News Bureau 10-22 through 10-28
10/28/09
For the Record
A Coding Balancing Act
The industry wide initiative to implement new HIT has added to the pressure facing coders who are learning new systems or working at facilities where records are partially electronic and partially on paper. During these transitions, they are still expected to uphold the primary directive of “do it all, do it fast, and do it right.” “I describe it as standing between a rock and a hard place with both sides beating on me,” Sturgeon says.
10/28/09
JournalTimes.com
Medical screening: Health care providers see savings, quality in switch to electronic medical records
The age of medicine on paper is not over, but it is passing and will pass more quickly because of the incentives which came along earlier this year in the federal stimulus bill. Simply put, medical providers must have electronic records systems in place by 2015. There are financial incentives to meet the deadline, and penalties for those who don’t.
10/28/09
NetworkWorld
Disaster Can Inspire Quick Move to Desktop Virtualization
Most companies that launch or rapidly increase their use of virtual desktops do it to cut their support costs or increase security. Many are now also considering virtual desktops as a way to migrate to Windows 7 with a minimum of cost and hassle, according to analysts. But sometimes, Mother Nature provides her own impetus for virtualization. A major disaster led the University of Texas Medical Branch-a sprawling campus of hospital and office buildings in Galveston plus a spray of clinics and smaller facilities all over Texas-to shift virtual desktops from a fringe technology to its main platform.
10/28/09
Reuters
Wellness Program Popularity Shakes Up U.S. Healthcare Markets
MarketResearch.com has announced the addition of Kalorama Information’s
new report, “The Market for Wellness Programs and Their Impact on
Pharmaceutical, Diagnostic and Device Product Markets,” to their
collection of Healthcare market reports.
10/28/09
The Sun
Kaiser Permanente has a long history in computerized patient records
Quick, accurate, thorough are hallmarks of the HealthConnect electronic record system, said Ku, a family medical practice doctor who also teaches other Kaiser Permanente doctors from Chino to Redlands and Victorville the finer points of the world’s largest civilian electronic health record system. HealthConnect allows Kaiser Permanente’s 14,000-plus physicians to electronically access the medical records of the health care system’s 8.6 million members nationwide.
10/23/09
Washington Technology
VA and industry join to develop health record strategy
VistA provides each military veteran with a digital medical record. The VA began developing and managing the system 25 years ago and uses it at its 153 hospitals and 768 outpatient clinics. The Indian Health Service also uses VistA. The task force will not be involved in deciding whether VA should deploy the system more broadly; that is beyond its purview, according to IAC. It will consider whether any wider deployment would best be performed with open-source code, cloud computing or some other business model, and will try to determine the effects of deploying VistA on private industry, the health care community and other key groups.
10/23/09
Web Newswire
American Hospital Association (AHA) names OnBase “RACTrac Compatible”
Lacking information about how RACs will impact hospitals, the AHA responded by creating RACTrac. Using RACTrac Compatible solutions, the program will collect RAC data quarterly. This will allow the AHA to evaluate why claims are being denied across regions and nationally. With this information, providers will be educated on what areas they should look at more closely and where specifically they need to improve. Also, the data will serve as evidence to propose RAC program changes to Congress.
