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Today's selection of opeds: Cutting health costs

Many commentators have treated the Senate Finance bill as the likely template for any final legislation because it may be more palatable to conservative Democrats, and deficit hawks, in both houses.

12 Oct 2009

GetWell Town Interactive Patient Care system for children's hospitals

GetWellNetwork, Inc., today introduced GetWell Town(TM), the industry's first and only Interactive Patient Care system designed specifically for pediatric patients.

12 Oct 2009

Young 'invincibles,' small businesses worry about proposed mandates

Newspapers report on how young adults and small businesses might be affected by the mandates proposed in the health care bills pending in Congress.

12 Oct 2009

Sage Practice Analytics system from Sage Software Healthcare

Physicians in ambulatory practice and their administrative leaders can have unsurpassed visibility into their business and clinical data with the Sage Practice Analytics v 5.5 business and clinical intelligence system, released today by Sage.

12 Oct 2009

Insurers change course, attack health care reform, predict huge premium increases

Insurers who backed Democratic attempts to reform the health care system in America are now attacking the Senate Finance Committee bill, saying it would cause premiums to increase.

12 Oct 2009

Female lawmakers shape health care with their own stories

CQ Politics reports that Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Ohio, is one of several women lawmakers who is using her own history with multiple sclerosis to lobby for changes in the health care system: "As the health care debate rages on, [Kilroy] has decided to use her personal story to help fellow lawmakers understand how important it is to make health care available for all Americans. In a 'Dear Colleague' letter she sent last week, Kilroy told them about her own diagnosis."

12 Oct 2009

Obama highlights GOP reform supporters; Capitol Hill battle grinds on

President Barack Obama praised health reform efforts in Congress in his weekly Saturday address, highlighting support from some Republicans who have spoken out recently on the issue, a scheduled vote in the Senate Finance Committee and a Congressional Budget Office report that found the Finance bill would not add to the deficit, the Wall Street Journal reports.

12 Oct 2009

Horizon BCBSNJ to use NaviNet’s Web-based portal for secure information exchange with providers

NaviNet, America’s largest real-time health care communications network, and New Jersey’s largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ), announced today an agreement in which Horizon BCBSNJ will use NaviNet’s multi-payer, Web-based portal as its exclusive secure information exchange with providers.

12 Oct 2009

Bend Urology Associates selects Aprima Medical Software to implement EHR and PM systems

Aprima Medical Software (originally iMedica), a leading developer of electronic health record (EHR) and practice management (PM) systems for medical practices, today announced that Bend Urology Associates has selected Aprima for its 10-provider practice located in Bend, Oregon.

12 Oct 2009

Imprivata conducts joint webinar with Carefx on healthcare management

Imprivata®, Inc., the employee access management company and largest provider of healthcare single sign-on (SSO), today announced that it will be conducting a joint webinar with Carefx, a leading provider of interoperable workflow solutions.

12 Oct 2009

RelayHealth networks 50 health systems and hospitals to facilitate health information exchange

RelayHealth, a leading provider of healthcare connectivity services, today announced that 50 health systems and hospitals are now contracted for its solutions to facilitate health information exchange (HIE) and care coordination.

12 Oct 2009

Automated patient registration process reduces waiting times, routine administrative tasks

Orlando Internal Medicine, an eight-provider practice, is expediting the collection of patient co-payments, deductibles and payer reimbursement through its use of self-service solutions from Greatwater Software and NCR Corporation/

12 Oct 2009

Congressional -- and political -- agenda tied to outcome of health care reform

Questions abound about what may happen if health care reform does happen.

12 Oct 2009

Grid technology enables accurate healthcare data exchange between physician EHRs and hospitals

Medicity, Inc., leading provider of health information exchange (HIE) technology, announced today that Craig Bakken, CEO of Rocky Mountain Gastroenterology Associates (RMGA), will co-present with Medicity Vice President Doug Arent at the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) annual conference on Monday, October 12th, from 3:15-4:30 p.m. Mountain Time at the Colorado Convention Center.

12 Oct 2009

Cifra healthcare platform from Wound Management Technologies

Wound Management Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: WNDM) a rapidly growing provider of specialty medical products, announced today that its subsidiary Wound Care Innovations, LLC has launched the Cifra(TM) healthcare platform to securely exchange and store information for ongoing evidence based case studies on its patented collagen CellerateRx® products in managing all types of wound care.

12 Oct 2009

Employers offering more high-deductible plans this enrollment season

When open enrollment rolls around again this year, workers may be faced with more health insurance choices: "more employers may include a new type of plan that can chop premium payments by nearly 20 percent and give consumers a tax break," The Associated Press reports.

12 Oct 2009

Physician shortage worries rural communities but gets little attention in health bills

Garfield Memorial Hospital in Pomeroy, Wash., has been struggling to make ends meet for years - through patient revenues and property taxes that helped cover a $70,000 roof repair - the Seattle Times reports. Many rural hospitals face similar problems, and in the case of Pomeroy, if the hospital closed, residents would have to travel miles to find other choices.

12 Oct 2009

States struggle with Medicaid issues

Various newspapers examine Medicaid issues including the coverage needs of kids in Michigan, financial worries for Medicaid programs in California and New Hampshire and concerns that Medicaid pay may be cut again when stimulus money runs out.

12 Oct 2009

'Modern' patients help drive up health care costs

Patients who request specific medications and procedures, even though they may not need them, help to drive up health care costs, NPR reports.

12 Oct 2009

Public option for the House bill still viable

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's record of passing all the bills she has brought forward -- despite opponents' caricature of her as inept -- mean that the health public option remains viable in the House and the House-Senate conference, says ex-White House staffer and former House Aging Committee and Health Subcommittee Chief of Staff Robert Weiner. Pelosi told Weiner, "We will not be deterred. We will pass the bill."

12 Oct 2009