

Applications - must be limited to 1 page and include the following information:
Medical Group name and address, contact email and telephone number
UnitedHealthcare network management contact
Number of physicians by specialty
Number of patients with diabetes and health disparity concerns
A brief description of your group, current diabetes programs used e.g. EMR, Registry etc and why your group should be considered for this pilot
Submit applications via email to Qualityinfo@uhc.com

In the email subject header please put the following: Diabetes Connections Pilot Application

Application submission deadline is April 15, 2007. Applicants will receive notification of participation determination by May 15, 2007.

UnitedHealthcare

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

PracticeFusion provides EHRs at no cost

Physicians are given the choice of either using Google advertising to finance the service or paying $250.00 per month. Both options are available as an "on demand" or ASP service.

This means PracticeFusion is responsible for software upgrades and keeping the system "live". The only real responsibility of the physician is to have at least one Business Class broadband connection with a SLA (service level aggreement).
I have usually advised having two such connections in the office to since the workflow could be potentially be handcapped otherwise. The average cost of a single connection in my community has run $350.00 per month.

Most of the articles about PracticeFusion have focused on the unique business model, I have not seen any review on response time using non-Business Class DSL, CABLE or FIOS.

I'll submit a review of the EHR when a hands-on opportunity arises. SV


PracticeFusion


SanFranciso Chronicle
ePrescribing experience in Florida

This article provides a good review of the local experience, estimated savings and transaction fees.

The Times-Union

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Windows Daylight Time Adjustment Fix

For those of you with Windows XP who haven't already done so, it is probably a good idea to turn on Automatic Updates. This is Microsoft's way of getting updates to your computer without you having to search for them in the future,such as bug fixes etc.

To activate Automatic Updates, go to the Start icon on the lower left then click on Help and Support.
In the search window enter Automatic Updates, then choose update your system files using Windows Update.
Follow the directions from there.
For those of you who had already turned on Windows XP with Automatic Updates, you may get an "error" message indicating that the Daylight Savings time "fix" is already installed when you attempt to manually load the Daylight Savings Time program.

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst?wt_svl=20278a&mg_id=20278b


To see which version of Windows XP you have, go to the Start button.
Click on My Computers.
On the upper left hand side you'll see View System Information, click on this.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Westchester County Medical Society Health Information Technology Seminar March 19, 2007

All are invited to attend the seminar and meet technology vendors. SV

Location: Pleasantville Country Club
Date: 3/19/2007
Start Time: 6:00 p.m.
Contact: The Medical Society
Phone: 914.967.9100

Westchester County Medical Society

Monday, March 05, 2007

Medtab from Emano Tec uses E ink imaging film

This unit uses a black and white display and is "washable" making potentially useful in hospitals.

Compare to the Motion Computing device
. SV

The MedTab includes the following rich feature set:

*
Portable – 12 Ounces, measuring 5.5” X 7.5” X 0. 5” which comfortably fits a lab coat pocket
*
High Resolution Display – 1024x768 pixels using a proprietary E-Ink high contrast, low power “digital paper” display.
*
Rugged – capable of withstanding 30g impact
*
Touch Screen (including pen for notations)
*
Intel 624MHz Processor
*
WinCE OS
*
Bluetooth for audio or data transfer
*
Fingerprint scanner
*
Audio In/Out
*
802.11/g WIFI
*
Cisco’s OEM security Client– supporting state of the art wireless security
*
8-12 hour running time

Emanotec

Sunday, March 04, 2007

EASTERN REGIONAL OSTEOPATHIC CONVENTION MEDICINE & OFFICE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE 2007
APRIL 19-22, 2007


This will be great opportunity to get some education and to get some hands on time with vendors.

Event planners: Feel free to post your events on our HIT FORUM. SV


FOUR POINTS SHERATON
Plainview, Long Island

Program


Courses


Registration

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Senator Patrick Kennedy H.R.6289 Bill promotes PHRs, Personal Health Records

Recommends using a combination of public and private funds and actually provides a financial incentive to physicians to promote their use. SV



Personalized Health Information Act of 2006 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program to provide financial incentives for the establishment of interactive qualifying personal health records for Medicare and other patients and their health care providers in order to: (1) provide patients access to and control over their personal health data and information and educational information; and (2) make available to authorized health care providers a more accurate minimum data set of patient information. Directs that under the program each qualified physician receives an incentive payment for each qualifying patient.

HR 6289

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Lenovo recalls Thinkpad batteries

Be ready for more recalls to come. SV

Lenovo is currently offering free-of-charge replacement batteries due to two unrelated battery recalls. You may click here to determine if your battery has been recalled. In the interest of public safety, Lenovo will offer customers free-of-charge replacement batteries for all recalled batteries.
McKesson Acquires Practice Partner

Here comes more market consolidation. SV

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) today announced the acquisition of Physician Micro Systems, Inc., known as Practice Partner, a leading provider of integrated software for electronic health records (EHRs), medical billing and appointment scheduling for independent physician practices. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The acquisition, along with recently acquired Per-Se Technologies, Inc., supports McKesson’s commitment to provide a complete solution – including software, billing and collection services, supplies and connectivity – to physician practices regardless of size, specialty or geographic location.
“We’ve built strong momentum with our Connecting PhysiciansSM strategy, which is focused on helping hospitals to reduce traditional EHR adoption barriers by collaborating with local physician practices to provide a single record for inpatient and ambulatory care,” said Pamela Pure, president, McKesson Provider Technologies. “With Practice Partner, McKesson is now positioned to automate independent physician offices and to deploy EHR technology to help drive safer, more efficient care.”



McKesson
Florida Electronic Medical Data Network Could Cost over $50 Million

TAMPA - It's going to cost Florida about $51 million to build a secure superhighway for electronic medical information, according to an estimate released Tuesday.

But the money doesn't have to be spent all at once, author Paul Gionfriddo says. Besides, he wrote, the resulting Florida Health Information Network will pay for itself many times over.

Exchange of health care information gives citizens better, safer medical treatment and saves money for hospitals and others, from insurers and employers to state and local governments, wrote Gionfriddo, director of the Palm Beach County Community Health Alliance.


The Tampa Tribune
Medical Slate (Tablet PC) from Intel and Phillips

This is the second unit of this type released by Intel.
The first was from Motion Computing.
More details as they become available. SV




Here is the link on Motion Computing