Briefly - Industry Trend or Event

Health Management Technology, June, 2001

Change the Rule.

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), Reston, VA, has submitted its comments to the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the new medical privacy rules. The workgroup asked that requests for records be limited to once every 90 days and that "reasonable" fees could be charged for copying costs. It also wanted oral communications exempted from the rules. In addition, the group recommended that the rule should state that patient consent or authorization for the use and disclosure of protected information is not required for the purpose of treatment, payment and healthcare operations. The WEDI document is posted on the group's website, at www.wedi.org.

Medical Student Equipped with Handhelds. Stanford University School of Medicine, CA, has acquired a site license from PatientKeeper, Inc., Brighton, MA, to give about 90 medical students Palm OS handheld devices for accessing lab and medi cation information and task lists. The students will record and manage data about their patients, as well as transmit data to instructors, who may identify potential problems in the students' training, www.patientkeeper.com

What's in a Name? The e-commerce exchange formed by large medical device distributors last year is changing its name to Healthnexis. "Nexus means `that which unites' and `a means of connection,'" said David Hurley, CEO of the organization that was known as New Health Exchange since its founding in April 2000. "Our quest is to unite the healthcare supply chain by providing a centralized infrastructure and technology platform to enable more efficient, lower-cost interactions between health industry trading partners." The company was founded by four of the nation's largest healthcare distributors: AmeriSource Health Corporation, Chester Brook, PA; Cardinal Health, Inc., McGraw Park, IL; Fisher Scientific International, Inc., Hampton, NH; and McKessonHBOC, Inc., San Francisco, CA. www.healthnexis.com.

HIPAA Not Pumping Sales. A recent discussion among leaders of five software companies, a consulting firm and the managing director of New York-based investment firm Bear Stearns & Co. elicited that the government's new medical records regulation is not spurring software sales. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is set to go into effect in early 2003 and thus far has not created buyers of compliance software, the panel agreed. Instead, the vendors predicted HIPAA would produce a surge of demand for consulting services. They also indicated that hospitals are putting the responsibility for compliance in the laps of vendors.

Foundation Initiates Physician, Patient Database. The Kanter Family Foundation is partnering with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to form a database that physicians and patients would share in diagnosing and treating illnesses. The database would cite numerous healthcare websites to access, which will report treatment outcomes of patients according to age, health, lifestyle, severity of condition and tolerance of side effects. The AHRQ has provided a guide on how to use the database. The foundation has pledged about $2 million to develop a prototype, but estimates of the database's cost is $20 million to $50 million.www.ahrq.gov

Selling a Lifeline. Neoforma.com, Inc., San Jose, CA, has sold its healthcare business resource, U.S. Lifeline, to Medical Distribution Solution, Inc., Norcross, GA. Neoforma had previously stated intentions of selling or closing divisions not aligned with its main purpose of operating Internet marketplaces. "The sale will include a services agreement that will allow MDSI to gain access to Neoforma's customer base, while Neoforma will provide highly desired information services to its marketplace trading partners," said Dan Eckert, Neoforma's president and chief operating officer. www. neoforma.com