News From Around the Web
> Electronic health records may be helpful in preventing drug-related kidney injuries, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. The EHR's "trigger tool" automatically screens hospitalized children being treated for other illnesses for kidney exposure for certain toxins from the medications they are taking. The affected children then can be provided nontoxic, or less toxic, medications. Abstract
> The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT published a new issue brief on the use of electronic data in the EHR to measure and drive improvement. The brief outlines the experiences of several Beacon communities and the elements needed to use EHRs to capture clinical performance. Brief (.pdf)
> CalHIPSO, the nation's largest regional extension center, has partnered with health IT educator 4Medapproved to offer discounted online HIPAA educational services to REC members. The education will include a particular emphasis on EHR privacy and security compliance with the HITECH Act. Announcement
Health Finance News
> Medicare reimburses physicians up to five times more for performing common procedures than for cognitive care, allowing specialists to generate more revenue in an hour or two than a primary care physician makes in a day, a new study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine finds. A physician makes 368 percent more performing a colonoscopy than spending the same amount of time on cognitive care, according to the study abstract. The reimbursement for removing a cataract is 486 percent higher than comparable cognitive care. Article
> Although hospitals sometimes struggle to maintain revenue from traditional payers, they are finding an increasing revenue stream in a new area: biotechnology and other forms of patent and royalty licensing. The amount of revenue from hospitals, medical schools and other healthcare-related entities is on the rise, having reached $2.6 billion last year, an increase of 6.8 percent from 2011. Article
Provider News
> Physicians who give country medicine a try on a trial basis may be more likely to stay rural, according to a new study published in Academic Medicine. This finding comes from an experiment conducted by the University of Missouri School of Medicine, in which second-year students were invited to work alongside rural, community-based physician preceptors. The Summer Community Program was "part of a comprehensive, longitudinal pipeline designed to increase interest in rural practice," according to study authors. Although half of the students were interested in rural medicine to begin with, post-program questionnaires showed that the experience changed students' impressions of rural medicine for the better. Article
> When using template-based electronic health records, physicians must make the most of the narrative space to complete the parts of the patient's story that may not be reflected through check-boxes and drop-down menus, according to experts interviewed by American Medical News. This advice is in response to the burgeoning problem of EHR templates leaving out too much of the patient's health context and even potentially contributing to billing fraud. Article
And Finally... No wonder the first delivery guy is missing. Article