JANUARY 18, 2008

Boom in Health IT spending on horizon
Annual spending on health care information technology will rise from $6.9 billion in 2007 to $10.8 billion by 2012, according to a new report by Reston, VA-based government research firm Input. The reason? High demand for modernized Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS), which is expected to generate $3.9 billion in investments at the state and local levels. This market growth will, in turn, create interest in health IT-related concepts and technologies, according to Chris Dixon, Input's manager of state and local industry analysis. "The next few years will see vendors and governments begin to look beyond the usual short-term, reactionary approaches to cost containment," Dixon said.
For details, visit http://www.input.com/corp...

E-prescriptions are the ticket in 2008
Promotion of e-prescriptions and other pharmacy benefit management tools are top priority for the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) in 2008, the association announced. PCMA, which represents America's pharmacy benefit managers, said it will continue its campaign to ensure full adoption of e-prescribing in Medicare. The association also supports the bipartisan "Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection Act of 2007," introduced in December by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and John Ensign (R-NV). PCMA believes e-prescriptions are good for the industry because they support health plan formularies that advocate use of generic drugs, which are less-expensive for health plan providers and more of a money-maker for pharmacies.
For details, visit http://www.pcmanet.org/newsroom...

German doctors give thumbs-down to EPRs
Germany's national association of doctors in private practice is calling for abandonment of all concepts of central data storage in the country's national health information technology project. The organization NAV Virchow Bund is taking the anti-storage stance in response to reports of data loss in the British healthcare system. The group is now asking the German Ministry of Health to halt all plans for centrally stored electronic patient records "due to the risks to patient confidentiality." NAV Virchow represents nearly 20,000 doctors in private practice. "We are not against using modern technology, but what we witness again and again is that it is not a good idea to store information on thousands of patients in one place," NAV Virchow director Klaus Bittmann said.
For details, visit http://72.14.203.104/translate... and http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/...

Maine medicine takes the 'HIE' road
Maine healthcare leaders are building a statewide health information exchange starting Feb. 1. The $4 million exchange, the nation's first such statewide network, is designed to improve Maine's quality of care, reduce medical errors and save patients. It also helps to save health care providers, and government programs in Maine up to $50 million annually, according to exchange developer HealthInfoNet. Maine's four largest health systems - Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, MaineGeneral Medical Centers, Central Maine Health Care and MaineHealth - along with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, will participate in the program. Fifteen rural and urban hospitals have also signed on to the exchange.
For details, visit http://www.mainegeneral.org/...

Vegas doctor turns to video power
Las Vegas physician Loring Jacobs, M.D., found a technological way to cope with a heavy patient load waiting for test results: he uses video e-mails. Instead of letting his patients wait days or weeks for simple test results or answers to questions, Jacobs, who gets about 30,000 patients a year at his internal medicine office, uses his laptop and a video e-mailing system from VM Direct to fire off confidential info in mere minutes. Patients with the technology can respond with video e-mails of their own; some actually have a live discussion with him. Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association, said Nevada physicians are increasingly sending e-mails to their patients, but the use of video e-mails in medicine is new to him.
For details, visit http://www.lvrj.com/news/...

VA gets an 'A' with Health IT
Health information technology has played a major role in improving operations at the Department of Veterans of Affairs, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The interim study praised the VA's system-wide use of health IT: VA has an electronic health record for every patient, which provides updated information at the point of care, including medical histories and medications. CBO also noted that the VA's system makes it easier to provide incentives to physicians and providers who meet quality care and practice guideline targets. CBO's final report is expected within the next few months and will review how other health care systems can apply similar health IT-related approaches.
For details, visit http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/...

HHS wants NIHN in its future
The Department of Health and Human Services will make development of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) its top priority during 2008, the agency announced. According to HHS Secretary Mike Leavittt, the NHIN will provide a "secure, nationwide, interoperable health information infrastructure that will connect providers, consumers, and others involved in supporting health and healthcare." Nine health information exchanges - CarePark, Delaware HIE, Indiana University, Long Beach Network for Health, Lovelace Clinic Foundation, MedVirginia, New York eHealth Collaborative, North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance, and West Virginia HIE - will begin trial implementation of the NHIN in September 2008.
For details, visit http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/...

Dubai targets diabetes with EHRs
The Emirate of Dubai, the second-largest province in the Arabian Peninsula, will soon have its own electronic health record system, according to the Dubai Health Authority. The system should provide "numerous advantages to both patients and healthcare providers, including easier access to records for medical staff around the emirate," according to DHA. Diabetics will benefit most here, as the United Arab Emirates suffers the world's second-highest rate of diabetes. The formal announcement comes several months after the DHA and the Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians group signed a memorandum of understanding saying they would build the system within the next two years.
For details, visit http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/...

Virgin Group gets healthy
The Virgin Group - known for telemedicine-supplied airlines and music services - are going into healthcare, according to new Virgin Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Mark Adams. The company will open its first healthcare center in London later this year, and plans to open five more centers in England by the end of 2009. The move may sound odd, considering that Britain's government-subsidized health care is free to all residents. But Adams insists there's a method here. The centers will work in collaboration with general practitioners, offering a range of extras - telemedicine, dentistry, diagnostics, screening, pharmacy and complementary medicine - that are not easily acquired through Britain's government system, he noted.
For details, visit http://www.virginhealthcare.net/...

It's Records 'R' Us in Nova Scotia
An online clinic scheduled to launch this week lets patients in Nova Scotia track their health records and ask health-related questions. For about $10 per month in Canadian money, Connecting People for Health Co-operative (cphci.ca) will let users enter health data and update profiles and other results from family physicians. The online service's main target is patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma and hyperthyroidism, according to project developer John Ginn. Ginn said the service is designed to complement, not replace, a person's relationship with a family doctor or the ER.
For details, visit http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/...

Hawaii doctors' shift to EHRs in low gear
The Hawaii Medical Service Association's effort to get more doctors to use electronic medical records has been a modest success at best, according to the association. Since its launch in October 2006, approximately 150 doctors have signed up for HMSA's HI-IQ program, which is intended to promote innovation and quality in health care, HMSA Senior Vice President Georgianna Fujita said. HMSA set aside $50 million for the program's first three years, subsidizing part of the costs for physicians to implement EMRs. To date, HMSA has paid out a total of $3 million, or about $20,000 per physician practice.
For details, visit http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/...

Elsevier buys piece of Eclipsys for $25 million
In a $25 million deal, Atlanta, GA-based clinical management software specialist Eclipsys has sold its Clinical Practice Model Resource Center business to Netherlands-based Elsevier, the companies reported. CPM Resource Center provides "evidence-based clinical content and professional services designed to help transform healthcare," according to the companies. Eclipsys officials say they sold the center as part of its strategy to expand and enhance content integration among other products.
For details, visit http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/...