M.L. Baker

A group of 1,700 independent doctors in Michigan has turned to Compuware Covisint to share and access patient health information. The move marks Covisints entry into services for IPAs (independent physician associations). IPAs include many community offices with just a handful of doctors, and is by far the category least likely to use information technology […]

When it comes to providing health care to seniors, the federal government is not a smart shopper. Thats according to a report by the Institute of Medicine, which recommends dramatic changes in how doctors are paid for their care, a recommendation which could be a boon to the health IT industry. “The current payment system […]

In a brief statement on Sept. 20, Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt announced that Robert Kolodner is the interim health IT czar. Kolodner is currently serving as chief health informatics officer of the Veterans Health Administration, and his office oversees the VAs extensive EHR system, called VistA, and maintains over 140 national […]

At a hearing of a federal committee charged with improving health care through IT, experts laid out the promise and perils of establishing digital health records that patients could access electronically. An important preliminary barrier is convincing patients that such records can help them and not be used against them. Many health payers and employers […]

When studying health-IT and pay-for-performance plans, researchers usually focus on hospitals and general practitioners, and these groups usually fear that implementing new procedures will interfere with their work. But a study released Sept. 15 found that community cancer doctors are adopting technology necessary to collect data and are ready to support pay for performance, or […]

When patients can make requests for room servicing and health education through their televisions, they report greater satisfaction, and nurses say they have more time to devote to clinical work. Thats according hospital surveys provided by Skylight Healthcare Systems, a company offering such services. A growing number of hospitals are expanding their television offerings. In […]

A trio of companies is offering a genetic-testing system that sounds like the height of high tech. A robot will perform a series of genetic tests on clinical samples and then store results for each patient in an electronic medical record system specially designed to handle genomic information. The process runs on an automated platform […]

An assisted living facility in Minnesota has installed wireless sensors in seniors apartments with hopes to detect falls or illness early. The sensor system will learn seniors daily routines and alert caregivers of changes in activity that could mean a resident is ill or injured. The sensors only detect motion and temperature; they have no […]

President Bush on Aug. 22 issued an executive order directing agencies that administer or support most health insurance programs to implement “interoperable” technology standards when acquiring or upgrading equipment. The order also requires that agencies provide clear quality measurements and pricing information. Finally, agencies must create incentive programs to improve health care, such as providing […]

Patients covered by UnitedHealth Group will soon receive patient identification cards that they can use as debit cards for medical expenses and that doctors can use to access patients personal health information electronically. The banking industry has seen health savings accounts as a way to add customers and expand services, arguing that the software currently […]

Privacy advocates are worried that the CIA has invested in a company commonly used to help manage health IT records in the United States and Canada. In-Q-Tel, a private venture group established by the Central Intelligence Agency, led a Series E investment round in Initiate Systems earlier this year. The group is charged with providing […]

To make sure that nothing gets left inside a patient, surgeons assistants count and recount surgical supplies before and after surgery. Soon workers at the Veterans Administration West Los Angeles Health Care Center will have a computer count with them. The hospital will use bar-coded sponges and other equipment from SurgiCount Medical, a wholly owned […]