Elysium® Image Exchange has solutions to overcome obstacles to easy image sharing. We offer:

• A unified viewing tool that relieves your PACS and PACS support personnel from the burden of external image distribution.
• Fast, but cost effective image access that is simple to use for casual physicians yet provides sophisticated diagnostic quality imaging tools for image intensive specialists.
• Flexible workflows that meet the needs of referral physicians, image intensive specialists, emergency care providers, and radiologists.

Elysium Image Exchange, works in concert with Health Information Exchange (HIE) solutions to provide simple and efficient full diagnostic quality image access to healthcare professionals across a community. PMG is sharing this with you to determine if there is the local support for such a service.

Register today
To RSVP please send an email to deanna.peters@ehgt.com. Deanna will submit webinar information to the email address you use to submit your reply. Please register early to save your spot.

Automated Payment Services for Electronic Payment & Auditing:

• 100% automatic auditing of every service line
• Ensure zero revenue loss due to payor payment errors
• Enable streaming of electronic EOBs directly into your billing system
• Net result should be recovery of $4,000 to $6,000 per doctor per month, while avoiding $2,000 of new staff hiring

PMG Transcription service:

• High quality of both clinical and patient demographic data
• Quick turn around time (12-24 hours, STAT reports available upon request)
• Integration with Elysium
• Superior customer support
• Net savings of $200 per month is typical

Through PMG Technology Solutions, you have a single source for practice management technology, vendor management, software integration, installation, training and maintenance. We urge practices to contact PMG Technology Solutions prior to investing in new software/hardware acquisitions.

Register today
The seminar will take place at PMG, 5200 Soquel Avenue, Suite 103, on Monday, April 5th from 12-1pm and again from 5-6pm. This event is open to physicians and office managers. To RSVP please contact Mary Jean Jones (mjones@pmgscc.com, t:465-7816). In your response, please note which session you would like to attend. Please register early to save your seat. Contracted physicians will receive $100 per hour as compensation.

8:15 am – Introduction, Chris O’Grady MD
8:30 am – Allscripts (Enterprise), Steve Magee MD
9:30 am – eClinicalWorks, Lawrence Poree MD
10:30 am – e-MDs, Chris O’Grady MD
11:30 am – IT/Meaningful Use, Bill Beighe
12:00 pm – Practice Partner, Bob Weber MD
1:00 pm – Amazing Charts, Glenn Harper MD

NHINWatch.com
By Patty Enrado

February 17, 2010 – Of the more than $100 million for the healthcare industry that California will receive from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the California Health and Human Services Agency will get $38.8 million to build a statewide health information exchange (HIE).

The grant for HIE comes out to be approximately $1 per resident for the populous state, an amount many local industry leaders felt is insufficient to get the job done. “We’re going to need significant funding to have ubiquitous health information exchange, to fulfill the vision of having information safely and securely reach all corners of the healthcare delivery system and individuals,” said Jonah Frohlich, deputy secretary of Health Information Technology for CHHSA.

Nonetheless, Frohlich said, “The grant gives us the foundation.” The state has basic building blocks in communities across the state upon which to build the foundation, he said.

Aside from the handful of HIEs in California, CHHSA sees building blocks in healthcare systems such as Kaiser Permanente, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Long Beach Memorial and other hospitals with basic HIE support to ambulatory providers and local physicians, he said.

CHHSA is moving quickly to complete operational plans by the March 31 deadline, he said. In the meantime, attendees to the HIMSS 2010 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Atlanta, Feb. 28 through March 4, can witness what Frohlich calls the “California Story” being played out at the Interoperability Showcase, a signature event at HIMSS10.

The Santa Cruz Health Information Exchange, Long Beach Network for Health and East Kern County Integrated Technology Association (EKCITA) will share continuity of care documents using the NHIN specification. The three different sites, all using different applications, will be able to “talk with each other” using the NHIN standards for data exchange, explained Bill Beighe, CIO of Physicians Medical Group of Santa Cruz County and CEO of the Santa Cruz Health Information Exchange.

The demonstration highlights connectivity, but it also shows that connectivity can be achieved among disparate systems – a real-world situation across the country. Beighe noted that the demonstration is part of the bigger California story. Other HIEs in the state are involved in collaborative initiatives, including Kaiser Permanente and the Dept. of Veterans Affairs’ record-sharing project. Using the CONNECT open-source software, which was developed for the Federal Health Architecture as a gateway to NHIN, Redwood MedNet out of Mendocino County can share patient information with Thayer County Health Services in Hebron, Neb.

While nearly $40 million in and of itself won’t be enough to build out a statewide HIE, it will help connect the building blocks that already exist in the Golden State, Frohlich said.

Cal eConnect formed to oversee Health Information Exchange in California

SANTA CRUZ, CA – March 9, 2010 – Bill Beighe, Chief Information Officer of Physicians Medical Group of Santa Cruz County (PMG) and the Santa Cruz Health Information Exchange has been appointed to the Cal eConnect board of directors. Cal eConnect is the Governance Entity for health information exchange (HIE).

Governor Schwarzenegger and California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshé recently announced the state’s intent to name Cal eConnect as a new non-profit entity that will provide leadership and oversee a collaborative process to develop and support the Health Information Exchange (HIE) services in California. The new entity was formed when leaders from two California non-profits — the California eHealth Collaborative (CAeHC) www.caehc.org/ and CalRHIO www.calrhio.org/ — submitted a joint proposal in response to a Request for Information (RFI) published by the California Health and Human Services Agency on Aug. 29, 2009.

Cal eConnect is accountable to the California Health and Human Services Agency and will establish ground rules by which health information may be shared safely, securely and appropriately among stakeholders. It will also oversee and manage the implementation of HIE services in California under the federal grant program.

In addition to Beighe, Cal eConnect will have 21 board members, including representatives from the California Senate, Assembly, Health & Human Services, the public and private sector. Cal eConnect is establishing a set of priorities that will assist eligible providers and hospitals obtain ‘Meaningful Use’. It must also operate in and support an open and transparent environment that fosters trust amongst all stakeholders and ensure that the needs of the safety net clinics are met.

“Having run a health information exchange in Santa Cruz County since 1996, we have been asked to take a key role in an organization that will determine the direction that HIE takes in California.” says Beighe. The Santa Cruz Health Information Exchange safely and securely moves more than 100,000 clinical messages per month to authorized providers in the community. Beighe goes on to say “we will share the lessons learned in Santa Cruz with other communities seeking to establish HIE. It is important that all HIE conform to the emerging standards and consistent with the goals of Cal eConnect.”

Since the late 90’s, the medical network in Santa Cruz is based on Axolotl’s Elysium EMR and Health Information Exchange software and run by Physicians Medical Group. It includes over 100 locations, 300+ providers, two hospitals, radiology centers and multiple surgery centers. This system facilitates secure communication between care providers, improving patient care and satisfaction. The network has grown to include many health care providers and safety net providers in the community.

Beighe currently serves on the Board of Directors of the California eHealth Collaborative (CAeHC) and the California Privacy & Security Advisory Board (CalPSAB) as well as the Technical Advisory Board advising California Health and Human Services (CHHS) on HIE development in California. Beighe served on the Technology Work Group for the California Regional Health Information Organization (CalRHIO) and on the Patient Identification Sub-committee.

About Physicians Medical Group of Santa Cruz County
Physicians Medical Group of Santa Cruz County (PMG), an integrated health care delivery system, provides quality health services to thousands of patients in the communities of Santa Cruz County. With over 300 providers, 42 specialties, and 100 locations, PMG offers the largest network of independent Primary Care Physicians and Specialists in Santa Cruz County. To learn more about PMG, visit pmgscc.com.

• Consent: Ability to attach documents such as signed, scanned consents
• Medication allergy Duplicate Problem Warnings Check
• Notices and Alerts
• Expanded Demographics: Mobile phone and email addresses can now be recorded.
• Contacts: Display names of contacts
• Advanced Directive: shows the list of Advance Directives that are in effect.
• Provider Lists: Names of the patient’s healthcare providers

Allergies

• Ability to add allergies in free text
• An explicit entry of no known allergies can be entered
• Allergies can now be seen by any work group, not just the workgroup the patient is in.

Medication Lists

• Medications not found in the Elysium Drugs Database can be entered in free text.
• Medication List can be marked as “reviewed”

Vaccination Lists

• Now includes the manufacturer and the expiration date
• Lists can be marked as “reviewed” with date time stamp and user name

Problem List

• Can be marked as “reviewed” with date time stamp and user name.
• Chronicity of a problem can be recorded

VHR Changes

• New tabs for orders, office memos and encounters.
• Improved chronological sort

EMR-Lite Changes

• Patient Index: Ability to select specific sections and print the patient summary page in the Patient Index.
• Encounters
• Comprehensive office visit encounter form with E&M calculator
• Documents created from encounters are associated and linked to the encounter
• New view of encounters categorized by patient
• Major enhancements to the Encounter form:
• Structured encounter recording forms including adult and OB visits
• Includes ability to add scheduling and confidential information, vital signs
• Orders – status of orders is available, e.g. open and overdue orders
• Referrals – details of the referred to physician are now displayed

eRX New Features

Ability to differentiate between the “Prescriber of Record” and the signer of the prescription. This should help avoid having to change the physician’s name on refill requests.

• Ability to document reasons why a prescriber may override warnings.
• Querying on behalf of others to get Medication Eligibility and Med Fill History
• Save and Send action activated for refill requests for scheduled drugs. The prescription can be automatically faxed.
• Automatically create new pharmacy
• Prescription Field Changes
• Save and Print Immediately
• Renew Prescriptions from Summary Page
• Warning Enhancements
• Associate Prescription with Diagnosis

Mark Prescriptions “Reviewed”

• Prescriptions View Changes
• Icon Removed

Medical Management Users

• Allow printed prescriptions to display pharmacy information or remain blank
• Display drug description for un-coded medications in medication history query
• Prescribing for the patient with multiple coverage under one PBM

New Policies

• Record locking
• Co-Signature
• Clinical decision support
• Reminders snooze period default

New Forms and Enhancements to Existing Forms Office Memos:

• Patient Instruction
• Reminder (unique type)

Encounters:

• Office Visit
• Office Visit Comprehensive
• In Office Lab
• Vital Signs including pediatric version that displays values that are sensitive to patient age
  at the time of the encounter
• Telephone Call
• Emergency Notification
• OB Visit
• Office Transcription