• Native application clients for iOS, Android, Win32, and Windows Phone
• More comprehensive system manager tools for greater administrative visibility and control
• Detailed, configurable dashboards for system administrators to view system status in real-time
• Richer integration functionality supporting complex data flows

“We are excited to deliver Mobile 2015 to the marketplace. These innovative features and functionality will add significant value to our customers”, said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “We have always been committed to delivering innovative solutions that improve clinician efficiency, productivity, and patient care; Mobile 2015 will allow our customers to derive even more value from the IQMax platform”. 

IQCommunicate®, a cloud based solution, is specifically designed for all caregivers to securely communicate and collaborate in real-time for streamlined care coordination among the care team and manages all forms of communication – secure messaging, alert notifications, tasks, notifications, voice and video – on virtually any mobile device, tablet, or desktop.

“We are excited to announce that Mako has selected IQMax to deliver a HIPAA compliant communications platform to its customers to improve clinician communications and collaboration. Mako is an innovative medical lab company that is experiencing phenomenal growth”, said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “IQCommunicate provides a HIPAA compliant communications platform to allow for messaging, alerts notification, and care collaboration with clinical staff on all types of devices across the healthcare continuum, increasing staff efficiency and productivity and enhancing the quality of patient care.”

IQCommunicate®, a cloud based solution, is specifically designed for all caregivers to securely communicate and collaborate in real-time for streamlined care coordination among the care team and manages all forms of communication – secure messaging, alerts, tasks, notifications, voice and video – on virtually any mobile device, tablet, or desktop.

“We are excited to announce that Heart’sWay has selected IQMax for its caregiver communication and collaboration solution. Heart’sWay is a leading hospice facility providing high quality care to residents in Northeast Texas”, said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “IQMax provides a HIPAA compliant communications platform to allow for messaging and collaboration with clinical staff on all types of devices across the healthcare continuum, increasing staff efficiency and productivity and enhancing the quality of patient care.”

IQCommunicate®, a cloud based solution, is specifically designed for all caregivers to securely communicate and collaborate in real-time for streamlined care coordination among the care team and manages all forms of communication – secure messaging, alerts, tasks, notifications, voice and video – on virtually any mobile device, tablet, or desktop.

“We are excited to announce that Golden Valley has selected IQMax for its caregiver communication and collaboration solution. Golden Valley is a leading hospital providing high quality care to the central Missouri community”, said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “Our innovative communications platform can help healthcare organizations like Golden Valley provide their staff and providers with secure, real-time communication solutions to support care collaboration.    IQMax provides a HIPAA compliant way to communicate with all types of devices across the healthcare continuum, increasing staff efficiency and productivity and enhancing the quality of patient care.”

IQCommunicate®, a cloud based solution, is specifically designed for all caregivers to securely communicate and collaborate in real-time for streamlined care coordination among the care team and manages all forms of communication – secure messaging, alerts, tasks, notifications, voice and video – on virtually any mobile device, tablet, or desktop.

“We are excited to announce that St. Barnabas selected IQMax for its caregiver communication and collaboration solution. St. Barnabas is a leading acute care facility providing high quality care to the Bronx community”, said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “By providing an efficient closed-looped communication solution with escalation paths, we can help healthcare organizations like St. Barnabas provide their staff and providers with secure, real-time communication solutions to support care collaboration.    IQMax provides a HIPAA compliant way to communicate with all types of devices across the healthcare continuum, and saves time and money as well.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 24, 2014) – IQMax the leader in intelligent healthcare communications, today announced that it has been invited to showcase its HIPAA compliant secure text messaging solution in Intel’s Mobile Health Knowledge Center at HIMSS14 in Orlando, Florida, February 23-27.  IQMax will be featured as part of Intel’s Secure Mobile Collaboration demonstration, showcasing Intel® processor-based mobile devices running Windows 8.    

Clinicians face increasing pressure to be more effective and more efficient, which means they need access to important medical information anytime, anywhere. IQCommunicate™ is a feature-rich, secure clinical text messaging solution that runs on virtually any mobile device, enabling clinicians to be more efficient, compliant, and effective. 

IQCommunicate™ provides a secure, HIPAA compliant platform to enable instant text and IM conversations among care team members in the healthcare enterprise, providing clinicians access to clinical information at the point of care. IQCommunicate™ provides the following benefits:

• Instant Communication
• Individual and Group Messaging
• Photo and Document Attachments
• Message priorities
• Customizable Patient Lists
• Lab Results
• Medication Lists
• Text and Imaging Reports
• Vital Signs and Fluid I/O

“We are excited to partner with Intel®  at HIMSS14, showcasing how clinicians can use devices running Windows 8 to communicate and collaborate on patient care using secure, HIPAA compliant text messaging ”, said Paul Adkison, Founder of IQMax. “By providing an efficient closed-looped communication solution that allows our customers the ability to leverage their existing infrastructure, we can help healthcare organizations provide their clinical staff with secure, real-time communication solutions to support care collaboration on mobile devices.    IQMax provides a HIPAA compliant way to communicate with all types of devices across the healthcare continuum and saves time and money as well.” 

About IQMax

IQMax, a privately held corporation since 1999, develops intelligent healthcare communication solutions that enable healthcare providers to be more efficient in their daily workflow and to make more informed patient care decisions through efficient two-way communications with care team members and access to meaningful clinical information. The company’s solution also allows physicians to view patient schedules, dictate patient encounters, and capture billable charges. The IQMax solution has been deployed across numerous health facilities including specialty clinics, surgery centers, large hospital and IDNs. Learn more at www.iqmax.com.

Contact
IQMax

Heath Long

hlong@iqmax.com

Attend and Get a Chance to Win an iPad just for Attending!

Healthcare organizations depend on speed, accuracy and productivity to save lives, improve response times and deliver a high quality of care. In order to accomplish this, advanced communication systems are needed to connect physicians and nurses to their team members across care delivery continuum.

IQMax delivers and manages all forms of clinical communication - secure messaging, critical event notifications, tasks, and voice - on any mobile device, whether performing rounds, in the office, or on-call, and ensuring that the right information is delivered to the right caregiver in the right format at the right time.

Attend the Verizon and IQMax webinar on Thursday, February 20, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. EST, to learn more about how HIPAA compliant secure messaging:

• Improves patient care and safety
• Increases caregivers' productivity and satisfaction
• Reduces costs and improves clinical workflows
• Improves organizational compliance and reduces risk

In this webinar, Paul Adkison, IQMax Founder, will discuss how an advanced secure messaging and care collaboration solution is optimizing clinical workflow, streamlining communication between highly mobile caregivers, and improving patient satisfaction. Paul will be joined by:

Dr. Andy Barbash, CMIO, Specialist on Call, who will describe the past, present, and future positive benefits to their mobile business through implementation of the IQMax secure messaging solution.

Stephen Hunting, Partner, and Chara M. O'Neale, Associate, from the law firm of Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, who will focus their remarks on the HIPAA compliance requirements regulating text messaging and their associated organizational and individual liabilities.

REGISTER HERE

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 6, 2014) – IQMax the leader in intelligent healthcare communications, today announced that Premier Health has selected IQMax for HIPAA compliant secure text messaging.  

IQCommunicate®, a cloud based solution, is specifically designed for all caregivers to securely communicate and collaborate in real-time for streamlined care coordination among the care team and manages all forms of communication – secure messaging, clinical secure messaging, alerts, tasks, notifications, voice and video – on virtually any mobile device, tablet, or desktop.

Premier Health, is the leading provider of healthcare to Southwestern Ohio through member hospitals and affiliate organizations including Atrium Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital Dayton, Miami Valley Hospital, Miami Valley Hospital South, and Upper Valley Medical Center combining for 1,822 licensed beds and over 14,000 employees.    IQMax allows care providers to communicate instantly via secure HIPAA compliant text messaging—from virtually any device supporting iOS, Android or Windows. 

“We are excited to announce Premier Health selected IQMax for its caregiver communication and collaboration solution.  Premier Health is leading the way in Southwestern Ohio by offering high quality, cost-competitive health care services coupled with leading technologies, like IQMax, to improve patient care. We are pleased that they have chosen IQCommunicate, our care collaboration solution to coordinate, collaborate and deliver those services”, said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “By providing an efficient closed-looped communication solution with escalation paths, we can help healthcare organizations like Premier Health provide their staff and providers with secure, real-time communication solutions to support care collaboration.    IQMax provides a HIPAA compliant way to communicate with all types of devices across the healthcare continuum and saves time and money as well.” 

About IQMax
IQMax, a privately held corporation since 1999, develops intelligent healthcare communication solutions that enable healthcare providers to be more efficient in their daily workflow and to make more informed patient care decisions through efficient two-way communications with care team members and access to meaningful clinical information. The company’s solution also allows physicians to view patient schedules, dictate patient encounters, and capture billable charges. The IQMax solution has been deployed across numerous health facilities including specialty clinics, surgery centers, large hospital and IDNs. Learn more at www.iqmax.com.

Contact:
IQMax
Heath Long
hlong@iqmax.com

Specialist On Call deploys HIPAA compliant messaging and clinical collaboration
capabilities to their Physicians

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 29, 2014) – IQMax the leader in intelligent healthcare communications, today announced that Specialist On Call has successfully deployed its care collaboration solution, IQCommunicate®, a cloud based service to drive better communication and collaboration across their network of physicians across the  United States.

IQCommunicate® is specifically designed for caregivers to securely communicate and collaborate in real-time for streamlined care coordination among the care team and manages all forms of communication – secure messaging, clinical secure messaging, alerts, tasks, notifications, voice and video – on virtually any mobile device, tablet, or desktop.

Specialist On Call (SOC), is the leading provider of physician consultation via telemedicine. The first Joint Commission-accredited telemedicine company, SOC provides 24/7/365 on-demand access to highly qualified, telemedicine-experienced, board certified, fellowship trained specialty physicians to more than 300 hospitals across the US including several leading health systems.  SOC reduces the cost of on-call coverage, provides hard to find specialty coverage, improves patient care and hospital financial dynamics, and enhances the workplace satisfaction of physicians and hospital staff by reducing call burden and providing specialty backup.

IQMax allows SOC call center staff and its providers to communicate instantly via secure text messaging, accept and reject consultation tasks, and collaborate with each other by exchanging patient information securely —from virtually any device supporting iOS, Android or Windows. 

“We are excited to announce Specialist On Call selected IQMax for its caregiver communication and collaboration solution.  Specialist On Call provides much needed telemedicine services to over 300 communities they serve across the US.  We are proud that they are using our care collaboration solutions to coordinate, collaborate and deliver those services”, said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “By providing an efficient closed-looped communication solution with escalation paths, we can help healthcare organizations like SOC provide their staff and providers with secure, real-time communication solutions to support comprehensive critical care services with continuous access to their Specialist.  It’s very clear our solution not only provides a compliant way to communicate in the healthcare environment, it saves time and money as well.” 

About IQMax
IQMax, a privately held corporation since 1999, develops intelligent healthcare communication solutions that enable healthcare providers to be more efficient in their daily workflow and to make more informed patient care decisions through efficient two-way communications with care team members and access to meaningful clinical information. The company’s solution also allows physicians to view patient schedules, dictate patient encounters, and capture billable charges. The IQMax solution has been deployed across numerous health facilities including specialty clinics, surgery centers, large hospital and IDNs. Learn more at www.iqmax.com.

Through this agreement, Amerinet members will save significantly on IQMax products and services which allow healthcare facilities to optimize on communication and clinical workflow management solutions, and easily exchange data amongst various disparate systems.  IQCommunicate® delivers for caregivers to securely communicate and collaborate in real-time for streamlined care coordination among care team and manages all forms of communication – secure messaging, critical event notifications, tasks, and voice – on any smartphone or tablet device, whether on rounds, in the office, or on-call. In addition, the IQMax Mobile Application Suite allows providers to dictate clinical notes, code their professional charges, and access critical patient data at the point of care from their mobile devices wherever and whenever needed.

This contract is currently effective through August 31, 2016.

About IQMax, Inc.
Founded in 1999, IQMax is a privately held corporation based in Charlotte, NC. IQMax is an early pioneer in the field of mobile healthcare solutions and delivers intelligent healthcare communication solutions that enable healthcare providers to be more efficient in their daily workflow and improves care team collaboration. The company’s solution allows physicians to securely communicate, view patient schedules, dictate patient encounters, receive alerts and notifications, and capture billable charges. The IQMax solution has been deployed across numerous health facilities including specialty clinics, surgery centers, large hospital and IDNs. Learn more at www.iqmax.com.

About Amerinet
As a leading national healthcare solutions organization, Amerinet collaborates with acute and non-acute care providers to create and deliver unique solutions through performance improvement resources, guidance and ongoing support. With better product standardization and utilization, new financial tools beyond contracting and alliances that help lower costs, raise revenue and champion quality, Amerinet enriches healthcare delivery for its members and the communities they serve. To learn more about how Amerinet can help you successfully navigate the future of healthcare reform, visit www.amerinet-gpo.com.

Contact: Evan Danis
  Sr. Director, Corporate Communications
  724-778-3423
  evan.danis@amerinet-gpo.com
 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (PRWEB) September 24, 2013 – IQMax, Inc. the leader in intelligent mobile healthcare communications and clinical workflow solutions, today announced that Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates (CNSA) has expanded their business relationship with IQMax by adding new products and services. CNSA has been an IQMax customer since 2001 utilizing its IQSpeak^TM mobile dictation solution. CNSA has selected IQCommunicate^TM for secure mobile messaging, and IQMax transcription services for clinical notes documentation.  In addition, IQMax will further expand its existing integration with CNSA by building a customized interface exchange for clinical information with the CNSA practice management system – NextGen Healthcare. The expanded interface will enable CNSA to securely access real-time clinical information from anywhere at anytime, whether at the clinic, making rounds or at home.

CNSA is a neurosurgical and spine specialty medical practice in North Carolina with five regional office locations devoted to facilitating patient care since the 1940’s with a specialized network of caregivers experienced in minimal invasive and complex spine procedures, brain tumors, sports concussions and rehab & fitness for adults and children.

Utilizing the IQMax platform for mobile workflow and information management provides CNSA opportunity to move forward with clinical health information exchange and efficient management of revenue cycle. “It’s now more about meaningful outcomes and effective use and sharing of clinical information among caregivers and administrators than just about moving data from one system to another. The real-time patient centric information provided by IQMax will bring interoperability and connectivity across our physician organization and expedite and improve financial outcomes to our care delivery organization,” said Mary Cloninger, CNSA Executive Director.

"From the time we began working with Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates it has been clear they are a forward-thinking organization that is always looking to improve their operations and overall delivery of patient care", said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “Our integrated patient-centric solution - IQCommunicate^TM  will provide the flexible collaboration platform needed to execute and grow their practice and ensure quality outcomes.”

About IQMax
Founded in 1999, IQMax is a privately held corporation based in Charlotte, NC. IQMax is an early pioneer in the field of mobile healthcare solutions and delivers intelligent healthcare communication solutions that enable healthcare providers to be more efficient in their daily workflow and improves care team collaboration. The company’s solution allows physicians to securely communicate, view patient schedules, dictate patient encounters, receive alerts and notifications, and capture billable charges. The IQMax solution has been deployed across numerous health facilities including specialty clinics, surgery centers, large hospital and IDNs. Learn more at www.iqmax.com.

Contact
IQMax, Inc
Paul Adkison
Founder
704-258-4163
padkison@iqmax.com

# # #

Novant Health to be first to deploy IQMAX’s HIPAA compliant texting, clinical messaging and collaboration capabilities on smartphone and tablet devices

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 19, 2012) – IQMAX, a leader in intelligent healthcare communications, today announced the launch of IQCommunicate®, a complete suite of products specifically designed for healthcare professionals to securely communicate and collaborate in real-time for better care coordination. The IQCommunicate solution allows clinicians to manage all forms of communications – text messages, critical alerts, assigned tasks, and voice – on any smartphone or tablet device, whether on rounds, in the office, or on-call.

As communication technology evolves, bridging the gap between secure HIPAA-compliant communications and access to clinical information proves more challenging. By providing real-time collaboration and reducing call-backs, page responses and other time intensive activities for providers, IQCommunicate provides efficient two-way communications that streamline interactions among staff and clinicians for better outcomes. IQCommunicate works through a rich user experience that incorporates meaningful clinical information, and eliminates HIPAA security risks by not storing patient health information (PHI) on smartphones or tablets. Features include:

• Real-time Secure Text Messaging – Individual, group and distribution list capabilities
• Integrated Clinical Data – Link patient chart to messages for increased productivity
• Critical Alerts – Integrated delivery from other systems, targeted teams, and clinical surveillance
• Assign Tasks – Acknowledge/decline/reassign tasks
• Tracking & Reporting – Full auditing of messages, alerts and tasks; configurable retention and ability to store within patient record
• Support for Multiple Smartphones & Tablets – iOS, Android, RIM, and Windows

“As an organization driven by a patient-centered vision, we wanted a way to improve communication across facilities that would help achieve better care coordination for our patients,” said Dave Garrett, chief information officer for Novant Health, the first customer implementing IQCommunicate. “IQCommunicate allows for real-time collaboration on any device. Our providers can take control of both routine and urgent communications wherever they may be and whatever they may be doing, on schedule or on-call. This real-time capability means better communication among care providers, which results in safer and more efficient focus on our patients.”

Novant Health is a not-for-profit, integrated healthcare system that includes 13 hospitals; a medical group consisting of 1,141 physicians in 349 clinic locations; numerous outpatient surgery centers, medical plazas, rehabilitation programs, diagnostic imaging centers; and community health outreach programs in communities across North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia.

“IQCommunicate solves the closed-loop communication problems and can eliminate the security concern with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) because it works on any smartphone device,” said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “By providing an efficient communication solution with escalation paths for critical alerts and tasks, both in and out of the application, we can help healthcare facilities like Novant Health provide their staff with secure, real-time communications decision support so they can focus on improved patient care.”

About IQMAX
IQMAX, a privately held corporation since 1999, develops intelligent healthcare communication solutions that enable healthcare providers to be more efficient in their daily workflow and to make more informed patient care decisions through efficient two-way communications with care team members and access to meaningful clinical information. The company’s solution also allows physicians to view patient schedules, dictate patient encounters, and capture billable charges. The IQMAX solution has been deployed across numerous health facilities including specialty clinics, surgery centers, large hospital and IDNs. Learn more at www.iqmax.com.

During this webinar, you’ll learn:

• Text Messaging Trends in Healthcare
• How IQMAX solves the issue of security
• Why IQMAX drives value to your business
• How your facility can implement the IQMAX solution in as little as TWO (2) weeks.

REGISTER HERE

• US Hospitals “waste” approximately $12B annually due to poor communication among care providers.
• The above results in an annual loss in hospital revenues of 1.93% against an average hospital margin of 3.6%

Influences on these figures include hospital size, annual physician and nursing staffing patterns and occupancy rates.

Learn more about how IQCommunicate and the IQMax Connected Healthcare Platform can help your facility's Communication landscape.

Contact Us

or

Download the paper here

The IQMax Webinar Series continues with another great topic of disccusion.  Secure Messaging in the Clinical Setting on Wednesday, July 11 at 1:30pm ET.

If your facility is looking to implement secure messaging strategies then this online webinar is for you.  You'll learn more about secure text messaging and the IQMax Cross Enterprise COmmunications Platform including IQCommunicate application.  The webianr will cover the market trends in this space as well as demonstrate the capabilites of the IQCommunicate application.  Not only is this a text or SMS messaging application.  IQCommunicate allows users to share patient contextual information which saves time and save lives by insuring accuracy.  IQCommunicate accesses all available care team members labs, x-rays, vitals and more while collaborating in real time on any mobile device including iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Mobile or Blackberry devices.  

Sign Up Here

By definition Meaningful Use’s goals include improving efficiency, safety and quality of patient care along with improving care coordination while engaging patients and families that insures security and privacy to improve the public health of the population.  We believe that the IQMax Connected Healthcare Platform and Decision Support Tools will play a significant role moving forward in Meaningful Use. 

With that said, it’s important to point out the challenges for Meaningful Use:

1. Real Time Data Collection
2. Data Elements in Disparate Systems
3. Impacts to Care Coordination
4. Dynamic Meaningful Use Requirements

By leveraging the convenience of mobility into your Meaningful Use strategies data can be collected in a much simpler way.  These help to streamline workflow by reducing system wide redundancies.  For instance, IQMax’s Decision Support Tools allow for Patient Lists, Rounding, Charge Capture and Speak all on the mobile device or tablet of your choice. 

IQPatients:  IQPatients extends existing HIS or EMR patient demographic information to the mobile device, so you will always be connected to your patient schedule and census list without having to rely on paper charts or shared computer workstation. IQPatients enables physicians, nurses, and other caregivers to enhance their current workflow by allowing up-to-the minute access their patient schedule and list organized by room number, attending physician, or facility location. IQPatients intuitive user interface provides a consistent framework supporting all of the IQMax’s Connected Care Suite of workflow tools. 

IQRounds:  With the IQMax connected care solution and IQRounds, caregivers have ePrescribing and mPOE (Mobile Physician Order Entry) tools as well as the ability to actively utilize information from patients quickly and easily. IQRounds extends the hospital’s existing clinical information system and securely delivers patient data to the caregiver — anywhere, anytime.

IQCharge:  Improving the financial health of your practice can lead to a significant evolution in the overall quality of care you provide. Properly documenting and coding patient encounters, eliminating missed charges, reducing receivable days, and improving the revenue management process are just a few of the financial challenges faced. IQCharge provides a fast, accurate, and intuitive mobile solution to documenting care in acute and ambulatory settings. This simplistic approach to capturing codes and procedures can eliminate lost fees.

IQSpeak:  For decades, dictation input methods used by medical professionals have gone relatively unchanged. From traditional magnetic tape recorders, to the telephone and dedicated dictation stations, to  digital hand held recorders. The traditional methods of recording and the associated document work flow problems still exist today. IQSpeak provides a revolutionary, yet simple, fast, intelligent and mobile dictation solution to the traditional dictation problem.

Meaningful Usage stratifies across these workflow tools and meets Stage 1 requirements.  In addition to that, IQMax’s Connected Healthcare Platform takes information from disparate systems and makes them available in the Decision Workflow toolset.  How does this work?

IQConnect:  The data elements required to accurately report MU compliance are generally housed in multiple systems. IQConnect compliments the host reporting system by facilitating the Exchange of Critical Information amongst these systems, meeting the expanded requirements for feeding specific and non-specific registries; such as Immunization and Cancer registries in Stage 2, Exchanging and receiving data in a structured format, and of course integrating the EHR with HIE’s and CDR’s.
With these tools in your arsenal, not only will you be meeting Meaningful Use requirements, you’ll also be enabling your staff the ability to provide immediate and better care for patients.

IQCommunicate: Allows for secure communication between care team members assisting in care coordination requirements and metrics in Meaningful Use.  With IQCommunicate, care team members now have access to communicate with any team member(s) in a secure environment via voice, text, chat or post messages on an individual patient wall.  This allows for better team collaboration in addition to better communication to deliver the best care possible wall in addition to patient portals for patient engagement.  Additionally users can securely any of the chat, text or messaging features is able to share contextual patient information including labs, x-rays reports, medications or any information a user wants to share in addition to having access to point of care decision support tools.  One of the best features of IQCommunicate is that it works on devices that doctors and nurses are already familiar with, their smart phone or tablet.  The biggest difference is that inside the IQMax system, information is both HIPAA and HI-TECH compliant which insures safety and security of information across the network. 

Meaningful Use guidelines will continue to morph and be modified but with IQMax’s Connected Healthcare Platform, Decision Support Tools and Unified Communications your facility will not only be meeting Meaningful Use guidelines, you’ll be increasing patient care and employee satisfaction to new levels.

For more information

Contact Us

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.

Read the Full Article

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

Read the full article here

CNSA is a neurosurgical and spine specialty medical practice in North Carolina with five regional office
locations devoted to facilitating patient care since the 1940’s with a specialized network of caregivers
experienced in minimal invasive and complex spine procedures, brain tumors, sports concussions and rehab &
fitness for adults and children.

Utilizing the IQMax platform for mobile workflow and information management provides CNSA opportunity
to move forward with clinical health information exchange and efficient management of revenue cycle. “It’s
now more about meaningful outcomes and effective use and sharing of clinical information among caregivers
and administrators than just about moving data from one system to another. The real-time patient centric
information provided by IQMax will bring interoperability and connectivity across our physician organization
and expedite and improve financial outcomes to our care delivery organization,” said Mary Cloninger, CNSA
Executive Director.
"From the time we began working with Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates it has been clear they are a
forward-thinking organization that is always looking to improve their operations and overall delivery of patient
care," said Paul Adkison, founder of IQMax. “Our integrated patient-centric solution - IQCommunicateTM will
provide the flexible collaboration platform needed to execute and grow their practice and ensure quality
outcomes.”

About IQMax
Founded in 1999, IQMax is a privately held corporation based in Charlotte, NC. IQMax is an early pioneer in
the field of mobile healthcare solutions and delivers intelligent healthcare communication solutions that enable
healthcare providers to be more efficient in their daily workflow and improves care team collaboration. The
company’s solution allows physicians to securely communicate, view patient schedules, dictate patient
encounters, receive alerts and notifications, and capture billable charges. The IQMax solution has been
deployed across numerous health facilities including specialty clinics, surgery centers, large hospital and IDNs.

Learn more at www.iqmax.com.

Contact
IQMax, Inc

~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