News 1/25/11

From Tina Goodman: “Re: Weno Healthcare. OpenEMR was removed because Carol Bean, at ONC said we could not share customers with e-community and testing/certification. Her verbal and written warning was that is was a significant issue and we must have ‘clean lines.’ Then they approved Surescripts and another company that did not have ‘clean lines.’ We have been denied a fair process and I have all the evidence to support our compliance.” Goodman is CEO for Weno Healthcare, which was recently denied approval as an ONC-ATCB. I noted last week that Weno’s OpenEMR product was no longer offered on the Weno Web site and Goodman provided this explanation. I have asked Carol Bean, ONC’s division director for certification and testing, for a comment on the subject, but haven’t heard back.

Cardiac Science Corporation completes certification for its HeartCentrix monitoring solution to run with Allscripts Professional EHR.

Louisiana Medicaid issues an EHR stimulus check payable to Winn Community Health Center, making it the first FQHC to receive funds. The clinic was initially established with the help of a $1.3 million ARRA grant. Winn Community runs SuccessEHS as its EHR.

Billing service Broadleaf Health (CA) selects Kareo’s medical billing software.

Billing and practice management service provider AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions appoints J. Paul O’Haro as COO. He’s the former president and CEO of CompOne Services and also spent time at Per-Se.

Digital Assent secures $2 million in Series A equity financing. The company is the creator of  PatientPad, a self-service check-in and patient education tool that facilitates the collection of patient information, insurance verification, payment collections, and the signing of consent forms.

A new study out of Stanford University suggests that EHRs provide no clear improvement in care quality in the outpatient setting. Findings were based on over 250,000 outpatient visits between 2005 and 2007. Of 20 indices of care quality analyzed, only diet counseling for high-risk adults showed significantly better performance in EHR-related visits compared to conventional record keeping. Critics contend the findings may be irrelevant to today’s current EHR systems, which include more clinical decision support tools.

Cumberland Consulting Group promotes Matthew Good and Michael Worner from principals to partners. Good is a former consultant for Ernst & Young and is currently managing an EMR implementation for more than 550 physician practices. Worner is a former consultant with CSC and analyst with SAIC.

The new FAIR Health database, created under agreements with the New York attorney general’s office, is set to launch by late January. The database will be designed to show what is considered a "usual, customary and reasonable" payment rate for physician services and serve as a fair and transparent source for evaluating out-of-network reimbursement.

HIStalk Practice has just hit a new milestone with 1,000 confirmed e-mail update subscribers. When Mr. H suggested we start HIStalk Practice two years ago, I thought it was a terrific idea – until I realized he wanted me to run it. However, he persuaded me to give it a go and it’s all turned out better than I ever expected. Thankfully we’ve had supportive sponsors from the start, as well as a steady flow of new ones. Dr. Gregg Alexander has been a great addition with his regular from-the-trenches insights. Thanks, readers, for stopping by and for continuing to send new friends our way.

South Florida Health Technology REC selects Greenway’s PrimeSUITE 2011 as a pre-qualified EHR solution. PrimeSUITE has been selected as a preferred product with at least nine other RECs.

Speaking of Greenway, please join me in welcoming them as HIStalk Practice’s newest Platinum sponsor. A long-time HIStalk sponsor, Greenway decided to extend the love over to the Practice site. Greenway’s been in the EHR/PM business since its 1998 founding by W. Thomas Green Jr.  the company’s current chairman of the board. Its core product is PrimeSUITE, which is used by more than 23,000 healthcare providers in 31 specialties. PrimeSUITE just won two 2010 Best in KLAS awards in the ambulatory EMR and practice management categories and PrimeSUITE EHR has earned ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 Complete EHR certification. Other Greenway solutions include PrimeSpeech, PrimePatient, PrimeExchange, PrimeResearch, PrimeMobile, PrimeRCM, and PrimeEnterprise. Give their ad  a click to learn more. A big thank you to Greenway for supporting HIStalk Practice.

 

NextGen is offering a webinar demo of its Patient Portal, version 5.6 SP1 on Wednesday, January 26th. Details here.

New Jersey says it’s serious about accountable care organizations, approving legislation to enable the formation of five ACOs across the state. New Jersey lawmakers also agree to pay bonuses to participating providers based on the anticipated savings from reduced medical costs and improved patient health.

E-mail Inga.