News 5/31/11

A London paper reports that Sage Group has launched a review of its healthcare division that could lead to a sale of the unit, valued by analysts at around $430 million. Sage recently reported a 5% decline in revenues for the North American healthcare division for the first half of the year.

CMS says that the Medicare EHR incentive program has paid out $75 million to providers so far, while the 15 state Medicaid programs have issued $38 million in payments.

Good news for providers who have not yet adopted e-prescribing systems. CMS issues a proposed rule that would expand the definition of an e-prescribing system to include certified EHRs with e-prescribing capabilities. In addition, certain providers would have until October 1 to claim exemptions to avoid potential Medicare pay cuts.  Exemption reasons include having limited prescribing activity and practicing in an area in which regulation prohibit e-prescribing. Providers could also claim an exemption if the delay is a result of a pending implementation of a certified EHR.

Nevada and Utah REC HealthInsight announces that 1,000 primary care providers have signed up for EHR adoption and implementation assistance.

athenahealth says several of its athenaclinical customers have been paid Medicare EHR incentive payments.

Barboursville Internal Medicine (WV) picks Benchmark System for its PM and EHR.

HP EHR Referral Group, an alliance of healthcare billing systems, selects Sevocity EHR as a preferred EHR.

Oncology EHR provider Rabbit Healthcare Systems announces that it is expanding its headquarter space by 70% and expects to increase its staff by 40%.

The local paper highlights Springfield Center Family Medicine (OH) and its use of NextGen EHR. Though quite happy with the solution, one physician notes that his incentive payment of $18,000 only covers half of what the practice spent on server upgrades last year.

Trend alert: two large distributors of medical supplies to doctors’ office report double digit sales growth for the first quarter. PSS World Medical (15.4%) and Henry Schein (12.4%) say the creation of jobs is providing more patients with health insurance, boosting healthcare demand and giving physicians confidence to buy more supplies.

HIMSS names four finalists for Ambulatory Care Davis Award, including Community Care Physicians (Allscripts — NY), Fallon Clinic (Epic — MA), James F. Holsinger MD (e-MDs — IA), and Women’s Health Advantage (Greenway — IN). HIMSS will award up to four winners following site visits to each practice.

A disgruntled patient in Vermont sues her doctor after leaving without seeing him after a wait of more than one hour. The doctor was delayed caring for another patient. The woman asked the practice to reimburse her $139 to cover the cost of hiring a nurse to care for two family members while she waited. She filed suit when the practice refused (and subsequently “fired” her from the practice). The judge rules in the doctor’s favor, noting there would be serious problems if doctors could be billed for missed appointments. The patient says she feels, “like a David-ette against a Goliath.”

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