Category Archives: Medical

Cloud computing, IT service management, Medical, Research

Global Healthcare Cloud Computing Market to Triple to 12 Billion in Five Years

According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research “Global Market Study on Healthcare Cloud Computing: Hybrid Clouds to Witness Highest Growth by 2020″ the global healthcare cloud computing market was valued at USD 4,216.5 million in 2014 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20.1% from 2014 to 2020, to reach an estimated value of USD 12,653.4 million in 2020.

Healthcare cloud computing refers to a process which involves delivering hosted medical services to the clients. These services can be classified into majorly three types: infrastructure-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service, and software-as-a-service. A cloud can be public, private, hybrid or community in nature.

Globally, the healthcare cloud computing market is witnessing significant growth due to increased government healthcare IT spending and advanced features of cloud computing services In addition, rising demand for better healthcare facilities, increasing in popularity of wireless and cloud technologies are driving the healthcare cloud computing market. However, factors such as high cost involved in the implementation of clinical information systems and lack of security and privacy of patient’s information restrain the global market for healthcare cloud computing market. In addition, interoperability issues negatively impact the growth of the healthcare cloud computing market. The global healthcare cloud computing market is estimated at USD 4,216.5 million in 2014 and expected to reach USD 12,653.4 million in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 20.1%.

North America has the largest market for the global healthcare cloud computing market. This is due to technological advancements in the region. North American market for healthcare cloud computing is estimated at USD 1,857.5 million in 2014 and is expected to reach USD 5,757.7 million in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 20.7%. In terms of deployment model, hybrid clouds are the fastest growing segment. In terms of service model, software-as-a-service (Saas) is the largest segment of healthcare cloud computing market.

One of the latest trends that have been observed in the global healthcare cloud computing market includes increasing use of mobile devices for delivering healthcare services.

Cancer, Eren Niazi, Medical, Partnerships

ErenNiazi.org Provides Lazarex Cancer Foundation with Free Technology Services

ErenNiazi.org, a nonprofit that offers free technology services to charities, announced today that it will assist the Lazarex Cancer Foundation with rebranding, website redesign, digital marketing and data storage. By drawing on the experts and resources of WSpider, The Coding Tree and Open Source Storage—three Bay Area tech companies—the project will help Lazarex gain visibility and earn donations critical to serving late stage cancer patients.

Founded in 2006 in Danville, California, Lazarex Cancer Foundation advocates for late stage cancer patients who have been told there is no hope. Lazarex’s team guides patients through clinical trial options and provides the financial assistance they need to continue fighting the disease. In total, Lazarex has given its patients 210 extra years of life beyond doctor’s expectations. To spread greater awareness of these services and improve fundraising efforts, Lazarex began exploring ways to build its online presence. Learn more about Lazarex Cancer Foundation at www.lazarex.org.

Alerted to Lazarex’s needs at a private fundraising event, Eren Niazi, founder of ErenNiazi.org, offered to help Lazarex revamp the foundation’s branding, website, marketing strategy and database solution. The new online strategy will help Lazarex build a stream of small, web-based donations to complement fundraising events and other outreach efforts.

Karen Ambrogi, Communications Manager for Lazarex Cancer Foundation, participated in the redesign. She notes “We were surprised and excited by Mr. Niazi’s offer. We know that these much needed technology updates will greatly improve Lazarex’s ability to raise funds and awareness. Additionally the money we save as a result of this donation will give many cancer patients the gift of hope and time.”

While most nonprofits need donations to operate, ErenNiazi.org taps into Niazi’s tech businesses and a volunteer network of experienced technologists to provide charities like Lazarex with the mentorship, services, software and support they need to advance their missions.

WSpider, Niazi’s internet marketing firm, will develop SEO, social media and paid advertising strategies for Lazarex. The Coding Tree, his custom software development shop, will spearhead all aspects of the rebranding and web design. Finally, Open Source Storage, an enterprise storage solutions provider Niazi re-launched in November, will provide hosting and low-cost database services that can grow with Lazarex into the future.

“Organizations like Lazarex need web technology to share their mission with a wider audience, but the costs can be prohibitive,” said Niazi. “By providing our tech expertise at no cost, we can help Lazarex preserve funds that save lives and help the foundation build a technological platform for long-term growth and impact.”

Over the past 10 years, ErenNiazi.org has supported charities dedicated to a wide variety of causes including child welfare, AIDS, cancer, human trafficking and education. In addition to Lazarex Cancer Foundation, ErenNiazi.org is currently providing technology services for The A21 Campaign, Polyphony Foundation, International Sanctuary and the California Kidney Cancer Center.

Application programming interface, File Sharing, File transfer, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA, Medical, My Docs Online, PHI, Protected health information, Tools, Web Applications

Secure File Delivery API Aimed at Medical Records Sharing

My Docs Online yesterday released its “Secure File Delivery API” which allows web and mobile apps to easily incorporate HIPAA-compliant file delivery. Although My Docs Online supports a wide variety of professionals and small businesses needing secure file sharing, a significant part of their customer base uses the product for files containing “Protected Health Information” (PHI). This core competency should make My Docs Online an attractive partner for adding ad hoc file delivery to a variety of EMR, EHR and other medical applications.

My Docs Online Secure File Delivery includes the following features and options:

  • Branded web page listing the files being delivered
  • Optional PIN or password
  • HIPAA compliant
  • SSL standard for all connections
  • Files encrypted at rest using AES256
  • Default file delivery expiration in days with override
  • Control panel enabling checking of delivery results, link reuse, and delivery cancellation
  • Delivery results query via API
  • Delivery cancellation via API

Details and documentation.

(disclosures)

Content Management, GP Strategies Corporation, Imaging, Medical, Picture archiving and communication system

GP Strategies Moves infoMaestro to the Cloud

Global performance improvement solutions provider GP Strategies Corporation launched a cloud version of infoMaestro, a medical information solution that reduces compliance risk and enables companies to respond to complex medical inquiries anywhere in the world with a timely, accurate and consistent answer. GP Strategies will be showcasing this new solution at the DIA Medical & Scientific Communications Annual Forum March 18-20, 2013 in Phoenix, AZ.

With today’s information-driven, global economy, new challenges are presented for medical information authors and specialists. The number of medical information inquiries continues to rise, and unique questions require more collaboration than ever. With content stored in diverse internal and external systems and collaborators in different locations, the process for assembling response packages in a timely manner is becoming increasingly complex. For the past 12 years, GP Strategies’ infoMaestro on-premise product has supported the need for quick response package creation and delivery. The cloud version of infoMaestro addresses the need in the market to accommodate small to medium-sized pharmaceutical companies that require a solution with less overhead costs and complexity, while still improving response times and streamlining content.

Scott Metker , GP Strategies Chief Software Architect, stated, “Cloud-based medical information software is a logical next step for our customers who are looking for solutions that can be deployed flexibly, either for a single region or as a global solution. The infoMaestro cloud offering for medical information is a true, end-to-end solution that provides both inquiry tracking tools as well as a full, global medical library supporting translation and local adoption workflow.”

Learn more about infoMaestro.

Data security, Health Care, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Medical, Protected health information, Webinar/Webcast/Presentation

How Tough are the Final HIPAA Privacy, Security Rules?

Online Tech is hosting an educational webinar on the new final HIPAA omnibus rule, No More Excuses: HHS Releases Tough Final HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules Thursday, January 31 at 2 P.M. ET. The webinar will discuss how the latest HIPAA modifications affect the healthcare industry and healthcare vendors.

Dickinson Wright’s Brian Balow will lead the No More Excuses webinar with April Sage, Director of Healthcare Vertical for Online Tech. On January 17, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services released its long-anticipated modifications to the Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules under HIPAA/HITECH.

These modifications leave no doubt that covered entities, business associates, and their subcontractors must understand the application of these Rules to their operations, and must take steps to ensure compliance with these Rules in order to avoid liability. To find out more about the webinar and register via GoToMeeting, click here.

Electronic medical record, Health administration, Health Care, Medical, Medical Billing, Partnerships

iSALUS Healthcare, CIPROMS Partner to Launch Revenue Cycle Management

iSALUS Healthcare, a privately held electronic medical records and practice management service provider, and CIPROMS, Inc., an Indianapolis-based revenue cycle management firm, are partnering to offer medical billing and revenue cycle management services.  The agreement allows both organizations to co-promote their respective services.

“The healthcare industry is quickly becoming more automated with electronic medical records.  We felt it was time to provide a fully integrated service that could save physicians time, improve efficiency, and enhance patient care, while delivering increased financial performance.  It is critical for our organization to be aligned with a leading EMR and practice management solution provider, and we were fortunate to find that team right here in Indianapolis,” said Cheryl Louks , president and CEO of CIPROMS.

The management at both iSALUS and CIPROMS recognized that in today’s fast-paced medical environment, there is little time for providers to focus on all the necessary details to ensure a practice is reaching its financial potential.  As such, the partnership addresses the market need to deliver medical billing services within a web-based EMR.  This solution is designed to increase practice revenue, reduce costs, and minimize the administrative aggravations associated with the ever-changing rules and regulations.

“Being a 100% mobile practice poses challenges for a traditional EMR company and managing all the paper charting became very burdensome and time consuming for me as a physician.  I wanted to transition to an EMR for process improvement and efficiencies and knew an all-inclusive solution was ideal.  I chose OfficeEMR™ RCM for its simplicity, mobile application, and the ability to provide medical billing services within an integrated cloud-based service,” said Dr. Irene Roge , D.P.M.  “It is great to have one affordable solution that services both the clinical and financial aspects of my practice.”

“Our partnership with CIPROMS is a noteworthy milestone for iSALUS.  Physician practices are increasingly forced to navigate the choppy waters of changing regulations while trying to manage constant margin pressure.  It was imperative that we offer our clients a ‘best in class’ solution to address such pressures.  We have a long-standing relationship with CIPROMS and I am pleased to be moving forward with this all-in-one service,” said Michael Hall , founder and CEO of iSALUS Healthcare.

Blood sugar, Glucose meter, Machine to Machine (M2M), Medical, Qualcomm, Telcare

Telcares Blood Glucose Meter Calls Home via Verizon

Telcare’s next-generation wireless blood glucose meter – the Telcare BGM has now been certified to operate on Verizon’s nationwide cellular network. The product was developed in collaboration with both Verizon and Qualcomm, Inc., and is the first medical device to utilize Qualcomm’s new Internet of Everything module. Telcare’s product is the first technology to make CDMA connectivity affordable for consumer-focused medical devices. The product will be exhibited in Telcare’s booth, located inside the Qualcomm Life Pavilion #26715 at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show.

The Telcare product will operate with both Telcare’s FDA-cleared diabetes management portal and with other soon-to-be released mHealth care management platforms. By integrating Telcare’s FDA-cleared blood glucose meter and cloud server to the Verizon network, people with diabetes, their families, and their health professionals will now be able to integrate real-time measurement of blood glucose levels with other physiologic parameters, such as weight and blood pressure.

“Telcare is excited to establish this collaboration as it will enable us to better support Americans with diabetes, their loved ones, and their medical caregivers. Moreover, the outstanding cellular coverage afforded nationwide by Verizon wireless will be particularly valuable in continuously connecting people with diabetes to their care system,” said Jonathan C. Javitt, M.D., M.P.H., Telcare’s CEO and co-founder.

Diabetes mellitus affects 32 million Americans and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that one in three Americans born after 2000 will have the condition. Although the complications of diabetes can be prevented through daily monitoring and control of blood sugar, diabetes today accounts for one in ten healthcare dollars spent in the U.S. and results in needless strokes, heart attacks, amputations and cases of blindness.

Telcare BGM is a registered trademark of Telcare, Inc.

Buyline Consumables, Consumables Spend Analytics, Medical, Spend management, Supply chain

MD Buyline Releases Tiered Solution to Tackle Healthcare PPI, Supply Chain Cost Containment

MD Buyline today released the next generation of Buyline Consumables, a comprehensive, evidence-based technology and services suite designed to help healthcare providers achieve greater predictability and data driven cost reductions across their Physician Preference Items (PPI) and supplies purchases.

With cost containment on PPI and supplies being a critical challenge facing healthcare institutions today, Buyline Consumables helps to bring clinical, finance, operational, and supply chain teams together to produce significant and measurable financial results. By utilizing data from thousands of hospital systems nationwide, MD Buyline provides rich insight and analysis to uncover financial savings opportunities. The result is a flexible, cost effective, subscription based solution that significantly improves the financial performance of a critical area of the hospital, while positively impacting both physician and patient satisfaction.

As the foundational layer of the Buyline Consumables solution suite, the Spend Analytics platform includes access to a real-time data platform that aggregates and synthesizes information from thousands of hospitals and vendors. Delivered as a cloud-based offering and accessible to anyone with a web browser, Consumables Spend Analytics enables clinical, operational, supply chain and financial departments to gain detailed line-item level visibility and drilldown views into robust national and cohort benchmarks for PPI and supply spend, resulting in greater fiscal sustainability and improved patient outcomes.

The premium service component of Buyline Consumables solution suite, aggregates Consumables Spend Analytics with a layer of diagnostic frameworks and custom research, to provide an end-to-end decision support service. Unlike open-ended PPI consulting engagements that have little or no cost predictability, Consumables Spend Management is designed to support value analysis processes “from kickoff to implementation” at a fixed cost.

In addition to all elements of Consumables Spend Analytics, the Spend Management services include:

  • Custom research for the specific supply category, complete with
    summaries of the latest clinical evidence
  • RFP reviews and insight on contract pricing, terms and conditions best
    practices
  • Custom financial impact and decision support calculators
  • Analyst insights, recommendations & negotiation support

According to Satin Mirchandani, CEO, MD Buyline, “The Buyline Consumables solution suite is designed to efficiently and effectively support cross-functional technology selection and acquisition processes, thus driving step-function improvements in PPI and supply spend reduction. The proven MD Buyline technology and services platform, in combination with our experienced analyst team, is well-equipped to deliver an integrated solution that drives improved predictability and financial performance across the healthcare supply chain.”

Clinical trial, Drug development, EClinical trial technology, Medical, Medidata Solutions, Partnerships, Veeva Systems

Medidata Solutions Partners with Veeva Systems to Bring Integrated eTMF to the Clinical Cloud

Veeva Systems has partnered with Medidata Solutions to offer the life science industry’s first cloud-based end-to-end solution that integrates clinical documentation and trial development. The two companies will integrate Vault eTMF, Veeva’s electronic trial master file (eTMF) content management application, across the Medidata Clinical Cloud, offering life science companies and their global partners a complete clinical technology solution with a searchable central repository for all clinical documentation.

“Within the industry, there is an emerging demand for an eTMF to more consistently manage documents within a clinical trial,” said Alan S.Louie, Ph.D., research director, IDC Health Insights. “With the industry shift away from individual applications to more comprehensive eClinical solutions, seamless integration of applications and features such as eTMF into existing eClinical platforms should help leading life science companies to more fully and transparently manage overall trial efforts and improve process efficiencies.”

As clinical trials become more and more complex, the need for dependable document storage combined with real-time data accessibility is vital. The partnership will meet this need, advancing technology platform offerings in clinical development by facilitating efficient management of the trial master file collection. The integrated solution also provides secure document exchange between sites and sponsors, reducing the need for separate enterprise collaboration systems and portals. The collaborative nature of the clinical research team also demands a solution that is globally accessible and meets both regulatory and security needs.

Aviacode, Health Care, Medical, NextGen Healthcare, NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Partnerships, Quality Systems

NextGen Healthcare, Partners with Aviacode for Medical Coding

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc., announced today it has partnered with Aviacode, a provider of technology-enabled medical coding services, to provide integrated cloud-delivered medical coding services to NextGen Healthcare clients.

Under this agreement, NextGen Healthcare clients can leverage Aviacode’s ProCoder™, a web-based coding system, along with Aviacode’s experienced network of specialty-specific certified coders to help improve the accuracy and efficiency of medical coding – a critical component of the healthcare revenue cycle.

Through this partnership, providers can take advantage of special pricing on Aviacode’s turnkey medical coding services. The NextGen Healthcare and Aviacode platforms are seamlessly integrated with the billing system to ensure the highest degree of data integrity. This provides a more efficient option for medical coding services to help clients optimize revenue while minimizing compliance risk.

“In the healthcare industry, proper reimbursement for healthcare services is crucial to the financial stability of any business. However, fair and complete reimbursement is only realized when services are accurately coded,” noted David Jensen, founder and chief executive officer at Aviacode. “This partnership allows Aviacode to continue its growth with the leading practice management and electronic health record system in the industry.”

“Realizing appropriate payment for services is a challenge for healthcare providers across the board and becoming increasingly difficult. Our goal has been, and continues to be, helping our clients reduce costs while improving the quality of care. Coding can have a major impact on a provider’s ability to manage revenue, insurance denials and compliance risk,” said Monte Sandler, executive vice president for NextGen RCM Services. “Our partnership with Aviacode is just one more example of the solutions and services we offer that afford providers the opportunity to leave their revenue cycle worries to us — the experts — allowing them to focus on clinical competency and patient care.”