News 3/15/12

KLAS looks at customer satisfaction by EMR specialty and identifies  internal medicine as the most satisfied specialty, followed by family medicine, pediatrics, and OB/Gyn. Ophthalmologists were the least satisfied. Of the fully rated vendors, Cerner and Epic were found to offer the most comprehensive and highly rated EMR solutions across multiple disciplines.

Thirteen employees of The Everett Clinic (WA) are fired on HIPAA violations and the practice is still investigating another 11 employees. The 400-physician practice reports that it suspects violations of 55 patient records, which were viewed by 43 employees; some employees, however, may have had a legitimate reason for viewing the records and may be cleared. The snooping employees were flagged by a newly installed electronic monitoring system.

Surescripts awards Pulse Systems its White Coat of Quality for prescription accuracy and completeness.

Sales of EMRs grew an estimated 14.2% in 2011, making it a $17.9 billion market.

Northwestern Health Sciences University (MN) selects BackChart EHR for its University clinics.

AHRQ proposes a 27-month, $793,456 information collection project focused on assessing how HIT affects the quality of care in small to medium-sized physician practices.

AHIMA, MGMA-ACMPE, and several other healthcare groups introduce informational brochures to promote the understanding and use of PRHs among consumers and clinicians.

Greenway Medical Technologies announces its first quarterly results as a publicly traded company: revenue up 30% to $29 million, EPS –$0.01. Shares closed Tuesday at $13.75, up from February’s IPO price of $10 but down from their high of just over $15.00 on March 1.

Medical billing and EHR provider Zeus Healthcare appoints Larry Havelis CEO. Havelis previously served as VP of sales for Quest Diagnostics and VP of sales for Allscripts.

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More news: HIStalk, HIStalk Mobile.