News 1/21/10

If you are a practice management vendor without a complimentary EHR solution, chances are you are looking a mate (or two or three.) LeonardoMD finds a new partner in MedAppz and will now offer the iSuite solution to its client base.

Alternatively, vendors already entrenched in the PM space are looking to create EHR functionality themselves. This appears to be the case for Medrium, who just announced a number of enhancements to its existing “complete practice management” offering. The company says it will roll out an EHR the first half of the year and claims it will allow physicians to meet all meaningful use objectives. Medrium is also adding a document management feature, patient eligibility checks and PQRI performance options.

This Miami start-up provider of web-based physician practice software raises $2.3 million from unnamed investors. CareCloud plans to use the new money for … developing an EHR product!

Sunquest introduces a new physician portal that will allow providers to integrate patient lab results and enhance integration with EHRs. The Sunquest Integrated Clinical Environment has been marketed in the UK and other countries for the last 10 years.

CCHIT updates its 2011 certification requirements to reflect the latest changes in the interim final rules. For vendors who have already qualified for 2011 CCHIT certification, CCHIT will offer incremental testing at no charge.

Doctors in Ohio are likely to oppose proposed legislation requiring them to consult a statewide database before prescribing narcotics. The Ohio Medical Society believes the requirement would be an administrative burden for providers, especially at a time when many are trying to implement EMRs. The state sheriffs’ organization and others think such a law would reduce pill shopping, the illegal sale of prescription medications, and drug overdoses.

AdvancedMD adds Steven ZoBell to its executive team, naming him chief product and technology officer. He was previously CTO for inContact and involved in the interactive game world, overseeing development of several Microsoft franchises like Amped snowboarding, Top Spin tennis, and Links golf. It might be fun if he incorporated some of his gaming expertise into AdvancedMD’s EHR product.

A few short weeks after releasing the latest interim rules, some members of the HIT Policy Committee are now saying CMS should not have removed the requirement for physicians to generate progress notes for each patient visit. The opposing members say that without this element, providers miss an opportunity to create useful information and improve quality reporting. Members also believe CMS should not have removed the requirement to document advanced directives for the elderly and to develop easy to understand patient information resources.

The reports and images from Haiti are horrific. I’m thankful for the efforts of our US medical teams, including Dr. Jonathan Crocker, who provides a personal update here. Administrators at BIDMC are regularly adding new updates from their doctors who are giving a hand in Haiti.

iMedicor partners with Direct Medical Solutions for marketing and sales assistance. DMS sales reps will pitch the iMedicor portal to physician practices, as well as hospitals and HIEs.

 

Sometime Wednesday morning, HIStalk Practice’s 100,000th visitor stopped by. As you can see, I tried to document the occasion, but missed the magic moment by seconds. Thanks to Visitor Number 100,000, whoever you are, as well as you other 99,999 readers who have visited over the last year or so. We’re currently on track to have our best month ever and I’d be ecstatic if we hit 200K sometime in the fall.

Tomorrow we run the sixth and final segment of our EMR Vendor Executive series on Meaningful Use and Certification Requirements. The question: which criteria do you expect to be changed after the comment period?  Mr. H and I have received positive feedback about the series and hope to run similar ones in the future. If you have a burning topic you’d like to propose, let me know.

E-mail Inga.