News 10/18/11

Medical billing company MedData, Inc. acquires Data Management, Inc., a provider of physician billing services to pathologists and EDs.

The Department of Pathology at the Medical City Dallas Hospital (TX) selects McKesson’s Revenue Management Services  for billing and revenue cycle management.

GE Healthcare announces that it is now a Meaningful Use partner in New York eHealth Collaborative’s REC program.

St. Paul Eye Clinic (MN) selects the SRS EHR for its 15 providers.

HealthStar Physicians (TN) will implement athenaCollector, athenaClinical, and athenaCommunicator for its 60-provider network.

The CalOptima REC announces its preferred EHR vendors, which will extend special contract terms and preferred pricing to COREC members. On the list: Comtron, Med A-Z, MED3000, Mitochon Systems, Office Ally, and SuiteMed.

athenahealth announces findings from its VaccineView program, which indicate that pediatricians are being under-reimbursed for certain vaccines nearly half the time, when the total cost to the physician is considered. VaccineView analyzes payment information for eight vaccines, based on data compiled in the athenanet network.

If you are a physician interested in increasing your online presence, Avvo is offering a free guide, “Being Influential Online: Social Media Tactics for Physicians.”  In addition to several how-to steps, the guide looks at physician liability, HIPAA, and SEO to increase online reach.

We published our annual HIStalk Must See Vendors for MGMA directory over the weekend. Please stop by the booths of these HIStalk and/or HIStalk Practice sponsors and show them some love and thanks for their support. Here are a few highlights:

• A couple of the vendors, Mediserve and Practice Fusion, are not actually exhibiting, but are available for personal meetings.  You can find their contact information in the guide. 
• Allscripts and its featured partners are hosting a bingo game and giving away a number of prizes.
• Culbert Healthcare Solutions is giving away an Apple iPad2.
• MED3OOO, which is formally launching Quippe, is giving away 100 iPads during 11 different demo sessions.
• NextGen is leading a presentation in the Healthcare Innovations Pavilion Monday (“Capitalizing on PQRS as a Stepping Stone Toward Accountable Care”) and sponsoring a concurrent educational session Tuesday (“Using Data and Leadership Alignment to Achieve PCMH Recognition”).

E-mail Inga.