Oct. 7, 2009: Webmedx Announces Physician-Centric CDI Solution
Webmedx, the fourth largest medical transcription service provider in the U.S. and the only leading company to employ a 100 percent domestic workforce, announced the release of their latest physician documentation technology and service platform, Enterprise5. Sean Carroll, company CEO, announced the availability of Enterprise5 to a select group of customers and guests during a private reception at the American Health Information Management Association's 81st Annual Convention and Exhibition in Grapevine, TX.
Enterprise5 enables hospitals and clinics to drive greater value out of their speech, voice and transcription investments while advancing electronic health record (EHR) adoption. A Web-native system for transcription and EHR content management, Enterprise5 offers a complete, end-to-end solution for physician documentation. The new platform encompasses all of Webmedx's existing transcription technology and services, while adding new capabilities for front-end speech recognition, data mining, quality analytics, revenue analytics and clinical documentation improvement (CDI).
Enterprise5 gives physicians several options including a hybrid blend of free text, once-and-done voice capture or intelligent speech recognition. "Regardless of the input method, we're able to abstract discrete data from the narrative reports for EHR fulfillment, core measures reporting and other downstream functions," mentioned Carroll. Termed "narradata" by the company, the discrete data abstracted from narrative transcription and tagged by Webmedx can also be used to correlate with clinical documentation and compliance improvements.
Documentation outcomes are analyzed and recommendations for improvement sent back to the CDI team, creating the industry's first closed loop clinical documentation process. Physician coaches work in conjunction with electronic reminders to help doctors improve documentation at the point of dictation or voice capture resulting in improved case mix, increased MS-DRG payments by 4-15 percent, and better quality scores.
Oct. 7, 2009: MTIA Launches New Membership Campaign: Vision 2020
The Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA), an organization for medical transcription technology and service companies, hosted a special event to kick off its Vision 2020 campaign at AHIMA's 2009 convention. The campaign aims to increase membership and raise funds for marketing, public relations and advocacy to ensure medical transcription companies remain relevant and stay in step with the evolution of health care.
The event was co-hosted by Linda Yaniszewski, the current MTIA board president and president/CEO of ExecuScribe Inc., headquartered in Rochester, NY, (a MTIA member since 1991), and Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE, the CEO of MTIA.
The quality of a patient's record and the need for health care data integrity are at the heart of MTIA's drive to increase membership and raise awareness. The organization is also working with an advocacy firm in Washington, DC, to inform lawmakers about the critical role that transcriptionists play in creating an EHR, including significant narrative information that can only be captured in the dialogue between patient and physician.
"Transcription service organizations can be the best resource to help physicians and hospitals successfully integrate new clinical documentation processes and technologies as an important component of the EHR," said Yaniszewski.
"MTIA is evolving along with the changes in the healthcare sector," says Preziosi. "In light of the current political initiatives, we have launched the Vision 2020 campaign and engaged an advocacy firm to ensure that the irreplaceable, information accuracy and patient safety functions of transcriptionists is properly understood."
Oct. 6, 2009: Meta Health Technology Announces eCDI Product
Meta Health Technology today announced its Web-based eCDI software product, which automates all elements of the clinical documentation improvement process and includes Meta's electronic physician query software. Benefits for hospitals include a streamlined CDI workflow, improved physician query response rate, robust reporting and improved reimbursement.
The new software automatically presents CDI specialists with their work assignments, enabling them to "jump start" their case reviews as soon as they walk in the door.
Oct. 6, 2009: Nuance Announces Two New Products for Transcription
Nuance Communications Inc. today announced the availability of version 9 of its eScription on-demand platform for computer aided medical transcription (CAMT), a solution used to increase productivity and save costs associated with medical transcription. The new version introduces enhancements to all five components of the platform, including dictation, background speech recognition, editing and transcription, document distribution and electronic signature.
At the American Health Information Management Association conference, the company also introduces version 8 of the Dictaphone Enterprise Speech System, an on-site platform for speech-assisted medical transcription and real-time electronic clinical documentation.
Oct. 5, 2009: AHIMA Bill of Rights Sets Standard for Protecting Consumer Health Information
With an eye toward establishing a stronger and more transparent bond between health care consumers and trustworthy health information, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) today announced establishment of a Health Information Bill of Rights as a model for protecting the personal health information of the nation's more than 300 million health care consumers.
The Health Information (HI) Bill of Rights, seven protections supported by in-depth validations, was made necessary by "Repeated abuses of access, accuracy, privacy and security of the most basic rights of individuals whose trust has been betrayed and dignity compromised," said AHIMA President Vera Rulon, MS, RHIT, CCS, FAHIMA.
Wendy Mangin, MS, RHIA, AHIMA immediate past president who chaired the blue ribbon panel comprised of accredited HIM professionals, said the protections "create a transparent shield over those areas of health information we know to be most important to consumers as well as the spaces where they are most vulnerable."
The first two protections seek to guarantee health care consumers cost-free access to their health information, even during the "course of treatment." The third protection creates an ideal for health information that is "accurate and as complete as possible."
However, the fourth and fifth protections take medical identity theft head on, calling for "the right for you or your representative(s) to know who provides, accesses and updates your health information" and "expect health care professionals and others...be held accountable for violations of all privacy and security laws, policies and procedures."
"Our sixth protection deals with a national standard for health information privacy and security--especially as we advance down the road toward a national health information exchange," Mangin said. "Last is our protection that would establish the right to an opportunity to seek private, legal recourse in the event that a breach of one's health information causes harm."
AHIMA plans to keep "Bill of Rights" momentum building at least through Health Information & Technology Week (Nov. 1-7) when it will begin offering HI Bill of Rights informational products for health facilities and health professionals free of charge on the AHIMA Web site.
Beginning HI&T Week, an HI Bill of Rights wall poster will be available for health facilities and physicians' offices to download and display in waiting areas. HIM and other health care professionals will be able to download a suitable-for-framing certificate that states their pledge to uphold the seven protections in the HI Bill of Rights. There are also plans for a health care consumer wallet card with the HI Bill of Rights Preamble on one side and the seven protections on the other. Once developed, the card will allow consumers a convenient way to keep their HI rights handy whenever they visit their doctor, hospital or clinic.
Oct. 5, 2009: QuadraMed Launches ICD-10 Countdown Program
QuadraMed Corp. today announced the launch of its ICD-10 Countdown Program, which includes the Quantim ICD-10 Coding Simulator software and ICD-10 educational tools and services to guide health care providers through the ICD-10 conversion.
The Quantim ICD-10 Coding Simulator is available for hands-on demonstrations at the 81st AHIMA Convention & Exhibit taking place this week in Grapevine, TX. Pre-conference interest in the new product has been high, with almost 100 requests for product demonstrations of the coding simulator. AHIMA's e-HIM Virtual Laboratory, funded by the organization's research and education Foundation, is using QuadraMed's ICD-10 Coding Simulator throughout the year to train coding students, reaching approximately 170 schools and more than 4,000 students nationwide.
"AHIMA's adoption of our ICD-10 Countdown Program delivers a strong message to HIM professionals that it's critical to begin now to ensure a successful ICD-10 transition--a transition that will impact almost all clinical, financial and HIM systems in use today," said Duncan W. James, president and CEO of QuadraMed. "Our ICD-10 Countdown Program provides coders with the hands-on training and educational services required to gain familiarity with the new ICD-10 coding methodology."
QuadraMed's ICD-10 Countdown Program provides clients access to software, training and educational tools to assist with the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code sets. QuadraMed's ICD-10 Countdown Program includes Quantim ICD-10 Coding Simulator with an introductory 90-day subscription, ICD-10 fundamentals educational tool, online application tutorial, "Countdown to ICD-10," and participation in QuadraMed's ICD-10 community bulletin board
The challenge of the ICD-10 transition lies within its complexity and dramatic increase in the number of code sets. For example, the number of disease classifications will rise from 13,000 ICD-9-CM to 68,000 ICD-10-CM codes. For procedure classifications, the number of codes will expand from 3,000 ICD-9-PCS to 78,000 ICD-10 PCS codes.
Oct. 5, 2009: eWebHealth Announces e-HIM Technology Suite
eWebHealth, a provider of electronic workflow solutions for medical records, announced today the availability of its new, fully hosted .NET platform supporting its industry-leading eWebHIM technology suite. This next generation platform supports interoperability with a wide range of hospital IT systems, making it easier for hospitals to integrate cutting-edge legal health record technology with their clinical electronic health record (EHR) strategies.
The new platform was developed using Microsoft's .NET framework to enable easy deployment and rapid development of new functionality. With open application program interfaces (API's) that can be published to third party systems, the new platform also allows for easy integration with complementary programs, such as data repositories and content management systems, ensuring seamless interoperability throughout the entire enterprise.
"The flexibility and expandability of the new platform is incredible and represents a major advancement in e-HIM technology," said George Abatjoglou, chief executive officer, eWebHealth. "Immediately, our customers will enjoy significant performance and interoperability benefits. In addition they will receive long-term value from our ability to quickly respond to the changing needs of HIM with new features and modules that leverage the core workflow foundation. That flexibility is extremely important to the many hospitals rethinking their EHR strategies today in light of the HITECH ACT and looking for the right legal health record technology to fit into their plans."
Hospitals using the new eWebHealth platform are already experiencing many benefits including enhanced organizational and multi-facility reporting, dual signature and auto-routing capabilities and advanced collaboration capabilities. Additional improvements planned for the eWebHIM suite include more sophisticated auditing and scheduling capabilities for medical record coding, a RAC management module and enhanced collaboration among physicians, coders and other HIM staff.
"eWebHealth has always been very responsive to the growing needs of their customers and we are very excited about the potential the new eWebHIM platform will bring to our organization. In addition to providing a very fresh look and feel to the product, eWebHealth has added some great new features that were extremely well received by the key physician and HIM staff members who were involved in product reviews," said Shiny George, director of HIM at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.
Oct. 5, 2009: 3M Partners with McKesson, EHR to Provide RAC Auditing and Consulting Services
3M Health Information Systems, McKesson Health Solutions LLC (McKesson) and Executive Health Resources Inc. (EHR) have signed a strategic agreement to offer RAC Advanced Services, a program of expert auditing and consulting services to assist hospitals in preparing for increased compliance scrutiny under the federal government's recovery audit contractor (RAC) program.
RAC Advanced Services combine 3M's expertise in coding, billing and DRG assignment with McKesson's application of industry standard InterQual medical necessity criteria, and EHR's expert teams of specially trained physician advisers who provide second-level reviews for medical necessity. The integrated services help hospitals uncover and address the root causes of improper payments from medically unnecessary and incorrectly coded inpatient and outpatient claims.
"Now that CMS has established the RACs as a permanent program, it's critical that hospitals understand areas where they may be at risk and take proactive steps to minimize compliance exposure on an ongoing basis," said Marvin Johnson, senior vice president for 3M Health Information Systems. "This agreement leverages the strengths of three companies to create a timely solution, which can help address compliance and avoid reduced reimbursement due to RAC initiatives."
RAC Advanced Services begin with a baseline review and analysis of current utilization management processes to identify gaps that could make a hospital vulnerable to RACs. A 3M and McKesson consulting team next performs a retrospective inpatient chart audit using McKesson's InterQual criteria to analyze the appropriateness of medical necessity and also reviews the coding and DRG assignment for accuracy.
RAC Advanced Services are further enhanced with EHR's teams of physician advisers who provide expert second-level reviews and offer admission status determination recommendations based upon the medical necessity of the services delivered and the setting in which they were delivered. EHR's Physician Advisors hail from more than 20 medical and surgical specialty areas, are specially trained in Medicare rules and regulations pertaining to inpatient and outpatient status, and leverage EHR's library of more than one million medical necessity determination recommendations to assist in their decision making process.
Oct. 5, 2009: HRS Implements TruCode's Medical Necessity Editor
HRS has been using encoder software from TruCode for 3 years and has now implemented its new Medical Necessity module. This tool includes edits from Medicare's local and national coverage determinations (LCDs and NCDs), lists covered codes for each procedure and provides a link to the official coverage policy. HRS coders are able to deliver cleaner claims in an expedited fashion, which in turn reduces denials while improving overall accounts receivable for their customers.
Oct. 1, 2009-A-Life Medical's Hospital Subsidiary to Present at AHIMA
A-Life Medical, Inc. will exhibit and present at the upcoming 81st American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Convention and Exhibit.
At Booth #2029, A-Life will host demonstrations featuring its leading hospital-based CAC product, Actus, which is designed for health information management. Visitors to the booth will learn about the benefits and applicability of Actus, which incorporates LifeCode, A-Life's patented Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology. A-Life staff will be on hand to show how Actus seamlessly integrates with industry encoders, streamlines ICD-9-cm and CPT code assignment and increases productivity through advanced, automated workflow. Additionally, visitors can see how traceability is incorporated through LifeCode to ensure compliance.
In addition to the exhibit, A-Life's vice president of NLP and New Technologies Mark Morsch will deliver a presentation during the convention, entitled Computer Assisted Coding with Standard Documents Types-Advancing Best Practice in Health Information Management. The presentation is scheduled for Saturday, October 3 at 1:00 P.M. as part of the Clinical Coding Community Meeting and will be held in the Texas Ballroom #4-6.
At A-Life, Morsch leads a team of computer scientists, linguists and coding experts who work together to develop computer-assisted coding technologies.
Also during the AHIMA convention and exhibit, health information managers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) will be presenting case study results from its deployment of A-Life Hospital's CAC product and the return on investment received as a result. The UPMC presentations will be held on Saturday, October 3, from 3:00-4:15 P.M., also in the Texas Ballroom #4-6.
"The AHIMA conference is an excellent platform where experts throughout the health information management arena are able to gather, converse and collaborate on advancements and successes across health information technology, data management and other key areas. We are pleased to participate as both an exhibitor and presenter at the upcoming AHIMA conference," Morsch said.
Oct. 1, 2009-Care Communications Inc. Prepare to Exhibit at AHIMA
Care Communications Inc. is participating in the 81st American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Convention and Exhibition, October 3-8.
The company is exhibiting in booth #1814, with CEO Leslie Fox on hand to sign copies of her new book Leading a Business in Anxious Times from 2:00-3:30 pm on Monday October 5.
"In my more than 30 years at Care Communications and in the HIM industry before then, I have not seen a set of challenges as difficult as the ones facing HIM professionals at hospitals and health networks today," said Fox. "HIM departments still need help from Care Communications to avoid coding backlogs, comply with regulatory changes, prepare for the ICD-10 transition and manage other maintenance-oriented HIM functions, but health care executives increasingly expect HIM departments to contribute expertise in support of strategic organizational efforts like the transition to electronic health records and preparing for the coming HIPAA II regulations."
With those sweeping challenges in mind, Leading a Business in Anxious Times, a new book from Care Communications Press by authors Leslie Ann Fox and Katharine Gratwick Baker, is being unveiled at a particularly advantageous time. The book leverages the long respected Bowen family systems theory to provide refreshing insights, perspectives, tools and stories for leaders that want to operate more effectively at any level of any organization and particularly in today's highly volatile health care industry.
Oct. 1, 2009-eWebHealth to Introduce New Platform at 2009 AHIMA Convention
eWebHealth announced today that its technology and company leaders will be featured extensively at the 2009 AHIMA Convention.
The company also plans to announce the availability of its new, fully hosted .NET platform supporting its eWebHIM technology suite. With a focus on integrating customized workflows into the e-HIM process, eWebHealth's theme for the conference will be "Go With the Flow."
At the conference, eWebHealth's leadership team will demonstrate its next generation platform-a technology that will provide hospital systems with enhanced interoperability while supporting their overarching legal electronic health record (L-EHR) technology strategies with built-in, customized workflows and improved auditing functionality for medical record coding.
"Hospitals across the country have a great need to become more efficient in their processes. To meet this demand, we have worked to provide a technology that lays the foundation for improvements such as sophisticated workflow scheduling, additional collaboration between physicians, coders and other HIM staff and advanced reporting capabilities," said George Abatjoglou, chief executive officer of eWebHealth. "For eWebHealth, this year's AHIMA show is all about highlighting workflow integration in the e-HIM process. We are focused on showing HIM professionals that our eWebHIM technology suite truly eases the e-HIM process and enables customers to go with the flow."
During the conference, eWebHealth will also hold a contest at its booth (AHIMA Booth #1800) offering the winner of the drawing a "Chill, Kickback and Relax" cruise for two to the Bahamas, which ties in with the company's "Go With the Flow" theme for the show.
Sept. 30, 2009-KeyScan To Introduce New Imaging Keyboard at AHIMA
KeyScan has recently unveiled the KS810-Plus Imaging Keyboard, highly acclaimed and used widely by hospitals, healthcare institutions and medical clinics. KeyScan help's these organizations by stream lining everyday processes, making better use of space, time and money.
This new and unique category of keyboard is a must have tool for any office or work area, the KS810-P delivers full A4 size page gray scanning in 5 seconds, making difficult scanning tasks easy. With 15 preset functions for non-default jobs, this imaging keyboard makes saving and emailing documents and photos effortless.
The unique "NoTouch™-AutoScan" software allows the user to complete their most frequent scanning task without touching any button, simply place the document on the feeding tray. This new multi function peripheral (MFP) keyboard solution also features a USB2 Hub with only single USB connected to the PC both for the HUB the keyboard and the built-in scanner and two downstream ports for other low to high speed devices.
For a chance to demo the new Keyboard, visit KeyScan at booth # 1830 at next week's AHIMA conference in Grapevine, TX.
Sept. 29, 2009- AHIOS Chair To Present at AHIMA
The Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services (AHIOS) announced today that Jan McDavid, AHIOS Legislative Chair and General Counsel for HealthPort Technologies, will be presenting an education track at the 2009 AHIMA Convention in Grapevine, TX.
McDavid's presentation titled "Understanding the Impact and Trends of State Legislation on the HIM Department and the ROI Process" will focus on state legislation that is affecting the healthcare information management (HIM) industry and will discuss how new laws interact and operate alongside federal laws, including HIPAA. McDavid also will discuss current government regulations, such as ARRA and the HITECH Act, how these regulations impact all states and which HIM legislative trends are on the horizon.
"We are pleased to have such an influential member of our association speaking at this year's AHIMA Convention," said Bonnie Coffey, President of AHIOS. "Now more than ever, it is imperative that HIM specialists understand the impact of recent legislation on our industry. As the laws become more intricate, it is crucial to have an industry expert like Jan provide insight on the key issues."
McDavid will be giving this presentation on AHIOS' behalf on October 6, 2009 at 1 p.m. at the Gaylord Texan Resort, in Grapevine, TX. The 2009 AHIMA Convention, which is dedicated to health information management, runs from October 3-8.