STANFORD, CA – Data mining and electronic health records helped researchers at some of the country’s most prestigious universities discover a dangerous of a common drug combination. A widely used combination of two medications may cause unexpected increases in blood glucose levels, according to a study conducted at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University and Harvard Medical School. Researchers were surprised at the finding because neither of the two drugs – one, an antidepressant marketed as Paxil, and the other, a cholesterol-lowering medication called Pravachol – has a similar effect alone. The study relied on an adverse-event reporting database maintained by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and on sophisticated electronic medical records used by each of the three participating institutions. They used data-mining techniques to identify patterns of associations in large populations that would not be readily apparent to physicians treating individual patients. Click here to continue reading.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Data mining, EHRs help target dangerous drug combo
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Estonia launches $10 EHR
BUDAPEST, Hungary – Large populations, geographic disparities and legacy infrastructure problems can derail national health IT projects. Estonia suffers from none of these factors. The Baltic state implemented a national EHR in 2009 at a cost equivalent to €7.50 (roughly $10 USD) per citizen. Madis Tiik, CEO of the Estonian E-Health Foundation, who managed the project, described the short path to a fully integrated EHR network currently used by 47 pecent of the country's residents. Launched in 2009, the EHR is built on Estonia's X-Roads network, Tiik told attendees of eHealth Week 2011. X-Roads is a secure gateway service architecture that hosts 3,000 e-services available to Estonian citizens. In January 2010, the eHealth Foundation launched a companion health insurance system for claims, reimbursement and prescription management. "In many countries, I have seen that the task is to integrate the healthcare system," said Tiik. "There is also the concept of the personal health record. In Estonia, we decided that all this functionality will be in our national EHR." All end-users of Estonia's EHR system can access their full personal health records. There's nothing a physician can see that a patient cannot. And with nearly half the country's residents using the system within two years of its launch, the project appears viable for the long term. Click here to continue reading.
Friday, April 15, 2011
HealthGrades launches new physician portal
DENVER – HealthGrades, a website for patients researching and selecting physicians, announced Wednesday the launch of a new Web-based tool that empowers physicians and practice administrators to take control of their online reputation. The free, secure Web application encourages ongoing physician engagement to verify and modify the information HealthGrades makes public in more than 750,000 online physician profiles. The HealthGrades Physician & Provider Portal is being officially unveiled at this week’s American Medical Group Association (AMGA) annual conference in Washington D.C. “As a physician, I understand the professional challenge doctors face in managing online information,” said Rick May, MD, HealthGrades vice president, accelerated clinical excellence. “But public reporting is here to stay and will likely only increase in scope. It is time physicians leveraged the power of the Web to benefit their patients and their practice. As the most heavily trafficked physician search site, HealthGrades is uniquely positioned to help.” HealthGrades’ enhanced Portal is designed to enable physicians to take control of their online reputation, offering them the opportunity to respond publicly to patient satisfaction ratings, and assisting doctors in actively attracting the most appropriate patients. For example, adding customized and detailed information about medical areas of expertise, and a brief description of practice style helps patients better match with the right physician who meets their specific needs and expectations. Click here to continue reading.
Friday, March 25, 2011
California Connects aims to put 61,000 people online
SACRAMENTO, CA – California Connects, a federally funded program designed to increase broadband access among underserved communities for improved access to resources like healthcare information, celebrated its official launch Wednesday at American River College in Sacramento. Officials said the debut of the program marks the start of a multi-year effort to address California's digital divide and help increase the number of broadband Internet users throughout the state by more than 61,000 people. [See also: Obama gives HIT the nod in State of the Union speech.] California Connects will involve intensive training and outreach to expand Internet usage in communities that still have limited access, with an emphasis on the Central Valley, where there is still a high concentration of residents not using the Internet. The program aims to provide thousands of underserved Californians with online tools and training to enhance their lifelong learning ability, improve their economic and healthcare status and advance their general quality of life. [See also: Studies: Health IT has big impact on rural and minority communities.] California Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla (11th District) joined California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott, Los Rios Community College District Chancellor Brice Harris, and Foundation for California Community Colleges President Paul Lanning to commemorate the launch of the program, made possible by a $10.9 million grant from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Click here to continue reading.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Health IT boosts Indiana's patient care, economy
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana's health IT sector, which includes more than 72 growing technologies, along with health plans, life sciences companies, academic institutions, philanthropic organizations and state government, have bolstered healthcare and the economy of the state, according to a new report. The report, From Dishwashers to Digital Medical Records – Indiana's Leadership in Health Information Technology, from BioCrossroads, Indiana's initiative for investment, development and advancement of the state's signature life sciences strengths, was released Feb. 22 at HIMSS11 in Orlando. The BioCrossroads report lists 72 startups, 2,500 workers, and $202 million in company revenues as three new ways to measure the progress of Indiana's health information technology innovation cluster. It defines, for the first time, the HIT cluster as a specific sector of life sciences economic activity in Indiana, analyzing core assets and documenting a decade-long story of steady growth. Click here to continue reading.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tackling the EMR with planning and preloading
PORTLAND, MAINE – There is about a 50 percent failure rate for electronic medical record implementations, and most of those failures stem from poor planning and preparation, said a family physician who spoke at a regional extension center (REC) forum held for providers in Maine. Scott Patch, MD, practices in Yarmouth, Maine, and is part of a multi-specialty medical group called InterMed P.A., which has been using an EMR for about five years and is considered a “paperless” environment. Patch says when a practice is considering moving to an EMR the whole organization has to “buy-in.” In other words, everyone has to be onboard – even staff at check out. There is a “redistribution of work” said Patch. "There is going to be more and new work. For us it was our check out staff that required more training, The hardest part is maintaining good communication, said Patch. That is why it is important to identify a plan and choose a physician champion. “There is nothing more powerful” than choosing another doctor for this role, as doctors tend to listen to other doctors, he said. Part of an EMR plan is assessing what your practice does and doesn’t do well, said Patch. “The EHR represents a fundamental change to the way the office handles the movement of patients and information,” he added. Click here to continue reading.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
New program rewards top care from NYC docs
Here is a great article some new programs: NEW YORK – The Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3) and the New York City Health Department's Primary Care Information Project have partnered to develop a program to recognize physicians who deliver high-value primary care to adult patients in New York City. The Adult Primary Care Recognition Program will help clinicians identify patients who need chronic care management and preventive services such as cholesterol management and blood pressure control – and encourage the doctors to take an active approach to treatment. Officials say the impact could be substantial, given the estimated 25 percent of New York City residents who suffer from hypertension, with less than half having their blood pressure under adequate control. By keeping people well, a key goal of this new program is to cut preventable hospitalization by 17 percent, reducing overall medical expenses in New York City significantly. "There are substantial avoidable costs associated with the management of chronic conditions," said Laurel Pickering, executive director of the New York Business Group on Health, a coalition of employer purchasers. "By reducing preventable complications incurred by most patients, we could considerably improve the health of employees and at the same time save employers billions of dollars." Click here to read more.
Friday, September 24, 2010
EHR market projected to double by 2012
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – The U.S. ambulatory EHR market, which was at $1.3 billion in 2009, is forecast to reach $2.6 billion in 2012, according to new analysis from research firm Frost & Sullivan. The rate of electronic health record adoption among U.S. physicians expects to increase over the next two to five years due to a combination of changes caused by healthcare reform and financial subsidies from the HITECH program, the report notes. "Today, many public and private stakeholders are committed to harnessing the power of information technology to improve the quality and efficiency of our healthcare system," states Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Nancy Fabozzi. "We are finally seeing providers make the transition from siloed paper charts to interoperable electronic health records." Growing complexities in managing the reimbursement process with both government and commercial payers that reward quality over quantity in the care provided will increase the use of EHRs and related solutions for physicians and other clinicians, Fabozzi says. She predicts HITECH will indirectly stimulate the market by enticing additional stakeholders like commercial payers, professional medical societies, healthcare manufacturers, and various nonprofit organizations to help physicians and other providers successfully adopt information technology in their practices. Revenues are expected to fluctuate considerably over the next five to seven years, resulting in significant year-over-year shifts. This fluctuation happens as the market matures and increased competition comes into play, causing a decrease in pricing, she says. Strategic partnering with a variety of stakeholders is important for survival in this market as consolidation on both the vendor and provider side increases. Innovative, provider-focused, and patient-centric technology companies that understand how to manage this industry's unique combination of risks and rewards will achieve business progression. "Branding and outreach must extend beyond physicians to include non-physician healthcare providers, as well as healthcare consumers," notes Fabozzi. "Both should be directly engaged as advocates for the use of health information technology. Patients need to understand the role EHRs play in driving quality improvements and care coordination among all of their (physician and non-physician) providers."
Monday, March 15, 2010
Cerner News Cheers Investors
"Overall we walked away with a greater level of conviction that Cerner 'gets it,' and will continue to gain marketshare in a rapidly evolving industry," wrote Piper Jaffray research analysts Sean W. Wieland and Mohan A. Naidu, who reiterated their "overweight rating" and $98 price target for the health IT giant.
The pair were encouraged by the growth that could be afforded by ARRA funding – monies disbursed both to Cerner itself and its provider clients – noting that the company "still expects to see a lot of opportunities from the stimulus. Specifically, their base of customers should receive about $8 billion in stimulus funds, and the company expects to see about $2 billion of this."
Cerner expects that "there will be about 2,200 CPOE decisions," the analysts continued, "and about 1,250 of those are greenfield with no existing clinical system. Most of those are critical access hospitals with [fewer than] 100 beds. During the CIO panel, we learned that there is very little chance of the timeline getting pushed out (in contrast to recent reports)."
Moreover, Wieland and Naidu were pleased that Cerner execs offered "a glimpse of growth opportunities beyond the stimulus, and numerous opportunities that could drive upside to numbers." Management expressed intent to "grow operating margin by at least 100 basis points per year on double digit revenue growth," they wrote. "We interpret that as a worst case scenario, not guidance."
Finally, the analysts expressed optimism about the company's plans for global growth, writing that president Trace Devanny's recent relocation to London "tells us that Cerner's commitment to international expansion is real," and noting Devanny's indication that the company feels "global opportunity eclipses domestic opportunity."
Specifically, the pair mentioned some Cerner projects in France due to be completed later this year, "which we believe will be a catalyst for international revenue growth in 2010. In our view, if the company can get international revenue to return to 2008 levels, it would likely drive upside to numbers."
Cerner (CERN) stock closed at $85.15 on Thursday, up from $41.48 on the same date last year.
Find out how Profero can help with your Cerner implementation here.
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Cerner At Profero Solutions
Profero Solutions consulting services group provides experienced consultants to support your Cerner EMR implementation. From system selection to system optimization our Cerner consulting team can augment your staff in these critical areas: The Go-Live stage of an EMR implementation is critical to the success of the project. In addition to consulting, Profero Solutions has the ability to provide local licensed clinical staff professionals to augment your existing staff in the following areas:
