Mike Miliard
There is "no distinction between information management and healthcare," said Peter Salgo, MD, associate director of surgical intensive care at Presbyterian Hospital in New York, in his rousing presentation at AHIMA on Tuesday. And the people who know how to synthesize, store, and integrate medical information will lead the massive healthcare changes of the 21st century.
"We're at an inflection point," said Paul Tang, MD, vice president and chief medical information officer at Palo Alto Medical Foundation, in his keynote speech at AHIMA on Tuesday. "For once, the stars are aligned."
Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin learned a few things in her old job running the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Alabama. First, the job didn't just entail "sewing up the shark bites" - there were plenty of "land sharks" (regulators and red-tape dispensers) to fend off, too. Second, EHRs are an absolute must-have.
Two and a half years after its launch, Google Health has unveiled a "top-to-bottom" redesign – with a new focus on attracting a users who want to "actively manage their health and wellness."
When word got out this past summer that Google and Verizon had negotiated a "secret pact" (as one alarmist account put it) to essentially bypass the concept of net neutrality – which holds that all online data should be conveyed at the same speed, regardless of whose content it is – the reaction from bloggers and journalists was immediate and impassioned.
This past May, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson delivered a speech on the subject electronic waste (e-waste), which she called one of the most pressing global environmental priorities for the U.S. Too often, she said, America's e-waste "ends up illegally overseas in developing countries - India, Africa - where labor is cheaper...and workers are often less safe," she said.
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and the Drummond Group have been named the first two bodies designated by the ONC to test and certify EHRs, with expectations that there are more Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ONC-ATCBs) to come. Now what?
With its acquisition of Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based Quantum Medical Imaging, a privately-held manufacturer of X-ray systems used by hospitals, imaging centers and health clinics, Carestream Health has bolstered itself with a substantial portfolio of conventional and digital X-ray technologies, and better-positioned itself to penetrate the small and mid-sized hospital market.
In a deal that will add feet-on-the-ground management of payer reimbursement services to 200 hospitals in 30 states enabled by a technology backbone, Emdeon Inc. announced in early September that it will acquire Altanta-based Chamberlin Emonds & Associates for $260 million in cash.
Bonnie Cassidy, vice president of HIM product management at Reston, Va.-based QuadraMed and the president-elect of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), sat down with Healthcare IT News at AHIMA's 82nd annual convention and exhibit to talk about the importance of the health information management profession, and her vision for the future.