CMS awards $200M IT contract to HP

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:34:34 +0000

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded a $200 million contract to HP Enterprise Services for software applications related to Medicare Part B claims processing and the delivery of services to beneficiaries.

The Medicare Part B Shared System Maintainer contract is for one base year with seven one-year renewal options. CMS carriers and Medicare administrative contractors use Medicare's Multi-Carrier System (MCS) to process approximately 750 million Medicare Part B claims annually.

Bernie Monegain

Health IT workforce will require higher skill set

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:53:04 +0000

As trends in technology change the employment landscape, training and certifying IT workers will require a higher skill set, said Terry Erdle, senior vice president, skills certification, of CompTIA in remarks he delivered at Breakaway 2010, the premier event for IT companies in North America. For healthcare IT workers, for instance, this may mean having a broader knowledge of areas such as security.

Molly Merrill

California launches nation's largest telehealth network

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:43:09 +0000

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra joined a diverse group of statewide healthcare and technology agencies Tuesday at the UC Davis Cancer Center in Sacramento to launch the California Telehealth Network (CTN), which is set to be the largest in the nation.

Molly Merrill

Study: Texting improves medication adherence in teens with diabetes

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:56:54 +0000

A small pilot study at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, found that sending text reminders to adolescent diabetes patients about their insulin treatments improved treatment adherence and blood glucose levels.

According to a 2010 report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month.

Molly Merrill

End of Google Wave leaves questions about its use for EHRs

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:16:48 +0000

Google announced on Wednesday that it's no longer developing Google Wave, its Web application for real-time communication and collaboration, as a standalone product. It's unclear if this will impact whether the company continues to develop the idea of using the Google Wave Protocol to represent individuals' health records.

Google Wave, which is a Web-based service, computing platform, and communications protocol designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking, was only released to the general public in May.

Molly Merrill

Ingenix Consulting starts new technology practice

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:40:08 +0000

Ingenix Consulting has announced the launch of its Strategic Technology Solutions practice. The new service aims to help healthcare executives create health IT investment and implementation strategies that enable their organizations to improve patient outcomes, enhance organizational performance and prepare for fundamental shifts occurring in healthcare nationwide.

Mike Miliard

Deloitte: Mobile PHRs 'game-changing' for self-care

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:26:26 +0000

The convergence of personal health records and mobile communication devices may offer the right tool to engage consumers to use technology for self-care, taking cost out of the healthcare system, according to a new Deloitte Issue Brief from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

Bernie Monegain

ER wait times reduced 22 percent with advanced EHRs

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:17:52 +0000

The patients at hospitals with the most advanced type of electronic medical records are likely to spend 22.4 percent less time in the emergency room than at other hospitals, a new study from the W.P.Carey School of Business at Arizona State University shows.

Diana Manos

CSC launches online community dedicated to meaningful use

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:33:09 +0000

CSC Global Healthcare, a Falls Church, Va.-based research group has developed and launched a new online community with the intent of cultivating a network healthcare executives who can discuss the final rule on the first stage of meaningful use.

Kyle Hardy

Ingenix to acquire Axolotl

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:24:49 +0000

The Ingenix buying spree marches on. In its third major acquisition in less than a month – after its purchase of Picis and Executive Health Resources – the firm, which is the health IT division of UnitedHealth Group, announced on Monday that it is adding San Jose, Calif-based Axolotl to the fold.

Mike Miliard