News 10/3/13

From DogLover: “Re: Going digital. Your comment about your doctor discussing the need to go the practice’s portal to view lab results floors me!  You are HIT savvy.  Where does that leave so many people in the general public who go to that practice? How about opt in as a first choice and announce the option with more fanfare? I am thinking about elderly, etc. Hopefully, at a minimum, they will offer an alternative info method for those with out-of-range values. I like that mine arrive in the mail and my doc writes personal notes on it.” Agreed. The idea of “if we build it they will come” doesn’t seem like the best strategy for pushing patients to a practice’s patient portal. For what it’s worth, I went to the practice’s portal today and was amused to see that  the landing page re-iterates that all lab results will be posted to the portal as of October 1, and, that  the portal is “coming soon.” I guess that means the practice still has a few kinks to work out.

From Shoe Fan: “MGMA. I’m going to MGMA and was wondering if I’ll catch a glimpse of you on the exhibit floor or at any parties. Maybe you can tell me what shoes you’ll be wearing so I’ll know it’s you.” Gosh, haven’t thought through the shoe thing yet but I am thinking comfy may win over fashion this year. I have made a tentative schedule and so far the only session I know I won’t miss is, “IT in Healthcare: Where we are and where we’re going” (Monday at 2:00 pm). The panel includes RoseMarie Nelson of MGMA Healthcare Consulting Group, who I am a big fan of because she knows her stuff and is smart and funny. Other panelists include Waco Hoover of the Institute for Health Technology Transformation and long-time HIT CIO Steve McCallister. In terms of evening events, I’ve recruited a partner in crime for Monday night’s party-hopping and so far we’ve penciled in events hosted by CareCloud, Practice Insight, Vitera, Greenway, and GE. If you are heading to San Diego this weekend, safe travels and see you there!

Harland Technology partners with Greenway Medical Technologies to provide implementation support services and IT infrastructure support for small to medium-sized practices.

 

Athenahealth and Epocrates introduce Bugs + Drugs, a free app to identify the most common bacterial infections recorded in a geographic region using data collected  from athena customers. The app also generates a list of appropriate antibiotics for prescribing.

CareCloud and Box will integrate Box’s secure content-sharing and collaboration capabilities into the CareCloud platform, allowing providers to give patients access to their personal health information. Patients can also access their financial and clinical information through the CareCloud Community Portal.

Emdeon appoints Neil E. de Crescenzo president and CEO, replacing George I. Lazenby, IV, who will become a senior advisor for Emdeon’s majority investor, Blackstone Capital Partners.

The five-provider Kanawha Valley Gastroenterology Associates (WV) will implement Benchmark’s PM and EHR platform.

SRS names Peter Bennfors (Asset Control) CFO.

Email Inga.