The state of Georgia is launching a program that would jump-start Medicaid physicians' use of paperless health records. This month, the Georgia Office of Health Information Technology and Transparency will begin to develop a secure electronic health information exchange for the 10,000 physicians in the state who treat Medicaid patients, according to a release. Medicaid providers will have access to a statewide network of computerized health records that officials say will result in better care for patients and streamlined management of patient medical histories, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Nashville-based Healthcare Management Systems Inc. has forged an agreement with IBM Global Financing to provide financing to healthcare providers trying to meet new federal information technology guidelines, the Nashville Business Journal reports. Healthcare Management Systems provides IT systems that integrate clinical and financial applications on a single IBM platform.
There is no significant difference in mortality rate, length of stay, or complications between patients who were monitored remotely by intensivists and those who were not, according to a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research calls into question whether using telemedicine in ICUs really improves patients' outcomes. Researchers evaluated patients in six ICUs of a large healthcare system. They did find a slight improvement in mortality rates for sicker patients who were monitored remotely.
Health spending grew in 2008 at the slowest pace in 48 years as the recession held back the growth of health costs, the federal government reported. Health spending topped $2.3 trillion in 2008, up 4.4% from the previous year. But the rate of growth in 2008 was down from 6% in 2007 and an average increase of 7% a year in the decade from 1998 to 2008. Healthcare accounted for 16.2% of the gross domestic product in 2008, up from 15.9% in 2007, according to the report by the Department of Health and Human Services.
As congressional Democrats attempt to arrive at a final healthcare bill, they appear increasingly likely to forgo the formal conference committee process for merging House and Senate versions of legislation, instead opting for closely held negotiations between leaders from the two chambers, the Chicago Tribune reports. Under that scenario, the House would be likely to amend the Senate bill before sending that bill back to the Senate for a vote.
Though Atlanta-based Grady Memorial Hospital has contracted with a clinic to provide free dialysis care for patients until September, the hospital continues to push patients to find their own care and has set another deadline to stop treatments. Grady had initially told patients it was closing its outpatient dialysis clinic in October. The hospital then told patients they would have three more months to find care elsewhere. During that time, Grady has paid for their treatments at an outside provider. That three-month deadline arrived Jan. 4, but the hospital again shifted the deadline—this time to Feb. 3.