The New Hampshire health department has mistakenly released 9,300 names and Social Security numbers of Medicare recipients. Their information was mistakenly attached to a Dec. 1 e-mail sent to 61 providers and health-related organizations. The attachment contained names, addresses, Medicare Part D plan information, Social Security numbers, and the amount of each person's monthly premiums.
There is now more evidence that physicians shouldn't rush to use million-dollar scanners to look for heart disease: Doctors using 64-slice CT scans often identify blockages in the arteries around the heart when no blockages are actually present, according to a study of 360 patients. The findings are a troubling sign for a test that costs hundreds of dollars and subjects the patient to a high dose of radiation, according to this item from the Wall Street Journal Health Blog.
The e-Health 2009: Leadership in Action conference is scheduled for May 31 to June 3, 2009 in Québec City, Canada. Some themes of the conference include access and new models of care, and balancing workforce and technology, according to the official site.
Konica Minolta Medical Imaging introduced the FlexDR, an ergonomic, upright, flat panel digital radiography system at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. The FDA-cleared FlexDR features an Amorphous Silicon and Cesium Iodide receptor that boasts ultra-high detective quantum efficiency for high-quality images even with minimum X-ray exposure, according to a release.
Despite financial stresses, it seems that most hospitals are determined to go ahead with critical IT projects like EMRs, computerized provider order entry systems, and medication management platforms, according to a new study by the American Hospital Association, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology. The study surveyed 144 chief information officers and 27 chief financial offices and VPs of finance at hospitals.
The annual list includes providers of PACS, radiology systems, EMRs, cardiology systems, and application hosting. In addition to recognizing the Best in KLAS honorees, the 2008 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards report also highlights the highest-performing healthcare vendors across all market segments.