Latest News from Healthcare Informatics

New Service for Mobile Consulting is Launched

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:08:08 EST

Amsterdam-headquartered Elsevier is introducing MD Consult Mobile, which according to the company will enable physicians of all specialties to access evidence-based, clinical content from their mobile device. Elsevier says its new product is designed for a small screen, such as that of an iPhone, BlackBerry or other smartphone. MD Consult Mobile users can browse content via Quick Reference links with medical topics, and search books, practice guidelines and journal articles, the company says. MD Consult Mobile is available at no additional charge to individual subscribers, as well as to end-users at institutions with site license subscriptions, according to Elsevier.

Iowa Health Gets PACS

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:06:42 EST

Iowa Health System is implementing Alpharetta, Ga.-based McKesson Corporation ’s Horizon Medical Imaging PACS at 34 metropolitan hospitals and clinics throughout the state, the company says. According to the company, the Des Moines-based healthcare system will utilize the solution’s communications capabilities for real-time work list reviews, as well as physician and radiologist consultations. Iowa Health is currently live on the new PACS solution in five of its seven regions, and is planning on bringing the other two on board by the end of the year. Iowa Health System is the state’s first and largest integrated health system, serving nearly one of every three patients in Iowa. It provides care throughout Iowa and western Illinois, with 26 hospitals in metropolitan and rural communities and more than 140 group practices of physicians and clinics. With more than 2.5 million patient visits and annual revenues of $2 billion, Iowa Health System is the sixth largest nondenominational health system in America.

Intermountain Deploys Interoperability Solution

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:04:30 EST

Intermountain Healthcare , a non-profit health system located in Salt Lake City, will use Chicago-based Initiate Systems, Inc. ’s Interoperable Health as the foundation of its new Enterprise Clinical Information System (ECIS). Through the implementation, Intermountain looks to facilitate advanced clinical decision support within an environment of information sharing, says the company. Interoperable Health is designed to provide a complete view of patient or providers across clinical settings for use by healthcare applications and portals, it touts. As part of Intermountain’s service-oriented architecture for ECIS, Initiate’s solution will serve as a single-source registry for patients and providers. Intermountain Healthcare serves the needs of Utah and southeastern Idaho residents through its system of 23 hospitals, physicians, clinics, and health plans. It also serves as a major referral center for six surrounding states.

Ingenix to Acquire CareMedic

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:44:51 EST

Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Ingenix is acquiring CareMedic Services Inc. (St. Petersburg, Fla.), a revenue cycle management (RCM) solution provider, in a cash transaction. Through the acquisition, Ingenix aims to offer solutions that address the major components of the hospital revenue cycle: patient registration, eligibility verification, financial clearance, coding and compliance, bill submission, denials management, and remittance processing, it says.

Trinity Health Gets Clinical Decision Support

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:43:58 EST

Trinity Health , a 44-hospital system based in Novi, Mich., will install seven of Amsterdam-headquartered Elsevier ’s online clinical decision support (CDS) solutions to provide evidence-based clinical content for physicians and other healthcare professionals. According to the company, Trinity will implement Clinical Pharmacology, ToxED 2.0, First Consult, MD Consult, Mosby’s Nursing Consult, Mosby’s Nursing Skills, and Mosby’s Index. The solutions will be deployed in Trinity’s critical access facilities, long-term care and ambulatory facilities located in California, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio. Trinity Health is the fourth-largest Catholic health care system in the United States, operating 44 acute-care hospitals, 379 outpatient facilities, 33 long-term care facilities, and numerous home health offices and hospice programs in eight states.

St. Francis Selects Legal Health Record

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:42:51 EST

Saint Francis Hospital , a 155-bed hospital in located Charleston, W.Va., is implementing the complete eWebHIM suite of medical records workflow technology from eWebHealth (Reading, Mass.) as its electronic legal health record solution. By deploying the solution, which interfaces with its HCA Meditech information system, Saint Francis hopes to modernize and improve internal processes, says the company. The eWebHIM suite, which will be delivered via a software-as-a-service model, includes capabilities to support coding, anytime access to patient records, analysis and reporting, and e-signature, it touts. An affiliate of Thomas Health Inc., Saint Francis has provided care to patients in the Charleston area and surrounding communities for 90 years. It offers a range of services, including an Advanced Women’s Imaging Center, Cardiac Catheterization Lab, Diabetes Care Center, and more.

Buffalo IPA Picks EMR

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:16:42 EST

Buffalo, N.Y.’s Catholic Independent Practice Association (CIPA) has selected Westborough, Mass.-based eClinicalWorks EMR and practice management (PM) software for the Catholic Health System’s network of ambulatory care offices and for select community physicians. eClinicalWorks says it will work with the IPA to connect into HEALTHeLINK, the local Regional Health Information Organization. Catholic Health System, which purchased 150 licenses, will host the solution for its CIPA members using a SaaS model so that providers are able to access the system via a secure Internet connection, says the company.

UPMC Hospital Attains Stage 6

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:08:22 EST

Pittsburgh-based Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC is now a “Stage 6” hospital, according to Chicago-based HIMSS Analytics , a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). HIMSS Analytics scores hospitals based on their progress in completing eight stages — from zero to seven — of a paperless patient record environment, and its studies have shown correlations between quality metrics and EMR adoption. Only 66 hospitals in the HIMSS database of more than 5,700 facilities are now at Stage 6, and only 26 are at Stage 7. With the deployment of CPOE in early October, Magee has achieved Stage 6 functionality, which also includes computerized charting, decision support for clinicians, and positive patient identification (PPID) for safe administration of medications and physician documentation. Physician use of CPOE at Magee is averaging more than 85 percent, says the organization. UPMC is an $8 billion integrated global health enterprise headquartered in Pittsburgh with 20 hospitals, 400 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, long-term care facilities, and a major health insurance services division.

N.J. Hospital Picks Open Source EMR

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:18:22 EST

New Jersey’s Hoboken University Medical Center (UMC) will implement Medsphere ’s (Carlsbad, Calif.) OpenVista EHR solution to digitize patient records and improve clinical outcomes. According to the company, Hoboken UMC will fully and meaningfully deploy OpenVista by summer 2010 and become eligible for financial incentives as outlined by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). OpenVista is the commercialized version of the VistA EHR, which was created, funded and developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and credited with helping turn the agency into a national leader in quality patient care. Under the terms of the contract, the implementation of OpenVista at Hoboken will provide practitioners with access to clinical IT support: computerized physician order entry (CPOE) functionality, an inpatient bar code medication administration (BCMA) system, a closed loop medication management system, clinical alerts and reminder templates as well as reporting tools. Hoboken University Medical Center (UMC) is a 328-bed facility located in the heart of Hoboken, New Jersey.

HL7 Publishes New Standard for Research

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:16:43 EST

Ann Arbor, Mich.-based HL7 says it has published the healthcare industry’s first ANSI (American National Standards Institute)-approved standard that specifies the functional requirements for regulated clinical research in an electronic health record system. The organization says the EHR Clinical Research Functional Profile defines high-level requirements critical for using electronic health record data for regulated clinical research, and provides a roadmap for integrating the information environment that must support both the patient care and the downstream clinical research processes. The EHR Clinical Research Functional Profile is also a resource for the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) Clinical Research Work Group as they define new clinical research certification criteria for EHR systems.