ThE nEws soUrCE For hEalThCarE inForMaTion TEChnoloGy n SepTeMber 2011
Early bird
Headed to Vegas
Feb. 20-24 for HIMSS12?
Registration is open. PaGE 24
newS
Eye on MU
Ophthalmologists making a list,
checking it twice. PaGE 3
Mobile FDa
Agency clarification on mobile apps
raises more questions. PaGE 4
commentarY
Data power
Why more stats motivate
patients to take care. PaGE 13
HoSPItaLS
Think big
Bon Secours goes all out on
cardiology IT. PaGE 17
PHYSIcIanS
one for all
Maine docs embrace “one patient,
one record.” PaGE 26
PaYerS
seal of approval
CMS certifies Massachusetts’
Medicaid IT. PaGE 31
VenDorS
iCertified
iPad EHR passes muster for
meaningful use. PaGE 35
Energy boost
Hospital ORs go green – and save
some green, too. PaGE 35
ProDUCT spotlight
right staffing
Analytics help hospitals get
staffing just right. PaGE 42
Demo projects across the country have shown ACOs can improve care and cut costs ACO angst ACO angst
ManaGEMEn T solutions
help!
Hospitals are in the market for
the best and brightest. PaGE 44
www.HealthcareItnews.com
Med Tech Media / Vol. 8 No. 9
organizations (ACOs).
At a July 19 briefing in Indianapolis, Blum said
he bases that opinion on the positive comments
from doctors that CMS
received on its proposed
ACO rule, issued last March.
A study by the Healthcare
Intelligence Network seems
to support Blum’s opinion.
It found that “a significant
segment of the industry is
reframing its care delivery structure as an ACO
or will do so in the near future.”
The Aug. 10 report also found that of the 228
organizations surveyed, 95 percent of primary
care physicians and 87 percent of specialists
planned on participating in ACOs.
On Aug. 8, CMS reported the findings of its
five-year pre-ACO
demo. Only four of
the 10 participating
physician groups
received incentive
payments. CMS
Administrator Donald Berwick, MD,
recognized the difficulty in launching ACOs,
while remaining positive. “We have learned to
invest in sustained improvement over time,” he
“We’re capitated now as a country, but we don’t know it yet.” – Tim Bartholow, MD
Docs eager to lead on accountable care, but remain guarded
aCo see page 14
By Diana Manos, Senior Editor
WASHING TON –Jonathan Blum, deputy administrator and director for the Center of Medicare at
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,
says doctors are eager to try accountable care
