Top Stories

Turning to the Cloud to Support a Diffuse Radiology Practice

Mark Hagland
Michael Green, D.O., has been helping to lead his radiologist colleagues forward towards automation-facilitated efficiency enhancement. Ultimately, he and his fellow radiologists in the Liberty Division of the Alliance Radiology group in the Kansas City metro area found a cloud-based PACS solution to be the inevitable choice when it came to access-anywhere imaging informatics.

D.C. Report: ICD-10 Compliance Delay an ‘Appropriate Middle Ground’

Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) today submitted comments to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius regarding a notice of proposed rulemaking to postpone the compliance date for International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-10) to October 1, 2014. In its comments, CHIME urged HHS to remain committed to ICD-10, while calling the one year delay an appropriate “middle ground” for all stakeholders.

Data Warehouses: Overcoming Governance, Integration Issues

Jennifer Prestigiacomo
The CIOs who participated in a panel that tackled strategies for creating data warehouses at the Healthcare Informatics Executive Summit on May 7 largely agreed that the main challenges in doing so centered around issues of governance and integration. “I think that governance for us is still the greatest problem,” says Patricia Skarulis, vice president, information systems and CIO, Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center. “I mean it in the sense that there are still some areas where [departments] withhold their data from putting it into the warehouse.”

Amid Medicaid Hack Scandal, Utah Tech Director Resigns

May 16, 2012    
news
Stephen Fletcher, executive director of the Utah Dept. of Technology Services (DTS), has resigned from his post as a result of a hacker accessing the medical information of 780,000 Medicaid recipients within the state. The announcement was made by Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert, who also outlined the State's response to the recent health and Medicaid data breach.

WEDI: Put ICD-10 Extension to Good Use

May 16, 2012    
news
The Reston, Va.-based Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), a non-profit organization formed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) that focuses on the use of Health IT to improve the exchange of healthcare information, has responded to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the extension of the compliance date from October 1, 2013 to October 1, 2014. WEDI says any extension of time should be put to good use, allowing for more robust assessments, remediation and testing.

Wolters Kluwer and MEDITECH Collaborate on CDS

May 16, 2012    
news
Wolters Kluwer Health, a Minneapolis-based provider of information for healthcare professionals and students, has signed an agreement with MEDITECH (Westwood, Mass.) to offer clinical decision integration between MEDITECH version 5.64 (Client/Server and MAGIC) and Wolters’ ProVation Order Sets.

“Be Nice”: Who Knew??

May 16, 2012     Mark Hagland
blog
Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Drex DeFord, in his closing keynote address to the HCI Executive Summit, last week shared with Summit attendees his philosophy of leadership. Refreshingly, DeFord, the current chairman of the CHIME board of directors, believes that CIOs need to get—and stay—outside their comfort zones.

ONC Announces Creation of CMO Role, Office of Consumer eHealth

May 16, 2012    
news
In a blog post by the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Farzad Mostashari, M.D., the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has announced the creation of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer and an Office of Consumer eHealth. The primary function of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer will be to infuse a clinical perspective across ONC on all activities which have clinical implications. The Office of Consumer eHealth will work on consumer engagement.

Advocacy Corner

D.C. Report: ICD-10 Compliance Delay an ‘Appropriate Middle Ground’

May 15, 2012     Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME

D.C. Report: Senators Demand More Tangible Anti-Fraud Results from CMS

May 8, 2012     Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME

Research Ties ICD-10’s Impact to Fatal Falls Reporting

May 15, 2012    
news
According to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, a dramatic increase in the fall death rate in older Americans is likely the effect of improved reporting quality, specifically from the 1999 update to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). The researchers say this suggests a major change in the way deaths were classified.

Of Musical Scores and ACOs

May 15, 2012     Gabriel Perna
blog
Just like a conductor’s score brings together the pieces of an orchestra, information systems bring together the pieces of an accountable care organization (ACO). Many providers, like Banner Health, are beginning to learn that more proven clinical technologies included in an ACO make for a better “score.”

Data Warehouses: Overcoming Governance, Integration Issues

May 15, 2012     Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
The CIOs who participated in a panel that tackled strategies for creating data warehouses at the Healthcare Informatics Executive Summit on May 7 largely agreed that the main challenges in doing so centered around issues of governance and integration. “I think that governance for us is still the greatest problem,” says Patricia Skarulis, vice president, information systems and CIO, Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center. “I mean it in the sense that there are still some areas where [departments] withhold their data from putting it into the warehouse.”

TriZetto Subsidiary Acquires Physician Reimbursement Management Vendor

May 15, 2012    
news
The Denver-based TriZetto Group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Gateway EDI, has acquired NHXS, a software company that aims to help medical practices manage physician reimbursement and minimize the administrative cost of recovering lost revenues. The Sacramento-based NHXS’s capabilities will be integrated into Gateway EDI’s solutions, which include EDI and revenue cycle management services for reportedly more than 100,000 physicians.

D.C. Report: ICD-10 Compliance Delay an ‘Appropriate Middle Ground’

May 15, 2012     Jeff Smith, Assistant Director of Advocacy at CHIME
article
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) today submitted comments to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius regarding a notice of proposed rulemaking to postpone the compliance date for International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-10) to October 1, 2014. In its comments, CHIME urged HHS to remain committed to ICD-10, while calling the one year delay an appropriate “middle ground” for all stakeholders.

Blogs

“Be Nice”: Who Knew??

May 16, 2012     Mark Hagland
Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Drex DeFord, in his closing keynote address to the HCI Executive Summit, last week shared with Summit attendees his philosophy of leadership. Refreshingly, DeFord, the current chairman of the CHIME board of directors, believes that CIOs need to get—and stay—outside their comfort zones.

Of Musical Scores and ACOs

May 15, 2012     Gabriel Perna
2
Just like a conductor’s score brings together the pieces of an orchestra, information systems bring together the pieces of an accountable care organization (ACO). Many providers, like Banner Health, are beginning to learn that more proven clinical technologies included in an ACO make for a better “score.”

Clawing your way up – When you Claw for a living

May 11, 2012     Pete Rivera
Well I was sure that there would be major adjustments to be made when I left the military after 21 years. I guess the biggest cultural change came down to the uniform. In the military you always know who is in charge by all the “ornaments” in the uniform. The more the colors and “bling,” the higher up the food chain they are, especially the Army-they are all about the bling!

What Value-Add Services Can Sustain HIE?

May 10, 2012     Jennifer Prestigiacomo
Health information exchanges are taking a wide variety of approaches around the country to develop value-added services to sustain their exchanges. Panelists of the "Health Information Exchange: Strategies and Sustainability panel" at the HCI Executive Summit discuss what has worked for their exchanges.

 Vendor Corner

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CareFusion

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