FDA to use 3rd party medication Safety Sentinel System:Wellpoint and others

WellPoint's Safety Sentinel System is being developed in close collaboration with leading government and academic institutions, including the FDA and faculty from key academic institutions, including Harvard University, the University of North Carolina and the University of Pennsylvania, and is expected to advance national efforts to identify safety risks associated with drugs and other clinical care decisions, allowing physicians and other health care professionals to make more informed decisions about how to treat their patients.

Wellpoint

CMS (Medicare) e-Prescribing update

The required tools are currently available in most stand-alone e-Prescribing products and many EHRs. SV

The final e-prescribing rule was placed on display at the Federal Register on April 2, 2008. The final rule provides three electronic tools for use in e-prescribing:

Formulary and benefit transactions: gives prescribers information about which drugs are covered by a Medicare beneficiary's prescription drug benefit plan.

Medication history transactions: provides prescribers with information about medications a beneficiary is already taking, including those prescribed by other providers, to help reduce the number of adverse drug events.

Fill Status notifications: allows prescribers to receive an electronic notice from the pharmacy telling them that a patient's prescription has been picked up, not picked up, or has been partially filled, to help monitor medication adherence in patients with chronic conditions.

The final rule also adopts the National Provider Identifier (NPI) for e-prescribing under Medicare Part D, and retires NCPDP SCRIPT 5.0 in favor of the upgraded NCPDP SCRIPT 8.1.


CMS Overview
CMS pdf

HEAL NY PHASE V (5) Results are in

NEW YORK AWARDS $105 MILLION IN HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GRANTS

Funded Projects

Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY)

* Brooklyn Health Information Exchange (BHIX)
* Greater Rochester RHIO
* Taconic Health Information Network and Community (THINC) RHIO
* Western New York Clinical Information Exchange (WYNCIE)
* Southern Tier Health Link
* Health Information Exchange of New York (HIXNY)
* Long Island Patient Information Exchange (LIPIX)
* Bronx RHIO

Clinical Informatics Services (CIS)

* Brooklyn Health Information Exchange (BHIX)
* Parker Jewish Institute of Health Care and Rehabilitation
* Taconic Health Information Network and Community (THINC) RHIO

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) for Clinicians, Personal Health Tools for Consumers, Community Portals for Clinicians and Public Health Officials

* Sunset Park Health Council
* New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOH MH)
* Greater Rochester RHIO
* Columbia Memorial Hospital
* Interboro RHIO
* Champlain Valley Physicians
* Hudson River Healthcare
* Health Information Technology Alliance of Syracuse (HITAS)

NYS site

Pennsylvania Governor Rendell signs Executive Order creating Pennsylvania Health Information Exchange (PHIX)

Bravo Governor!
PaEHI, Pennsylvania eHealth Initiative shall provide consultative services.
The devil is in the details: financial and standards related. SV



Sun Herald

Executive Order

The Sixth Vital Sign: Internet Health Searches

I just listened to an excellent interview of

Dr Ted Eytan (quoted above)
Dr Scott Haig
Samantha Fox

The pod cast features their opinions on patients who query the internet about their illness(es). I found it very insightful. SV

NPR

Vermont EHR "Tax"

Vermont Information Technology Leaders are recommending a surcharge on medical claims to help pay for the promotion of Information Technology of about 1/3 of one percent.
Most studies support the assertion that medical practices receive less than 15% of the benefit from the savings introduced by HIT but are currently expected to finance 100% of the cost.
What do you think? SV

Burlington Free Press

NYC DOHMH PCIP eClinicalWorks Presentation: A review by Dr Ted Eytan

Dr Eytan was kind enough to attend the presentation and has provided his observations at the PCHIT Blog. SV

PCHIT Blog

The NYCDOH Primary Care Information Project and eClinicalWorks Electronic Medical Records Demonstration

Thursday March 20th from 5:30pm-7:30pm.

Program Agenda

5:30pm-5:45pm
DOHMH PCIP Program Overview Mat Kendall, Director of Operations Primary Care
Information Project

5:45pm-6:00pm
eClinicalWorks Provider Experience Review and Q&A Session

Salvatore Volpe, MD FAAP FACP

6:00pm-7:00pm eClinicalWorks Demonstration
Scott Hakanson, Product Specialist
eClinical Works

7:00pm-7:30pm
General Question and Answer

Richmond University Medical Center
Sipp Auditorium
355 Bard Ave, Staten Island, NY

For more information, please send an email to pcip@health.nyc.gov , call (212)341-2263, or visit the PCIP website www.nyc.gov/pcip


If you have a practice on Staten Island please register for the event.
If you know some one who has a practice on Staten Island please encourage her/him to attend.

Thanks

Registration link

Cleveland Clinic to take Google's PHR for a test drive

The Cleveland Clinic will run a pilot project of Google's PHR.
The Cleveland clinic currently has 100,000 patients on its current PHR called eCleveland Clinic MyChart®. The pilot, an invitation-only opportunity offered to a group of Cleveland Clinic PHR users, plans to enroll between 1,500 and 10,000 patients.

Joining the other 800 pound gorilla, Microsoft's HealthVault, this project should spur increased discussions on interoperability and security. SV

Cleveland Clinic

Rhode Island Health Information Exchange Act of 2008

Rhode Island's recent legislation should help instill confidence in their Health Information Exchange. SV

The Rhode Island Health Information Exchange Act of 2008 creates a set of critical patient safeguards, many of which go well beyond existing state and federal privacy and data security protections. Baseline consumer protections in the bill include:

.Clear language that participation in the HIE is voluntary – both consumers and providers get to choose whether or not to participate
.The ability to obtain a copy of confidential health care information in the HIE
.The ability to obtain a copy of a Disclosure Report detailing what entities have accessed a patient’s confidential health care information in the HIE
.Notification of any breach of security of the HIE
.The right to terminate participation in the HIE
.The right to request that inaccurate HIE information be corrected
.Strong data security procedures
.The creation of an HIE Advisory Commission to provide community input into the use of confidential health care information in the HIE


Rhode Island

My Dinner with Ted Eytan

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with Dr Ted Eytan.
Over a wonderful Croatian meal, we shared stories of respective experiences.
I was glad to finally meet someone from Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA, an organization that I hold in high esteem.
He and the other members of PCHIT (Patient Centered Health Information Technology) team are akin to anthropologists traveling across the country observing, documenting and sharing a broad spectrum of patient-physician interactions. His blog at PCHIT is a window through which we can share his experiences. A recurrent theme of our conversation was the goal of transparency. We all have something we can learn from each other. SV

Here is an excerpt from PCHIT:

"Our plan was to spend time in a cross section of health care, observing the patient-physician interaction. PCHIT was designed to look at factors present in different care environments at the level of the patient-physician interaction.

This initiative will improve adoption of health information technology (HIT) tools to better engage patients and families in their own care. We will support learning and implementation by working closely with a variety of organizations to better understand each organization’s key levers and barriers to adoption."

PCHIT
Dinner comments

Mayor Bloomberg visits office of physicians using eClinicalWorks

Both the doctor and the software (part of the NYC DOH MH PCIP) were a big hit.
Congratulations to Dr Sumir Sahgal of Essen Medical Associates 2015 Grand Concourse Bronx, NY. SV

NY Times


NYC PCIP

NY HIMSS Conference: HIT Gets Personal - Consumer Centric Technology


Thursday, April 3, 2008; Digital Sandbox Conference Center

Click here to register online.

Program

8 - 9: Breakfast

9 - 9:15: President's Message

William Delaney, HIMSS NY President

9:15 - 9:30: Advocacy Update

Christopher Harris, HIMSS NY Advocay Liaison & President Elect

9:30 - 10:30: Keynote Speaker

Lori M. Evans, MPH, MPP, serves as a Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health leading a new Office of Health Information Technology Transformation (OHITT). OHITT, created by Governor Spitzer in 2007, is responsible for government and private sector efforts to support improvements in health care quality, affordability and outcomes for all New Yorkers through widespread deployment of health information technology.

11:00 - 12:00: Break Out Session 1: Personal Health Record

• Moderator: Ken Ong, MD, MPH
• Description: The personal health record is a core technology for the consumer. A plethora of offerings are now available from commercial vendors, health care systems, and payers. What is the level of adoption? What successes have been won? What challenges remain? Is there one ideal technology venue for the PHR? What are the drivers for the PHR? What use cases apply?
• Panelists: Adrian Gropper, MD, MedCommons; Abha Agrawal, MD, Kings County Hospital Center; Glen Martin, MD, Queens Health Network

11:00 - 12:00: Break Out Session 2: Legal Aspect of Privacy Issues

• Moderator: Chris Harris
• Description: As Personal Health Records become increasingly more available to the consumer, there a number of legal considerations that will affect consumer views of privacy and hence adoption. This panel will explore questions and implications for consumer privacy based on use and current state of law in terms of protection and governance. Topics will include: what are consumer rights to privacy exist when using a PHR? How do these rights or risks change as the sponsoring agency changes; health insurance company, pharmaceutical company, Search software company?
• Panelists: Paul F. Macielak, President and CEO, New York Health Plan Association; Al Mercado, NY Bar Association; Peter Poleto, Vice President and CIO, Hospital Association of New York State

1:45 - 2:45: Break Out Session 3: The Consumer and Health Information Exchange

• Moderator: Ken Ong, MD, MPH
• Description: Health information exchange is a hot topic for HIT nationally. The promise of improved coordination, efficiency, and cost savings has prompted the formation of more than a hundred RHIOs. Most of which are still in development but a notable few are no more. What stake does the consumer have in HIE? What role should the consumer have in RHIOs? What information should and should not be accessible to the consumer, provider, payer, or government? Who should pay for HIE? What future do you see for HIE? What association is there if any between HIE and health care reform more broadly?
• Panelists: Sally E. Findley, PhD, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Arthur Levin, MPH, Center for Medical Consumers; Rachael Block, New York eHealth Collaborative

1:45 - 2:45: Break Out Session 4: Government Initiatives in Consumer Health

• Moderator: Sal Volpe, MD
• Description: Since 2004, there have been an increasing number of Government initiatives related to health information technology. Some examples include grants and the formation of national, statewide and local government agencies. What more can government do to foster the creation and acceptance of standards related to interoperability and privacy? What partnerships are available or are being planned with private industry and personal health records? How are consumer groups represented in the planning process for government initiatives? What initiatives are being planned to bring HIT access to the poor and underserved?
• Panelists: Pat Hale, MD, PhD, Deputy Director of HIT Transformation, New York State Department of Health; Farzad Mostashari, MD, Assistant Commissioner and Chair of the Primary Care Information Taskforce, New York City DOMH; George Hickman, CIO, Albany Medical Center

3:00 - 4:00: Breakout Session 5: Patient Portal

• Moderator: Leanne Currie, DNSc
• Patient portals come in an assortment of variations. Health care providers, health plans, and patient education web sites offer different functionality. What value do these different offerings provide? What challenges do patient portal providers confront? What privacy and legal concerns exist for patient portals? What services do patient portals now provide? What new services might they provide in the future? What promise do patient portals have for public health?
• Panelists: David Kaufman, PhD, DBMI, Columbia University; Melinda Jenkins, PhD, Coordinator of Consumer Informatics, New York City DOMH; Noel C. Brown MD, MBA, Montefiore Medical Group

4:00 - 6:00: Vendor Exhibition & Cocktail Reception

Sponsoring health care organizations:

• American College of Physicians, NY Chapter
• CAIM/Columbia Center for Advanced Information Management
• Greater New York Hospital Association
• HANYS/Healthcare Association of NY State
• HFMA Metro NY/Healthcare Financial Management Association
• IPRO/Island Peer Review Organization
• LIHIMA/Long Island Health Information Management Association
• MSSNY/ Medical Society State of NY
• MINY/Medical Informatics of NY
• NJ HIMSS
• NY eHealth Collaborative
• NYHIMA/NY Health Information Management Association

Click here to register online.

Brooklyn Health Information Exchange Selects Initiate Systems to Achieve Single, Accurate View of Patients

BHIX's approach should be followed closely as Brooklyn has more people than many cities. SV

CHICAGO – 4 February 2008 – The Brooklyn Health Information Exchange (BHIX) – a not-for-profit regional health information organization (RHIO) – has selected Initiate Patient™ software from Initiate Systems, Inc., as the foundational technology for locating, linking and matching of patient records. Initiate Patient is the high-performing enterprise master person index (EMPI) software application from Initiate Systems, a leader in master data management solutions. BHIX, comprised of several healthcare provider and payer organizations in New York, will offer health information exchange services in Brooklyn, New York's most populated borough.

Initiate’s technology will help BHIX create the foundational master person index, enabling patient identity resolution and linking of patients across multiple sources of data. Once a patient is uniquely identified and linked, Initiate Patient will also facilitate a portal application and Record Locator Service’s ability to search and establish context on a patient. Care teams will thus share a single, accurate view of any patient participating in BHIX.

Initiate Systems

NYS SENATE BILL: NY SB 708 : promotes e-Prescribing of controlled substances

Please contact your representative. SV

Number: NY SB 708 Title: AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to authorizing the use of the electronic medical records system when issuing certain controlled substances
Abstract: Authorizes the use of an electronic medical records system when dispensing certain schedule II controlled substances; defines "electronic medical records system"; authorizes physicians with patients receiving Medicaid to dispense prescriptions through such electronic medical records system.

Introduced by Sen. NOZZOLIO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Health

AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to authorizing the
use of the electronic medical records system when issuing certain
controlled substances

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 3335 to read as follows:
3 S 3335. ISSUING UPON PRESCRIPTIONS VIA ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS
4 SYSTEM. 1. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM "ELECTRONIC
5 MEDICAL RECORDS SYSTEM" SHALL MEAN AN ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS SYSTEM
6 WHICH ENABLES A PHYSICIAN TO CONSOLIDATE RECORD KEEPING.
7 2. A PHYSICIAN MAY DISPENSE DIRECTLY TO A PHARMACY ANY CONTROLLED
8 SUBSTANCE PRESCRIPTION PURSUANT TO AN ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS SYSTEM.
9 3. IF A PHYSICIAN OPTS TO ISSUE PRESCRIPTIONS PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION
10 TWO OF THIS SECTION, SUCH PHYSICIAN SHALL BE ELIGIBLE AND PERMITTED TO
11 ISSUE ANY AND ALL PRESCRIPTIONS THROUGH SUCH ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS
12 SYSTEM, INCLUDING PRESCRIPTIONS FOR PATIENTS RECEIVING MEDICAID.
13 S 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
14 have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the
15 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary
16 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
17 and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.

NYS Assembly

InfoWorld tries to extend the life of Windows XP


If you are willing to sign a petition that includes your email click on the link.
Windows XP shrink version sales currently expires June 2008. SV


InfoWorld

NY HIMSS Seminar: “HIT Gets Personal: Consumer-Centric Technology” April 3, 2008

Save the Date -

As we all know, Health Information Technology can transform our health care system. Prepare for consumer-centric and information-rich health care, in which medical information follows the consumer and information tools guide medical decisions.

Save the date to attend this year’s NY HIMSS seminar which will be held on Thursday April 3, 2008 at the Digital Sandbox at 55 Broad Street in downtown Manhattan, we will host a full day conference, “HIT Gets Personal: Consumer-Centric Technology”.

Planning for our event is underway and we expect over 300 local healthcare information technology professionals to attend. We are in the process of securing some of our industry’s most knowledgeable speakers on HIT and Consumerism.

This year’s event is being co-sponsored by the following local healthcare organizations:

• American College of Physicians, NY Chapter
• CAIM/Columbia Center for Advanced Information Management
• HANYS/Healthcare Association of NY State
• HFMA Metro NY/Healthcare Financial Management Association
• IPRO/Island Peer Review Organization
• MSSNY/ Medical Society State of NY
• LIHIMA/Long Island Health Information Management Association
• MINY/Medical Informatics of NY
• NJ HIMSS
• NY eHealth Collaborative
• NYHIMA/NY Health Information Management Association

Please visit www.himssnys.org for further details. Further communications will be forthcoming.

We hope to see you April 3rd in downtown Manhattan.

Marriott hotels to offer ActiveHealth Management's PHR to 50,000 employees.

Yet another employer that realizes the value of the PHR.
No word yet on the ability to migrate the data from this PHR to another.
One of the system's goals is to look for "gaps" in care or potential drug/supplement/disease interactions and notify both the member and the physician. SV

ActiveHealth Management

UnitedHealth Group's Online Personal Health Messages Tied to Increased Likelihood of Individuals

Email reminders via a Patient or Physician Portal are an excellent way to remind patients to avail themselves of preventative medicine services. SV

For example, women who opened their messages were 68-percent more likely to get a mammogram and 63-percent more likely to get a cervical cancer screening. The study compares CDH plan participants who accessed their online health messages throughout 2006 with those who were sent messages but did not open them.


Also, enrollees approaching their 50th birthday received a special message reminding them of a series of recommended preventive tests for their age group. Data show that members who opened this message were:

82-percent more likely to get a cervical cancer screening;
31-percent more likely to get a cholesterol screening;
71-percent more likely to have an office visit in which their blood pressure is checked.


UHC

Bridges to Excellence Launches Medical Home Program

Get electronic, do it right and earn up to $125.00 per patient per year! SV

Washington – Today Bridges to Excellence (BTE), the nation’s largest effort to reward physicians for delivery of high quality care, announced its support of the medical home approach to providing health care by launching the BTE Medical Home Program. The initiative will reward physicians that demonstrate they have adopted really good systems and processes of care, and are using those systems to deliver positive results in the management of their patients – in particular patients with chronic conditions.

BTE