News 6/15/10

From Dr. Phil: “Re: Allscripts / Eclipsys ambulatory products. Allscripts and Eclipsys keep saying there is very little overlap of their products, except for their ambulatory EHRs. How much overlap is there in their two portfolios and the markets they serve?” Great question. As a quick answer, here’s the slide that Allscripts and Eclipsys provided in their conference call the morning of the announcement. Notably absent is the Eclipsys Sunrise Ambulatory EHR product. Not sure if that means it is not a go-forward product or an oversight (I would assume the former). I’ll see what we might be able to put together with a few more specifics.

Here are some handy tips for social media novice physicians. Actually, the suggestions could easily apply to anyone wanting to market themselves and include finding and targeting the “influencers” in your field and focusing on quality versus quantity of connections:

Physicians whose goal is to establish themselves as experts among their peers should start by making a list of 50 key influencers in their specialty and connect with them through LinkedIn, a leading professional social media site, and other platforms … you want to strategically position yourself as the expert, so involve yourself in peer-to-peer networking groups.

Physician blogger Edward Pullen, MD provides some tips on how to talk to patients with an EMR in the room. Most center around the idea that the doctor should include the patient in the EMR review and charting (tell the patient what findings you are entering, share the information on the monitor if appropriate, and mention how IT benefits patients). Some of his readers didn’t necessarily agree, suggesting that there is no substitute for eye contact and even that physicians should not use the computer at during a patient consult. Personally I would rather the doctor have all my information in front of him/her during the exam. I’d give up some eye contact if it improved the odds that my history was recalled accurately and new findings were input correctly.

BCBS of Western NY and Northeaster NY launch Online Care NY, a service that provides on-demand healthcare services to members. The American Well-powered service will give members live access to providers via the Internet or telephone.

Transcription service provider ExecuScribe partners with BayScribe, giving RxecuScribe customers access to BayScribe’s virtual dictation and transcription technology platform. The platform includes the ability to dictate on a smart phone.

Miami-based Physician’s Billing and EMR signs up as a VAR for PracticeSuite.

TEKfleet teams up with Spring Medical Systems to provide support for Spring’s EHR software. TEKfleet is an organization of certified independent computer consultants.

Qualifacts Systems, a provider of EHR and billing systems for behavioral health providers, adds two VPs to its executive team. Jason Medlin, the former director of marketing and strategy for Henry Schein, takes over as VP of sales. Ben Bredesen is promoted from software development director to VP of marketing.

HIStalk Practice has a brand new sponsor! We are excited to welcome MedPlus as our latest Platinum Sponsor (on HIStalk as well ). The Quest Diagnostics company offers innovative interoperability solutions that includes the Centergy suite of integrated solutions (community sharing of clinical data, including data exchange, ambulatory EHR, clinical portal, patient portal, and document management), ChartMaxx document management and imaging (2009 Best in KLAS in that category), and the Web-based Care360 suite that’s used by 70,000 practices, including modules for Labs & Meds, ePrescribing, EHR, and Mobile. MedPlus software has connected 160,000 doctors, 100 EMR vendors, several big HIEs, 100 hospitals, 300,000 administrative users, and a total of over one million clinicians. Thank you MedPlus!

The AMA selects Voltage Security to provide secure email communications for physicians connected to the AMA’s new health information platform.

Aprima Medical Software hopes to expand its Puerto Rican presence with the addition of healthcare consulting firm Tertiums as an Aprima Gold VAR.

Networking Technology releases its e-prescribing solution for the iPhone.

Patients like the idea of EHRs, even though they don’t necessarily understand how the move from paper will benefit them. Patients actually believe they are one of the groups least likely to benefit from EHRs. Authors of this Xerox-sponsored study suggest providers educate their patients about how EHRs can benefit healthcare consumers.

Great article here about what smart phone is right for medical professionals. There’s not a single “right” solution, but, BlackBerry is superior for security and as an e-email client; the Android is best if you can’t get AT&T service; and, the iPhone wins for its quality medical applications.

The AMA reports that one in five medical claims is processed incorrectly by commercial health insurers. Sadly, the AMA says that paying physicians wrong only 20% of the time is a “dramatic improvement” on the part of carriers.

E-mail Inga.