Verizon demonstrates new remote-monitoring and virtual-care platforms from WellPoint and Zipnosis at the mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C.

Verizon Wireless will develop a new suite of digital health care products focused on treating and preventing chronic conditions such as diabetes and chronic heart failure, the company announced at the 2011 mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C. It also unveiled projects with the insurer WellPoint and telehealth provider Zipnosis to focus on virtual care.

The new digital care management platform will work off of Verizon's cloud-based health network and incorporate biometric medical data from companies such as Entra Health.

Biometric remote monitoring is a growing industry with players such as AT&T, MedApps, and Sprint active in this area. On Dec. 5, Qualcomm launched a new subsidiary that will connect mobile devices to remotely monitor patient vital signs.

Verizon's mobile health platform will incorporate technology from companies such as medical software provider IQMax and Calgary Scientific. AT&T and Sprint also incorporate Calgary Scientific's medical applications with its mobile products.

The pilot project links medical monitoring devices such as glucose meters to Verizon's 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network on a 4.3-inch HTC ThunderBolt Android smartphone, Tighe said.

For chronic heart failure, blood pressure monitors and pulse oximeters connect to Verizon smartphones to send readings to doctors. Doctors or health plans can receive alerts if patients have difficulty regulating their blood pressure or blood sugar, and readings from remote-monitoring devices fall outside a normal range.

In the virtual care collaboration with health insurer WellPoint, Verizon plans a telehealth product that will connect doctors and patients on smartphones, tablets and laptops using the company's 4G LTE technology. Patients in rural or remote areas often have difficulty getting to an actual doctor's office.

WellPoint will provide secure video conferencing between patients and the company's nurse care managers, according to Michael Tighe, executive director of m-health solutions for Verizon Wireless.

Telehealth will provide a less costly option for patients rather than visiting urgent-care centers or emergency rooms, Tighe told eWEEK. Urgent care or the emergency room is often the only physical option available due to distance, Tighe added.

The virtual-care platform will allow patients to connect with their primary-care physicians when distance and time prevent in-person exams, Tighe said. If a patient develops a skin rash on the weekend, they could use the less expensive virtual-care service through video, rather than visiting the ER, he suggested.

"By leveraging video, we hope to enhance engagement in health care management, improve the quality of services provided and help consumers stay on track with their programs," Tighe said. Verizon plans to bring the new digital health and virtual care products to market in 2012, according to Tighe.

At the mHealth Summit from Dec. 5-7, Verizon also demonstrated online consultations from telehealth provider Zipnosis, an online Web portal that allows patients to virtually meet with clinicians to be treated for sinus infections, bladder infections, allergies and other minor health ailments. Zipnosis consultations cost $25 and integrate Verizon's network infrastructure.

"Zipnosis' digital platform is an innovative way for patients and providers to connect for acute medical needs using wireless devices like smartphones and tablets to access the portal," Arthur Lane, associate director of health care strategy and new market development for Verizon Wireless, said in a statement.

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Today's healthcare organizations are increasingly turning to the use of mobile solutions in their transition to ICD-10, particularly those who built on coding expertise.  Healthcare organizations can use mobile devices to help reduce claims and coding errors by implementing frequent charge sets for services rendered throughout healthcare facilities in a way that empowers care providers to capture and deliver ICD-10 charges from their mobile device of choice.  The same content and coding knowledge leveraged for frequent charge sets can also be utilized to create ICD-10 charges from dictations captured during the patient encounter in a mobile environment.  From these mobile solutions, healthcare organizations can more easily transition to ICD-10 by submitting complete and valid charge claims that originate from the point of care.  All of this is accomplished without the need from physicians to be trained on the intricate details and magnitude of newly created charge codes that will be forthcoming with ICD--10

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~Advanced workflow tools combined with intelligent coding advice boost efficiency and claims accuracy, allowing physicians to focus on patient care, not paperwork~

Salt Lake City, Utah (May 3, 2011) — New mobile technology introduced today by 3M makes it easy for physicians to manage their daily schedule, review patient information, dictate progress notes, and log accurate charges all on a single mobile device in the palm of their hand. Simple to use, but with advanced time-saving features, 3M Mobile Physician Solution provides instant access to critical patient information any time and from any location. Available on the iPad®, iPhone®, Android™, Blackberry®, and Windows Mobile® devices, 3M Mobile Physician transforms the day-to-day work life of the physician, making it more efficient so that physicians can focus on patient care instead of paperwork.

3M Mobile Physician Solution offers a complete suite of mobile software applications, including Mobile Patient Lists, Mobile Rounds, Mobile Dictation, and Mobile Charge Capture. It is the healthcare industry’s first mobile solution to offer comprehensive intelligent coding advice to physicians as they capture and record professional fees. Built on 3M coding and reimbursement technology used by more than 5,000 healthcare facilities worldwide, 3M Mobile Charge Capture with physician advice notifies physicians of potential missing or lost charges, improving the accuracy of claims and helping physicians receive full reimbursement for their services.

“This technology is extremely intuitive and easy to use,” said Michael Cowan, MD, Neurosurgeon with Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates in Charlotte, NC, a pilot site for the new software. “It definitely allows me to spend time with the patient, listen to the patient, and take care of my patient the way I need to without being tied down with paperwork and charting.”

According to recent reports, American physicians spend nearly eight hours per week on paperwork and employ 1.66 clerical workers per doctor to manage administrative tasks. Additionally, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) reports that an average 2.78 claims per full-time physician are denied each week due to insufficient information.

“With 3M Mobile Physician, physicians now have full control over their work day,” said JaeLynn Williams, senior vice president for 3M Health Information Systems. “Increased efficiency and convenience drives physician satisfaction, which is a primary concern for healthcare organizations in this era of rising costs, regulatory change, and payment reform.”

3M Mobile Physician Solution offers four main modules in a powerful all-in-one tool:

3M Mobile Patient Lists
Real-time access to patient lists helps physicians plan and organize their day while on the go. Customization features make it easy to sort patient lists by location, by appointment date, by hospital census, or if rounding for another doctor, by that physician’s patients.

3M Mobile Rounds
Physicians can view patient medications, allergies, vitals, and other critical data during hospital rounds, before a clinic visit, or in a consult with another physician. Lab test results and other findings are available in real-time on their mobile device, reducing physician wait time and making it possible to initiate treatment plans immediately.

3M Mobile Dictation
A simple click on a quick launch icon brings up 3M Mobile Dictation, allowing physicians to record and transmit dictated progress notes to the facility’s dictation and speech recognition systems. Physician voice files are automatically linked to the correct patient, eliminating the need to enter patient identifier numbers, which reduces errors and promotes faster transcription turnaround time.

3M Mobile Charge Capture
Physicians can capture professional fee charges for any patient encounter by selecting and pairing the correct billing codes with the appropriate diagnosis or procedure. 3M coding advice alerts physicians to missing or incomplete information, reducing claim denials and promoting accurate reimbursement.

3M Mobile Physician Solution keeps patient data secure through the use of advanced encryption technology and a full range of security features that meet HIPAA requirements and hospital-specific security guidelines. 3M Mobile Physician Solution is delivered on the IQMax mHealth Communications Platform, designed to facilitate real-time communications on industry-leading technology that is highly scalable and easily implemented. The 3M solution is fully integrated with hospital and physician practice management systems to provide instant access to patient information stored in the patient’s electronic health record.

More information about 3M Mobile Physician Solution is available by calling             800-367-2447       or visiting www.3Mhis.com/Mobile.

About 3M Health Information Systems
3M Health Information Systems delivers comprehensive software and consulting services to help organizations worldwide improve clinical documentation, quality, and financial performance across the healthcare continuum. 3M offers integrated solutions for medical records coding, ICD-10, dictation and transcription, speech recognition, clinical documentation improvement, quality, and data standardization and vocabularies, effectively meeting the industry’s changing needs. With more than 25 years of healthcare experience and expertise, 3M works as a trusted and stable business partner to provide reliable implementation, training, and support services. www.3Mhis.com

3M Media Contact:
Mollie Houns
Price Houns Associates
952-920-6951     

Mary Kokkinen
3M Public Relations and
Corporate Communications
651-733-8806     

Pad and iPhone are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Use of this trademark is subject to Google Permissions. Windows Mobile is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies. BlackBerry is owned by Research In Motion Limited and is registered in the United States and may be pending or registered in other countries.

Written by Paul Adkison May 2011

The rapid sophistication and adoption of mobile devices in healthcare has created an alternative to the traditional paper-based billing cycle.

Using intelligent mobile technology, providers have access via mobile devices to the patient’s health information, lab results and other clinical data. The ability of mobile devices to allow physicians to access and interact with patient health information and clinical data has essentially become what many in the media have described as the new “black bag” of the physician.

Healthcare organizations that use mobile devices supported by coding intelligence have the potential to improve the financial performance of their respective organizations by millions of dollars each year.
A multitude of case studies have shown that capturing charges using mobile devices can increase revenue per provider by $20,000 or more per year, and significantly improve the revenue cycle management of virtually any healthcare organization. So why do so many healthcare organizations still rely on a paper-based system?

The challenges of a paper-based system

Complete and accurate clinical documentation is essential to providing quality care for patients and obtaining reimbursement for services. Unfortunately, in a paper-based billing system, coding and billing patient encounters consume a large quantity of caregivers’ time and negatively impact their daily workflow. Paper-based billing also opens a Pandora’s box of opportunities to make mistakes. Illegible handwriting, lost or misplaced sticky notes and limited writing space for capturing ICD and CPT codes create inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the revenue cycle. Coders and billing coordinators often find themselves trapped in a manual charge-verification cycle, impeding the billing and reimbursement process and costing healthcare organizations millions of dollars each year in uncollectable charges and wasted labor hours.

Paper-based charge systems also present a multitude of issues in terms of accuracy and timeliness of captured charges. Studies show that on average 15 percent of charges never get billed. In an outpatient environment, the caregiver usually has an administrative support system. With a list of appointments and a way to do manual reconciliation, charges are rarely lost or unaccounted for.

The inpatient environment is much more troublesome because it is dynamic. In any given day, there are opportunities to capture charges that can’t be predicted. For example, a provider stops a colleague in the hallway and asks her to see a patient. The consulting physician may perform a procedure at the bedside, but there is no true record for the underlying coding staff to know if anything happened. The result: a billable charge is lost.

Moreover, providers have a tendency to procrastinate and delay documenting charges because it’s an annoyance and interferes with their daily workflow. They let charges accumulate and then try to go back and capture charges for a period of time, relying on memory and sketchy notes to accurately remember what they did. Inevitably, they will leave out procedures and consults that should have been billed, but are not. By the time the coders get the charges, it’s a week or two after care was rendered, making it difficult to find out exactly what happened at the point of care.

Revolutionizing the billing and coding cycle with mobile technology

Fortunately, there is a way today to capture point-of-care charges in a method that not only saves time for practices, providers and hospitals, but that also significantly improves revenue. Many healthcare organizations have begun to trade handwritten notes and little pieces of paper for mobile applications that enable the capture of charges – in compliance with billing and coding rules – as they happen. This not only speeds up delivery of billable charges to the back end, but it saves time and money and allows for a more efficient capture of revenue.

Mobile devices – when supported by a sophisticated, intelligent mobile enterprise platform and coding intelligence system – give providers the opportunity to view detailed, relevant patient information in real time at the point of care, and to capture and digitally submit charges to their billing system as they happen. Providers no longer need to rely on handwritten notes or index cards to capture charges, only to try to later recall the details of an individual patient visit; or even worse, not capture a charge at all for the consult.

For instance, Carrollton Surgical Associates, a provider of surgical care to residents of Georgia and Alabama, increased its revenue by 20 percent by using a mobile healthcare platform to capture billable charges and view detailed patient information at the point of care.

Mobile technology has the ability to simplify the daily workflows of coding and billing staff, as well. This vital support group has a very challenging task in the traditional paper billing cycle. They spend much of their time sorting through physician paper notes, which are often illegible or difficult to reconcile because by the time they receive the charges, several weeks have passed since the patient consult occurred. Consequently, coders spend much of their time speaking with physicians trying to clarify and reconcile charges that were captured weeks ago.

Using mobile technology supported by coding intelligence not only allows charges to be submitted to coding staff in real time at the point of encounter, but also allows submitted charges to be automatically reviewed for accuracy using an intelligent rules-based coding engine, prior to receipt by coding staff. In this advanced workflow, sending digital charges eliminates weeks in the queue (not to mention cash flow sitting in accounts receivable). The charges have already been reviewed for accuracy by an intelligent coding engine, so all that is left for the coder to do is to make a final review and submit for billing.

The rapid sophistication and adoption of mobile devices in healthcare has created an alternative to the traditional paper-based billing cycle and all of its aforementioned deficiencies. According to Manhattan Research, 81 percent of physicians will be using a smartphone by 2012. Mobile devices have evolved over the last 10 years to become robust computing platforms that offer a wealth of opportunities for healthcare providers to access and interact with all kinds of clinical and patient information at the point of care, or while on the move in any care environment.

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Paul Adkison is CEO and founder of IQMax
(www.iqmax.com).
For more information on
IQMax solutions:

IQSpeak enables physicians to dictate anywhere, anytime, eliminating the need to locate a “landline” telephone or dictation station to dictate patient notes. With just a click on the “dictate” icon, a physician can dictate on his mobile device while on the move, a dictation that is then sent with patient demographics attached.

Physicians may use IQSpeak on a stand-alone basis, or as part of IQMax’s complete suite of healthcare applications. These applications enable physicians to view patient health information such as lab results, allergies and medications lists; manage their inpatient and outpatient schedules; and capture charges using their device.

IQSpeak supports HIPAA compliance by keeping patient data secure through the use of advanced encryption technology. The solution integrates with most dictation systems, electronic health record systems, and health information systems in the marketplace using IQMax’s robust interface engine. IQMax has developed interfaces into more than 60 different systems within healthcare.

“The Android OS is a robust enterprise platform that allows users to manage their personal, social and professional lives, making communications for people on the move more productive and enjoyable,” said Paul Adkison, CEO and founder of IQMax. “IQMax technology like IQSpeak enables physicians to expand the use of their Android devices to perform a wide range of healthcare tasks that are now seamlessly integrated for improved productivity.”

Visit us at HIMSS for a demo at the 3M booth (#3547) or the Verizon booth (#931), or stop by to hear Paul Adkison, CEO and founder of IQMax, speak at the Microsoft theater (Booth #3101) on Monday, February 20th at 11:30 a.m.

About IQMax
IQMax, a privately held corporation, develops mobile healthcare software solutions that significantly increase the functionality and capabilities of mobile technology, enabling healthcare providers to be more efficient in their daily workflow and enabling them to make more informed patient care decisions. The company’s platform supports leading healthcare institutions across the United States, allowing physicians to dictate patient encounters, view patient schedules, access clinical data, capture billable charges, and much more. IQMax’s platform has interfaced with more than 60 different systems in healthcare and has supported millions of patient encounters from physicians in a wide variety of healthcare specialties and sub-specialties, practicing at every type of entity from large hospital systems to small independent clinics. Learn more at www.iqmax.com.

Media Contact:
Amanda Griffith
Bumble PR for IQMax
617-851-8335