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Kaiser crows over electronic medical record implementation at 10 California hospitals

Feb 26--Kaiser Permanente said Monday that 10 of its California hospitals have completed inpatient installations of its $4 billion HealthConnect electronic health record system.
Hospitals that have installed inpatient versions of the system include Antioch, Baldwin Park, Bellflower, Orange County, Santa Rosa, San Diego, South Bay, South Sacramento, Walnut Creek and West Los Angeles, according to spokeswoman Ravi Poorsina, four in Northern California and a half dozen in the southern part of the state. That means that one-third of Kaiser's 30 existing hospitals in California have implemented the inpatient system, officials said, representing some 2.4 million Kaiser enrollees. Another three hospitals are expected to open before the giant inpatient installation is complete.
All told, that means that 23 more hospitals will receive the new system. More…

The Thinkers: Technology helps patients recover after intensive care

Mar. 3--When heart patients get out of intensive care in the hospital, many families assume the worst is over.
But about 25 percent of those patients will become unstable again in the next level of care, called a step-down unit, and that puts special pressure on the nurses there to keep them from deteriorating.
That's why Marilyn Hravnak, an acute-care nursing professor at the University of Pittsburgh, is excited about a new technology that may tell nurses which patients are vulnerable to reversals much earlier than in the past. More…

Insurer finds EMRs won't pay off for its doctors
The Massachusetts Blues believes that the return on physicians' investment doesn't warrant buying the technology as part of its bonus programs.

Mar. 10--One health plan has come to a conclusion that many physicians already have reached: The financial benefits of office-based electronic medical records systems are not worth the cost to doctors.
Relying on information from past studies, including an American Medical Association estimate that doctors see only 11 cents of every dollar saved through the use of information technology, BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts recently announced that it has decided not to require physicians to install an EMR to participate in its bonus program. More…

Google Expands Project CARE For San Francisco Homeless

Mar. 3-- Internet giant Google is lending a hand to homeless people in San Francisco to distribute free phone numbers and voicemail accounts to those without homes to help them get back on their feet, the company unveiled on Thursday. "Google has promised to provide the life-long services to San Francisco’s entire homeless population to help them get a job and build self-esteem." More…

Google Reveals a Few Details about Its Brand New Health Initiative

Mar. 3--On Thursday Google revealed a few more details about its already controversial upcoming service, Google Health. "Google Health aims to solve an urgent need that dovetails with our overall mission of organizing patient information and making it accessible and useful," said Google’s vice president of search and user products, Marissa Mayer, in a blog post. "Through our health offering, our users will be empowered to collect, store, and manage their own medical records online," Mayer also added in her post dedicated to the company’s brand new personal health records management service. More…

Combining Grocery Shopping With Doctors’ Appointments

Mar. 3--Some Britons can add a visit to the doctor to their shopping lists. On Monday, J Sainsbury, one of Britain’s largest supermarket chains, is to become the first in the country to offer a visit to a family doctor in one of its stores. Unlike Wal-Mart’s entry …More…

Hospitals may find to err is to not be paid

It's a new way to push for patient safety: Don't pay hospitals when they commit certain errors.
Medicare will start hitting hospitals where it hurts in October, and other insurers are hot on the trail.
That has the nation's hospitals exploring innovative programs to prevent injury and infection: Hand-washing spies. Surgical sponges that sound an alarm if left in the body. Even a room sterilizer that promises to wipe out bacteria left lurking on bedrails.
"Money talks," says Steven Gordon, infectious disease chief at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. More…