health information technology

Medical identity theft information still scarce

Anne Zieger — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:08:41 -0400

This week, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) held its town hall on medical identity theft as promised. Most of what people learned, however, was that there is a lack of information on the subject.

There is no national data regarding medical identity theft. Isolated reports and anecdotal evidence make it clear that it is an existing problem, but the town hall noted that it's hard to tell how big of a problem it is without national data. The FTC and the Justice Department are working to do a more in depth survey.

In the meantime, how should health professionals try to keep their practices from being affected by this kind of identity theft? ONCHIT recommended the use of IT to keep patients' medical identities their own. Some hospitals and doctors' offices are already beginning to use biometrics as an expense but robust way to protect medical identity.

Hopefully when the FTC and the Department of Justice have completed their in-depth survey, patterns will emerge in terms of how medical identity theft is perpetrated, and health care professionals will know exactly which kinds of security will be needed.

To learn more about the town hall:
- Read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)

N.J. Blue plan files to go for-profit

Anne Zieger — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:56:39 -0400

New Jersey's Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield has filed with the state to convert from not-for-profit to for-profit status, in what it says is a bid to boost its financial options. In its filing with the state's attorney general and Banking and Insurance Department, the health plan said that switching will give it more financial flexibility. In particular, it expects to gain greater access to capital for investment in information technology, pay-for-performance initiatives and business operations. These investments would exceed the plan's annual $35 million by a projected $20 million to $30 million per year during the next five years. The plan has already set aside $500,000 to help hospitals in its network bring up medical history technology.

To learn more about the planned switch:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
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NJ Blue plan invests $500K in med history tech for hospitals

Live from HiMSS08: Mike Leavitt touts local health exchanges

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:59:59 -0500

Today at HiMSS, audiences were treated to a speech from Mike Leavitt, head of almighty HHS. Leavitt, who comes across as far more relaxed and informal than you might expect from a guy with his authority, gave an extended pitch for the power of local relationships to build the health information exchange movement.

His take on building local trust comes from bitter experience, he said. As Governor of Utah, Leavitt told a packed auditorium, he found out quickly how protective people are of personal data when he proposed a plan to add a magnetic data-collection strip to driver's licenses. As he soon learned, his plan upset many citizens. "I learned that people have real worries about what happens if they don't have control of their information," he said.

To build health exchanges, providers will have to overcome even deeper privacy and security fears--and the only way to do so, in his view, is to build consumer confidence from the ground up. "The key here is trust, and trust is built locally," Leavitt said. "Trust is achieved one heart and one mind at a time--and they trust people they know. They intuitively don't trust distant bureaucracies."

For that reason, HHS is working to inspire local action. In fact, it's in the process of launching a new entity known as a "Chartered Value Exchange," a locally-based health information cooperative that exchanges not only clinical data, but also price and quality information. To date, HHS has named 14 quality and data sharing groups across the U.S. as CVEs. In return for agreeing to form the exchange, HHS is helping out by sharing relevant Medicare data.

Of course, cooperative spirit or no, HIEs won't work if they can't interconnect technically. That is the point where the federal government should get involved, as a harmonizer and organizer of standards, Leavitt argued. Groups like the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, which certifies EMRs, and the American Health Information Community, which promulgates standards, will both play a role in helping groups connect with each other, he noted.

Still, even where standards are concerned, local entities have a big role to play, Leavitt said. "There needs to be an organization in every community that can apply national standards in local ways," he said. "My mantra is 'National standards but local control.' "

All told, despite the obstacles that still exist to forming health information exchanges, Leavitt seems rather optimistic. "We're not as good at this as we need to become, but we're making progress, not just in technology but in sociology," he told the rapt audience. "I truly believe we're on the cusp of a revolutionary change in healthcare."

- Anne

AHA lobbies to fight cuts, boost health IT

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Hospitals, if you're wondering whether the American Hospital Association is fighting for your interests on the Hill, here's one piece of evidence to ponder. The trade group apparently paid a lobbying firm $240,000 in 2007 just to lobby the federal government on the issue of possible Medicare cutbacks and health information technology, according to new disclosures. The AHA is working overtime to beat back the Medicare rate freeze proposed for President Bush's fiscal 2009 budget, which also fixes rates for nursing home and hospice services for the next three years. The group has said that the freeze would be "disastrous."

To learn more about AHA's lobbying efforts:
- read this Associated Press piece

Related Articles:
Providers face cuts under new budget proposal. Report
Leavitt: Medicare formula isn't working. Report

Trend: Hospital corps sell services to competitors

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:59:57 -0500

In a business facing the overhead hospitals do, just about anything you can do to lower costs makes sense. So it's little surprise--though still noteworthy--that hospital chains are increasingly selling their services to each other. Examples include Tenet which, through its MEDContact subsidiary, provides call center services to 53 other hospitals. Community Health, which picked up a hospital management and consulting firm named QHR when it bought Triad Hospitals, has let it continue to serve 180 facilities across the US. HCA, for its part, offers IT, bill collection and purchasing services to hospitals it sold or spun off years ago through its National Patient Accounts Services and IT&S information technology subsidiary. In a typically incestuous example, IT&S is helping Triad transition over to Community Health's accounting system. Of course, given that many of these organizations compete for patients and doctors, there's always questions over whether shared data will be used to steal them--but the chains offering these services typically have various agreements in place in which they swear to use the data only for what they're paid to do.

To find out more about this trend:
- read this piece from The Tennessean

ALSO NOTED: HCA closes Cedars deal; AMA endorses health IT tax credits; and much more...

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 06:59:50 -0500

> HCA has closed its sale of Miami-based Cedars Medical Center to the University of Miami for $260 million. Article

> The AMA has endorsed the notion of giving physicians a tax credit for adopting health information technology. FierceHealthIT

> This should be good news for EMR evangelists: According to a new study, consumers now believe that EMR benefits outweigh potential privacy threats imposed by the technology. FierceHealthIT

> A vendor of on-demand digital publishing solutions and a software house are donating two mammography systems to hospitals, clinics or imaging centers which perform digital mammograms. Article

And Finally... Sure, stealing the snowman may have been a cute prank, but what are they going to do with it? Article

Study: Tracking, control of hospital infections still tough

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:59:54 -0400

Despite the newly-intense scrutiny focused on hospital-acquired infections, new study suggests that hospitals are still getting their arms around some key infection controls, including control of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. So what's holding things back? In the study, by hospital consortium Premier Inc., 47 percent of 800 hospital infection-control professionals said that they didn't have enough staff to do the job, while 34 percent also said that funding and budget constraints were key issues. Among the infections which Medicare now won't pay for, 49 percent said catheter-associated urinary tract infections and 30 percent said pressure ulcers were the toughest to manage.

To get a handle on these problems, hospitals are increasingly using of information technology to track and manage HAIs, with 22 percent reporting that they'd implemented an automated surveillance system and 47 percent stating that they were actively considering implementing such technology.

To find out more about the study:
- read this Premier press release

Related Articles:
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SPOTLIGHT: Battling deadly biofilms. Report
VHA program fights hospital-acquired infections. Report
Infections hurt patients, providers. Report

Feds consider restructuring Medicare quality program

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Two U.S. Senators have introduced legislation intended to tighten up the $400 million program responsible for providing Medicare technical assistance. The Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) was created 25 years ago to improve services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries.

HHS secretary Michael Leavitt had issue plans to improve the program about one year. Leavitt's proposal was responding to congressional criticism of the QIO program. However, at the time he also emphasized the critical role QIOs were playing in training physician offices to adopt health information technology.

The bill, by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), would boost the QIOs' role in helping providers offer higher-quality care, and develop better performance measures. Some traditional QIO roles, including complaint investigations, would be transferred to other organizations.

To learn more about the quality program changes:
- read this Healthcare IT News article

Related Articles:
CMS rolls out quality improvement program. Report
Study: Healthcare quality movement stalled. Report
Study: Medicare P4P doesn't boost hospital quality. Report
CMS P4P research finds consistency to be key. Report
Letter: Questioning CMS's P4P results. Report
Physicians question CMS P4P effort. Report

SPOTLIGHT: IT helps groups improve P4P performance

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 06:59:52 -0400

IT investment programs may seem nice to have, rather than necessary, to many non-technical managers. But that could turn out to be a short-sighted view. According to a new study, the more California medical groups used information technology, the better they scored on several important clinical measures. This conclusion comes as part of the Integrated Healthcare Association's announcement of its Pay for Performance program results. Article

ALSO NOTED: WI price hotline proves popular; Nurse recruitment in NY; and much more...

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 20:01:30 -0400

> A Milwaukee-area health system is getting hundreds of calls a month to its hotline giving patients pre-visit price quotes. Article

> Here's a look at how some Buffalo, N.Y.-area hospital systems are attracting new nursing hires. Article

> The new head of the California Medical Association is (gasp!) a trial lawyer. Article

> Kaiser Permanente has a new head of information technology--and he's got changes in mind. FierceHealthIT

> The AMA has given a mixed review to the practice of implanting RFID technology under patients' skin. FierceHealthIT

And Finally... Controlling where you gain weight may not keep you slim, but it's a start. Article