Electronic Health Records (EHR, EMR)

UH CMIO Jeffrey Sunshine said that deploying an interoperability tool and new modules will help the hospital to create a single patient record physicians can access at the point of care.

The work will help determine how effective Philips IntelliSite whole slide imaging can be in detecting disease, streamlining pathology workflows and lowering costs. 

Rather than streamlining operations such as clinical and IT that could create significant savings, many merged organizations continue running acquired hospitals as individual entities, the consultancy found. 

Caleb Anderson says changing payment models are likely to make hospital executives rethink revenue cycles, and consider outsourcing services to Cerner or one of its competitors, including athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, NextGen, Conifer and others.

The group seeks permanent waivers for physicians who write 25 or fewer prescriptions per year.

The PC maker also signed an agreement to enable the Dubai Health Authority to make an insurance program work with new EHR.

NTT Data announced today it has agreed to buy computer giant Dell's IT service operations for $3.05 billion. The Japan-based NTT provides software and systems, including EHRs, surgery management, billing and insurance claims technologies. Analysts note the NTT acquisition of the Dell unit comes at a time when the global technology services firm NTT is working to broaden its traction in North America. [Also: 'Innovation means accepting risk,' Michael Dell says.] To that end, NTT is expected to add about 28,000 Dell employees with the purchase, mainly from North America and India, bringing its total global workforce to more than 100,000. The move will reportedly enable Dell to pay down some of the $43 billion debt it is taking on to fund its pending $67 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of data storage provider EMC Corp. Twitter: @Bernie_HITN Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Physicians are embracing electronic prescribing more rapidly than ever before, according to new data from Surescripts – especially in New York. In the Empire State, more than 48,000 providers have embraced digital prescriptions as a way to avoid fraud and abuse of prescription drugs – and a way to avoid fines. The deadline for complying with the state’s Internet System for Tracking Over Prescribing, or I-STOP, mandate for digital prescribing is March 27. [See also: NY e-prescribing law takes effect March 27, doctors now face fines for pen-and-paper.] Since March 1, the number of New York providers adopting electronic prescribing of controlled substances increased 28 percent, Surescripts reports. New York Is ahead of other states in e-prescribing adoption with 47 percent uptake, compared with numbers nationwide at just 8 percent. “The industry has made remarkable progress in adopting this critical technology that can have a direct and immediate impact on improving patient care and saving lives,” commented Surescripts CEO Tom Skelton, in a news release. Skelton pointed out that pharmacy adoption of the technology is nearly universal, with 95 percent of pharmacies in New York ready to prescribe controlled substances electronically. In 2013, more than two million Americans abused prescription painkillers such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and methadone, according to Surescripts. Drug diversion is a significant concern when it comes to controlled substances, officials say, with between three and nine percent of diverted drugs for abuse tied to fraud or forgery of paper prescriptions.  Twitter: @Bernie_HITN Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

Substance use disorder treatment centers are notoriously behind in technology, but Kemah Palms Recovery has implemented the tracking tech and an EHR to improve outcomes and report value.

HIMSS Analytics said the Epic shop saw a return on its investment in half the expected time.