News 12/29/09

The Monterey County Health Department Behavioral Health Division completes implementation of the Netsmart Technology’s Avatar EMR. The $2.2 million project connects over 300 users.

Medical coding software developer CrossCurrent seeks $5 to $10 million in new funding to expand operations and extend marketing efforts for its Incisive MD product.

The AMA offers a new online tool that allows physicians to compare different healthcare plans. The information provides detailed data on Aetna’s Aexcel program, Cigna’s Care Network, and UnitedHealthcare’s Premium Designation program.

Justice or silliness? Mississippi’s governor sends a tweet asking constituents to forward ideas on how to trim state expenses. An employee with the University Medical Center follows up with a tweet suggesting the governor not schedule his medical exams after hours, which requires the clinic to pay 15-20 people to stay open late and leads to overtime pay. UMC fires the employee for violating HIPAA laws.

Mayo Clinic also fires a physician and an allied health staff worker for violating privacy policies.

PhEMR (femur) releases a new version of its EMR that includes e-prescribing functionality and lab interoperability. I’ve never heard of the company, but I think their name is sort of clever.

Increasing the use of IT to reduce medication-related errors and improve medication adherence could save billions of dollars and save lives. That’s the conclusion of a new report by the Center for Technology and Aging, which looked at ways IT could help with the medication-use process among older adults. Some of the new technologies explored include medication kiosks, online medication history tools, mobile phone apps, and wireless POC testing devices.

Clafin Medical Equipment agrees to market Aprima Medical Software to new clients, as well as its 10,000 existing customers.

Wuesthoff Health System opens the first of five Florida walk-in health clinics at the Merritt Island Walmart Supercenter, which will run eClinicalWorks software.

Companies like mPay Gateway, Navicure, and FirstPaid admit that physician adoption for their services remain low, but, all are optimistic for the future. The companies specialize in services that speed patient collections through the use of preauthorized credit cards.

GE expands its Stimulus Simplicity program to include new purchases of its Centricity Business solution suite. The program offers 0% payment terms and deferred payments until 2012.

A research organization says that healthcare consolidation can benefit patients because larger practices have deeper pockets for IT systems and other infrastructures. Technologies such as EMR and better payment systems provide increased efficiencies and result in better customer service. Analysts expect solo and small practice physicians to continue moving to larger groups, especially as payments are squeezed and providers require more capital for practice upgrades.

I’m only semi-working this week since there isn’t much going on in HIT-land and because I’ve escaped to a remote location. It’s quite rustic (I left all the stilettos and designer sweaters at home). I sent Mr. H a picture of my lodgings and he quickly assessed it un-Inga-like. I say that there is nothing like a few nights on a bed with low sheet thread count to appreciate home.

E-mail Inga.