Volume 5 - Issue 1 - February 2010

Editor's Note

By: Donna Carroll
Editor - The MEDITECH Community Bulletin
VP, Business Development & Recruitment - Systems Personnel

Welcome to the latest issue of The MEDITECH Community Bulletin. Below are just a few of the items found in this month's newsletter:

• This month’s Customer Spotlight is shining brightly on Boulder Community Hospital for their migration to MEDITECH 6.0.  Read how this 265-bed community hospital made the successful transition.

• Our Career Corner column this month details a very informative conversation with Attorney William O’Toole about employment related agreements, specifically non-compete agreements.  Learn what everyone should know about NCAs in this evolving employment market.

• This month marks 2 years that John Sharpe of Comstock Software has been sharing his NRP knowledge with us.  I know that so many of our readers look forward to John’s Tricks of the Trade column each month.  I’d personally like to thank John for his insight and contributions to help make this newsletter a valuable resource for everyone.  THANK YOU, JOHN!

• All information and content for the March 2010 issue of The MEDITECH Community Bulletin must be received no later than Thursday, February 25th. Thank you.

Happy February...stay warm and healthy!
Donna

Customer Spotlight: Boulder Community Hospital Successfully Migrates to Meditech 6.0

Boulder Community Hospital a non-profit, community owned facility with 265 licensed beds successfully migrated from Meditech Magic to Meditech 6.0 on October 1, 2009.

In the beginning stages of their migration planning, Boulder Community Hospital recognized the need to streamline their current interface environment including integration with local Physician Offices. Boulder realized quickly that interface management in addition to the tasks surrounding the Meditech 6.0 migration was daunting and time consuming for the already stretched staff. Evaluation of their existing interface landscape revealed three different vendor interface engines in place which was difficult to manage and costly to maintain. They also had some immediate concerns with data migration and dictionary maintenance.

"Boulder Community Hospital selected Summit Healthcare because of their proven track record for streamlining complex interface environments. The Summit Healthcare solution will replace two engines at BCH and not only will this save the hospital money, but it will allow us to implement interfaces faster and with fewer resources,” remarked Linda Minghella, Chief Information Officer at Boulder Community Hospital.

Planning for the migration road ahead

Once their migration plan was mapped out, Boulder Community Hospital began investigating integration vendors in the Meditech space that could assist with interface migration and also had the expertise and technology to support the new Meditech 6.0 platform.

After careful research, the decision was quickly made to partner with Summit Healthcare as their one integration vendor. Summit Healthcare, experts in the industry for interface management and automation, could provide a comprehensive toolset including professional services to augment the BCH staff. The product toolset that would streamline Boulder’s Meditech 6.0 migration was Summit Apex; an integrated product suite re-engineered and built to accommodate the new Meditech 6.0 platform.

The first challenge to address was consolidation and clean up of the existing BCH interface landscape. By consolidating from three interface engine vendors down to one, BCH would immediately see ROI by saving dollars on point to point interface maintenance and reallocation of staff FTE’s. Summit Express Connect, the Summit Healthcare interface engine was implemented as the one interface engine that would not only alleviate the interface cluster but would allow BCH to leverage all feeds for connection to other vendor systems and physicians offices.

Now that the technology was in place, the second issue to address was the current staff bandwidth at Boulder Community Hospital. As part of a complete integration package, Summit Healthcare would provide Integration Outsourcing professional services to migrate all existing interfaces and subsequently manage integration efforts. This multi-year agreement provided assistance for both a short term and long term arrangement. In the short term BCH could concentrate on priority application migration efforts and go live efforts. For the long term Boulder would be positioned to eventually bring their interface management in-house should they see fit.

In addition to the interface engine and outsourcing services, Boulder Community Hospital utilized both the Summit Scripting Toolkit and Summit InSync for their migration project. Summit Scripting Toolkit, a robust proven scripting tool for the Meditech 6.0 platform was used for various data migration projects. One specific project was to migrate HR data from another vendor system; Ceridian, to the new HR application in the Meditech 6.0 platform. SST was used to extract data from Ceridian and then script this data into the Meditech 6.0 HR application. SST 7 has been proven time and time again to handle the intricacies of the new 6.0 Meditech screens which translates to reliable and stable scripting for our clients each time, every time.

Summit InSync , the leading dictionary extraction and analysis product on the market today, aided in dictionary maintenance and clean migration of data to their Meditech 6.0 test and live rings. One particular example was the comparison of their MIS user dictionary from their Magic Live system to their 6.0 Test system. Once discrepancies were analyzed and addressed they then compared this dictionary from their 6.0 Test to 6.0 Live to ensure that all data was clean for go live. Summit InSync provided the ability to accomplish what would have otherwise been a daunting and time consuming task with room for user error. Now live, BCH has the tool to ensure their new Meditech 6.0 test and live dictionaries remain “in sync” benefiting all departments across the enterprise and ensuring patient safety.

Integration and Data Migration Success! Live with Meditech 6.0

After many hours of hard work by the Boulder Community staff and Summit Healthcare, the Meditech 6.0 live was successful, on time and on budget. October 1, 2009 was the go live date with all applications up and running including seamless integration with the other vendor systems and the physician offices. As of go live, the total live interface count was 55 including bi-directional communication with the physician offices.

BCH felt confident that all necessary data had migrated successfully and that the health of both their test and live dictionaries in the new 6.0 platform were excellent.

"After reviewing Boulder Community Hospital’s IT strategic goals it quickly became apparent that they needed an integration partner to assist them during the Meditech 6.0 migration. With the migration to Meditech 6.0, BCH would be bringing on additional advanced clinical departments as well as integrating bi-directionally with Physician Office practices which required more complex integration needs. Our goal was to provide Boulder Community Hospital with a streamlined and closely managed interface migration including assisting with data and dictionary migration efforts,” remarked Nathia Karasch, VP Engineering, Summit Healthcare.

To learn more about Boulder Community Hospital, see their web site at: http://bch.org/.

To learn more about Summit Healthcare, see their web site at: http://www.summit-healthcare.com/.

Career Corner: Welcome aboard...please don't go!

Taking the fear out of Non-Compete Agreements

By: Donna Carroll
VP, Business Development & Recruitment - Systems Personnel

Straight from the trenches, on behalf of my recruiting profession, I have great news to report...the employment market is improving!  That’s right folks, we are seeing many more job opportunities available lately.  As is customary during the climb out of an economic decline (I try to avoid use of the ‘R word’), the first signs of improvement often come in the form of consulting engagements.  When organizations have had to tighten their belts and put most initiatives on hold for so long, it creates a pent-up demand for projects to be completed.  That’s what we’re experiencing right now.  Certain projects have reached ‘critical status’ and organizations need consulting resources to assist them with these projects.  This translates into employment opportunities with consulting firms as well as software vendors with a professionals services division.

Working for a consulting firm or software vendor can be a very rewarding career.  There are many benefits to this type of lifestyle, namely: a diversity of client sites, challenging and exciting projects, an opportunity to travel, and an attractive income.  One other situation which is quite common with consulting firms and software vendors (which differs from hospital employers) is the presentation of a non-compete agreement along with your employment offer.  It’s very common for one of these organizations to require new employees to sign non-compete agreements.  For someone who has never had to even think about such an agreement, the idea can be a little concerning.  In my 20 years of recruiting, I have seen many non-compete agreements and most of them have been reasonable in nature and do not place unfair restrictions upon employees.  However, I always advise candidates the same way when it comes to reviewing any such agreements: use common sense, seek clarification if you have any questions, and speak with an attorney if you have any concerns about it.

I recently had the opportunity to visit with an attorney specializing in the healthcare information technology (HIT) field and asked him many of the questions which I frequently field from candidates.  Attorney William O’Toole, now in private practice, was MEDITECH’s corporate counsel for 20 years.  In this capacity, Bill has certainly seen his share of contracts.  Although the majority of Bill’s experience has revolved around the details of software agreements, he was kind enough to share his legal knowledge to address some of our questions regarding employment-related agreements.  Below is a summary of our discussion.

MCB:  Some of the employment-related agreements which some employers require new employees to sign include:  non-disclosure agreement, non-solicitation agreement, and/or non-compete agreement.  What are the basic differences between these agreements?

O’TOOLE:  A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) between two parties usually serves to identify certain important information of one party and prevent the second party from disclosing that information to others.  It could also be mutual, meaning each party may disclose certain information to the other, and the receiving party must keep it confidential.  NDAs can be used between companies seeking to do business together, or between individuals and companies or organizations (such as when a consultant is retained).  Non-solicitation agreements in this context usually serve to restrict an ex-employee from contacting and soliciting business from the customers of the former employer.  Non-compete agreements (NCAs) are designed to prevent individuals from leaving a company with valuable information and then using that information in a new job with a competitor of the company to the detriment of that original company/employer.  In essence, the NCA trumps each of the others.  If you can’t go to a competitor, then not being able to solicit customers is not much of a factor, nor is possessing confidential information.

MCB:  In most states non-compete agreements must be "reasonable" in scope and allow the candidate to continue to earn a living without harming the employer.  What do you consider to be a reasonable scope for a non-compete agreement?

O’TOOLE:  This is the essence of the determination that courts must make in cases involving NCAs.  In general terms, in order for an NCA to be “reasonable” it must protect an employer’s legitimate business interests while not unduly restricting the employee’s ability to work elsewhere.  Other key components are length of time and geographical area (historically).  The first part, protecting legitimate business interests, is satisfied if the employee involved had access to trade secrets of the former employer, a legitimate reason for the NCA. As for length of time, six months to two years, depending on the situation, is usually found to be acceptable.  Anything longer than that would require a stiffer business reason for the restriction.  Finally, geographic scope is considered.  A simple example would be a business in a city, where there really are no “outside” competitors for the specific service or product.  In that case, a limitation on that geographical area is probably acceptable.  It would not prevent the employee from going to the next city and performing essentially the same work.  That said, in the technology world, I believe that geographical area could probably be argued to include the entire US market.  HIT vendors do not stop at city or state lines in seeking customers.  There has been some relaxing of the geographical scope restriction, which is why I used the parenthetical “historically” above.  A good example might be a developer working on Google’s new Chrome browser leaving the company and going to work for that big company in Redmond, Washington.  My expectation is that a court would rule that a US or maybe even worldwide restriction would be acceptable in that case.

MCB:  What should an employee do if their company adopts the new practice of having employees sign a non-compete agreement after this employee has been with the company for some time?

O’TOOLE:  First, a little background.  In this scenario, the NCA is a separate agreement, standing on its own.  All contracts must have “consideration”, or something of value, offered by each party and consequently accepted by the other party in order for the contract to be valid.  If the NCA was a condition of employment at the point of hiring, then the promise of a job fills the consideration requirement.  Introducing the NCA in an existing employer/employee relationship is different.  Some courts have held that continued employment is sufficient consideration. In other cases, the execution of the NCA in conjunction with a raise or promotion has served to establish that sufficient consideration is present to enforce the NCA.  All that said, there are many ways to answer this question.  The employee may not have any reasonable opportunity of negotiation.  Some may however.  If the employee is a valued software scientist, then ideally that individual could seek a severance package, providing an amount of money sufficient to offset the period of time in which they are prevented (by the NCA) from working in the same field for a competitor. As a general answer, the employee should review the NCA carefully, even seek legal advice, in order to determine the restrictions imposed and the reasonableness of those restrictions.

MCB:  If an employee has signed a non-compete agreement with their employer and is "let go" due to a lack of work, or even a consolidation of two companies, can they go to work for a direct industry competitor?

O’TOOLE:  Assuming for the sake of this question that the NCA is valid and reasonable (see above), and would probably be upheld if the employee were the one terminating the relationship, then the issue really comes down to a restriction on the employee’s ability to make a living when the employer terminates employment other than for cause.  Keeping in mind that we started with the assumption of a valid NCA, then strictly speaking, no, the employee is not free to ignore the NCA and the former employer could sue the employee, but then the court would have to look at the fact that the employee did not leave voluntarily and determine the reasonableness of limiting that individuals livelihood.  The short answer is that being “let go” does not nullify the NCA, but enforcement by the former employer will be more difficult than if the employee left on their own.

MCB:  Are the courts becoming more or less favorable toward employer claims on non-compete agreements?

O’TOOLE:  Trends like expanding the geographical area restriction tend to make me think that the courts will side with the employer when there is a sound and justifiable business reason for the NCA.  Also note that the US Congress has recently given authority to the President to appoint what is termed by many to be an “Anti-Piracy Czar” with the express purpose of clamping down on copyright and intellectual property infringement.  At the risk of repeating myself (too often), given a justifiable business reason for the NCA, if it is not overly burdensome on the individual, I believe the courts will lean toward enforcing the NCA. That said, courts have always expressed a keen interest in not limiting an individual’s livelihood, so do not despair that everything is going to the side of corporate America at the expense of the worker.

MCB:  What states are the most "employee friendly" when the courts rule in non-compete issue cases?

O’TOOLE:  California (no surprise) is the most employee friendly, essentially disregarding NCAs except in very limited situations clearly defined by statute.  Virginia is also on the employee's side, but does enforce NCAs fitting certain criteria.  Likewise, New York leans toward the employee but does not abandon the employer like California.

MCB:  What are some circumstances under which a non-compete agreement may be deemed invalid or unenforceable?

O’TOOLE:  If you go back to the components of a reasonable NCA above, one example would be the lack of a justifiable business reason, such as in the case of an employer having all employees sign an NCA, regardless of position, from receptionist to software engineer.  This would work against the employer.  Another example would be an unlimited duration, where the employee can never work for a competitor.  In short, if an NCA is too broad and lacks a sound business reason, its enforceability is strongly suspect.

MCB.  What advice would you give an employer to help ensure their non-compete agreement is enforceable?

O’TOOLE:  Following nicely from the prior question, the employer should make sure it is seeking to protect a legitimate business interest, and NOT just that is does not want competition.  Further, if the employer uses NCAs for only certain employees that have access to confidential material or trade secrets, they strengthen greatly their likelihood of support from the courts.  Limited duration and geographical area are also helpful.  In short, if the employer is careful to make the NCA as tight in scope as possible, in order to make the burden on the employee as little as possible, then they are in much better shape if the NCA is contested.

MCB:  What advice would you give to someone who is ready to seek new career opportunities but has signed a non-compete agreement with their current (or past) employer?

O’TOOLE:  First, take out your copy of the NCA you signed (you did keep a copy, right?) and review it.  What are you prevented from doing?  If you didn’t keep a copy and your employer does not know you are looking elsewhere, that could make things a bit sticky.  If your departure is above board and known to all, there could be room for discussion.  That said, if you are a key player and plan to move to a competitor in a comparable role, don’t expect any cooperation from your soon-to-be former employer.  Which brings up an important issue.  Where a valid NCA exists, the new employer may also be susceptible to legal action by the former employer.  Employers that lose key personnel to competitors sometimes bring action against both the former employee (for violation of the NCA) and the new employer (for tortious interference with the prior relationship evidenced by the NCA).  It is not unheard of for a new employer (that steals the key employee) to belly up and take care of the employees defense, legal bills, and settlements with the former employer.  I am not trying to scare people, but it should be understood that if an NCA is valid and you breach it, you are potentially liable for damages to your former employer.  In addition, the former employer could seek an injunction preventing you from working for the new employer while the case is decided.  Finally, if everything goes the former employer’s way, you could still be prevented from working for the competitor into the future.

Now, following all that, there is a final issue in play here.  Should you tell a prospective employer that you have an NCA in place with your current employer?  If asked directly, then obviously you must reveal the fact.  If not asked and you do not volunteer the information, and the former employer sues the new employer, then the easiest way for the new employer to reduce its exposure is to terminate you.  Not a welcome thought.  Unfortunately I am limited in what I can dispense as free advice (if I want to keep my license), so I cannot provide specific legal answers in this forum.

MCB:  From the perspective of a new employee, are non-compete agreements something to be feared?

O’TOOLE:  No, they should not be feared, but they should be understood.  In my area of law practice, healthcare information technology and all that goes with it, companies invent things and they try to sell more of these things to the industry than their competitors.  They have a right to protect their inventions, know-how, trade secrets and customer bases.  Anyone seeking to join such a company really should understand this going in.  That said, it is not reasonable to expect a person to work for only one company in a given industry for their entire career.  Some do, most do not.  There is also the consideration of the type of work that the employee performs.  The software scientist should have far more expectation of restriction on the ability to switch to a competitor than an implementation consultant.

Final Comments:

NCAs are not bad.  If a company has something worth protecting, something essential to its business that if shared with a competitor would be damaging to its business, then they should be able to protect it.  I don’t know how an employee would consider it “OK” to take that information elsewhere.  I know it happens, but that does not make it right.  Separately, we are all free to work wherever we choose.  Absent the malicious factor, people should not be restricted from working for a competitor.  Heck, lawyers change firms all the time.

The problem is that you cannot unlock the brain of a software scientist, extract all they have learned at your company, then let them go on their way.  Knowledge is retained.  There is nothing we can do about that.  I once saw it referred to in a BIG hardware company’s agreement as “intellectual capital” (and I knew it was time to put that file down for the day).  So even if nothing is physically removed, the secrets go right out the door in the scientist’s gray matter.  Keeping them from using that knowledge to a competitor’s advantage seems fair.  Keeping them from earning a living doing what they like is unfair.  It is a balancing act, a weighing of the consequences to each side, and a determination of fairness that the courts must perform when ruling on NCAs.

And now for the final legal disclaimer.  Certain states may not recognize or enforce NCAs, while others may support them.  If you have serious concerns, please check with an attorney or your the local US Department of Labor office. At least that wasn’t in fine print!

William O'Toole graduated from Noble and Greenough School and holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame (Bachelor of Arts in Economics) and Suffolk University Law School. In the course of his long tenure as Corporate Counsel at Medical Information Technology (MEDITECH) he successfully negotiated tens of thousands of agreements representing revenue in the billions. After two decades at MEDITECH, Bill founded O’Toole Law Group and specializes in healthcare information technology (HIT) services.  His extensive experience dealing with healthcare organizations throughout the United States, Canada, and beyond provides a keen insight to the widely diverse needs and goals of the many types of entities in the healthcare sector and prepares him well to serve as an integral part of healthcare executive teams during their HIT acquisition process.

Bill can be reached at wfo@otoolelawgroup.com or visit O’Toole Law Group online at http://www.otoolelawgroup.com.

Vendor Spotlight: maxIT Healthcare to Deliver Webinar: Achieving Meaningful Use with MEDITECH

WHEN: February 4, 2010 @ 2:00 PM EST

Join Jack Walker, MEDITECH Practice Area Director of maxIT Healthcare, and special guest David Furnas of Gila Regional Medical Center (GRMC) for an informative and enlightening discussion about achieving Stage 6 recognition.

As healthcare organizations across the country using MEDITECH systems adopt new Meaningful Use guidelines, every CIO and administrator should tune in to this special webinar. You will pick up helpful tips and insights on just what it takes to achieve Meaningful Use. Don't miss it!

Click to Sign Up for the Webinar

Tricks of the Trade: MEDITECH NPR (Client Server) – Custom F9 Lookups for NPR Reports - Part 1 of 2

By: John Sharpe, President, Comstock Software, Inc.

NOTE: This is an advanced topic, the author assumes the reader has an intermediate level of skill on the NPR Report Writer.

If you’re looking to mimic the functionality in a standard MEDITECH lookup, the MEDITECH Z.id program will get the job done. The information in your lookup can be a simple list or generated from MEDITECH data. Using Z.id, you can create a lookup for a standard field or a custom field, the process is the same.

To get started, open your report using NPR and define your Select Fields on the Sorts/Selects tab.

Then define the xx.select field in the Picture tab. Key F12 and File the report.

Select option 9, the NPR Edit Elements routine.

Edit the field attributes by Keying Y, then Enter.

Call a local macro from your report as a program. Here, our macro is named select. Key Enter after keying the ID attribute.

Key the same ID attribute in the c.age MEDITECH field as well. Key F12 and File the report.

To define the select macro, Enter/Edit using option 7.

Type select as the macro name and hit Enter.

Take note of the /NUMBERS.DICTIONARY array, the local variable CD, and the Y in {“Y”,”ONE”,”Number One”} the /NUMBERS.DICTIONARY array.

You can name your slash / array, which contains your list of items for the Lookup, anything you want. In our example here, the name of the list is /NUMBERS.DICTIONARY. The MEDITECH pointer to, known as the name of, the array, is passed as parameter A like this: %Z.id(^/NUMBERS.DICTIONARY. Placing the carat ^ in front of the array name, tells MEDITECH where this array can be found in MEDITECH memory.

The Y in {"Y","ONE","Number One"} determines whether this item will be included in the Lookup’s list of items.

The local variable CD is the subscript in the /NUMBERS.DICTIONARY[1] array. The value of CD, in this case 1, is the value that is returned to the xx.select field when chosen at run time.

In Part 2 of this article, you’ll learn more about other ways custom lookups can be used to help you write better reports.

In the meantime, won't you join your colleagues in asking and answering questions at the MEDITECH Knowledge Exchange?  Thoughts? Email them to John at jsharpe@comstock-software.com.

John Sharpe is President / NPR Consultant 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.

Ocean Beach Hospital
Ilwaco, Washington

About the Organization:

Ocean Beach Hospital & Medical Clinics is an integrated healthcare organization committed to providing high-quality, patient-focused care. Our team of skilled professionals provides a wide range of medical services from emergency care to wellness programs.

Founded in 1934, Ocean Beach has grown into one of the largest employers in South Pacific County. We are a community-owned-and operated hospital with three medical clinics led by an elected board of commissioners. In 2008 the hospital completed an expansion and upgrade of the Nursing Wing, which was the final phase of an extensive 8,400 square foot construction project designed to help meet the needs of our growing coastal community.

Ocean Beach Hospital is one of nine federally designated rural Critical Access Hospitals which comprise the Western Washington Rural Health Care Collaboative. Ocean Beach is also a pilot hospital in the Washington State SCOAP surgical checklist initiative. Ocean Beach proactively seeks to incorporate new technologies and protocols.

But a healthcare system is more than technology; it’s more than brick and mortar. It’s people. The doctors, nurses, technicians and administrators who make up the Ocean Beach community are committed to building a healthcare environment that offers compassionate and exceptional care to everyone we serve.

About the Location:

Anchored on Washington’s southwestern-most coast, the Long Beach Peninsula is rich in tradition, raw beauty and award-winning dining establishments. Two lighthouses, military forts, museums and interpretive centers illuminate the Peninsula’s rich history. It is here, where the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean meet, that Lewis and Clark realized President Jefferson's quest.

Just north of the Oregon border, above Astoria, it is a 3 1/2 hour drive from Seattle, and only 2 1/2 hours from Portland. The drive from either Seattle or Portland is a pleasant, scenic route with lots of trees, water, and wildlife.

With about 9000 full time residents, Ilwaco's population swells to over 20,000 during the busy summer months. Visitors flock to spend their vacation on the beaches, Columbia River fishing, digging for the famous razor clams, picnicking, whale watching, swimming, visiting local attractions, or simply relaxing.

Ilwaco, the "Fishing Capital of the West", boasts of having the nicest and largest port basin on the coast. Most of the waterfront consists of a large boat basin, which will accommodate 1000 sport and commercial fishing vessels. Commercial and sport fishing, with their related businesses, are the major industries today as they have been since the early days. Tourism, forestry, and cranberry farming also play an important role in the community's economy.

Ilwaco boasts the following: A combined Junior/Senior High School which serves the entire Peninsula area. Motels, Bed & Breakfasts, RV Parks and Fort Canby State Park which has 250 camping spaces offer lodging for every taste. A state-of-the-art hospital and three medical clinics employ 13 physicians. Ilwaco is proud to have a regional library and several community churches. Visitors and locals alike enjoy the Ilwaco Heritage Museum, Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Cape Disappointment and North Head Lighthouses, City Park as well as Benson and Waikiki beaches and the North Jetty . Whether seeking out the Centennial murals or enjoying Ilwaco Harbour Village and Downtown Shopping, in Ilwaco, there is something for everyone.

Position Profile:

Provide technical support for MEDITECH system and related applications.  Responsibilities include: Application support, maintenance, and dictionary integrity/building; system upgrades and ring releases; NPR report writing; development of menus and Customer Defined Screens; implementation of new modules; and end-user training on applications.

Qualifications:

• 2+ years of experience with MEDITECH in an application analyst/support role
• Experience with NPR report writing is a must
• Experience implementing new modules is a must
• Experience with LSS applications is preferred

How to Apply:

Interested candidates may print an application from our website and return it to us at:

Ocean Beach Hospital & Medical Clinics
PO Box H
Ilwaco, WA 98624
Fax:  360-642-6309
Email:  employment@oceanbeachhospital.net.

Recent News: Systems Personnel Expands Healthcare Resources

SOUTHWICK, MA, January 28, 2010 -- Systems Personnel, a professional search and consulting firm within the Healthcare industry, announces its agreement to take over the recruiting business of Seattle-based Integrity Personnel, Inc.  Terri Wilson, owner of Integrity Personnel, has decided to turn the page to a new chapter in life and formally announces her departure from the executive search business.

After more than 20 years of experience in patient care roles, Terri began recruiting in 1995 and started Integrity Personnel, Inc. in 2001.  Always adhering to her firm’s motto, “Doing What is Right in Staffing”, Terri has guided hundreds of professionals to advance their careers, while assisting healthcare organizations to recruit and retain top talent.

In order to meet the continuing needs of her clients and candidates, Terri is passing the baton (so to speak) to another seasoned recruiter in the healthcare industry.  With 20 years of professional search experience, Donna Carroll, VP of Business Development & Recruitment for Systems Personnel, has focused exclusively on the healthcare industry for the past 10 years.  Carroll is also a member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the Capital Area Roundtable on Informatics in Nursing (CARING).

Read article...

Recent News: St. Joseph's Hospital Selects Full Suite of Medical Records Workflow Technology from eWebHealth

West Virginia Hospital Chooses Electronic Legal Health Record Technology to Improve Physician Satisfaction, Modernize Processes, Integrate with HCA MEDITECH System

READING, MA, February 2, 2010 -- St. Joseph's Hospital, a 325-bed acute care hospital in Parkersburg, West Virginia, has selected the complete eWebHIM(TM) suite of medical records workflow technology from eWebHealth, the leading provider of electronic workflow solutions for medical records, as its complete electronic legal health record (e-LHR) solution.

St. Joseph's will use the eWebHIM technology suite to digitize all paper components of its legal health record (LHR). The built-in workflows embedded in this e-LHR technology will automatically transmit patient charts to physicians for reviewing and completion and to the health information management (HIM) department for analysis and coding. In addition, this fully-secure, Web-based system will allow for simultaneous access to medical records for all authorized departmental users including Case Management, Quality Control, Utilization Review, Core Measures and Business Office.  This will eliminate the bottleneck of waiting for charts and improve overall HIM efficiency. With the eWebHIM suite, St. Joseph's expects to meet its goals of improving physician satisfaction, modernizing processes and improving record accessibility throughout its organization.

Read article...

Recent News: Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital Selects BizTech Healthcare Solutions, Inc.'s ProMed DM Document Management Solution

PISCATAWAY, NJ, January 28, 2010 -- BizTech Healthcare Solutions, Inc., an award-winning provider of innovative business process solutions for healthcare, and Microsoft Gold Certified ISV Managed Partner, has been chosen by Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital (www.alicepeckday.org) for its ProMed DM document management system which integrates with the hospital’s existing Meditech HCIS.

Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital is located in Lebanon, NH, and provides primary care, independent and assisted living, and specialty services to over 20 communities in New Hampshire and Vermont. The hospital will be using ProMed Scanning and ProMed DM for patient chart scanning, providing their staff with direct access to stored images and data from the hospital’s Meditech HCIS system. The solution will be implemented in a SaaS model at Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. BizTech offers its solutions in both a SaaS and traditional software server model.

Read article...

Recent News: Boston Software Systems Executive Joins MUSE Commercial Member Advisory Committee

BOSTON, MA, January 27, 2010 -- Boston Software Systems, the leader in workflow automation technology to the healthcare market, today announced Sara McNeil, president, was appointed to the Medical Users Software Exchange (MUSE) Commercial Member Advisory Committee (CMAC). This volunteer board consists of selected vendor members of MUSE who advise the organization on projects, policies and initiatives. The CMAC is a liaison between the hospital members of the MUSE board of directors and its commercial members. It represents the interests and the views of the community, and constantly works to exchange ideas and share information.

Ms. McNeil will serve as one of nine leaders in the healthcare sector for a two year-term. MUSE is the largest, non-profit, independent MEDITECH users group in the world with hundreds of hospital members, and provides ongoing leadership and direction to the MEDITECH community.

Read article...

Recent News: PatientEDU, LLC and Medical Information Technology, Inc. (MEDITECH) Announce "Interactive Patient Education Solution ('IPES')" Available to MEDITECH Customers in 2010

EAST LONGMEADOW, MA, January 25, 2010 -- PatientEDU, a healthcare IT firm recognized industrywide for "best in class" patient education content and software products, has entered into a nonexclusive agreement with Medical Information Technology, Inc. (MEDITECH) that will result in PatientEDU's "Interactive Patient Education Solution" ('IPES') being accessed from MEDITECH's Health Care Information System (HCIS). This collaborative solution will be available during 2010.

Larry O'Toole, Manager of Business Relations for MEDITECH, sees the PatientEDU 'IPES' as an ideal compliment to MEDITECH's industry-leading EMR products. "We're excited to collaborate with PatientEDU," says O'Toole. "Access to the 'IPES' solution within our Health Care Information System (HCIS) allows clinicians to engage patients throughout the care process, which is a key component toward demonstrating Meaningful Use."

Read article...

Recent News: MEDITECH Customer Among Three More Hospitals to Reach Stage 7

CHICAGO, IL, January 25, 2010 -- Three more hospitals have been recognized for attaining Stage 7, the highest level on the HIMSS Analytics Adoption Model.

Citizens Memorial Hospital in Boliver, Mo., Stanford Hospital and Clinics in Palo Alto, Calif., and the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wis., have been validated by HIMSS Analytics, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Chicago-based Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, for delivering care without the use of paper charts and readily sharing clinical information with other care providers via electronic transactions.

Citizens Memorial Healthcare, a 76-bed fully-integrated healthcare system, is being showcased by HIMSS as a model for what small community hospitals can achieve with healthcare information technology. The hospital implemented an electronic health record from Westwood, Mass-based Meditech in 1999 and, according to CIO Denni McColm, has been reaping the benefits ever since. According to Wellesley, Mass.-based Nucleus Research, the return on investment for the first year it was implemented was 1,321 percent, and over three years the hospital's ROI came in at 2,912 percent.

Read article...

Recent News: Commission Updates Certification Programs To New HHS Rules

Programs to be Launched by February 12 Effective Date

CHICAGO, IL, January 19, 2010 -- The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) today announced that both of its electronic health record (EHR) technology certification programs will be updated to conform to the Interim Final Rule (IFR) recently released by Health and Human Services (HHS), and that applications will open on the rule’s effective date of February 12, 2010.

The IFR, entitled “Health Information Technology: Initial Set of Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology,” was published in the Federal Register on January 13, along with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) describing the meaningful use objectives and incentive payment schedules for adoption of certified EHRs.

Read article...

Recent News: Corepoint Health Achieves Number 1 Position for Interface Engines Market Segment in 2009 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards Report

PLANO, TX, January 11, 2010 -- Corepoint Health, a healthcare integration software leader, today announced that Corepoint Integration Engine has achieved the Number 1 position in the Interface Engines market segment of the 2009 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Professional Services report.

The 2009 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Professional Services is a summary of performance data collected over the past 12 months from healthcare professionals and IT Executives. Included in the report is a ranking of the top vendors overall, as well as a ranking of the top vendors in key areas of performance.

Read article...

Recent News: Beaufort Memorial Selects Summit Healthcare to be their Integration Partner as they Migrate to Meditech 6.0

BRAINTREE, MA, December 29, 2009 -- Summit Healthcare, a leader in healthcare system integration and task automation, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Beaufort Memorial Hospital to assist with their Meditech 6.0 implementation as they migrate off their existing Meditech Magic system.  Beaufort Memorial will be investing in the Summit Apex product suite to maximize their integration and automation needs including electronic data exchange with their Physician Office EMR systems.  In addition to the investment in the Summit Apex product suite, Beaufort has entered into an Integration Outsourcing agreement with the Summit Healthcare professional services division to handle all integration management efforts for this project.

Read article...

Worth a Read: Articles of Interest to the Healthcare IT Field