Volume 6 - Issue 2 - March 2011
Editor's Notes
By: Donna Carroll
Editor - The MEDITECH Community Bulletin
VP, Professional Search & Health IT Consulting - Systems Personnel
Welcome to the latest issue of The MEDITECH Community Bulletin. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad March is finally here. It brings the hope that Spring is right around the corner... not that it hasn’t snowed in March before! But, that’s just part and parcel of living in New England. ;-)
- This month's Industry Spotlight column provides a brief update to last month's article on “Meaningful Use the MEDITECH Way”. Rumor has it that MEDITECH is pursuing certification for individual modules of their EHR software.
- With MEDITECH Data Repository on the forefront of many customers’ minds lately, Ed Chisam of DR Validate offers some timely information in this month’s Guest Spot column with an article on how “Data Repository Fragmentation Can Slow Performance”.
- Also in the Guest Spot, Kay Jackson of Iatric Systems continues with Part II of her article: “Meaningful Use -- Have the Right Answers!”.
- In this month’s Tricks of the Trade column, John Sharpe of Comstock Software explains “Data Repository Monitoring for Client Server 5.6”.
- Our Featured Employer column this month describes two positions currently open at Benefis Health System in Great Falls, Montana: Nurse Informatics Analyst and Physician Informatics Analyst. They sound like a great place to live and work—please give them a look!
- As usual, several organizations have provided press releases for this issue’s Recent News section.
- All information and content for the April 2011 issue of The MEDITECH Community Bulletin must be received no later than Friday, March 25th. Thank you.
See you next month . . .
 Donna
Industry Spotlight: 'Meaningful Use' the MEDITECH Way -- Part II
By: Donna Carroll, Editor
Last month, I wrote about my impressions of MEDITECH Inc.'s seminar entitled “ARRA/Meaningful Use Enhancement Training” which I attended in January 2011. As I mentioned in Part I of this article, I found the seminar well-presented and informative.
MEDITECH has now received complete EHR inpatient certification under the Drummond Group's Electronic Health Records Office of the National Coordinator, Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) for its three major HCIS versions: MAGIC, Client Server, and 6.0. This means that hospitals running MEDITECH's certified solutions have the software tools needed to meet the Stage 1 Meaningful Use measures required to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Or, do they?
While it’s true that MEDITECH has received EHR certification, it’s important to know that Drummond Group’s ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tested and certified each platform as a COMPLETE inpatient EHR system.
I heard through the grapevine from more than one attendee of the HIMSS11 conference that MEDITECH announced they were in the process of pursuing modular EHR certification for their software products.
As many customers are hoping this information to be true, I called MEDITECH Inc. to obtain confirmation of this 'rumor'. I spoke with Paul Berthiaume, Manager of Public Relations, who stated: "MEDITECH expects to make an official announcement [about EHR modular certification] in the coming days.” Although I inquired exactly when and where we will find this 'official announcement', I did not receive any specific details.
So, my recommendation to all interested parties is to check the MEDITECH website often for news of such certifications. Of course, I'll be sure to deliver the news here in a future issue of The MEDITECH Community Bulletin. Stay tuned...
3/2/2011 Article Update: I just found this on MEDITECH's website. The following is a screenshot from a presentation that was delivered by Melissa Swanfeldt, Director of Marketing Support at MEDITECH, Inc. The presentation was part of MEDITECH's Next Steps for Health Care Education Session at HIMSS11 in Orlando.
So, it appears that MEDITECH is pursuing modular certification...this is good news for MEDITECH customers!
- Donna Carroll, Editor, The MEDITECH Community Bulletin
Guest Spot: Data Repository Fragmentation Can Slow Performance
 Contributed by: Edward Chisam, President, DR Validate
Is your Data Repository SQL Server suffering from performance issues? Consider these symptoms:
- bottlenecking at the disk level
- numerous SQL warnings of I/O taking a very long time
- performance monitor shows a very long disk queue
- slow running queries
Before sinking more money into hardware, consider checking your SQL Server for fragmentation, which occurs as data is modified. Fragmentation is defined as the inefficient use of storage space on the SQL Server, which reduces storage capacity and slows performance. Two types of fragmentation include Logical Disk Fragmentation and for SQL Server Index Fragmentation.
Logical Disk Fragmentation
The SQL Server runs on a Windows Operating System, and database files can become fragmented at the Windows level just like any other windows files can. As the files grow larger, file system cannot store the database file in a single location, which results in the disk head needing to move back and forth over the disk while searching through the data. To address this type of fragmentation you can use Disk Defragmenter, included with Windows, or various third party tools.
When using Disk Defragmenter, large portions of the disk scan shown in red are a sure sign of fragmentation issues at the windows level. Before running the option to defragment the disk, you’ll need to stop all SQL Server services.
Fragmentation at the Windows level can be reduced by careful planning at the start of your Data Repository implementation process. Rather than rely upon SQL Server’s auto grow setting to add space to your SQL Server system on a regular basis, allocate as much space as possible for your database files from the outset. When more growth for your database is required, increase the space in large blocks of data. If possible, avoid installing other applications directly onto the server which may also affect the file system.
SQL Server Index Fragmentation
SQL Server storage involves the use of pages to store table data. Fragmentation at the SQL level can occur in a couple of ways. One involves a side effect of Bulk Delete commands MEDITECH occasionally runs on table data, either as part of a Ring Release update, or during normal daily processing. Delete commands remove rows from pages, leaving some half full. Because there is a lot of empty space among the pages, more page reads are required to query for data than are otherwise necessary.
More commonly, page splits can occur when data is inserted or updated. For example, suppose you have detected that some tables in your Data Repository have data missing. MEDITECH corrects this problem by re-running Initial Loads on the affected tables – these perform updates and inserts on every row in each table involved. Inevitably page splits will occur during this intensive process. This will lead to slower running queries, particularly those that seek to retrieve data in logical order.
To detect the level of index fragmentation, either for all indexes on a table or just the MEDITECH provided clustered index, use the DBCC SHOWCONTIG command. The most important metrics returned by this query are the Average Page Density (Full) and the Scan Density. The Average Page Density shows, on average, how full the pages are – it is desirable for this percentage to be as high as possible. Scan Density is a ratio indicating how contiguous storage space is on the SQL Server: if the value is 100, everything is contiguous; if the number is less than 100 some fragmentation exists.
To repair fragmented indexes, it is possible to drop and recreate the indexes completely, but this requires server downtime and may be somewhat risky. A safer option is to use Microsoft’s Alter Index function, as in this example:
ALTER INDEX mtpk_patccdqm
ON dbo.MriPatientClinicalQueriesMult
REBUILD WITH ( ONLINE = ON )
Depending upon your version of SQL Server, rebuilding of indexes may not be allowed online, meaning that DR Transfers will need to be halted and users kept off the database while this repair work is underway. Older versions of SQL, such as SQL Server 2000, will require usage of DBCC DBREINDEX or DBCC INDEXDEFRAG functions.
Summary
As we’ve seen, fragmentation of various types can degrade performance on your SQL Server, leading to slower running queries, I/O bottlenecks, and the like. It’s a good idea to run the Windows defrag tools and schedule DBCC SHOWCONTIG at the SQL level on a regular basis, to discover these problems sooner rather than later. Your users will thank you for the time you take to “sharpen the blade” on a regular basis.
Questions regarding Data Repository and Meaningful Use? Email them to Edward at echisam@drvalidate.com.
***
Edward Chisam is President at DR Validate and was a Senior Development Programmer of the Data Repository application at MEDITECH.
Guest Spot: Meaningful Use -- Have the Right Answers! (Part II)
 Contributed by: Kay Jackson, Compliance and Financial Manager, Iatric Systems, Inc.
If you know the right answers, there are many paths to achieving Meaningful Use, even as early as 2011! In last month’s issue of MCB, Part I covered the differences between complete and modular EHR certification, how to register to receive incentive payments, Medicare vs. Medicaid incentive programs, and important dates to remember. This Part II article will cover a critical and timely update on complete vs. modular certification, understanding the scope and depth of reporting Clinical Quality Measures, the status of Stage 2 requirements, and helpful hints on how to keep track of the status of your hospital’s achievement of Meaningful Use.
Update on Complete vs. Modular EHR Certification
Since last month, there’s been a lot of public concern and discussion around complete vs. modular EHR certification and what it means for hospitals registering to receive incentive payments in 2011/2012. The concern was that if a hospital does not purchase and implement every single module from a certified complete EHR vendor like MEDITECH, then the system is no longer “complete” and therefore may not qualify for Meaningful Use certification and incentive payments.
I wasn’t able to attend HIMSS, but heard the good news that MEDITECH announced at HIMSS that they are in the process of obtaining modular certification for their software. So keep your eye on the ONC CHPL list of certified products for MEDITECH’s modular certification to appear.
More good news for hospitals… Drummond Group recently announced another certification path for hospitals with systems comprised of software from multiple vendors. Hospitals can follow this roadmap to obtain ONC certification and incentive payments in 2011/2012. To learn more, visit http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Drummond-Group-Introduces-EHR-Certification-for-Hospitals-1398812.htm.
If you’d like to read a brief history of the issue, or would like to follow its progression to date, take a look at the following links:
Clinical Quality Measures
Be sure to understand the depth and scope of Meaningful Use core objective #9, reporting clinical quality measures. Clinical quality measures are not the same as Joint Commission “Core Measures” your hospital may be reporting currently. There are 15 clinical quality measures that hospitals must report on in order to comply with just that one Meaningful Use core objective:
- NQF 0371 – Venous Thromboembolism prophylaxis within 24 hours
- NQF 0372 – Intensive Care Unit Venous Thromboembolism prophylaxis
- NQF 0373 – Overlapping Anticoagulation therapy
- NQF 0374 – Platelet Monitoring on Unfractionated Heparin
- NQF 0375 – Venous Thromboembolism discharge instructions
- NQF 0376 – Incidence of potentially preventable Venous Thromboembolism
- NQF 0435 – Stroke: Discharge on anti-thrombotics
- NQF 0436 – Ischemic Stroke- Anticoagulation for A-fib/flutter
- NQF 0437 – Ischemic Stroke - Thrombolytic therapy
- NQF 0438 – Ischemic or Hemorrhagic stroke- Antothrombotic therapy
- NQF 0439 – Ischemic stroke- Discharge on statins
- NQF 0440 – Ischemic or Hemorrhagic Stroke- Stroke education
- NQF 0441 – Ischemic or Hemorrhagic Stroke- Rehabilitation assessment
- NQF 0495 – Emergency Department Throughput - Arrival to Departure
- NQF 0497 – Emergency Department Throughput - Admission to Inpatient
Iatric Systems NPR Report Services can help hospitals comply with this objective, as well as maintain an audit trail that substantiates the results even after data on the patients has been purged from the originating database. The biggest challenge for hospitals to achieve this objective will be putting procedures in place to collect the data.
AHIMA provides a great whitepaper on this subject at: http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_048554.pdf.
Status of Stage 2 Requirements
You’re in the middle of attempting to comply with Stage 1 requirements, but it’s not too soon to become familiar with proposed Stage 2 requirements. Most Stage 2 proposed requirements are either a continuation or an expansion of an existing Stage 1 objective, but there are also several new proposed requirements:
- More than 30% of hospital patient days have at least one electronic note by a physician, NP, or PA.
- 30% of hospital medication orders automatically tracked via electronic medication administration recording.
- 80% of patients offered the ability to view and download via a web-based portal, within 36 hours of discharge, relevant information contained in the record about hospital inpatient encounters. Data are available in human-readable and structured forms.
- Patient preferences for communication medium recorded for 20% of patients.
- List of care team members (including PCP) available for 10% of patients in EHR.
- Record a longitudinal care plan for 20% of patients with high-priority health conditions.
The comment period for feedback on proposed Stage 2 requirements closed on February 25, 2011. The CSC Meaningful Use Community has put together a nice summary of Stage 2 requirements and recommendations for achieving Stage 1 and Stage 2 objectives at: http://assets1.csc.com/health_services/downloads/CSC_Summary_of_Preliminary_Stage_2_MU_Requirements.pdf.
What’s Your Hospital’s Status?
Do you know how far along your hospital has come in achieving Meaningful Use? Is your facility ready to attest? HIMSS has compiled a “Meaningful Use Stage 1 Hospital and Eligible Provider Self Assessment Tool” available for download at http://www.himss.org/ASP/topics_FocusDynamic.asp?faid=198. You or your hospital must be a HIMSS member in order to access this tool. MEDITECH has also created a color-coded Excel spreadsheet checklist we’re told is called the “ARRA Meaningful Use Checklist.”
Keep your eye out for Iatric Systems Meaningful Use Manager solution, which provides a central location for hospitals to monitor progress in connection with Meaningful Use Objectives, soon to be installed at its first beta test site.
***
Kay Jackson is the Software Certification, Compliance and Financial Marketing Manager at Iatric Systems, Inc. Kay is a well-known educator in the MEDITECH community and has been a requested speaker at more than 100 conventions. She will be presenting education on Meaningful Use and other topics at International MUSE 2011 in Nashville, TN. For more information, visit Iatric Systems online at www.iatric.com.
Tricks of the Trade: Data Repository (DR) Monitoring for Client Server 5.6
By: John Sharpe, President, Comstock Software, Inc.
As your clinicians and financial office come to rely upon DR reports, your IT department will be dedicating time each day to monitoring your DR system. Without monitoring, loading of the data can stop due to a load error on a by transfer job / table basis. Without current data, your phone will be ringing. One way to be proactive is to routinely review your MEDITECH Database Logs.
Your typical DBA / SQL report writer / programmer type will be more comfortable writing SQL scripts than with navigating MEDITECH menus. MEDITECH stores DR load error information in your SysDrConnection tables. Depending upon how your system is configured, there can be more than one table at a time.
Wouldn’t it be nice to query all of these tables at once? And, instead of seeing all that detail, there might be specific details which are important to know, such as which applications have the highest number of load errors.
Head over to the MEDITECH Open Source Repository for DR. Get the code now and share with your favorite report writing guru.
If you’d like to contribute to this repository; get involved, be part of something you can benefit from and refer back to over the course of your career.
-->Email code changes and open source contributions to John at jsharpe@comstock-software.com.
***
Questions regarding reports and your 5.6 upgrade?
Email them to John at jsharpe@comstock-software.com.
John Sharpe is President & MEDITECH Solutions Developer at Comstock Software, Inc. Learn more about NPR Report Writing at the MEDITECH NPR Report Writing Blog.
Featured Employer: Sponsored by MeditechCareers.com
The online career hub for MEDITECH professionals
Every month, we feature one employer who has advertised their job posting on our affiliate web site: MeditechCareers.com. In addition to the basic job posting, we provide some information about the employer, their location and environment, and highlight them as a "Featured Employer" in this newsletter.
To advertise your MEDITECH-related opportunity on MeditechCareers.com and become a "Featured Employer", contact Donna Carroll at 413-569-1111.
Benefis Health System
Great Falls, Montana
About the Organization:
As the local and national healthcare landscape continues to grow and expand, so does Benefis Health System. The system brings Montana one of its largest hospitals (511 beds), serving over 15 counties and nearly 230,000 residents. Benefis is also the largest non-governmental employer in the greater Great Falls area, with 2,500+ employees.
The system includes:
- Acute Care Hospitals, East and West Campus, with 353 beds
- Benefis Extended Care Center, with 146 beds
- Benefis Sletten Cancer Institute, a freestanding 54,000 sq. ft. cancer facility, and Hi-Line Sletten Cancer Center satellite at 11,000 sq. ft.
- Benefis Health System Heart and Vascular Institute
- Benefis Spectrum Medical (CME, Home Health)
- Benefis Medical Group
- Benefis Healthcare Foundation
- Benefis Peace Hospice of Montana, a freestanding 12-bed Hospice House
- Orthopedic Center of Montana
- Northcentral Montana Healthcare Alliance
Recognized For Healing Excellence:
While Benefis is well recognized as Montana's largest hospital, you'll find our reputation for excellence reaches far beyond the state. With cutting-edge, voice-activated ORs and one of the most advanced ERs in the Northwest, it's no surprise that Benefis has earned distinction as a "Top 100 Hospital: Performance Improvement Leader" from Solucient. For today's healthcare professional, Benefis presents opportunities for skill development in an exciting, multi-disciplinary setting.
Benefis Hospitals provide the highest quality, award-winning healthcare by offering a full and complete range of services to our community. Benefis' commitment to excellence has been recognized by many independent healthcare monitoring groups and has been the recipient of numerous awards. From treatment of stroke to knee replacements, Benefis is a leader in Montana and ranks among America's best hospitals for quality of care and positive patient outcomes.
Honors include:
- Patient Safety Excellence Award (2009)
- Spectrum Home Health named in HomeCare Elite (January, 2008)
- Transformation of the ICU National Award (April, 2008)
- Commission on Cancer (CoC) National Outstanding Achievement Award (April, 2008)
- 5-Star Service - Pediatrics Care by Avatar International Inc. (May, 2008)
- National recognition from The Joint Commission for Special Certification, including primary stroke center certification and joint replacement certification for hip, knee and shoulder (May, 2008)
- 5-Star CVI (Community Value Index® Rating from Cleverly + Associates (June, 2008)
- Silver Award from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for Stroke Care (July, 2008)
- Five Star Service Award for Exceeding Patient Expectations by Avatar International Inc. (August, 2008)
- ADA's Education Recognition Certificate (October, 2008)
- Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Foundation "Quality Achievement Award" (September, 2009)
About the Location:
Conveniently located near both Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks, Great Falls is surrounded with recreational and scenic outdoor opportunities. The Missouri River flows through the middle of Great Falls, so boating - or floating - is close at hand. Take a scenic walk, jog, skate or bike ride along the River's Edge Trail, a 25-mile trail that runs along the Missouri River. And during ski season, you can travel less than an hour and hit the slopes at Showdown Ski Area. Family recreation is plentiful with 74 city parks, five waterfalls, Giant Springs, the largest freshwater spring in the U.S., PEAK(a state-of-the-art health and wellness facility), great golf and some of the best rainbow trout fishing in the world. Take a closer look and we think you'll agree, there is something for everyone in Great Falls!
For art lovers, the C.M. Russell Museum features the most complete collection of Charles Russell's original art to be found. And if your taste runs more to the contemporary, you'll enjoy the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, featuring both permanent and traveling exhibits. The Civic Center downtown is the home of local government and houses such events as our world-class Great Falls Symphony, Community Concert Series, trade shows and food festivals. For a look at the area's colorful past, visit The History Museum. And for an amazing story from their legendary expedition, don't miss the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center.
Great Falls is ranked #4 nationally for air quality and also enjoys a cost of living index well below the national average. In fact, a recent study ranks Great Falls as the second most affordable housing market in the western United States. For you, it means the "good life" in Great Falls is also very affordable.
About the Department:
The Information Systems department at Benefis is a dynamic and energetic group of individuals who have a passion for their profession. The department contains three branches who all report to the manager - (1) Technical (Network Administrators, Customer Support, Help Desk), (2) Operations (Analysts) and (3) Programming. Three additional staff members (Customer Support, Analysts) work in our privately owned physician practice and support a rapidly growing practice. Indications point to 100 physicians by the end of 2011. Information Systems has grown in size 40% over the last two years and continues to look for quality staff to support our mission.
In 2008, Benefis developed a five year Health Information Technology Strategic Plan. At the core of that plan was the development of a hospital information system that contained a fully electronic medical record. On May 1st, 2010, Benefis became the 9th MEDITECH customer to convert to its latest 6.0 platform. MEDITECH declared this conversion the smoothest one to date. We owe that to our hard working, talented and dedicated staff who put in countless hours to make this a success. We continue the journey as we enter phase II with implementation of eMAR, BMV, PDOC and CPOE. Our goal is to meet stage 1 Meaningful Use by the end of year 2012. In addition to MEDITECH, the IS staff supports many other applications including PACS, Medication dispensing, Supply dispensing, Fetal monitoring, and Radiation / Medical Oncology to name a few. There are hundreds more.
Information Systems is proud to annouce that they received the Customer of the Year award for 2010 from the Breakaway Group. Breakaway is an e-learning company that produces simulator training for applications. The IS staff worked very closely with Breakaway to develop training simulators that reduced the amount of time to train nursing staff from 16 hours to less than 4. Together we built a LMS that we now call Benefis-U. Come join our dynamic team and take part in the latest technology has to offer.
#1 Nurse Informatics Analyst -- Position Profile:
The Nurse Informatics Analyst is responsible for ensuring the effective and efficient management of the daily operations of nursing computer databases and the connectivity and interfacing of other nursing systems outside the hospital information system. The Nurse Informatics Analyst, under general direction, assists in assessing, planning, building, installing, maintaining and documenting nursing information systems. Re-engineers processes to complement information system applications. Identifies problems and develops solutions through coordination and collaboration among clinical areas, Information Systems, and ancillary departments. The Nurse Informatics Analyst needs to be knowledgeable in various aspects of Information Systems terminology, information system processing, and desktop solution, and be able to assess customer education needs and provide training as necessary. Provides on-call and department operational support as needed Completes other assignments based on ability or need. Participates in the department's performance improvement and continuous quality improvement (CQI) activities.
Qualifications:
- Valid nursing license in the State of Montana.
- BS in nursing preferred.
- 3 years’ full time, current clinical experience or an equivalent combination of education, experience and knowledge preferred.
- Previous experience with MEDITECH clinical systems applications is preferred.
#2 Physician Informatics Analyst -- Position Profile:
The Physician Informatics Analyst is responsible for ensuring the effective and efficient management of the daily operations of clinical computer databases and the connectivity and interfacing of other clinical systems outside the hospital information system as they pertain directly to physicians and mid-levels. The Physician Informatics Analyst under general direction, assists in assessing, planning, building, installing, maintaining and documenting clinical information systems, generally in the areas of physician desktop and documentation, computerized order entry, electronic signature and the electronic medical record. Re-engineers processes to complement information system applications, yet making the system as easy to use as possible for the end users. Identifies problems and develops solutions through coordination and collaboration among clinical areas, Information Systems, and physicians. The Physician Informatics Analyst needs to be knowledgeable in various aspects of Information Systems terminology, information system processing, and desktop solution, and be able to assess customer education needs and provide training as necessary. Is an active participating member of the IS Physician Advisory Committee. Provides on-call and department operational support as needed. Completes other assignments based on ability or need. Participates in the department’s performance improvement and continuous quality improvement (CQI) activities.
Qualifications:
- Clinical healthcare certification/license (RN, Informatics or other health related) required.
- BS degree preferred.
- 5 years’ full time, current clinical experience or an equivalent combination of education, experience and knowledge preferred.
- Previous experience with MEDITECH clinical systems applications is preferred.
How to Apply:
Interested candidates please apply online at www.benefis.org. Under the "Employment" heading, go to "Employment Info/Job Listings". You can Search Open Positions where it asks "Interested in Working at Benefis?", then perform a keyword search for: informatics.
Recent News: Happenings in the MEDITECH & Health IT Community
Corepoint Health Confirms Interoperability at the IHE North America Connectathon 2011
FRISCO, TX, February 16, 2011 -- Corepoint Health successfully completed interoperability certification testing of Corepoint Integration Engine at the North American Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Connectathon last month in Chicago.
These tests demonstrate Corepoint Health’s readiness to support Health Information Exchange (HIE) initiatives as hospitals and other providers construct outward-facing, community-oriented integration programs.
Read article…
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A New Ordering Solution for Physicians
MEDITECH and Forward Advantage announce the availability of a streamlined ordering interface for physicians.
WESTWOOD, MA, February 15, 2011 -- Building on the successful deployment of results-reporting interfaces with Data Express, Forward Advantage and MEDITECH have expanded the Data Express offering to include electronic orders from physician practices to a hospital’s MEDITECH HCIS.
By adopting MEDITECH’s new streamlined orders model and Forward Advantage’s Data Express product, hospitals will benefit from a cost-effective and rapidly deployed solution for receiving orders from physician practices and communicating results to practices. Physicians will benefit from being able to view the results for these orders directly in their ambulatory EMRs.
Read article…
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Summit Healthcare to Feature New Integration and Automation Tools at HIMSS Annual Conference
ORLANDO, FL, February 15, 2011 (HIMSS Booth #2080) -- Summit Healthcare, a leader in healthcare system integration and task automation, announced today that it will be showcasing upcoming versions of its Express Connect™ interface engine and InSync™ dictionary synchronization tool at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida from February 20 to 24, 2011.
Summit Healthcare will feature the upcoming version of its powerful interface engine, Summit Express Connect 9. The new model contains the Summit Apex Mapper (SAM), in addition to a structured query language (SQL) database available for all interface configuration settings, user security settings, application settings, user activity and mapping/filtering data. Express Connect 9 also includes enhanced message logging and upgraded user security and audit trail tracking functionality.
Read article…
Worth a Read: Articles of Interest to the Health IT Field
Focused on the Bottom Line
By: Richard R. Rogoski
Healthcare Informatics, March, 2011
Systems integration fuels interest in financial/accounting software.
Read article…
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Poll ranks top inpatient EHRs based on customer experience
By: Molly Merrill
Healthcare IT News, February 15, 2011
A poll conducted by Black Book Rankings, a division of the market research firm Brown-Wilson Group, reveals the top three inpatient EHR vendors based on customer experience for small hospitals, community hospitals and academic and major medical centers, based on customer experience.
Read article…
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Third-party Option
By: Elizabeth Gardner
Health Data Management, February, 2011
As the federal EHR incentive program creates a health I.T. skills shortage, third parties are stepping into the breach.
Read article…
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Exceeding expectations for electronic billing
By: Scott Law
Health Management Technology, March, 2011
You may see more cash through the door and even improve communications with all parties involved when you implement the right automated workflow.
Read article…
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