The article about Pediatric Associates in CA has a nugget with a potentially outsized impact: the implication that VFC vaccines…
News 7/19/11
Greenway Medical Technologies will raise up to $100 million in a planned IPO. The company’s financial performance has been improving: a $926,000 loss on $38.8 million in revenue in fiscal 2008; $955,000 net income on $48.7 million in revenue in 2009; and $2.9 million net income on $64.6 million in revenue in 2010.
Speaking of Greenway, despite sporting a Greenway logo on his shirt, PGA golfer Jason Dufner failed to make the cut following the second round of the British Open.
A reader forwarded me a copy of the results of AAFP’s 2011 EHR User Satisfaction survey, which includes the opinions of 2,719 family physicians. AAFP is careful to point out the limitations of the survey (it did not consider software release levels, participants were self-selected, sample sizes were small for some products) and notes that its goal was not to identify “winners.” Still, there are a few interesting nuggets to consider:
- The highest overall levels of satisfaction came from users of MEDENT, Amazing Charts, e-MDs, Praxis, and EpicCare Ambulatory.
- The lowest satisfaction ratings came from users of MediNotes (formerly Charting Plus), Misys EMR, Horizon Ambulatory Care, and Medinformatix.
- Praxis, Practice Fusion, and Amazing Charts had the highest scores for training and support; MediNotes, MPM, and Misys EMR had the lowest.
- EHR vendor support was the area in which users were least satisfied.
- About 14% of the respondents had switched EHR systems at least once because of system dissatisfaction.
Holy Name Medical Center (NJ) will offer Aprima EHR, PM, and RCM software to its 800 hospital-affiliated physicians.
The British Medical Association recommends that healthcare professionals and medical students “politely refuse” Facebook friend requests from patients. The AMA, by the way does not explicitly recommend refusing social networking requests from patients, but advises physicians to maintain boundaries “appropriate” for the patient-physician relationship.
Phil Suiter, the new president and CEO of EMR vendor digiChart, says he was hired to perform a “strategic repositioning” of the company. The Nashville Medical News profiles Suiter, who has founded or led multiple healthcare businesses over the years. He notes that digiChart’s revenue has been stuck at the $10 million level for some time. The company is now rolling out PracticeSmart, a combined EHR/PM solution, and will continue its focus on the OB/GYN market. With the industry consolidation trend, Suiter is no doubt positioning the company for potential acquisition:
“When consolidation comes, you ride it to the top of the wave; and then you see what best opportunities are out there, and you make yourself available to that. That’s probably what we’ll do.”
GE Centricity reseller Final Support selects Ignis Systems’ EMR-Link for EMR-to-lab integration.
Office Ally announces that all of its offerings will run on Apple products, including Macs and iPads.
The American Academy of Dermatology will expand a telemedicine pilot that connects dermatologists with primary care physicians. Physicians in 26 clinics use a special cell phone that includes software to support the transmission of photos and patient records to the consulting dermatologist. The 15 participating dermatologists provide the consults at no charge to the patient.
You apparently can teach old dogs new tricks. Physicians who have been in practice 31 years or more are about as likely as those just out of medical school to own a tablet computer or to purchase one. Thank Apple for making the iPad, a device that all generations seem to agree provides a great mix of portability and ease of use.
Here is a cool video that details how physicians at UMass Memorial Health Care (MA) are using Allscripts’ MyCareTeam Web-based diabetes management system.
Results from a couple of global studies indicate that two-thirds of patients around the world feel disrespected by their physicians. Unclear communication is the top reason. Patients also complain that doctors don’t spend adequate time with them and are not punctual for appointments. Chinese patients are the most unhappy with their doctors and have the largest percentage of patients quoting Rodney Dangerfield.
Hmmmm. This article “Results from a couple of global studies indicate that two-thirds of patients around the world feel disrespected by their physicians” struck a chord with me. I remember several years ago when I had an MD appointment during my work day (since they didn’t have after work hours!). When the MA took me back to the exam room, she said “it will be about 5 minutes” for the doctor to see me. But 45 minutes later, the doctor walked in and I wasn’t too happy about that. I decided to say something about “my tme is also valuable” and he responded with “I’m not running a fast food joint around here, you know?!” My reply to that was “yes, but if I had kept you waiting 45 minutes, I doubt that you would have even seen me”. Shortly thereafter, I left and found a new doctor. ” R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Find out what it means to me…” Oh yeah.
… see the article at http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/GeneralProfessionalIssues/27444 “Time is Money and Some Doctors Are Paying the Price”