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OOOOOOO, yes share that with the Bone Man. I think something with MMRF is getting ready to happen as well.
Morning FJ74, not to mention all of their IT / tech people are probably in Deerfield & the honcho's of WAG would want them in on the use of MMRF.
Easier for 2 to fly east than several flying west.
Hello Will37, excuse my ignorance... but who is Gemini Master Fund, Ltd? thanks!
CMS seeks out ‘test EHRs’ for MU Stage 2 objective
Laura Pedulli Nov 18, 2013
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking out multiple “test EHRs” for eligible providers, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals to use if they pursue a second approach to meeting measure three of Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 2’s transitions of care objective.
Under MU Stage 2, entities must either conduct one or more successful electronic exchanges of a summary of care document with a recipient using a different EHR technology than their own or conduct one or more successful tests with a CMS-designated test EHR during the EHR reporting period.
CMS and of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) are identifying a minimum set of technical capabilities required for designation as a tester. All designated test EHRs will register with a software system hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which will randomly match providers with a designated test EHR that is different from their own to achieve the Stage 2 objective, according to a CMS agency notice.
CMS and ONC are urging the EHR technology developer community to participate in the program to become a CMS designated test EHR. More information on eligibility is available here.
http://www.clinical-innovation.com/topics/ehr-emr/cms-seeks-out-%E2%80%98test-ehrs%E2%80%99-mu-stage-2-objective
Three Technology Innovations that Are Revolutionizing Patient Care
Blog | November 15, 2013 | EHR, Mobile, Technology
By Tom Giannulli, MD, MS
Whenever I go to a sci-fi movie, I am amazed at some of the ideas people have come up with around what healthcare is going to look like one day. We've seen handheld body scanners that diagnose problems, pills that grow a new organ, synthetic body parts, and a lot more.
We obviously aren't there yet, but there are some interesting and innovative things happening in healthcare IT. I think that in many ways the technology is finally catching up with the vision. I don't mean the filmmaker's vision of the future but a physician's vision of the future. There are three trends in particular that I think are starting to revolutionize patient care.
1. The evolution to a completely mobile environment. In this case when I say mobile, I mean more than just the mobile EHR. While I believe that is the direction we are headed and that it is changing the way we practice, mobile is much bigger than the exam room. mHealth is having a huge impact on healthcare. From mobile apps to track blood pressure, weight, and other vital signs to exercise trackers and much more, mHealth apps and devices are flooding the market place. There are tens of thousands of these devices and applications and the number is growing every day. Consider how this trend will continue toward wearable computing and sensors to implantable wireless sensors. Soon, you'll be able to work with your patients to use some of these devices to manage their wellness. The day is coming when all this data will move into the cloud and be accessible to your EHR and via its analytics engine, be presented to the clinician as intelligence, not just raw data. Not only will you be able to engage the patient more by using a mobile device to document the visit, but you'll be able to engage them in their healthcare when they are not even in your office.
2. Mobile telemedicine and remote visits. We've been using telemedicine to conduct remote visits in healthcare for a while now, but it has largely been restricted for use in rural settings where care and access to specialists is limited. I think we are going to get to a place where e-visits and telemedicine visits are much more commonplace. Patients may not always have to come to you. You may be able to meet in the middle using technology that allows you to interact in real time. For a family practice, you might start to do "virtual triage" where you interact remotely to determine if an in-person meeting is needed.
3. Google Glass and similar technology. I am fascinated by the possibilities with a solution like Google Glass. Imagine being able to wear a small, lightweight headset while you are looking at the patient that shows you their record. Then what if you could call up another provider on that device and have them interact with you and the patient as well. The possibilities seem endless. This really is a sci-fi gadget that takes us to places we've never been before.
We have been waiting for EHRs and mobile devices to offer the kind of powerful, easy-to-use technology that will really make it simpler for us to practice medicine and take care of patients. I believe that we are on the cusp of huge advances in technology that will change the way we interact with patients and other providers.
The most exciting thing about what the future holds is that these technologies are going to enable us to really practice what I call "heads up" medicine. We'll be able to look the patient in the eye and discuss their condition and care while documenting the visit or consulting another provider. We'll be able to recommend health and wellness apps and technology to patients that can really help them instead of sending them home with a print out of instructions we expect them to follow.
The potential for improving care is vast as we move into the next phase of technology in healthcare. And while I certainly have my ideas about what will happen next, the truth is that anything is possible. - See more at:
http://www.physicianspractice.com/blog/three-technology-innovations-are-revolutionizing-patient-care?GUID=F8F0782F-425F-40DE-9B50-632EB9F800B6&rememberme=1&ts=19112013
This will be coming to your home soon. Patient Video Consulting and PHR's will be needed more than ever. Time Is On MMRF's Side, oh & mine. BooYah!
http://news.yahoo.com/robots-let-doctors-beam-remote-hospitals-144149387.html?vp=1
Still Cloudy About EMRs In The Cloud, Hospitals? Be Careful
I’m as fond of a good tech paradigm shift as anyone else, but I have to say the whole discussion of “the cloud” has gotten so vague that it’s doing more harm than good. I think that’s particularly been the case in hospitals, which are already strained to the breaking point adopting EMRs/EHRs along more traditional lines.
Some thoughts from vendors on what the cloud means for hospital EMRs follow. I veer between thinking there’s nothing much new here and that there may be a paradigm shift lurking in the brush here somewhere.
Yes, I know there’s a difference between a browser-accessible application (the current SaaS model) and an application which is truly virtualized and manages data across all servers, storage and platforms (e.g. mobile Web, desktop, iPad, etc.). So I’m not suggesting all of the cloud talk is hooey.
But as long as vendors continue to blur that distinction, I’d be worried, especially as a hospital with an extremely complex platform to manage. If they aren’t sure what they’re delivering, how can they manage the fluid datastream that will someday be your EHR? Check out the examples below and see what you think.
Some Random EMR Cloud Pitches:
1. From Dell: Platform-as-a-Service
Dell’s MSite solution gives hospitals using MEDITECH access to the Health Care Information System (HCIS) software through the cloud. With MSite, Dell hosts MEDITECH applications in a state-of-the-art private cloud and provides technical and applications support, maintenance and disaster recovery at a predictable monthly cost. MSite also allows hospitals to more quickly and cost-effectively upgrade to newer versions of MEDITECH by alleviating upfront investment and ongoing maintenance costs associated with running the platform onsite. Dell’s MSite solution is available today.
2. From 4medica: Cloud-based SaaS
4medica announced today that its Integrated Electronic Health Record (iEHR) version 10.11 has earned certification as an Electronic Health Record (EHR) Module. The cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) iEHR solution satisfies the general and inpatient categories of certification criteria and meets the inpatient clinical quality measures required for hospitals and health systems to attest for Stage 1 meaningful use. With 15 months or less to go, healthcare organizations can rapidly deploy the affordable iEHR within weeks to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
3. By Medscribbler: Medical record SaaS
Medscribbler Cloud is a true Internet based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for both small independent clinical practices and larger mobile home care businesses. Offering a combination of clinical processor and practice management, Medscribbler Cloud addresses the challenges of limited time and information technology support facing small practices by offering advanced technology that is simple to use and even simpler to deploy. For mobile practices Medscribbler Cloud optimizes network speed and management.
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2011/08/15/still-cloudy-about-emrs-in-the-cloud-hospitals-be-careful/
Could Epic End Up The Victim Of Its Own EMR Success?
Here’s a recap of a really useful post laying out why Epic has, and can’t afford to let go of, total control of the large-hospital EMR market.
Interestingly enough, the post appeared in Lab Soft News, which is published by the Pathology Education Consortium. (Let’s take a wild guess and assume that PEC isn’t too pleased by Epic’s stranglehold on hospital EMR business, which doesn’t give its pathology information systems supporters much wiggle room.) But I digress…
In essence, the post makes three key points:
* Epic is implemented, or soon will be, in virtually every large U.S. hospital
* Epic keeps very close control of how its system is implemented and developed in an effort to control performance
* Given this desire for control, Epic isn’t likely to let other vendors create software to interoperate with its EMR
If the Lab Soft News author has his facts right, Epic isn’t just acting like a monopolist, it actually can’t afford to let any other vendors play in its sandbox at this point. In fact, the Wisconsin giant has basically painted itself into a corner.
As part of its winning sales pitch, Epic apparently guarantees that it will singlehandedly give a hospital all of the EMR functionality it needs. Under these circumstances, letting other vendors extend its platform would never do, as any system requiring additional integration doesn’t offer the “turnkey system” feeling Epic offers.
My instinct is that this situation will backfire on Epic. I’ve always believed that software firms benefit from working closely with development partners — or even by simply allowing others to extend its functions.
No matter how brilliant a company’s engineers are, and I’m sure Epic’s are top-notch, it can benefit from the ideas and energy that comes from creating compatible applications. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if an enterprise software house like Epic is too inward-looking, it will inevitably deteriorate simply due to the lack of fresh air.
But that’s just my take. What do you think?
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2011/08/12/could-epic-end-up-the-victim-of-its-own-emr-success/
Differences Between ROI, Ease of Meaningful Use Vary Between Vendors
New research by KLAS seems to have uncovered important differences between the way EMR vendors perform when organizations are mounting them for Meaningful Use compliance.
According to the research firm, which interviewed 104 MU-compliant providers, both large and small hospitals successfully passed through Meaningful Use attestation. However, the choice of vendor did seem to make a difference — one which, if KLAS is right, hospitals would be ill-advised to ignore.
KLAS concluded that hospitals using Allscripts, Healthland, HMS, McKesson had a harder time moving ahead on MU than organizations that went with MEDITECH, Cerner, CPSI and Epic. (It should be noted that while MEDITECH had the highest number of successful attesters, most of those came from a single large IDN, which makes it a bit hard to tell whether the IDN’s execution strategy or the product deserves the credit.)
One surprising bit of data, for me at least, that community hospitals were having an easier time covering their costs than larger IDNs. KLAS notes that this varied from vendor to vendor, but didn’t name which were the higher performers.
Why the difference? My guess is that the bigger IDNs bought “Extormity” software (such as Epic and Cerner) and are having a hard time paying for it; that they have higher integration costs; and that they’re dealing with larger piles of smoking heaps of machinery (oh, excuse me, I meant very outdated mainframes and what have you).
As for problems, providers obviously had plenty to share. Reporting and problem list functions were the most commonly reported challenges, KLAS said. In these areas, it seems, all vendors performed poorly, including the ever-popular Epic Systems.
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2012/03/21/differences-between-roi-ease-of-meaningful-use-vary-between-vendors/
HIMSS: Hospitals Achieving Meaningful Use Milestones
Hospitals are making good progress toward achieving Meaningful Use milestones, a new study by HIMSS suggests.
HIMSS, which surveyed 298 healthcare CIOs between December and February, found that 66 percent had already qualified for Meaningful Use stage 1, while another 4 percent expected to do so before the end of 2012, Information Week reports.
Meanwhile, 75 percent of respondents said they expect to attest for stage 2 in 2014, which as readers probably know is the first year of stage two attestations.
Given the ambitions noted by the CIOs, it’s not surprising to learn that 66 percent of them said they thought their budgets would definitely or probably increase this year. Of the remainder, 15 percent said their budgets would remain level, and 8 percent expected to see a decrease.
Last year, achieving Meaningful Use was the hospital CIOs’ top business objective, named by 24 percent of respondents, but this year, it fell to 15 percent. This year, the top health IT business objective has switched over to survival, with 21 percent saying their key goal was to sustain the financial viability of their organizations. This was followed closely by improving patient care, which came in at 19 percent.
Still, Meaningful Use will obviously stay top of mind for the CIOs, who may be better prepared than last year but still have much to handle.
After all, they expect to make serious money on achieving MU goals, HIMSS concluded. The survey found that about 30 percent of hospital CIOs expected an ROI (Return on Investment)of up to $2 million on stage 1, another 23 percent a return of $2 million to $3 million, and 16 percent expected ROI of $4 million to $5 million.
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2013/03/06/himss-hospitals-achieving-meaningful-use-milestones/
Hello TJG, I like the movement up but I do not believe it is insider buying. But that would be nice. Stay safe!
http://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1039466.htm
Patients, Portals, and PHRs
Electronic health records (EHRs) can help physicians communicate better with their colleagues on the health care team - and with their patients, too, to better involve them in their own health care.
"Patient engagement" — improving patients' (and their families') understanding of their health so they are more likely to comply with your recommendations, and are better able to communicate important health information to you — has become a buzz-phrase in the health care industry.
In part, this is because patient engagement is among the goals of meaningful use under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs. Under meaningful use stage 1, five of the 25 criteria are related to engaging patients and families by providing patients an electronic copy of their heath record, a clinical summary, an appropriate reminder, electronic access to their record, and/or patient-specific educational resources.
Read Full Article: http://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=29366
This is what they call modern technology. This cardiologist is certainly on the 'cutting edge.'
Looks like the future of diagnostic medicine and treatment is going to be quite revolutionary.
This is just amazing as to what is predicted in medicine.
Electronic Health Records' ‘Make-or-Break Year’
By Suzanne Allard Levingston November 14, 2013
Lelia Straw uses her home computer to help manage her type 2 diabetes. To track her blood work and stay in touch with her doctors, she logs on to HealthConnect, an online system operated by Kaiser Permanente, the Oakland (Calif.)-based health plan that covers 9.1 million Americans. “When you have the tools, you have sort of an internal motivation to use them and to pay attention to what’s going on,” Straw says. For years, the 63-year-old carried a paper record of her medical history, but she has come to realize that all her doctors now have access to even her most recent test results.
New findings confirm that electronic health records deliver benefits for patients and physicians. A September study by one of Kaiser Permanente’s research arms shows that when doctors switched from paper to digital records, their diabetic patients made 5.5 percent fewer trips to the emergency room and were hospitalized 5.3 percent fewer times. These modest gains added up to savings of $158,478 for every 1,000 patients. “There’s something about being in an integrated system that allows everything to work better,” says Marc Jaffe, a Kaiser Permanente endocrinologist who is a co-author of the study.
The Obama administration has been spurring the development of a digitally connected health-care system since 2009, when the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act was wrapped into the stimulus program. As of September, more than $16.5 billion in subsidies had been disbursed to help hospitals and doctors who treat Medicare and Medicaid patients defray the cost of purchasing certified technology. Medicare providers who don’t go digital will have payments reduced starting in 2015.
The transition to electronic records underpins many of the goals set out in the Affordable Care Act of 2010, such as curbing hospital readmissions and encouraging the development of Accountable Care Organizations, groups of doctors, hospitals, and other professionals who coordinate care for Medicare patients and get paid more for keeping their patients well. Digitization also promises to unlock a wealth of data that drugmakers, insurance companies, and government agencies could mine to improve treatment and contain costs.
Next year will be “a make-or-break year” for electronic health records, says Dr. Farzad Mostashari, who stepped down in October as national coordinator for health IT at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “In the past three years, we’ve been busy putting the systems in place,” says Mostashari, now a Brookings Institution visiting fellow. By 2014 these platforms are expected to be able to interoperate, which means “talk to each other and to patients,” he says.
In this second stage of the incentive program, IT vendors and in-house developers will encounter tougher certification standards, while hospitals and doctors will face more stringent requirements for what’s known as the “meaningful use” of the technology. Trade groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Hospital Association, have called for implementation to be delayed.
Not all the IT players will reach the second stage. “A company would have to be heavily capitalized to the tune of tens of millions of dollars to be able to achieve this,” says Ryan Howard, chief executive officer of Practice Fusion, a startup that markets a Web-based electronic health record system. The stage 2 requirements will likely drive further consolidation. In the latest deal, rivals Vitera Healthcare Solutions and Greenway Medical Technologies announced on Nov. 4 that they had completed their $644 million merger.
In 2014 the data revolution may finally reach health care. If systems can be made to communicate, it will turbocharge efforts to monitor patient populations, oversee public-health emergencies, and make medical discoveries. “Big data is really having the ability to track patients through their life cycle and then use smart analytics to understand not just the life cycle of the patient but how it compares to [the] population,” says Jan De Witte, CEO of General Electric’s (GE) health-care IT division.
Digitization is also expected to encourage consumers to become more engaged in their health care. Objectives embedded in the 2009 law will propel the development of patient portals, such as the one Straw uses to access her diabetes records. Many will be modeled on the Blue Button that gives Medicare and Veterans Affairs patients secure access to health data.
In many quarters of the sprawling health-care industry, there is the sense that electronic records will usher in a new era. “There’s a permanent change in the way medicine is being practiced and the rate at which new insight is being brought to the bedside and to the clinic,” says Paul Black, CEO and president of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (MDRX), a Chicago company that markets clinical software. “Once everything is automated and once everything is digitized, you actually have the promise of really permanently moving the meter on the care that’s delivered and the amount of money that it takes to deliver it.”
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-14/2014-outlook-electronic-health-records-make-or-break-year
BLOG: Doctors Like Electronic Medical Records, as Long as Patients Can't Touch Them
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-13/doctors-like-electronic-medical-records-as-long-as-patients-cant-touch-them
STORY: Your Medical Records Are for Sale
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-08-08/your-medical-records-are-for-sale
What is your point? and how does this apply to MMRF?
Would someone please tell me does Mr. D CEO read or have someone inform him of the conversations on this board or the frame of mind some of us investors have?
I got in to this with high hopes & the thought they were on to something. Mr. Tuttle's addition inspired me more but since then my positive attitude has been shrinking.
For the record I want to see success here with XSNX.
I would assume if he had good news he would share. Silence is trouble.
Hello FJ74, thanks for the update but you have to be a member to get in & see it. Also I see you now a Level 2 with Ihub.
It seems to me they should have a full handful list of questions now from investors that they could put out a Q & A PR for all investors to view.
They might even think of a PR that ask investors to submit their questions & a reply will be posted on the website by a certain date for all investors to see.
At what I have been watching the last several months all be damn before I sink any more money into this company.
Have a good day all & stay safe!
Thanks Will37, stay safe.
LS, the interview is tomorrow 2:00pm CST.
To listen:
http://www.iheart.com/#/live/4276/?autoplay=true
http://www.yorbamedia.com/radio
And I hope your right. I read something not long ago (really I can't remember) that the Chinese or Japanese are doing something with Cig Solar.
Benn in this since 2009 guess I'll have to stick around a little longer. Good thing I already have my plot & stone paid for & already in place. LMAO!
Oh, I do have a question... when did xsnx apply for their patent? Thanks & stay safe.
Unless there is significant news of sales or contracts all we are going to see in a little very little move up & people are going to take profits.
Meaningful Use May Be Slowing Down Hospital EMR/EHR Installs
It’s finally happening. After years of work, hospitals are beginning to qualify for, and even receive, their long-awaited stimulus payments. On the other hand, having to focus on Meaningful Use seems to have drained a lot of resources and bandwidth away from actual EMR/EHR launches.
Last month CHIME (the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives) surveyed 198 members, representing 656 hospitals across the U.S., on how they were doing with the EMR/EHR adoption process.
CHIME found that the nearly all (93 percent) of CIOs surveyed expected to achieve Meaningful Use Stage 1 during the first three years of the MU program, though many are hoping Stage 2 will be delayed so they can catch up.
It also found that the number of CIOs worried about Meaningful Use has fallen — about two-thirds are still worried, down from 90 percent in March 2011 — and that more than half believe their current strategy and apps will get them there.
Thirteen percent of the hospitals responding received incentive payments during the first year of the program, which began October 1, 2010. Four percent got Medicare incentives, while 9 percent were paid by their state’s Medicaid program.
To date, though, just over half of respondents had registered for stimulus funding, and 26 percent had qualified for payments under HITECH, CHIME reports.
Not only that, twenty-one percent of members hadn’t registered because they hadn’t yet bought or installed an EMR/EHR. (Is it really that early in the adoption process still?) It’s particularly surprising among members of CHIME, who seem to be the types who work for more advanced and progressive institutions.
With a full one-fifth of respondents still fretting over compliance and holding off on EMR implementation, is seems cear Meaningful Use has had a paralyzing effect on the process. While it’s spurred some hospitals to action, it’s arguably slowed down just as many who might be moving ahead otherwise.
Worries about Meaningful Use have created a big, huge cloud of smoke around EMR/EHR adoption. It’s not enough that hospital CIOs have to worry about getting it done — they have to get it done to the government’s standards.
I’m not taking a position on whether Meaningful Use is a good thing long-term, or whether the short-term goals are the right ones. But I think it’s fairly obvious that MU has thrown a serious monkey wrench into the usual systems adoption process. I suppose only time will tell whether it was worth the expense, pain and delays it has caused. Honestly, though, I doubt it.
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2011/10/22/meaningful-use-may-be-slowing-down-hospital-emrehr-installs/
Contact
MMRGlobal, Inc.
4401 Wilshire Blvd. 2nd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90010
1-888-808-4667
Email: info@mmrmail.com
Given all the natural disasters that have been experienced in recent years... why do you think BL has done some kind of national advertising?
Don't know why its going up but I'll take it.
Has Epic Grown Too Big, Too Fast?
Nov 08, 2013 06:59 am | By: John
We’ve written a lot of posts over the years about some of the challenges that Epic has faced as it’s grown its EHR business. In fact, Anne Zieger’s post yesterday about a Hospital Credit Rating Lowered due to their Epic Project is one example. However, I was really struck by this reader submitted article on HIStalk.
The article is written by a “Long-Time Epic Customer”. You don’t get the sense that this customer is bitter or has any real dog in the fight. In fact, if anything this customer seems to have a love for Epic and they want Epic to win the EHR battle. However, they’re concerned by the changes that they’ve seen in Epic as its grown. His a paragraph from the article:
We installed Epic years ago, but have seen a vast difference between our prior experience and a recent rollout of newer products. The method where time was taken to help us build our own system has been replaced by a rushed, prefab Model system installed by staff where even the advisers and escalation points at Epic have little knowledge of their applications. Epic has always had newer people, but it was much more common to have advisers during the install who did have experience to watch for pitfalls.
The writer then goes on to describe how Epic seems to be investing in the wrong things. “We’re getting answers, solutions, fixes, and reports slower than ever.”
I think the reason many of things really struck a chord with me is that they’re matching up with many of the things I’ve seen and heard. Based on some real anecdotal things I’ve heard I won’t be surprised if Judy decides to get out of the day to day work at Epic sometime soon. We’ll see how it plays out, but an Epic without Judy at the helm will be quite different.
Read more….
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2013/11/08/has-epic-grown-too-big-too-fast/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HospitalEMRandEHR+%28Hospital+EMR+and+EHR%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail
Related posts:
1. Epic EMR ROI
2. Does the Stockholm Syndrome Apply to EMRs?
3. Judy Faulkner Interoperability Chart
Allscripts' revenue pipeline offsets worries over $50 million loss
By Andrew L. Wang, Crain's Chicago Business
Posted: November 8, 2013 - 1:30 pm ET
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions swung to a steep net loss of nearly $50 million in the third quarter, as revenue fell and expenses crept up, but concerns about the weak results were apparently offset by stronger prospects for future revenue.
The Chicago-based health IT company reported a sharp increase during the period in bookings, a measure of contracts in the pipeline not yet recorded as revenue, to $236 million, 47% over the year-earlier period and 10% more than in the second quarter, the medical records company announced yesterday. Bookings were up 14% through the first nine months of 2013, compared to 2012.
Allscripts has shown signs of regaining its footing this year after nearly two years of uncertainty caused by a difficult merger, management upheaval and a failed attempt to sell the company.
"We believe the company is clearly seeing stabilization in its business and expect the new management team will prove to be stronger stewards of value creation going forward," Ryan Daniels, a Chicago-based analyst for William Blair & Co. wrote in a research note. "We also view the bookings performance as a key leading indicator of a successful turnaround underway."
In mid-morning trading, shares fell back to about their Thursday closing price of $14.18 in trading, after jumping as high as 5% at the opening bell.
For the quarter, lost $48.9 million loss for the third quarter, compared with net income of $9.4 million gain in the third quarter of 2012, while revenue fell 8.5% to $330.2 million in the quarter, from $360.7 million in the year earlier period.
The company lost 27 cents a share in the quarter, well more than earnings of 4.6 cents a share estimated by 12 analysts polled by Bloomberg LP. Excluding one-time items, Allscripts earned 5 cents a share, below the 8.5 cents analysts had predicted.
Results for the first nine months of 2013 followed similar trends. The net loss was $83.4 million during the first three quarters of the year, compared with net income of $23.2 million during the same period of 2012. Revenue fell 6.7%, to $1.02 billion during the first three quarters of the year, compared with $1.10 billion during the same period of 2012.
Still, analysts looked favorably on the increase in bookings.
Greg Bolan of Sterne Agee Group Inc., said in a note: "We reiterate our Buy rating given our belief that Allscripts' profitability is primed to significantly recover in" calendar years 2014 and 2015.
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20131108/INFO/311089994?AllowView=VW8xUmo5Q21TcWJOb1gzb0tNN3RLZ0h0MWg5SVgra3NZRzROR3l0WWRMWGFWZjBKRWxIeU96eTMyWmFxNTNRWUpiV2w=&utm_source=link-20131108-INFO-311089994&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits&utm_name=bottom
Epic Implementation Problems Lead To Lower Hospital Credit Rating
Nov 07, 2013 09:15 am | By: Anne Zieger
Of late, stories have begun to crop up about troubled Epic implementations and the financial problems that these shaky implementations can cause. In fact, we’re aware of at least one Epic investment which may have led to the departure of a CIO from a Maine hospital.
Now, we’re told that a troubled Epic implementation has led to the lowering of a hospital’s credit rating. Standard & Poor’s has lowered Winston-Salem, NC-based Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s debt from AA- to A+, primarily due to the problems Wake Forest has had in rolling out Epic, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
According to a statement from Wake Forest, the EMR implementation had a bigger impact on the hospital’s finances and operations than it had anticipated, leading to poorer overall fiscal performance than expected for 2013. Earlier this year, the CIO for Wake Forest resigned in the wake of the Epic debacle.
Wake Forest spent about $13.3 million to bring Epic on board, and roughly $8 million on Epic-related expenses, but that doesn’t seem to have been the main reason the install caused financial problems. We know from a report in the Winston-Salem Journal that since the Epic rollout, the hospital said that it had lost $26.6 million in margin due to volume disruption caused by Epic-related problems.
The Epic implementation wasn’t the only reason for the downgrade. It came partly due to cuts in NIH research funding, lower volume growth, a lower provider tax and sequestration cuts, according to hospital CFO and vice president for finance Edward Chadwick. But clearly, the disruptions caused by the Epic install have been major.
S&P did show Wake Forest some mercy, changing its financial outlook from “negative” to “stable.” The agency is predicting that the hospital should rebound financially in 2014 as the disruptive effect of the Epic install decreases.
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2013/11/07/epic-implementation-problems-lead-to-lower-hospital-credit-rating/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HospitalEMRandEHR+%28Hospital+EMR+and+EHR%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail
I thank you 3 for your assistance, much appreciated!
I'm sorry I missed the call. Is there a way to hear a replay? Thanks for any help, stay safe.
TJG, Scottrade contacted me that the OTC board was down & all trading was halted until it came back up again.
But it had nothing to do with XSNX.
Is your implication that XSNX will not trade again TODAY or EVER?
Not only RV's but the boat industry as well eventually.
Failed $1 Billion Dollar Medical Records System in Australia Faces the Ax
Once in a while, it’s interesting to look at other countries and how they are doing. In Australia so few people used the system it was costing $200,000 per person. There are only a few hundred doctors uploading records into the system. In Australia it’s a little different than here with the patient being in control of their records. Just a couple months ago doctors were starting to quit over this and they want control of the medical records. Doctors contribute of course but the patients have the ultimate control.
Doctors in Australia Quitting Out of Frustration Over Government e-Health Medical Records Program and Want to Be Paid For the Time They Spend And Want It Simplified
Now an evaluation is in process and the National E-Health Transition Authority is said to have lacked the skills to get the job going properly. Doctors don’t like the system either as they say it’s too complex we hear the same in the US. A lot of emergency rooms have deployed scribes because of that. BD
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A lack of software had prevented many doctors even accessing patient records.
"The problem is that the former government spent about $1 billion in this area and the number of people actively using the records numbers in the thousands,'' he told Sky News. "There are only a few hundred doctors actually uploading details into people's files. It has been a scandal. On those numbers it runs at about $200,000 a patient.''
Executive director of the UnitingCare Health Group in Queensland, Richard Royle, who is also vice president of the Australian Private Hospitals Association, has been given the job of reviewing the program.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/failed-1-billion-electronic-health-records-system-faces-the-axe/story-e6frg6n6-1226752365051
To the Medical Quack Link
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/11/failed-1-billion-dollar-medical-records.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FPHZF+%28The+Medical+Quack%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail
KC Chiefs 9 - n - 0
MMRGlobal has patents and business partners in China so this does apply to MMRF and should not be pulled by the Ihub board.
China trying to stop patients from killing doctors
BEIJING – China plans to beef up security in its hospitals to prevent the deaths of doctors and nurses in attacks by patients' relatives outraged over the cost and quality of care.
Experts say that without significant health care changes to tackle the causes of conflict, the measures will not improve safety.
Attacks on medical staff, mostly by angry relatives, killed seven people and injured 28 in 2012, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, which issued security guidelines with the Ministry of Public Security, China's police force.
The guidelines suggest that the number of security guards in each hospital should be at least one per 20 patient beds, or no less than 3% of medical staff. The guidelines also call for alarm buttons, security doors and scanning equipment to detect weapons, plus more camera surveillance and foot patrols.
Besides the increased hardware, the authorities say better mediation of medical disputes is necessary and more education to "guide patients to safeguard their rights in a rational manner."
Emotions often run high at Chinese hospitals, a result of resentment over expensive and hard-to-access medical treatment. Anger can be compounded by the need to pay bribes to guarantee good service and supplement doctors' usually low wages.
Monday, several people severely beat three doctors at a hospital in south China's Guangzhou city after they were unable to immediately take home the body of a deceased, elderly relative.
"All medical personnel feel insecure!" wrote Eric Chong, deputy secretary general of the China Hospital Association, on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent, after the incident. "We need all sectors of society and the government to face up to this, and make a self-criticism! Otherwise China's medical service has no future!" he wrote.
Chong shared a photo of a masked medical worker holding a sign about the Guangzhou case that read, "Demand that the perpetrators are dealt with by law! Zero tolerance for violence in hospitals starts with you and me! No safety for doctors and nurses, no health for patients!"
A survey by Chong's association, released in August, showed the annual average number of assaults on doctors increased to 27.3 per hospital in 2012, up from 20.6 in 2008.
Reasons for the violence included unsatisfactory treatment, poor doctor-patient communication, high expenses for patients and insufficient medical resources, the survey found. Nearly 40% of the medical staff surveyed at 316 hospitals said they planned to give up their profession because of the increase in violence, the survey said.
Zhu Youdi, a medical expert and writer, blamed the violence on "a crisis of mutual trust and mutual communication between hospital and patients."
If a doctor succeeds in curing them, "patients are happy and willing to give bribes. But if a doctor receives bribes but fails to cure the patient, they lost both life and money, and the relatives will be extremely angry, it's impossible to ask them to behave in a rational manner," he said.
The new measures fail to tackle the problem, Zhu said. Only a thorough overhaul of China's medical system will reduce hospital violence, he said.
Huang Jiefu, a former deputy minister of health, says China needs an independent agency to handle medical malpractice disputes for patients who have no confidence in the hospital-run system, according to the Beijing Morning Post newspaper.
China's hospitals must lose some of their administrative authority, Zhu suggested. In U.S. hospitals he has visited, where malpractice may end a doctor's career, "they treat their work carefully, but for doctors in China, an accident is the hospital's business, as the hospital runs everything, including buying medicines, equipment and doctors," he said.
The guidelines are aimed at hospitals of "secondary level and above," which means half of China's 24,000 hospitals, but the nation's remaining 900,000-plus health care institutions, mostly at grass-roots level, should use them for reference, the commission said.
The measures form the latest salvo in China's "Safe Hospitals" campaign begun in 2007. Many urban hospitals have bought helmets and anti-stab vests for security guards and long sticks to keep attackers at bay. The most common weapon in China is usually a knife or kitchen chopper; guns remain rare.
"The strength of security guards is insufficient," joked Dong Guining, an IT salesman in Beijing, on Sina Weibo. "You must use the People's Armed Police, or, when necessary, the chengguan," urban management officials infamous in China for beating street vendors to death.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/10/24/china-hospital-attacks/3178633/
Virtual doctor's office visits via telemedicine to be norm
By Alex Nixon
Published: Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, 11:45 p.m. Updated 14 hours ago
Who wants to get off the couch when they're sick if a doctor is just a mouse click away?
Virtual doctor visits could become as common as face-to-face appointments because health insurers, hospital systems and employers view it as a way to clamp down on rising medical costs. They hope that by giving patients easy access to a primary care physician, it will discourage them from visiting a costly emergency room when they get sick.
The trend is emerging as millions of Americans are expected to gain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The influx of new patients could put a strain on some doctors' offices, possibly driving more people to the hospital for routine illnesses if they can get an appointment quickly.
In Western Pennsylvania, health giants UPMC and Highmark Inc. are rolling out new services that allow patients to video-conference with doctors through computers, tablets and smartphones. They are the first to offer such services in the region.
“We think more and more people, as they become more familiar with telemedicine ... this is something that is just going to be commonplace,” said Natasa Sokolovich, executive director of telemedicine at UPMC.
But for all the promise of technology to help patients, some doctors warn that an eVisit can't replace face-to-face consultation in an office.
Nonverbal cues can be very important in accurately diagnosing patients, said Dr. Bruce MacLeod, president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, a Harrisburg-based advocacy group for physicians across the state. Some details could be missed in a video conference, he said.
“I believe telemedicine is going to serve a bigger and bigger role in increasing the efficiency that we can monitor our patients,” MacLeod said. “I think there's a lot of potential there, but I don't think it'll ever replace” a personal doctor visit.
MacLeod, who is also director of emergency medicine for Highmark-owned West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield, said virtual doctor visits can be a convenient way to start the interaction with a doctor.
Highmark, which has offered a telemedicine benefit to a limited number of large national companies since 2012, is making it available to all customers who buy individual coverage under Obamacare starting in 2014.
And UPMC, the largest hospital network in the region, will offer the service to anyone in the state through its website starting next week.
Convenience is the big selling point of telemedicine services to patients, industry officials said. Rather than having to wait days or weeks to schedule an appointment at a doctor's office, a video conference could be scheduled within minutes or hours, and the patient wouldn't have to leave home.
“The biggest reason we're doing this is for member convenience,” said Dara Smith, director of strategic products for Highmark. “Everyone is so busy.”
While patients wouldn't save money — they will have to pay a charge or co-pay similar to visiting a doctor's office — insurers would save by not paying out claims for more costly treatment in urgent care centers and hospitals.
“Our members report to us that when they are using a Teladoc consultation, they avoid unnecessary trips to urgent care centers, which are more expensive to the consumer and the insurer,” said Jason Gorevic, CEO of Teladoc Inc., a Dallas-based company with which Highmark contracts to provide the telemedicine service to its members.
Teladoc has more than 6 million members signed up across the country and predicts it will have more than 7 million by January.
Members whose plans include the Teladoc service pay an office visit co-pay, which can run up to $40, to video-conference with a physician, Smith said.
UPMC's service — called AnywhereCare — will be open to anyone in the state of Pennsylvania and will cost $38 for non-UPMC Health Plan members, spokeswoman Wendy Zellner said. UPMC Health Plan members pay the same as their office visit co-pay, which in many cases is less.
In both services, a patient must establish an account and enter personal information and health history before using the service.
Teladoc physicians, who are board-certified medical doctors, can diagnose, recommend treatment and prescribe medication for minor illnesses, including cold and flu, bronchitis, allergies and infections.
UPMC AnywhereCare will use physicians and nurses from its network of urgent care centers to consult with patients online.
An eVisit with a Teladoc physician is guaranteed to take place within an hour after an online request is made, and the average wait time is 16 minutes in Pennsylvania, Gorevic said.
Patients can request an Anywhere-Care eVisit 24 hours a day, but the video consultations will be scheduled from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.
“We can't afford to not get into this space,” Sokolovich said. “It's where industry is moving.”
Alex Nixon is a staff writer forTrib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7928 or anixon@tribweb.com.
Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/4976316-74/doctor-patients-telemedicine#ixzz2jU3tgfbV
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AHIMA pushes for patient matching
The mismatch between patients and their clinical data is a serious and growing patient safety issue," says Meryl Bloomrosen, vice president of thought leadership, practice excellence and public policy at AHIMA, the organization of health information management professionals.
Bloomrosen was among a group of HIM professionals at a town hall meeting on the topic of patient matching Wednesday at AHIMA’s annual convention in Atlanta.
To maximize the safety and security of patient medical records, steps must be taken to ensure the proper matching of healthcare information in the electronic health record and in the process of health information exchange, AHIMA leaders say.
[See also: CIOs push for patient ID progress.]
"Although the nation’s healthcare community is moving forward for the adoption of electronic health records and health information exchange capabilities, there is a growing sense of urgency to develop a national approach and strategy to effectively deal with ongoing and significant challenges regarding patient matching," Bloomrosen said in a news release.
Participants at AHIMA’s town hall discussed:
• What technological and organizational considerations affect accurate patient matching
• What approaches organizations are using to achieve accurate patient matching
• What the top three barriers and/or risks are to attain and secure the integrity of patient matching for healthcare and how can they be mitigated
"HIM professionals are on the front lines in dealing with patient matching," added AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, in a statement. "This type of forum serves as a temperature gauge allowing members to learn and share. Our discussion will help AHIMA frame and inform future discussions with federal agencies and industry leaders.
"Patient matching is essential to avoid duplicate records and to reduce instances of incomplete or fragmented patient information," she explained. "AHIMA and its members have longstanding experience dealing with patient matching work flow and process, nuances and pitfalls, and stand ready to provide lessons learned. Accurate patient identification is foundational to the successful linking of patient records within healthcare delivery sites and across the healthcare ecosystem. Successful patient matching is key to care delivery, data exchange, analytics, and critical business and clinical processes. We know that effective solutions require more than technology or statistical algorithms."
AHIMA’s discussion comes on the heels of an announcement this fall by the Office of the National Coordinator that it's launching its Patient Matching Initiative, a project to help identify the common features and best practices being used in the private sector and the government.
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/ahima-pushes-patient-matching
WebMD buys startup Avado to connect patients and physicians
Summary: As part of its ongoing shift from offering content to being a “full-service engagement platform for patients,” WebMD has acquired Avado to help patients and physicians interact.
Online health information company WebMD has snapped up Avado, a startup that develops cloud-based software to let physicians and patients interact.
The companies declined to disclose financial information, but said Avado’s technology will be integrated under the WebMD brand and that the founders will join the company to continue developing the technology and business relationships.
In addition to its consumer-facing health information site, WebMD offers content and services for healthcare professionals, as well as private online health portals that enable employees or health plan members to manage health information and decisions.
WebMD said its services already enable physicians using its Medscape mobile app to send health information related to conditions, procedures and treatment to their patients who use WebMD’s consumer mobile app. With Avado, the company plans to step up its efforts to help patients engage with physicians.
“We believe we are uniquely positioned to connect our physician and consumer audiences,” WebMD CEO David Schlanger told Bloomberg.
Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with Qualcomm Life to help consumers sync and analyze data from wireless health and fitness devices. At the time, WebMD CTO Bill Pence told me that it was part of the company’s shift from offering “trusted content to [being] a full-service engagement platform for patients.” The Avado deal clearly extends that ongoing effort.
Based in Seattle and New York, Avado was founded in 2010 by former Microsoftie David Chase, Bassam Saliba and John Yii. It’s part of the Startup Health academy in New York and has raised funding from the New York Digital Health Accelerator and other health technology angel investors.
http://gigaom.com/2013/10/30/webmd-buys-startup-avado-to-connect-patients-and-physicians/