Uncategorized
Welcome to the new Allscripts, formed by the merger of Allscripts and Eclipsys. - September 1, 2010
Orlando Florida -- Today marks a new beginning - you are now a part of the largest connected community in healthcare.
Welcome to the new Allscripts, formed by the merger of Allscripts and Eclipsys. By combining leading providers of software and information solutions in the ambulatory and acute markets, we have created one company with the industry's largest network of clients on the most advanced product platform which gives us the opportunity to create a single patient record.
Our commitment to you remains unchanged. Our goal is to accelerate everything we do and set new standards . . . for solutions, for software, and for the services we provide. We will be investing more than $140 million in research and development to accelerate our progress in innovation, in connectivity with all of the industry stakeholders (even our competitors) and in continuing to make our products more intuitive.
The new Allscripts will now incorporate the complete line of Eclipsys solutions, including acute, ambulatory, performance management solutions, and connectivity solutions. These offerings will come together on a single platform with the existing Allscripts portfolio of ambulatory, acute and post acute care solutions to form the most complete platform of HIT solutions in the market - and the most
connected community in healthcare today.
Within this broad community, we see Meaningful Use as a stepping stone toward an even more important objective - Meaningful Value. Meeting the minimum requirements of Meaningful Use is a start, but our focus is to ensure that our clients can get Meaningful Value out of their investment and leverage our solutions to deliver world-class clinical and financial outcomes.
The new Allscripts has the largest network of clients in the industry, with 180,000 physicians, 50,000 physician practices, 1,500 hospitals and 10,000 post acute care organizations. In partnership with you, our vision is to create a connected community of health. Today's announcement marks a significant step to help connect every link in the healthcare chain, delivering the information
healthcare providers want, when and where they need it to deliver improved patient outcomes.
I am excited to have the opportunity to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the new Allscripts and am pleased that Phil Pead, the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Eclipsys, will serve as Chairman of our Board and, on a full-time basis, will focus on key client and strategic relationships, product and process integration, strategy and the company's international business.
Kelley Schudy, Group Vice President, Allscripts Reseller Network, will work closely with Phil on the continued focus of Reseller and Alliance Partners like Sencilo HealthIT Solutions of Orlando Florida in our sales and service strategies.
I encourage you to go to www.allscripts.com or www.eclipsys.com to learn more about our vision, our solutions and our community.
Thank you for your confidence in us and for your continued support.
Welcome to the community. Welcome to the new Allscripts.
Glen Tullman
Chief Executive Officer
Allscripts
For more information please call (877) 904-4EHR or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com
Why Sencilo HealthIT Solutions
When it comes to your healthcare computing needs, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions's main objective is to provide a turnkey solution that can essentially sustain itself. When you choose Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you don't just gain a vendor who provides you with technology. You get a business partner who walks with you through every step of the process Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity
tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with
you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EMR EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including VMware, Dell Fujitsu Data Domain, EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, HDS, IBM, Commvault, Xiotech and HP. Its technical expertise is known throughout the storage and security industry. Clients include leading corporations, major financial institutions, top universities, government facilities, as well as small to medium size businesses. Sencilo's professional services include consulting, integration, project management, storage virtualization installation, maintenance and knowledge transfer.
Sencilo has offices throughout the Southeast including Florida Georgia Alabama South North Carolina Texas Atlanta Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, St. Augustine, Gainesville, Ocala, Palm Coast, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Lakeland, Maitland and Cape Canaveral Green Simpana Offerings Projects: BC DR planning Replication De-Dup De-Dupe iSCSI SAN NAS VMware Security EMC NetApp HP IBM Quantum Compliance VTL Data Domain vs Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Backup
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tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EMR EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web
based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free best cheap low cost
Feds issue EMR meaningful use guidelines - August 30, 2010
Orlando Florida -- January 4, 2010 by MassDevice staff The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services propose guidelines for determining meaningful use of electronic medical records by doctors' offices and hospitals.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a 556-page proposal detailing guidelines for determining which doctors' offices and hospitals will be eligible to tap nearly $20 billion in federal funds aimed at encouraging the use of electronic medical records.
Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed into law last year set aside the cash for physician practices and hospitals that can show "meaningful use" of EMR technology, but didn't spell out how such use would be determined. That left the medical industry wondering who would be eligible to collect what could amount to $40,000 per doc over the course of a few years.
The new proposal (PDF), which is open to public comment, provides some detail. But it doesn't reveal which EMR providers will be certified under the program or explain who and how those providers will be certified.
Practices and hospitals will be able to tap the ARRA funds if they meet the following criteria:
"Eligible professionals" — doctors, in CMS-speak — must use "computerized physician order entry" or EMRs for at least 80 percent of all orders. Hospitals must use CPOE for at least 10 percent of orders.
The EP or hospital must be able to electronically check for drug-drug, drug-allergy and drug-formulary interactions to make prescribing drugs safer.
Eighty percent of all patients must have at least one entry in a "problem list of current and active diagnoses," or " an indication of none as structured data."
Eligibility requires electronic prescription capability; at least 75 percent of all prescriptions must be made using an eRx system.
Eighty percent of all patients must have at least one eRx (or an indication of no prescription).
Eighty percent of all patients must have at least one entry denoting an allergy to medication (or an entry indicating no allergies).
At least 80 percent of all patients must have demographic data recorded (language, insurance, gender, race, ethnicity and dates of birth and death "in the event of mortality").
At least 80 percent of all patients of 2 years old and older must have vital sign data recorded (height, weight, blood pressure, body mass index and growth charts for patients ages 2 to 20).
At least 80 percent of all patients of 13 years or older must have their smoking status recorded.
At least 50 percent of all patients must have their clinical lab tests recorded.
Eligibility requires the generation of at least one list of patients with a specific condition "to use for quality improvement, reduction of disparities and outreach."
EPs and hospitals must report ambulatory quality measures.
Follow-up or preventive care reminders must be sent to at least 50 percent of patients aged 50 or more.
EPs and eligible hospitals must implement five "clinical decision support rules relevant to specialty or high clinical priority," including diagnostics, and the ability to track compliance with the rules.
Insurance eligibility must be able to be checked electronically for at least 80 percent of all patients.
At least 80 percent of all insurance claims must be filed electronically.
At least 80 percent of all patients requesting electronic copies of their health records must receive them within 48 hours.
At least 80 percent of all patients discharged from eligible hospitals must receive electronic copies of their discharge orders if they request them.
"At least 10 percent of all unique patients seen by the EP are provided timely electronic access to the health information."
"Clinical summaries are provided for at least 80 percent of all office visits."
Eligibility requires at least one test of the EMR system's ability to exchange clinical information with other EPs' or hospitals' systems.
"Perform medication reconciliation for at least 80 percent of relevant encounters and transitions of care."
"Provide summary of care record for at least 80 percent of transitions of care and referrals."
Eligibility requires at least one test of the EMR system's ability to submit data to immunization registries."
Eligibility requires at least one test of the EMR system's ability to submit lab reports to public health agencies — unless those agencies lack the ability to receive that data electronically.
Eligibility requires a review of the data security of the EMR system and implementation of any security updates.
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For more information please call (877) 904-4EHR (4347) or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information Technology"
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Daytona Beach Deland Melborne Tampa Clearwater, Dragon, Voice Recognition, Dragon Dictation
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, pediatrics, eprescribe, dermatology, electronic documention, CCI edits, CPT codes, ICD 9 Codes, ICD 10 codes, comploiance, electronic medical records, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative” telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription e-Rx CareTracker paperless scanning document storage hippa audits iscribe document scanning fi-6130 fi-6040 CCHIT ARRA surescript PAHCOM Medical Society
What the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management (PAHCOM) is saying about Allscripts MyWay - August 18, 2010
Orlando Florida -- The new Allscripts is the clear leader in software, services, information and connectivity solutions that empower physicians and other healthcare providers to deliver best-in-class patient safety, clinical outcomes and financial results.
Nationwide, more than 150,000 physicians, 700 hospitals and thousands of other healthcare providers in clinics, post-acute care facilities, and homecare agencies utilize Allscripts solutions to automate and connect their clinical and business operations. Together with our clients, Allscripts is transforming our disconnected 'healthcare' system into a connected system of 'health'.
Allscripts award-winning Electronic Health Record solutions are fast becoming an indispensable part of the way physicians practice medicine. Now more than ever, physician practices are choosing our award-winning Electronic Health Record solutions. Here are some reasons why:
Experience:
Significant and Stable Footprint - 150,000 Physicians Nationwide
Meets Different Needs of Sizes and Settings - Acute and Ambulatory; Small and Large
Trusted - Highly satisfied customers who recommend Allscripts to friends and family
Solutions:
Diversified Portfolio - Clinical and Business Solutions
All World-Class - Consistently Top Rated Solutions and ongoing Innovations
Certified - our EHR solutions are CCHIT-certified
Results:
Real Utilization - Not Just Implementation, but also Meaningful Use
Strong ROI - The Solution That Pays You Back
Delivering the Next Step - Comprehensive Connectivity
Allscripts is the first EHR vendor to have three Electronic Health Records approved by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT). The Allscripts Professional EHR, Allscripts Enterprise EHR and Allscripts MyWay are incompliance with 100 percent of CCHIT certification criteria.
About PAHCOM
PAHCOM is the single most effective means for small group or solo physician practice managers to obtain support and strengthen their professional growth. The focus on small business management principles separates PAHCOM from other health care associations that serve large clinics and hospitals. Recognizing that our membership is confronted with a myriad of increasingly complicated regulatory and reimbursement challenges on a continual basis, PAHCOM has structured an effective and efficient network of resources that provide guidance and assistance to each and every member.
No longer do small group and solo physician practice managers need to struggle alone. PAHCOM is there to share knowledge and lead the way to professional excellence. Physicians need to hire competent medical managers; PAHCOM membership is the standard physicians use to measure that competence.
Belonging to PAHCOM is more than just joining an association. It's getting access to truly competitive products, award-winning networking service and the convenience of knowing where to turn when an urgent situation arises.
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For more information please call (877) 904-4EHR (4347) or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information Technology"
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Daytona Beach Deland Melborne Tampa Clearwater, Dragon, Voice Recognition, Dragon Dictation
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, pediatrics, eprescribe, dermatology, electronic documention, CCI edits, CPT codes, ICD 9 Codes, ICD 10 codes, comploiance, electronic medical records, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative” telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription e-Rx CareTracker paperless scanning document storage hippa audits iscribe document scanning fi-6130 fi-6040 CCHIT ARRA surescript PAHCOM Medical Society
HIPAA Medical Transcription for Physician Practices - August 18, 2010
Orlando Florida --
Physician practices should go in for HIPAA compliant medical transcription services so as to ensure confidentiality of patient information. Only HIPAA medical transcription can ensure the safety of dictated physician reports.
HIPAA Compliance in Policies and Procedures
HIPAA medical transcription for physician practices ensure that their business practices, workflow and applications and physical and electronic data meet the prescribed security standards. The security of health records and personal data are maintained at all times as the very purpose of HIPAA laws is to protect the rights of individuals and their records.
To offer structured HIPAA compliant medical transcription services for physician practices, these firms have an expert panel of professionals including medical transcriptionists, proofreaders, editors and quality controllers. These experts transcribe medical records utilizing the most modern equipment, technologies and software. The core services offered in HIPAA medical transcription for physician practices include:
• Patient history and physical examination report transcription
• Transcription of clinic notes, office notes
• Consultation notes transcription
• Transcription of X-ray reports, laboratory reports, pathology reports, scan reports
• Discharge summaries and follow-up notes transcription
• Emergency room notes transcription
Compliance officers keep abreast with any changing regulations and statutes to HIPAA so that these can be incorporated into the system without any difficulty. HIPAA compliant medical transcription companies ensure:
• Security for patient data
• Accurate and quality medical reports
• Excellent data backup facilities
• Digital recorders and toll free number dictation facility
• File transferring through FTP, browser based 256 bit AES encryption protocol
• Rapid turnaround time
• Continuous technical support
Experienced Provider for the Best Solutions
Physician practices should look for HIPAA compliance when hiring the services of a medical transcription company. Experienced service provider can deliver consistent and cost-effective services, while maintaining the strictest confidentiality of patient information.
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For more information please call (407) 494-4EHR (4347) or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Technology"
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Daytona Beach Deland Melborne Tampa Clearwater, Dragon, Voice Recognition, Dragon Dictation
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, pediatrics, eprescribe, dermatology, electronic documention, CCI edits, CPT codes, ICD 9 Codes, ICD 10 codes, comploiance, electronic medical records, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative” telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription e-Rx CareTracker paperless scanning document storage hippa audits iscribe document scanning fi-6130 fi-6040 CCHIT ARRA surescript
Guest Author Frank Trew from DataPlus: Ten Ways to Improve Your Bottom Line by Analyzing the Data from Your Practice Management System - August 18, 2010
Orlando Florida --
by Mary Pat Whaley http://www.managemypractice.com/
The old saying “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it” certainly holds true in medical practices today. With falling payer reimbursement it is more important than ever to collect every single dollar your practice is due.
Most practices have sought additional income streams by adding ancillary services. Paying close attention to data can improve decision-making for such services and can dramatically improve revenue without adding any providers or even new patients!
Having ready access to the elusive data within practice management systems can be difficult, but most systems can report the basics. It is imperative that data is trended over a period of time so that trends can be spotted, benchmarks compared, and improvement plans developed. Measuring data and comparing it to the MGMA Cost Survey (find it at mgma.com) is one of the best places to start.
1. Collection Rates/Ratios: Two collection rates are measured in medical practices. One is gross collections and the other is net collections, the latter being the most important.
A gross collection rate is payments divided by charges and will depend on an artificial number – how high the charges are set above negotiated allowables – making it not particularly meaningful.
A net collection rate, however, provides a means to benchmark the health of collection efforts. Net collections, simply stated, demonstrate what percentage of collectible dollars (after negotiated contract write-offs) a practice is actually collecting. A net collection rate above 95 percent –when calculated correctly – denotes a healthy practice.
2. Denials: Denials are a significant portion of the cost of running a practice in that services that are provided but not paid for reduce the profitably of those that are. Accurately identifying denials and the reasons for them can help prevent them in the future, thus increasing productivity and lowering expenses. Identifying denial trends by specific payer or payer group, by CPT code, and by origin – whether at the front desk, with coding errors, or in credentialing – is equally important.
3. Evaluation & Management (E & M) Bell Curve: “Overcoding” and “undercoding” are commonly used terms, but how are they measured? Bell curve trending of E&M data can quickly identify areas where providers may be under coding, resulting in lower revenues, or over coding, resulting in the potential for audits. The difference between a Level 2 and a Level 3 E&M code can mean thousands of dollars in losses per provider per year. Documentation is critical to demonstrating the level of care provided to each patient.
The traditional primary care bell curve below demonstrates that level 3 visits typically comprise about 50% of your established patient encounters, level 2 and 4 visits together about 20% each, and level 1 and 5 visits together about 10%. When plotted on a graph and drawing a line between each, the shape resembles a bell.
4. Bad Debt: Bad debt is defined as dollars that could have been collected, but were not. Break this category into controllable factors and non-controllable factors. Issues that you should have been able to control are timely filing write-offs, credentialing errors, lack of follow-up, and incorrect information provided by the patient. Non-controllable issues are bankruptcy, patient failure to pay, and payers retroactively denying coverage due to unpaid premiums.
Reducing bad debt by just two percent can mean tens of thousands of dollars to the bottom line of a practice. The ability to quickly identify bad debt trends facilitates the development of an improvement plan.
5. AR Days: AR (accounts receivable) days are a measurement of the average time a dollar stays in an accounts receivable before being collected. The ability to measure, benchmark, and lower AR days provides a means to a significant increase in revenue. Some best practices that reduce AR days are filing insurance daily, sending statements daily, collecting appropriately at check-in and check-out, working denials quickly, discounting self-insured for time of service payment in full, and using an eligibility tool to check every single patient’s insurance.
6. Encounters: Accurately reporting and separating encounters for most practices is an arduous task of counting fee tickets or using tick sheets. Few practice management systems accurately provide this information. An encounter is much more than a service code. Being able to segregate office encounters from surgical cases, and reporting by payer, time, and location can help identify opportunities for improvement.
7. Referral Sources: It is fundamentally prudent for specialty practices to know the origin of patient referrals. This data is rarely reliable or easily created in most practice management systems. Practices need to know not only the source of patient referrals, but also what type of patients (by insurance, by procedure, etc.) are being sent by those sources, and if the referrals from a particular source have increased or decreased over time.
8. Payer Mix: It is not uncommon for practices to drop payors due to perception, and not because of actual data or trends. Emotions sometimes come into play and can result in a provider demanding that a payer be dropped because their rates have changed (or other perceptions). This simply does not make sense. Being able to accurately produce and graph data on major payers without hours and hours of work is of high strategic value to a well-planned business decision. It can answer questions about the impact on a practice if a particular payer is dropped, or how those patient slots would be filled. Remember to keep adding payers to the practice when feasible; the loss of your largest payer can be minimized if many smaller ones are on board.
9. Under Payments: One of the more significant ways to improve a practice’s revenue is the swift and accurate identification of carrier underpayments. Identification of underpayments is not simply comparing the payment to an allowable fee schedule. Practice management systems that have any type of payment audit functionality commonly do not take into account circumstances such as modifiers, or multiple surgical procedures that payers routinely inaccurately apply, causing underpayments. Having a system to automatically and systematically apply these rules is essential. MGMA states that providers are underpaid an average of six percent of revenue. What does that mean to a practice? The numbers can be astounding to a surgical group, and the identification and collection of those underpayments can be insurmountable.
10. Fee Schedule Comparison: It can be difficult to determine what payers are reimbursing by contract for specific codes or ranges of CPT codes. The ability to have immediate and accurate access to this data is crucial in payer negotiations. It is important to remember that the payer already has this information and is betting that the practice does not!
It is now more important than ever for practice managers to have access to the critical information outlined above. It is also important to note that not just any one of the above Key Practice Indicators should be used to determine the financial health of your practice, but all, or a combination of them.
The buzzword among practices today is “Dashboards.” The ability to have these Key Practice Indicators in one simple report is proven to increase efficiency, as well as provide a meaningful way to present information to providers. One example of a dashboard is below.
About the author: Frank Trew is the Founder and CEO of DataPlus and has over 25 years of practice management experience and has served in executive positions in large and small practices. In 1999, as the COO of a large orthopaedic group in Nashville, he was frustrated by an inadequate access to data that limited his ability to measure and improve the bottom line. The development of a data warehouse was the solution.
----------
For more information please call (407) 494-4EHR (4347) or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Technology"
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Daytona Beach Deland Melborne Tampa Clearwater, Dragon, Voice Recognition, Dragon Dictation
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, pediatrics, eprescribe, dermatology, electronic documention, CCI edits, CPT codes, ICD 9 Codes, ICD 10 codes, comploiance, electronic medical records, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative” telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription e-Rx CareTracker paperless scanning document storage hippa audits iscribe document scanning fi-6130 fi-6040 CCHIT ARRA surescript
Report: Adopting EHRs Alone Will Not Meet 'Meaningful Use' - August 18, 2010
Many electronic health record systems will be able to provide only about one-third of the Stage 1 data requirements for the "meaningful use" of EHRs, according to a new report published last week by Computer Sciences Corp., InformationWeek reports.
The report -- titled "Hospital Quality Reporting: The Hidden Requirements of Meaningful Use" -- examined the unique data elements, sources and types of electronic documents that are required for Stage 1 of meaningful use.
Data Capture Requirements vs. Quality Reporting Requirements
Although hospitals might have core EHR systems that meet the data capture requirements for Stage 1, they likely will have only 35% of the information necessary for the 15 required hospital quality measures, according to the report. The report classified the remaining 65% of the data as the "hidden requirements" of meaningful use.
The report found that the most challenging hidden requirement is the need for more physician documentation in EHRs and in electronic medication administration.
In addition, many hospital emergency departments and operating rooms have limited clinical IT software, even though many patients who are admitted for an inpatient stay arrive through an ED, the report notes. According to the report, up to 30% of data elements for physician documentation and 10% of data elements for medication administration could come from an ED or surgical suite.
Further Struggles
Hospitals and health care workers not only will be required to add technology to meet guidelines for computerized physician order entry systems, but they also will need to meet criteria for quality reporting under limited time constraints.
Jane Metzger, one of the report's authors, said, "The basic message is that a minimalist approach to Stage 1 meaningful use will not position any hospital for a future that includes health care reform, value-based purchasing, and increased cost pressures and transparency" (Lewis, InformationWeek, 8/16).
Read more: http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2010/8/17/report-warns-adopting-ehrs-alone-will-not-meet-meaningful-use.aspx#ixzz0x0SLptaQ
Data breach prevention top of mind for healthcare IT decision makers - August 18, 2010
Orlando Florida --
Preventing patient data breaches is cited as the number one priority for healthcare IT decision makers, but work remains for complying with security regulations, according to a national survey that examines IT trends in healthcare.
The 2010 Healthcare IT Survey, a poll of 600 decision-makers across hospitals in the U.S. and Canada, was conducted via Zoomerang, an online survey services provider, for Lexington, Mass.-based Imprivata, which develops enterprise authentication and access management solutions.
According to the survey, 80 percent of respondents say securing patient information from unauthorized access and data breaches is a top priority, and 76 percent claim breach of confidential information or unauthorized access to clinical applications as their greatest security concerns – so much so that 97 percent say that HIPAA and HITECH Act regulations are driving their organization's purchasing decisions. Seventy-four percent, meanwhile, say their organization will spend more on security in 2010 than it did in 2009.
Recently, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced tougher personal health information protection, as mandated under the HITECH Act, with a notice of proposed rulemaking designed to strengthen and expand enforcement of HIPAA.
----------
For more information please call (407) 494-4EHR (4347) or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Technology"
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Daytona Beach Deland Melborne Tampa Clearwater, Dragon, Voice Recognition, Dragon Dictation
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, pediatrics, eprescribe, dermatology, electronic documention, CCI edits, CPT codes, ICD 9 Codes, ICD 10 codes, comploiance, electronic medical records, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative” telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription e-Rx CareTracker paperless scanning document storage hippa audits iscribe document scanning fi-6130 fi-6040 CCHIT ARRA surescript
Innovative health programs counter primary care shortage - August 18, 2010
Orlando Florida --
By Rita Rubin, USA TODAY
About 65 million Americans live in communities with a shortage of primary care doctors, physicians trained to meet the majority of patients' health care needs over the course of their lives.
How much more difficult will finding a primary care doctor become as a result of the recently passed health care reform legislation, which will extend coverage to an estimated 34 million currently uninsured Americans by 2019?
Massachusetts, which in 2006 passed a law that led to nearly universal coverage of its 6.6 million residents, might provide some clues.
'NOBLE FIELD': The challenges of primary care
In that state, fewer and fewer internists and family practice doctors are taking new patients, and wait times to see family practice doctors are lengthening, according to the Massachusetts Medical Society and the non-profit Massachusetts Health Quality Partners.
Even before Congress in March passed the landmark law designed to make health care more affordable and expand coverage, an aging population and doctors' increasing preference for higher-paying specialties set the stage for a primary care shortage. And what many believe to be an outdated reimbursement system — one that drives doctors to schedule office visits when a quick phone call or e-mail might do — doesn't help.
The shortage of primary care doctors could lead to longer waits not only for primary care, but also for specialty care as well as greater use of expensive emergency rooms for non-emergencies, researcher Walt Zywiak of Computer Sciences Corp., an international consulting company headquartered in Falls Church, Va., noted in a July report.
But some innovative programs provide a glimpse of what the future of primary care — a future in which a one-on-one visit at the doctor's office takes a back seat — could look like. They include:
• A Portland, Ore., practice where doctors provide more care via the phone or e-mail than face-to-face.
• A Massachusetts practice that offers "shared medical appointments" for six to 14 patients.
• A Philadelphia clinic in which nurse practitioners, who have earned master's or doctorate degrees and have trained in the diagnosis and management of health problems, provide primary care.
Better communication
GreenField Health, founded in Portland in 2001, gets its name from a Harvard Business Review article in the early 1970s, chief operating officer Steve Rallison says. If you could create a business from scratch, it said, you'd start with a green field.
GreenField Health has leveled the playing field as far as how its doctors — five internists, one family practitioner and one pediatrician — care for patients. "We're not going to be caught in the tyranny of the visit," Rallison says. "The pressure for most internists, family physicians, is they have to see lots of patients to generate revenue."
More often than not, GreenField's doctors answer questions and resolve problems, such as interpreting test results or adjusting medications, without seeing patients. Office visits make up only a quarter of their work effort, Rallison says, with phone calls 35% and secure messaging 40%. Doctors get to know patients with 90-minute initial visits. Annual visits are an hour, follow-ups a half-hour.
How can GreenField afford to do this, given that insurers usually don't pay doctors to talk on the phone or send e-mails? Patients pay an annual "retainer fee," from $350 to $650, depending on the patient's age, to cover what insurance doesn't.
Before joining the practice in 2002, internist Cynthia Ferrier had always been in a traditional fee-for-service — or fee-for-office visit — practice. She'd see 20 to 25 patients a day and usually would be late for every appointment except the first because they ran over the allotted time. Responding to patients' e-mails was out of the question. At GreenField, which doesn't have a waiting room, Ferrier sees eight to 10 patients a day. She answers phone calls and e-mails between appointments.
Colleagues at her old practice warned she'd be swamped with phone calls and e-mails. "You're going to get every worried crazy person out there," one told her. But that hasn't happened, she says. Because they know they can get a timely response, patients aren't bombarding her with questions.
Shelly Holly, 46, of Portland, says her $400 annual retainer fee is well worth it.
Holly, an environmental planner, liked her former doctor, but didn't like how long she had to wait for an appointment or how long she had to hang out in the waiting room.
When she heard about GreenField, "it just seemed to make sense. My time is valuable, too."
With her GreenField doctor, "if I have questions ... I just slip out my iPhone and type out an e-mail and e-mail it to him. Lo and behold, I might get an answer back in 20 minutes."
Help for doctors
GreenField Health may be a model of the practice of the future, but it's not typical today, Philadelphia internist Richard Baron says. Compared with many cities, he says, Portland is fairly affluent, so it's easier to attract patients who can pay a retainer fee.
"In our marketplace, and in most marketplaces in the U.S.," Baron says, "if you try to charge patients supplemental fees, you're on the edge of violating agreements with insurance companies." He echoes the call for reimbursement reform. Instead of paying primary care doctors per visit, he says, pay them a preset amount per patient per year, an approach called "capitation" that's used by HMOs.
Although some primary care doctors, worried about inadequate payments, regard capitation as a dirty word, Baron says it "can work just fine if it's based on an accurate understanding of the volume of services a group of patients is going to need."
Besides freeing doctors to provide care in the most efficient way, capitation would enable them to hire support staff, such as medical assistants, says Baron, chair last year of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
"We don't ask surgeons to stop in the middle of an operation and go find a scalpel. We arrange it so that there's a skilled team of people that are supported by the reimbursement system."
Baron and Thomas Bodenheimer at the University of California-San Francisco use a phrase that's kicked around a lot these days: "Work up to the top of your license." Translated: Doctors shouldn't waste their time on tasks that could be handled by someone with less training.
"Physicians do a huge amount of work that you do not need an M.D. to do," Bodenheimer says. "There's so much stuff that's routine, you could teach a high school student to do some of these things in a week."
But doctors usually don't hire someone to do that work, Bodenheimer says, because "you can't keep hiring people who don't get reimbursed." He says physicians might find that hiring medical assistants, who typically have one or two years of training after high school, increases efficiency and saves them money, although no one has studied that issue.
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a non-profit multi-specialty group practice that cares for nearly a half-million people in eastern Massachusetts, may have hit upon a way to have its medical assistants — as well as nurses, social workers and dietitians — and pay for them, too.
Shared appointments
In 2008, Harvard Vanguard began offering "shared medical appointments," or SMAs. They're not classes, emphasizes internist Gretchen Gaida.
SMAs are scheduled for physicals, well-child checkups, chronic illness management and other types of primary care, as well as for specialty care. Six to 14 patients, who sign agreements to keep information about the others confidential, participate. SMAs last 1½ hours, but patients can leave when they feel their questions have been answered. Doctors take blood pressures and listen to hearts in front of the room but examine patients in a private room when necessary.
Physicians bill the same for patients seen in an SMA or individually. Considering doctors might schedule only four individual patient visits in 90 minutes, Gaida says, income from SMAs enables Harvard Vanguard to pay for the extra health professionals needed to run them smoothly.
Instead of thumbing through magazines in the waiting room, SMA patients meet in a conference room, where a "behaviorist," a nurse, social worker or psychologist who serves as a facilitator, writes down their questions for the doctor.
"The hardest part is getting patients to try it," says Gaida, who offers three SMAs for physicals each month in Chelmsford. But once they do, she says, 80% to 90% return for another.
Deborah Phillips, 57, of Billerica, Mass., is a convert. "I felt so comfortable, every time I go now that's what I do," says Phillips, who has diabetes. "You'll hear how someone else is handling the same problem that you have, only differently. I don't feel so alone out there."
Many in the health care field look to nurse practitioners and physician assistants, or PAs, to help fill the primary care gap. Both types of providers require graduate-level training.
"There is so much work that physicians do that they could be unburdened of," says Perri Morgan, director of PA research at Duke University.
Eugene Stead, then Duke's chair of medicine, founded the physician assistant profession in the 1960s to train former Vietnam medics to help fill a shortage of primary care doctors, Morgan says.
Today, PA classes are 70% to 80% women, she says, and, while the profession is growing, the proportion opting to practice in primary care has declined, while an increasing number are following physicians into specialties.
"We should just make more PAs," says Morgan, who wrote about the move away from primary care in May in the journal Health Affairs. "We can make PAs so much faster than doctors. There aren't going to be enough doctors anyway. And I'd like to see a larger proportion going into primary care."
Unlike nurse practitioners, PAs can't work independently of doctors anywhere, Morgan says. "PAs are committed to being dependent practitioners," she says. Still, some practice fairly autonomously, she says, and don't consult doctor supervisors every day.
In the past 18 months, many states have begun to re-examine laws governing what nurse practitioners can do, says nurse practitioner Mary Naylor, a University of Pennsylvania gerontology professor. Currently, Naylor says, the most restrictive states don't allow nurse practitioners to prescribe medication or practice without a doctor's supervision.
Nurse-managed centers
Donna Torrisi, a member of Penn's second graduating class of nurse practitioners in 1976, was instrumental in persuading Pennsylvania legislators to grant nurse practitioners prescribing authority and recognition as primary care providers. In 1992, she helped found the Family Practice and Counseling Network in Philadelphia, which she still directs.
Supported by the non-profit Resources for Human Development, the network of nurse-managed centers offers primary care for all ages, serving public housing residents, the poor and the uninsured.
This past fiscal year, Torrisi says, the network's three sites racked up 60,000 patient visits; this year, it expects 70,000. As a federally qualified health center, the network is reimbursed on the basis of its costs, not the number of patient visits.
On a sunny spring day in the network's sprawling, tastefully decorated North Philadelphia center, Torrisi, who sees patients one day a week, stopped to chat with patient Irene Pegram. Pegram, 76, clutched a paper bag of medication and worked on word puzzles while she waited for a ride home. A network patient for 16 years, she was diagnosed with diabetes five years ago. "Right now I'm coming in every week for the diabetes class," she says.
In the class, a nurse trained as a diabetic health educator sat at a table with eight patients. They played a board game that provided tips on managing their disease. Elsewhere at the center, a social worker led a "Stress Less" class, which utilizes such stress-relievers as yoga and essential oils, while a recovering addict, hired 17 years ago, led a support group for people battling their own addictions.
While nurses rule at Torrisi's clinics, "you need everybody" to meet the need for primary care, she says. "You need the doctors. You need the physician assistants, you need the nurse practitioners."
----------
For more information please call (407) 494-4EHR (4347) or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Technology"
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Daytona Beach Deland Melborne Tampa Clearwater, Dragon, Voice Recognition, Dragon Dictation
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, pediatrics, eprescribe, dermatology, electronic documention, CCI edits, CPT codes, ICD 9 Codes, ICD 10 codes, comploiance, electronic medical records, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative” telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription e-Rx CareTracker paperless scanning document storage hippa audits iscribe document scanning fi-6130 fi-6040 CCHIT ARRA surescript
Dragon Medical Mobile Search is now a FREE Voice Dictation Search Tool - August 16, 2010
Orlando Florida --
Nuance, the makers of the popular desktop dictation software, Dragon Medical Dictation, have just released their first mobile medical app – Dragon Medical Mobile Search. The app allows clinicians to search online medical content on their iPhone using their voice.
The app works in a carousel fashion, refer to the pictures included to understand what I mean. Once you use your voice to look up a disease pathology or a drug, you are presented with 5 different search results: Google, IMO (ICD-9 codes), Medline, Drugs.mobi, and Medscape.
We’ve been waiting on this app for some time now. At HIMSS 2010, Nuance gave iMedicalApps a sneak peak of this application in action. The video clip of the preview is attached at the end of this post.
Also in the preview demo is the most eagerly anticipated product of theirs: Dragon Medical Mobile Recorder – their extremely popular desktop dictation software in the palm of your hand. But back to their just released Medical Mobile Search app.
The most important question regarding this app: How well does it recognize the disease or drug you verbalize?
It’s easy to see how Nuance’s medical dictation software has gotten so popular once you use this app because it recognizes disease and drug names with ease. Out of the 10 medical terms I tried on the app, it was correct 10 times. Not enough of a sample size to have much power, but it handled Guillain-Barre with ease – that’s good enough for me. Although the app is extremely accurate, the actual content you’re able to extract dulls the excitement.
What I liked:
*It’s free [per their iTunes description, it's free for only a limited time]
*Extremely accurate
*Searching for ICD-9 codes is quick and fast
*Carousel functionality is a great way to quickly access the content you desire
*Extremely fast application overall – could easily use in a busy clinic setting
What I didn’t like:
*Requests personal information at the beginning – this can easily be circumvented by putting in random information
*Requires a dedicated internet connection – 3G, EDGE, or Wi-Fi
*For Medscape search results, you have to login every time.
*For Medline search results, even though there is an “email out” function, you can’t do it. Plus, as the picture shows, you cant exactly type in multiple search phrases, such as “renal artery stenosis and ACE inhibitors”.
How can it be useful for medical professionals?
*Searching for ICD-9 codes
*If you can’t remember how to spell a certain disease or drug
*Drug reference tool [only if you trust drugs.mobi as a medical reference tool]
The main functionality in this app will come from other companies, such as Epocrates, using the SDK to have voice commands within their app. This is explained in the HIMSS post we did on Nuance.
What’s interesting is in the demo we got (attached below and starting at the 50 second mark) of the Dragon Medical Mobile Search app, they actually had Epocrates as one of the tools in the carousel, but this is no longer the case upon the release of the app.
Since this app is free for a limited time and provides a solid level of functionality, you should at least try it out.
----------
For more information please call (407) 494-4EHR (4347) or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Technology"
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Daytona Beach Deland Melborne Tampa Clearwater, Dragon, Voice Recognition, Dragon Dictation
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, pediatrics, eprescribe, dermatology, electronic documention, CCI edits, CPT codes, ICD 9 Codes, ICD 10 codes, comploiance, electronic medical records, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative” telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription e-Rx CareTracker paperless scanning document storage hippa audits iscribe document scanning fi-6130 fi-6040 CCHIT ARRA surescript
Dragon Search now available for Medical Professionals - August 16, 2010
Orlando Florida --
by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Aug 14th 2010 at 2:30PM
Here's something that will be welcomed by the health community. Nuance Communications has released a free, medical version of Dragon Search called Dragon Medical that lets mobile physicians and other health workers search a variety of medical publications on their iPhone or iPad by just speaking search phrases.
Information on drug interactions, latest medical news and diagnoses are available from the app, as well as a search though Google.
The original Dragon Search allows general information lookup using several search engines. Nuance is now moving toward more specialized apps for professionals.
The app is free for a limited time, and Nuance intends to bring out more apps for health workers, including a version of Dragon Dictation so patient notes and other information can be turned into text and saved.
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For more information please call (407) 494-4EHR (4347) or visit us at: http://www.sencilo.com and let us "Uncomplexify your Information
Technology"
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture: More than technology With Sencilo HealthIT Solutions eHealthcare Architecture, you can leverage the same productivity tools and technology resources that have transformed business. And you get a full portfolio of services too. By working with Sencilo HealthIT Solutions, you can get:
A dedicated customer team
A website customized for your institution
A full portfolio of robust solutions
Easy setup, implementation and maintenance
Simple ordering and delivery
Technology training
Flexible financing options
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services makes it easy.
In addition to providing high-quality technology at a low cost, Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional
Services can help you plan your healthcare computing from the ground up. By working with you from the initial construction phases, we can help you save time and money and lead to a truly customized solution.
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions Professional Services offers complete services that include:
Design
Procurement
Installation
Training
Maintenance
Support
About Us
Sencilo HealthIT Solutions is a Florida-based integrator specializing in EHR Cost Cutting storage, security and managed services solutions. Sencilo delivers a comprehensive portfolio of products from best-of-breed hardware and software from multiple manufacturers including Allscripts, VMware, Dell Fujitsu EMC, Hitachi, Symantec, IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Gateway Sencilo has offices throughout Florida including: Orlando Lake Mary Daytona, Medical City solutions include Security "meaningful use" "meaningful usage" EMC HP IBM Quantum Compliance Gartner Magic Quadrant Quadrent LTO Daytona Beach Deland Melborne Tampa Clearwater, Dragon, Voice Recognition, Dragon Dictation
Network Backup appliance Data Recovery Backup Health IT Healthcare IT Digital Hospital Allscripts Patient Data electronic health record P4P rules and the HITECH Act PayerView Rankings practice management tools $44,000 in Medicare or $66,000 in Medicaid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act eClinicalWorks, Allscripts, NextGen, GE Centricity, and Meditech Electronic Healthcare IT Medical Records EHR Clinical Practices eClinicalWorks Allscripts Florida EMR, EHR, electronic medical record, health, records, practice management systems solutions, medication services, PHR Otolaryngology, Orthopaedics, pediatrics, eprescribe, dermatology, electronic documention, CCI edits, CPT codes, ICD 9 Codes, ICD 10 codes, comploiance, electronic medical records, Pain Nuerosurgery, Urology, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Billing, Appointment Scheduling, clinicalworks, eClinicalWorks, solutions for physicians, hospitals, clinical education and medical services Computerized Patient CPR, Order Entry, CPOE, Document Clinical Information Informatics, Computer-based, SOAP, HIT, Healthcare Encounter Forms, web based, online, clinical rules database, electronic prescribing, e-prescribing, eprescribing, athenaClinicals, certified EMR, certified EHR, HITECH Act VAR Reseller Dealer hipaa privacy doctor, healthcare performance management, data security, hosting, arra, free, InterFAX, MyWay, HIPPA, EasyPayMedicare, MedicAID, SureScripts, FNC, billing, superbill iMedica Tiger on Windows, eprescribe pqri simple practice management revenue cycle e-cw e-clinicalworks greenway emds nextgen ge sage athena epic klas Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition Google Health, Microsoft Healthvault Health Internet certified "meaningful use" violations HealthPresence Health Presence Sencilo “transformative” telemedicine medicaid medicare Seminole County Medical Society Orange county Orlando Medical News Trusted Advisor e-Prescription e-Rx CareTracker paperless scanning document storage hippa audits iscribe document scanning fi-6130 fi-6040 CCHIT ARRA surescript
