From: www.healthcarefinancenews.com
By: Michelle McNickle
Telehealth services offer substantial opportunities for healthcare cost savings, as well as a proven effectiveness with improving patient care, particularly in rural areas. However, to get the most bang for the buck, there is still much work that needs to be done.
“With the widespread adoption of EMRs, digital health records provide physicians/clinicians with the remote monitoring capabilities to communicate with their patients,” said Fred Pennic, founder of HIT Consultant and senior advisor at Aspen Advisors.
This remote access to care saves time and money by allowing physicians to work with more patients and by cutting out travel expenses for people in rural areas — many of whom find travel to be a financial and physical hardship.
Pennic believes there are some key endeavors that need to take place for the full positive effects of telehealth medicine to be felt. He offers this food for thought:
1. Establish an incentive-based program. According to Pennic, sustainable funding is vital to the successful, widespread adoption of telehealth. “Creating more incentive-based programs or grants will provide agencies and other organizations with the funding necessary to overcome the start-up costs associated with implementing such initiatives,” he said. Recent research has proven the potential cost savings of such initiatives can be substantial, making the case for incentive-based programs to get telehealth initiatives up and running that much stronger. For example, after evaluating a telehealth program, researchers at Stanford University, found spending reductions of approximately 7.7 percent to 13.3 percent, or $312 to $542 per person per quarter.
2. Develop the infrastructure. “Having adequate infrastructures [in place] to support these initiatives are imperative,” said Pennic. Infrastructure is the “heart of telehealth,” he said, and includes investing in equipment such as fiber optics, broadband/wireless coverage, video, computer, voice and imaging.
3. Improve telehealth reimbursements. As it stands legislatively, said Pennic, there’s no universal reimbursement policy among public and private sectors governing the reimbursement of telehealth services — something he believes is imperative to its widespread adoption and success. “Current payment for telemedicine services, such as offsite reading of medical images, includes Medicaid, Medicare, employers and private insurers,” he said. “However, payment is limited for interactive consultations and chronic-care patients.”
4. Foster user acceptance and confidence in telehealth. “Perhaps the greatest challenge in telehealth is increasing the user acceptance of technology, for both clinicians and patients who aren’t tech savvy,” said Pennic. Ideally, he said, successful telehealth programs must be able to easily integrate the telehealth process into healthcare and patient environments seamlessly. And although we know the federal Medicare program for seniors and disabled Americans doesn’t currently reimburse for telehealth and home monitoring services, a recent article is saying that could quickly change due to the upswing and acceptance of telehealth programs In fact, according to Dr. Joseph Kvedar, director of the Center for Connected Health at Partners Healthcare in Boston, the future is “quite bright” for payment and reimbursement programs. Statics have proven telehealth’s effectiveness, the article states, with confidence in its ability to reduce readmission rates growing.
5. Allocate resources and time. In addition to meeting technology requirements, said Pennic, successful telehealth programs must have the proper allocated resources and time necessary to ensure its widespread adoption. “People and processes are the key components to effective telehealth utilization,” he said. Agreeing with Pennic is Laurence C. Baker, PhD, a professor of health research and policy at Stanford. After studying a Healthy Buddy telehealth program, which was used by Medicare patients in the Northwest, he found two main aspects played most into its success: the first being the “tight” integration of information and care management, and the second was the device itself, which was patient-friendly and easy to use.
From: www.EWeek.com
By: Brian T. Horowitz
In his CES keynote, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs announced a $10 million X Prize for a team that can design a health device modeled after the "Tricorder" gadget from "Star Trek."
At the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Qualcomm and the nonprofit X Prize Foundation announced the Tricorder X Prize contest to award $10 million to a team that can develop a handheld device to diagnose a patient's health.
The Qualcomm Foundation, the chip maker's philanthropic arm established in 2010, is working with X Prize on the competition. The X Prize Foundation is a nonprofit organization that runs competitions to stimulate research and development.
Qualcomm and X Prize have modeled the contest after the "Tricorder" scanning device, familiar to fans of the "Star Trek" television series and movies. Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy and Spock, the Vulcan science officer, frequently used the Tricorder on the show, Qualcomm CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs noted in his keynote.
The "Star Trek" stories introduced different types of Tricorders, including models for medical scanning, and others for scanning alien environments for life forms or a variety of geological or atmospheric data.
"Health care today certainly falls far short of the vision portrayed in 'Star Trek,'" said Jacobs. "This competition will accelerate the development of tools that can empower consumers to take charge of their own bodies and manage their own care."
X Prize has conducted similar contests in education, global development, aerospace, energy and environment. It awarded $30 million for the Google Lunar X Prize in education and $10 million for the Archon Genomics X contest for genomic sequencing sponsored by drug benefit manager Medco Health Solutions.
Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation, announced the Tricorder competition with Jacobs during the Qualcomm leader's CES keynote Jan. 10.
In his keynote, Jacobs also mentioned Qualcomm's new 2net cloud platform, which will deliver medical data from patients to caregivers. He also highlighted the company's Snapdragon chips for Android and Windows 8.
Teams developing devices in the competition will incorporate data from wireless sensors, imaging technologies and artificial intelligence into an "easy-to-use" handheld device, said Diamandis.
The Tricorder can be brought to life if all of these technologies are "seamlessly" integrated into a device that's easy for consumers to use, he said.
"We are looking to drive an extraordinary set of breakthroughs in health care," Diamandis said during Jacobs' keynote.
The winning team will need to develop a mobile platform that accurately diagnoses 15 diseases across 30 consumers in three days without a physician. The platform must also be able to capture vital data, such as blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature.
By sponsoring the competition, Qualcomm aims to motivate entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists and doctors to create wireless health services and technologies that increase access to health care and make the health care system more efficient, said Jacobs.
"We're really working hard to develop new wireless tools, devices, sensors and services that are helping people interact with their health care providers and manage their own wellness," the Qualcomm CEO said. "This is making health care more accessible and more affordable."
In his keynote, Jacobs also introduced Dr. Eric Topol, chief academic officer for Scripps Health, who demonstrated medical monitoring technologies for smartphones. Scripps Health is a nonprofit health system in San Diego.
Topol showed apps that displayed cardiogram waves and blood glucose readings on his Sony Ericsson Xperia smartphone. With personalized medicine a trend to watch in 2012, Topol also demonstrated a sensor that can take a saliva sample that uses DNA sequencing to tell whether medication might work for an individual patient or not, or whether side effects might occur.
X Prize's Diamandis took inspiration from Topol's demonstration.
"Our goal is to take the technology you saw Dr. Eric Topol demonstrate here light-years forward and really to bring the Tricorder technology of 'Star Trek' to life," said Diamandis.
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From: www.star-telegram.com
By: Scott Nishimura
Mary Mentesana sees the stats: Texas continues to generate jobs, far more than any other state.
But she hasn't gotten an offer.
She figures she has applied for 75 jobs since losing her post as an office administrator for a major investment firm in March. She's focusing now on jobs for assistants that pay half the $50,000 she was making. Her unemployment benefits run out in 13 weeks, and she says she has no savings after caring for her parents for 10 years.
"I get up, I look on the Internet, I go to indeed.com, I network through my friends, I volunteer at Bass Hall, I volunteer at church," said Mentesana, 49, who lives in an apartment in Keller. "I'm just keeping busy doing the things I know to do."
Mentesana, who spent two days before Christmas trolling for leads at Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, knows she isn't alone.
For her and other job-seekers, 2012 may be just as tough. Texas added 226,000 jobs in 2011 through November, up 2.2 percent. But it has also added residents, increasing competition in the job market and leaving the state's unemployment rate at a relatively high 8.1 percent in November.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is forecasting slower job growth next year, of 1.5 to 2 percent, citing reduced government hiring and a projected slowdown in exports because of financial problems in Europe.
"If we grow at this year's pace, that would be a good outcome," said Pia Orrenius, a Dallas Fed senior economist.
Where the jobs are
But even in this uncertain economy, pockets of the job market remain vibrant. Economists and other experts point to several sectors that are projected to generate jobs over the next several years.
Financial services, healthcare, information technology, management, teaching and energy are high on the Texas Workforce Commission's list of growth sectors for Tarrant County through 2018.
"There's a lot of entry-level jobs, as well as higher-paying, more professional and technical jobs," said Jann Miles, strategic planning unit director at Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. "We have a pretty balanced economy."
Engineers -- aerospace, petroleum and software among them -- continue to be in demand.
Information technology is "strong again," Miles said. "People who can develop apps are being hired straight out of college."
Healthcare, driven by an aging populace, will continue to spin off jobs ranging from medical assistants to doctors, Miles said.
Maturing Barnett Shale production has meant more administrative and managerial jobs related to the oil and gas industry, Miles said.
Teachers will be in demand, given Texas' population growth, she said.
"It just makes sense when you consider how many people are moving here," Miles said. "The problem is the economics haven't been worked out."
Financial advisers, the fastest-growing U.S. job category, will continue to be in high demand, the commission projects.
"The financial sector has a certain amount of volatility to it, but everybody is trying to figure out what to do with their money," Miles said.
With the region a major hub, logistics spawns warehouse, truck-driving and other jobs. The retail and food service sectors are generating entry-level jobs, Miles said.
Manufacturing's long-term outlook is boosted by foreign trade, the auto sector, expansion at the Port of Houston, the energy sector and highway construction, said Nathaniel Karp, chief economist for BBVA Compass, which has branches in Texas and elsewhere in the South.
Karp expects Texas to continue generating 15,000 to 20,000 jobs per month, a little less than in 2011 and well below pre-recession peaks of 27,000 in 2006 and 2007.
"If we keep that pace, that's pretty solid," he said.
He cites Texas' numerous built-in strengths to keep it ahead of the U.S. overall.
"We have a very solid base on the export side; our major trading partners are doing relatively well," he said. "It's one of the few states in the nation where employment in the manufacturing sector is growing. Texas continues to attract people from other states."
One example: General Electric will add more than 600 jobs in far north Fort Worth next year when it opens factories to build locomotives and mining equipment.
The state's hospitality industry continues to grow, he said, and professional and business services are doing well. Construction "is obviously suffering, but I think the worst is over," he said.
Outlook improving
And the outlook has brightened for new college grads.
Employers continue to increase their hiring projections, the National Association of Colleges and Employers found in an annual fall survey.
Responding employers said they expect to hire 9.5 percent more new grads in 2011-12, and more than half plan to raise their number of hires.
Among employers that plan to boost hiring, more than half indicated that their companies have more business or are growing.
Oil and gas extraction firms topped the survey, with employers expecting 19.4 percent more hiring.
Utilities, construction, chemical manufacturing, and computer and electronics manufacturing rounded out the top five.
NACE follows up with a spring survey that generally reflects actual hiring.
"Nine percent is OK right now, but a more robust economy would push it up to 12 to 15 percent," said Ed Koc, the association's research director.
Area job-networking groups continue to encourage members -- especially older ones -- to broaden their skills.
A big bright spot at the Southlake Focus Group, Tarrant County's most prominent group, came this fall when a recruiter for Carlisle & Gallagher, a firm doing loan paperwork reviews for banks, announced at a meeting that it was hiring 250 contract analysts in Dallas.
The company hired at least 20 Southlake members.
About a quarter of the Southlake group's landings this year were for contract or temporary work.
"As a futurist, I believe in the prediction that in 10 years, half of all American workers will be independent," said Doug Anderson, a member of the Southlake group's leadership team and a consultant who recently launched a firm called the Solopreneur Center.
Scott Nishimura, 817-390-7808
From: www.MedCityNews.com
By: Shahid Shah
As most of my regular readers know, I work as a technology strategy advisor for several different government agencies; in that role I get to spend quality time with folks from NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology), what I consider one of the government’s most prominent think tanks. They’re doing yeoman’s work trying to get the massive federal government’s different agencies working in common directions and the technology folks I’ve met seem cognizant of the influence (good and bad) they have; they seem to try to wield that power as carefully as they know how. Since most of you are in the technology industry, albeit specific to healthcare, I recommend that you learn more about NIST and the role it plays ’ they can make your life easier because of the coordination and consensus building work they do for us all. I, for one, was thrilled when NIST was picked as the governing body for the MU certification criteria. These guys know what they’re doing and I wish they got more involved in driving healthcare standards.
A few years ago NIST came up with the first drafts of the seminal definitions of Cloud Computing; they ended up setting the stage for communicating complex technical concepts and helping making ’Cloud’ a household name. After 15 drafts, the 16th and final definition was published as The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing (NIST Special Publication 800-145) in September. It’s worth reading because it’s only a few pages and is understandable by the layperson. No computer science degree is required.
Yesterday I was speaking to a senior executive in the EHR space and we had a great discussion on what healthcare providers are doing in terms of cloud computing and how to communicate these ideas to small practices as well as hospitals. It reminded me of the numerous similar conversations I’ve had with other senior executives we serve in the medical devices and other regulated IT sectors. In almost every conversation I can remember about this topic over the past couple of years, I had to remind people that NIST has already done the hard work and that we can, indeed, rely on them. Most of the time the senior executive was unaware of where the definitions came from so I figured I’d put together this quick advisory.
My strong recommendation to all senior healthcare executives is that we not come up with our own definitions for cloud components ’ instead, when communicating anything about the cloud we should instruct our customers about NIST’s definition and then tie our product offerings to those definitions. The essential characteristics, deployment models, and service models have already been established and we should use them. When we do that, customers know that we’re not trying to confuse them and that they have an independent way of verifying our cloud offerings as real or vapor.
Below I have copied/pasted from NIST 800-145 their key definitions. Imagine how many debates you would avert with technicians at clients when, during conversations with a client, you communicated some of the following information first, showed them how it was a ’standard definition’ and handed them a copy of the publication, and then mapped your offerings and discussions to the different areas. Your sales teams and the marketing teams would appreciate the clarity, too.
Note that you do not need to map every offering you have to every definition ’ just start mapping the obvious ones and then figure out how you can communicate the ’gaps’ as being not applicable to your products / services or if those gaps will be filled in the future as part of your roadmap. Treat these definitions as canonical but not inclusive ’ meaning that just because your SaaS offering doesn’t fit every essential characteristic doesn’t mean that you’re not ’cloud’ ’ it just means partially cloud.
If you’ve got questions about how to map your product offerings, drop me some comments and I’ll assist as best as I can.
Here are the key definitions from NIST 800-145, copied directly from the original source:
Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.
Essential Characteristics:
On-demand self-service. A consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider.
Broad network access. Capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and workstations).
Resource pooling. The provider’s computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand. There is a sense of location independence in that the customer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter). Examples of resources include storage, processing, memory, and network bandwidth.
Rapid elasticity. Capabilities can be elastically provisioned and released, in some cases automatically, to scale rapidly outward and inward commensurate with demand. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be appropriated in any quantity at any time.
Measured service. Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability1 at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service.
Service Models:
Software as a Service (SaaS). The capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider’s applications running on a cloud infrastructure2. The applications are accessible from various client devices through either a thin client interface, such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email), or a program interface. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings.
Platform as a Service (PaaS). The capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages, libraries, services, and tools supported by the provider.3 The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly configuration settings for the application-hosting environment.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications; and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).
Deployment Models:
Private cloud. The cloud infrastructure is provisioned for exclusive use by a single organization comprising multiple consumers (e.g., business units). It may be owned, managed, and operated by the organization, a third party, or some combination of them, and it may exist on or off premises.
Community cloud. The cloud infrastructure is provisioned for exclusive use by a specific community of consumers from organizations that have shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be owned, managed, and operated by one or more of the organizations in the community, a third party, or some combination of them, and it may exist on or off premises.
Public cloud. The cloud infrastructure is provisioned for open use by the general public. It may be owned, managed, and operated by a business, academic, or government organization, or some combination of them. It exists on the premises of the cloud provider.
Hybrid cloud. The cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more distinct cloud infrastructures (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities, but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load balancing between clouds).
From: www.hubpages.com
By: Patty Inglish, MS
Dallas, Texas is the 9th largest city in the United States of America. Together, with Fortworth, Texas (the 18th largest city) to the west, Dallas forms The Metroplex or the Dallas-Fortworth Metroplex. Each city offers its own substantial numbers of high-growth occupations to job seekers.
The Top 10 Fastest-Growing Occupations in Dallas, Texas are reported by the state government to be in the following list, specifically in the dedicated Dallas Workforce Development Area.
- Home Health Aides
- Petroleum Engineers
- Network Systems & Data Communications Analysts
- Financial Examiners
- Special Education Teachers K-12 AND Mainstream K-12 School Teachers, including Vocational
- Physician Assistants
- Compliance Officers
- Dental Hygienists & Assistants and Medical Assistants
- Veterinary Technologists & Technicians
- Physical Therapists
♦
The largest growth industries for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro include:
Retail, Business Services, Medical and Health, Government Contracting, Banking, Defense, and Technologies.
Dallas Job Listings Increased 27% in 18 Months
Source: Permission with Attribution: Data provided by SImplyHired.com, a search engine for jobs.
SNAPSHOT: 119,700+ Jobs Listed for Dallas in December 2011
Most-needed workers ion the Dallas Metro Area include:
- Physical Therapists, Assistants and Aides
- Occupational Therapists
- Project Managers
- Event Specialists
- Sales Representatives
- Java Developers and other Engineers: Manufacturing, QA, Systems, Electrical
- Truck Drivers
- Physicians
- Business Analysts
- Registered Nurses (RNs) - includes more highly paid Travel Nurses
TOP HIRING COMPANIES
- Locumtenens.com - Medical and Healthcare
- Schneider National - Transportation/Trucking
- Lockheed Martin - IT, Defense, Aerospace Advancement
- Corpus Christi Medical Center
- CJW Medical Center
- HCA - Healthcare
- Texas Health Resources
- Hewlett Packard
- Rph On the Go - Pharmacists and Technicians
- IBM - IT
Suburban Jobs
- Top 15 Hot Jobs In North Dallas Suburbs
A round trip through the upscale Dallas suburbs north of the large city, including Frisco, McKinney, and Allen, covers only 29 miles. As a group, these three suburbs are approximately 40 miles from Dallas. Carrollton TX, another fast-growing...
- Top 15 High Demand Jobs in America's Richest Town: W...
Throughout 2009 and 2010, the State of Texas contained the largest number of fast-growing cities in the nation. It also experienced the largest emigration of workers and families in from other parts of the USA. Texas as a state was much less...
By: Jonena Relth
From: HealthCareTalentTransformation
Cari McLean from HIMSS posted a question on LinkedIn asking: "What are your greatest takeaways from HIMSS11?" While the answers were varied, of course, it was fairly easy to pick up on which trends are floating to the top for the next couple of years.
Most people I talk to would most likely agree with the priorities chosen by the respondents which are dwindled down to the short list below. This is an exciting time in our country's history. We're in the midst of undertaking the biggest changes to healthcare that our citizens have ever seen. And while it's taking a coordinated effort by both medical and non-medical professionals to make this a reality, I am certain that we are up to the task!
While all of the tasks need to be accomplished/mastered, I've listed them in "my" order of importance from an Organizational Development/Training perspective.
1. "Interoperability and the problems stemming from the lack thereof will have to be addressed for overall success."
My take: I've been pounding this drum until my colleagues finish my sentences for me. This is crucial folks. What good are systems that don't communicate with each other? What good are systems that are not accessible? Interoperability is going to be key to long-term success of EMR/EHR. As human beings, we learn best and become proficient quicker when things work together. Having to work in an environment where systems don't work together is counter-productive and frustrating.
2. "Meaningful use - the rush to and the resulting effects of pushing the process is negatively impacting many smaller players which may ultimately change the playing field."
My take: It's a good thing the dates have been pushed, and I think that we're going to need additional time to get this right. It's not just about what needs to be done. Determining best practice processes is going to be vital to MU success. Our heads are already full of all the new things we're learning to do our jobs. Let's get best practices down so we don't have to frustrate people with changing rules and regulations.
3."ACOs' delivery model(s) will be instrumental in driving health IT."
My take: I Googled ACO Delivery Models. Oh my gosh...the entries are too many to even count. One thing we do know is that ACOs are supposed to be a new model for delivering healthcare services at reduced costs. To get buy-in from our medical staff, we need to know what we should be teaching teaching them and not be changing the rules as we go. And of course, unless ACOs can actually save money (yet to be demonstrated), the future of ACOs is likely to be short-lived.
4. "Training and learning assessment will be a key component to ensuring user acceptance and adoption."
My take: Yep, this is a no-brainer. What's missing in much of the planning process; however, it is the importance to involve HRD professionals from the beginning of each implementation. It should be the responsibility of the learning professionals to give guidance into the workflows of the systems, etc., so we can ensure our people can learn what they need to do to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively with the added component of EMR/EHR. We need to train and assess our people on only what they need to know, which takes planning and designing training based on user groups.
5. "Business growth and acquisitions are going to continue shaping the landscape."
My take: With any "new" major shift in any industry, we see this take place. We now have several hundred EMRs and a few "big boys" rising to the top of the pack. The same is happening with hospital systems as we continue to consolidate to achieve economies of scale and improved ROI with health delivery.
6. "The impact of social media in healthcare & health IT will be a key factor in the shift to participatory medicine."
My take: Social media is here and hospitals and providers are joining at a record pace. We need to continually be asking the question, "Do we know where our customers are and what they want to hear from us?" If our answer is "no," believe me, our competition does! If we don't communicating with our patients, investors, etc., in the way they want to receive it, they will go elsewhere to get what they need. It's a simple fact of today's world.
7. "Leveraging mobile technologies - mHealth apps and devices will be crucial to getting information/ data out in a timely manner."
My take: Physicians and hospitals are buying smart phones by the thousands. It used to only be the "cool" docs that had smart phones. Now it's the norm seeing physicians working on their mobile devices, using them to communicate with their peers, researching the Internet/Intranet and EMR/EHR systems. mHealth is here to stay. What we don't know is what the tools will look like a year from now!
From: www.ERMDaileyNews.com
By: Steve Campbell
Information Technology workers looking for an exciting challenge as healthcare IT professionals, can finally benefit from a new opportunity to train online, while earning an industry-recognized national certification. The Healthcare Information Technology Professional (HITP) course provides the fundamental knowledge and skills required by technical professionals to support a medical practice, clinic or facility in its adoption of Health IT and beyond.
Alameda Services, a New York based organization specializing in Healthcare courseware development introduced the new course to enable IT professionals to leverage their knowledge of information and computer science, while learning the core concepts of the US healthcare system, medical information systems and business intelligence and analytics.
“Our team of industry healthcare and information technology experts has designed this course specifically to offer new employment opportunities to IT workers and those who have a basic working knowledge of office technology,” says Lena Feygin, Dip LC, executive vice president and director of business development for Alameda Services. “We provide the crucial tools and training materials to facilitate the learning process, foster new skill development and ensure career success in the healthcare industry.”
The HITP course is based on core concepts including IT, healthcare practice, electronic health records / electronic medical records (EHR/EMR) and business intelligence and analytics. Students will learn about: healthcare technologies, patient data management, and the culture of the healthcare industry today.
The online learning system comprises in-depth activities to reflect the way that one area of Health IT knowledge blends into another, including:
· US Healthcare System
· Medical Law
· Terminology & effective communication in healthcare and public health settings
· Electronic health record implementation and management
· Healthcare compliance
· Concepts of quality improvement including patient safety
· Healthcare data management and organization
· Principles of business intelligence (BI) and business analytics
· BI applications in Healthcare
The HITP course is approved by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA) to take its exam for national certification as a Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist (CEHRS), a certification often required by healthcare employers. Upon successful completion of the program, students will receive a certificate of completion from Alameda Services and they will be prepared to the NHA exam to earn the industry-recognized national certification.
The best candidates for HITP training are professionals who have experience in the following areas: Help Desk/Desktop support; Network Administration (A+, Network+, MCP); Quality Assurance; or Business Analysis.
“Unlike similar courses which can be very time-consuming and costly, we have designed this program to be completed at the student’s own pace, typically 5-6 weeks. The regular price is $395, nearly one-third of similar offerings. During the month of December we are running a 20% off promotion offering the program for only $316” says Feygin.
From: www.EMRDailyNews.com
By: Steve Campbell
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have announced that the number of physicians and hospitals to have registered for the Medicare or Medicaid electronic health record incentive program has increased to over 150,000 through the end of November.
According to a report at GovHealthIT.com the breakdown through the end of November is 115,093 physicians and hospitals that have signed up for the Medicare program and 39,503 that have signed up for the Medicaid program. 2,634 hospitals are eligible for both programs bring the total registrants to 154,596. That total number is up from around 114,000 at the end of September.
Total incentive funds paid out through November 30th now exceed $1.8 billion with nearly $1 billion of that having been paid over the past two months. At this rate the total payments for the incentive payments for the year may exceed $2.5 billion.
The breakdown of the $1.8 billion paid out so far is as follows:
* Payments under the Medicare Program $920 million
* Payments under the Medicaid Program $916 million
The CMS reports these numbers a few days after the close of each month.
From: www.CIO.com
By: John Ribeiro
IDG News Service — Microsoft and General Electric's healthcare IT business are setting up a 50:50 joint venture to develop and market an open, interoperable technology platform and clinical applications for enabling better population health management, the companies said Thursday.
The new company, to be headquartered near Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington, will develop an open platform that will give healthcare providers and independent software vendors (ISVs) the ability to develop a new generation of clinical applications. It will also develop healthcare applications on the platform using in-house developers, that will connect to a wide range of healthcare IT products from various vendors, the companies said.
The joint venture, which will operate globally, is expected to launch in the first half of next year after meeting customary conditions, including regulatory approvals, the companies said.
It is expected to employ more than 700 staff at the start, with a majority of employees currently working in Microsoft Health Solutions Group and the Healthcare Knowledge & Connectivity Solutions group at GE Healthcare IT transferring to the joint venture subject to the transaction closing, said Sebastien Duchamp, a spokesman for GE Healthcare.
The companies did not however disclose the investment by GE Healthcare and Microsoft in the joint venture which is yet to be named. It will have a presence in Salt Lake City, Utah and additional cities around the world.
Microsoft will contribute intellectual property including Amalga, an enterprise health intelligence platform; expreSSO, an enterprise single sign-on technology, and Vergence, a single sign-on and context management product.
GE Healthcare will contribute its eHealth health information exchange and Qualibria, described as a clinical knowledge application environment, that is being developed in cooperation with Intermountain Healthcare and Mayo Clinic.
The joint venture aims in the long term to offer a healthcare performance management suite that includes many of these products.
After the venture is set up, both Microsoft and GE will continue to sell other products and services to healthcare organizations around the globe.
Microsoft HealthVault, a service for people to organize, store and share health information online, will remain at Microsoft as a cloud-based service, Nate McLemore, general manager of Microsoft Health Solutions Group said in a blog post. The new company will join other ISVs in building applications that connect to, and leverage HealthVault, he added.
From: www.HealthCareITNews.com
by: Michelle McNickle, Web Content Producer
Discussions surrounding EHRs and their adoption (or lack thereof) have grown into heated debates concerning their usability and effectiveness. And the most vocal folks, whose opinions could very well change the way EMRs work, are none other than the end users themselves: the clinicians.
That’s why we looked to David Hager, MD, to debunk some of the myths and explain some of the gripes he and his colleagues have with EHR systems.
“I’m a life-time geek who played Star Trek on a teletype machine and learned to code in C from Kernighan and Ritchie’s first edition book,” Hager said. “I’ve built multiple websites from the ground up, handcoding much of the javascript or PHP content. I’m identified among my peers as the computer guy who carries the flag of discontent with awkwardly cobbled products over which we had no choice, and which slows us down by virtue of poor designs, and poor network infrastructure planning centrally.”
With that said, Hager gives us five points of view from an EHR end user:
1. Just how bad is it? “The nature of our problems propelled a line of thinking that I hope might be useful outside of our own paralyzed system,” said Hager. To him, daily experiences with “clunky interfaces, awkward data entry, mind numbing popups, excessive mouse clicks, nonsensical forced choice radio buttons, slow response times, loculation of information, lack of integration or analysis, and identical looking notes,” is unbearable. “None of this would have inspired me to buy an EHR with my own money,” Hager added. So instead, he developed workarounds with word processor macros, spreadsheets, and .PDF software to do what the EHR can’t and won’t.
[See also: EHR adoption still a top concern for physician practices.]
2. Alternative systems are hard to implement. Hager said his colleagues harbor the same feelings of discontent toward the EHR they’re using. So naturally, Hager began to wonder: Why can’t they find a new EHR? “Cost,” he said. “Yes, there’s the prodigious cost of a new product, but then there’s the problem of migrating existing patient data to the new product. Vendor lock.” If a practice makes a significant capital investment on a go-forward basis in an EHR system, said Hager, but it realizes the decision was a mistake, there’s little they can do about it. “Now their patient records are locked in a bad product, unless the practice is in the enviable financial position of being able to change products,” he said. “It will either muddle unhappily along with the bad product, or dump the records back to paper. The cost of a new EHR plus the cost of data migration equals prohibitive cost.”
3. Physicians are open to new technologies. Believe it or not, Hager said physicians are indeed eager adopters of technology that helps them work faster, more effectively, or more profitably. “Since EHRs weren't meeting those standards, and we weren't buying them, especially at the going total cost of ownership, the government decided the problem was not with the EHR products, but with the doctors,” he said. “And so, [it] enacted a program to carrot/stick us into using them.” Hager pointed out similar programs weren’t necessary for the adoption of CT scanners, PET scans, robotic surgery devices, ambulatory EEGs, gene sequencing, and even smartphones. “So why create a program to force adoption of EHRs?” he questioned. “Because we didn’t like them. They weren’t market ready.”
[See also: EHR alliance to help physicians adopt IT.]
4. Try giving physicians what they actually want. In reality, said Hager, if EHRs offered clinicians what they wanted and needed, they’d be flying off the shelves. “Steve Jobs understood that,” he said. “Provide a product that inspires and moves a customer beyond the mechanics of software and hardware.” Hager looked to a colleague to describe the EHR they’re using. “Our EHR, ‘lacks the level of sophistication and integration necessary to capture my imagination and fuel a desire in my mind to think of ways I can use it to help make my job easier and enrich the lives of my patients.’” In his own experience, Hager added his EHR has failed to work for him. “I work for it,” he said. “I’m a data entry tool that serves the product. It does little for me in return that a paper record can do better and more reliably. It’s recognized within our medical staff that our EHR is not a tool for clinicians – it’s a tool for administrators."
5. Flexibility is key. Despite his gripes concerning EHRs, Hager believes there is a solution that could work and even make EHRs something physicians “actually crave.” “If clinicians can change EHR products at will, with little or no data migration cost, they are likely to try multiple products until they find what they like,” he said. In a scenario such as this, he said, market competition would be fueled by freedom of customer choice, driving vendors to produce what clinicians want at more competitive prices. “How to get there?” Hager asked. “Standardize data constructs. HIE developers want that so HIE will work. Apply the same concept to the main body of patient data, and not only will HIE be seamless, but EHR products can become interchangeable.” Structure the data first, Hager added, and design the products second. “That progression helped to fuel the wild explosion we call the World Wide Web.”
Follow Michelle McNickle on Twitter, @Michelle_writes