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Executive
Board
Your officers for 2005 are:
President - Dr. Stephen Pittenger
President-elect - Dr.
Michael Martin
Secretary/Treasurer - Ms. Valerie Ball
Feedback
Please let us know if you have any suggestions
or comments about AVI.
Veterinary
Informatics Standards
The National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames Iowa
recently took its first steps into the world of Veterinary
Informatics standards. The laboratory is the central part of
the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) which
is using HL7 messaging, with LOINC codes for test identifiers, and
SNOMED for species, anatomy and pathogen identifiers. NVSL
sent its first messages to the test system in March. This
was a bigger step than might be imagined. Many of the tests
at NVSL and the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
(FADDL) on Plum Island are performed there and nowhere else in the
world. These tests had to be described in LOINC terms and
new identifiers requested. The lab is in the process of
evaluating new laboratory information systems. As a result,
the messages had to be generated from the very old current
system. The experience was a good one for all concerned.
The scientists at NVSL were exposed to the benefits and challenges
of Veterinary Informatics standards while the Informaticians
learned a lot more foreign animal disease virology than they'd
ever imagined needing to know.
President's
Letter
Welcome to the March 2005
edition of the AVI HTML Newsletter.
The schedule for the 2005
meeting is coming together. The AVMA convention website
http://avmaconvention.org/
will list the entire program. We will send out notice in the
newsletter as time draw nearer for information on the Annual
Meeting, Officer Elections, Luncheon details and other tidbits of
information.
If you have a colleague that
may be interested in informatics, please pass along the
information!
Respectfully,
Stephen T. Pittenger, D.V.M.
About
AVI
Joining
the AVI
You
may renew or apply for membership in the AVI by completing an
application and paying the annual dues. An application is also
included in each issue of the AVI Newsletter. Membership is
for a full year, expiring July 31 each year. You may select
from several membership categories, work groups, and newsletter
formats as described in the application. All member
categories share the privileges of the newsletter and the
communication services of the society. Full and corporate
members have voting privileges. If you share AVI's
interests, please join us.
Mission
The AVI, formerly the American Veterinary Computer Society,
was formed to expand the use of the computer as a tool in
veterinary medicine. This includes serving as an educational
resource, promoting the use of information technology and
electronic communications, and developing and promoting standards
in veterinary information management.
Benefits
Membership
benefits include the monthly AVI
newsletter, participation in work
groups , the AVI-L listserv
discussion list, and an annual membership directory.
Levels
Membership
incorporates a range of levels to encourage participation from all
segments of the profession, veterinarians and non-veterinarians,
as well as its supporting organizations. This includes veterinary
practitioners and their staff, faculty and staff of veterinary
colleges, diagnostic laboratories, medical records personnel,
medical librarians, students, software and hardware developers,
and corporations supplying veterinary products and services.
Over one third of the members are individuals working in the field
of clinical veterinary medicine, one third are in academia, and
the remainder are in industry, government, and other veterinary
medicine. Membership is international, including Australia,
Brazil, Canada, Israel, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, as well as
the United States.
Meeting
The
annual membership meeting is held in conjunction with the AVMA
Annual Convention and includes the one-day Richard
B. Talbot Symposium on Veterinary Informatics and two days of
general information on computer usage. The members of the
Association are encouraged to write articles and/or make
presentations regarding their experiences, as these are valuable
to establish veterinary informatics as a legitimate discipline and
to encourage individuals in the veterinary community to become
more involved in the information age.
Membership
Application (HTML)
Membership
Application (RTF)
In
the News
Survey:
Docs' PDA Use Still Limited
March
24, 2005
Though
more than half of US physicians regularly use PDAs, most rely on
their hand-helds for administrative tasks rather than accessing
clinical data, according to a study by the Chicago-based American
Medical Association and Cambridge, Mass., -based Forrester
Research. The study is based on a survey of 1,331 physicians
conducted between August and December 2004. Complete Mobile Health
Data article available at:
http://www.mobilehealthdata.com
/article.cfm?articleid=1347
Alliance
Works to Define 'Interoperability' for Health IT
March
25, 2005
The
National Alliance for Health Information Technology on Wednesday
hosted a teleconference to discuss reaching consensus on the
meaning of the term "interoperability" for health care
IT. Complete iHealthBeat article available at:
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/index.cfm
?Action=dspItem&itemid=109814
Health
Record Bonuses Adopted
March
29, 2005
CareFirst
Blue Cross BlueShield launched yesterday a program to pay doctors
as much as $20,000 to install electronic patient record systems
designed to reduce medical errors and allow for more precise
tracking of the care patients receive. Complete Baltimore Sun
article available at: http://www.baltimoresun.com…
CIOs
Getting Vocal about iPods
March
28, 2005
Health
Data Management discusses the new IT Conversations podcasts.
Complete article available at:
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/html
/PortalStory.cfm?type=trend&DID=12539
Survey:
PDAs, Handhelds under-utilized for clinical applications
March
23, 2005
Physicians
are using personal digital assistants and handhelds for
administrative activities rather than for clinical tasks, a new
survey of 1,300 doctors found. For physicians who are using these
devices, 80 percent or more use them to maintain an address book
or to keep track of their appointments. Less than 10 percent said
they used PDAs or handhelds to order medications, access patient
records or check lab results. The survey, from Forrester Research
and the American Medical Association, found that only 16 percent
of physicians who have handhelds and whose practices have an
electronic medical record are using their devices to record
patient data. Similarly, only 16 percent of physicians who use
handhelds say they use them for electronic prescribing. A report
from Spyglass Consulting Group issued early this year also found
that physicians were generally unsatisfied with mobile devices.
“It’s a usability issue,” said Forrester analyst
Lynne Bishop. Bishop said physicians are often frustrated with the
number of screens they have to click through to chart patient
information. Complete Healthcare IT News article available at:
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/News
ArticleView.aspx?ContentID=2676
The
Digital Hospital
March
24, 2005
Business
Week Online looks at health care IT initiatives in New Jersey.
Complete article available at: http://businessweek.com/magazine
/content/05_13/b3926001_mz001.htm
Official
Push to Get Medical Records Online
March
21, 2005
The
San Jose Mercury News looks at the adoption rate of EHRs. Complete
article available at: http://www.mercurynews.com…
Medical
Records Going Digital
March
21, 2005
Article
looks at how electronic health records are helping to improve
patient care at health systems in Fort Collins, Colo. About 400
local physicians are connected both in their offices and homes to
a new HER system that is part of a $3 million information
technology project backed by Poudre Valley Health System. Complete
Coloradoan article available at: http://www.coloradoan.com
UPMC
Matches Medicine, Computers
March
22, 2005
When
Merck & Co. Inc. announced the recall of the popular
painkiller Vioxx in September, the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center used an electronic medical record system to quickly
identify the 6,731 health system patients taking the medication.
Complete Pittsburgh Post-gazette article available at: Letters
were mailed within 24 hours informing patients about the drug
company's action and advising them to contact their physician.
Officials say the speedy response couldn't have happened without
the computer system. It is one example of why UPMC has spent
heavily on an electronic health record system as part of a broader
five-year, $500 million investment in information technology.
Computers can help doctors and nurses do a better job for patients
in myriad ways, from preventing medication errors to reminding
doctors to order preventive tests. The federal government,
recognizing the importance of such a system, is now pushing all
hospitals to create electronic medical records.
http://www.post-gazette.
com/pg/05081/475123.stm
Amazing
Technology in the Making
March
22, 2005
Healthleaders
discusses the new technology displayed at the recent RSNA
conference. Complete article available at:
http://www.healthleaders.com/news
/feature1.php?contentid=65756
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Continuing
Education
Complete Listing
for 2005
Apr. 5-7, 2005 - Shirt Sleeve Seminars -
Location: Embassy Suites Hotel Downtown Denver 1881 Curtis Street
Denver, CO 80202 - Contact: Amber Thill - Address: Catanzaro &
Associates 18301 W. Colfax Ave R101 Golden, CO 80401 - Tel: 303
277 9800 - Fax: 303 277 9888 - Web site: www.v-p-c.com - E-mail:
cat9800@aol.com - Comments: Presented by Veterinary Practice
Consultants, Catanzaro & Associates, Inc. 18 hours CE. Topics
include: Developing Standards of Care, Client Relations Programs,
Developing a Budget, High Density Scheduling, Staff Training
Programs and much more!
Apr. 21-22, 2005 - West Coast
Annual Meeting, C.L. Davis Foundation for Veterinary Pathology -
Location: Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA, USA -
Contact: Dr. Dimitry Danilenko - Address: C.L. Davis Foundation,
6245 Formoor Lane, Gurnee, IL, USA 60031-4757 - Tel: 650-225-2672
- Web site: www.afip.org/CLDavis - E-mail: ddanilen@gene.com -
Comments: Case reports on veterinary pathology are requested and
Dr. Corrie Brown, University of Georgia, is the invited speaker on
"Infectious Animal Diseases."
Apr. 29-May 1,
2005 - ABVP Practitioner's Symposium - Location: Marriott
Washington Washington, DC, USA - Contact: Mandy Lister - Address:
618 Church St., Ste 220 Nashville, TN 37219 - Tel: 615-254-3687 -
Web site: www.abvp.com - E-mail: abvp@walkermgt.com -
News,
continued
Personal
Records Go to School
March
18, 2005
If
consumers eventually embrace Web-based personal health records,
The College of St. Scholastica wants its students to understand
how such a service can benefit patients. The Duluth, Minn.-based
college is offering personal health records--and USB flash drive
devices to store the records--to its students majoring in health
care informatics and health information management. It soon will
offer the records technology to nursing, occupational therapy,
physical therapy and exercise physiology students. Complete Health
Data Management article available at:
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/html/
PortalStory.cfm?type=vend&DID=12520
Siemens
to Pay about $1 Billion to Buy CTI Molecular Imaging
March
21, 2005
In
an effort to strengthen its position in the fast-growing market
for cancer-detection equipment, Siemens AG said it would acquire
CTI Molecular Imaging Inc. for about $1 billion. Complete Wall
Street Journal article only available with paid subscription at:
http://online.wsj.com…
Cedars-Sinai
Doctors Cling to Pen and Paper
March
21, 2005
The
Washington Post discusses Cedars-Sinai hospital in the three years
since their EMR problems. Complete article available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy
n/articles/A52384-2005Mar20.html
Adoption
of Personal Health Records Raises Questions
March
18, 2005
A
lot of recent media attention has focused on the growing
popularity of personal health record programs that enable patients
to compile their own medical data. Although the demand for these
programs is encouraging because it indicates that patients are
becoming more comfortable using health care information
technology, it nevertheless raises important questions about the
direction of electronic patient information. Complete iHealthBeat
article available at:
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/index.cfm?action=dsp
Item&itemID=109677&changedID=109669
Health
Care Consortium to Build Data Network
March
17, 2005
Pennsylvania
health care organizations are taking their first steps toward
creating an electronic data network aimed at improving patient
care and reducing costs. Twenty-eight groups announced this week
that they are working to build a network that could become part of
a national system for storing patient records electronically. It's
part of an effort to realize President Bush's goal of having
electronic medical records for a majority of Americans within 10
years. Complete Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article available at:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05076/472714.stm
Healthleaders
March Cover Story
March
18, 2005
Do
MDs or MBAs Make Better Leaders. Article available at:
http://www.healthleaders.com/news/feature1.php?contentid=65741
Microsoft
Prescribes Digital Pharma Framework
March
15, 2005
At
the Pharmaceutical Technology Congress this week in Philadelphia,
Microsoft announced a full-scale strategy for addressing the IT
needs of the pharmaceutical industry. Microsoft originally
launched its health care and life sciences group ten years ago.
"Microsoft has stepped up and said we think we can have
impact in the pharmaceutical industry," said Microsoft
Enterprise Sales and Industry Strategist Paul Mattes. "Microsoft
is not dipping into it in a transient way." Dubbed "Digital
Pharma," the solutions framework is intended to help
pharmaceutical companies to improve productivity, integrate
disparate data sources and facilitate collaboration—with all
of these processes gaining ground across research, manufacturing,
and marketing and sales. Complete eWeek article available at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0%2C1
759%2C1776395%2C00.asp
Experts
Expect CPOE Adoption to Continue Despite Study on Errors
March
16, 2005
AMIA
Board members Paul Tang and David Bates weigh in on the discussion
surrounding a report published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association on CPOE. Complete iHealthBeat article
available at:
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/index.cfm
?Action=dspItem&itemid=109631
Lahey
Sees Big Savings with PDA
March
11, 2005
Lahey
Clinic has saved about $1 million per year since it fully
implemented a hand-held charge capture system in 2003, says Linda
A. Cagle, senior vice president, support services. The Burlington,
Mass.-based provider began using the Charges in Hand system from
MedAptus, Boston, in November 2001, but full rollout was
interrupted. Complete Mobile Health Data article available at:
http://www.mobilehealthdata.com/article.cfm?articleid=1327
Second
Hospital to 'Read' Humans
March
14, 2005
Hackensack
(N.J.) University Medical Center will become the second provider
organization that can read radio frequency identification chips
embedded in patients. The 683-bed, not-for-profit provider plans
to test the VeriChip system--from Delray Beach, Fla.-based Applied
Digital--in its emergency department. Complete Mobile Health Data
article available at:
http://www.mobilehealthdata.com/article.cfm?articleid=1328
A
Personal Record
March
15, 2005
While
feds delay, some digitize their own medical records. Complete
Washington Post article available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-d
yn/articles/A35059-2005Mar14.html
Personal
Health Record Options
March
15, 2005
With
online banking and shopping having become mainstream activities,
some people are now looking to manage their medical care via
computer. A number of companies offer personal health record (PHR)
services directly to consumers. (Some insurers and medical plans
are offering PHRs to their clients and patients, too.) If you are
considering a PHR, check the service's privacy policy carefully to
see how much control you have over your information, and whether
the service can share or exchange your data. Also ask your doctors
if they are willing to read your PHR -- and if they are, talk with
them about your privacy concerns. Complete Washington Post article
available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
articles/A35323-2005Mar14.html
E-mail
Helps Doctors Keep Better Tabs on Patients
March
13, 2005
Two
pilot programs at Vanderbilt University are designed to find out
whether insurers can lower costs by paying doctors incentives to
keep closer tabs on their patients through a special Web site and
frequent e-mails. Complete Tennessean article available at:
http://tennessean.com/business/archives/05/
03/66886315.shtml?Element_ID=66886315
Electronic
Records Aid Medical Practices with Insurance, Liability Issues
March
14, 2005
Traditional
paper charts and filing systems have been the norm in medical
offices for many years. Today, state-of-the-art electronic medical
record (EMR) systems permit these records to be converted into
electronic data and all new paperwork to become electronic charts
from the start. This includes health data sheets, demographics,
HIPAA consents, insurance information and cards, internal
documentation, doctors' notes, lab tests and results, telephone
messages, prescriptions and billing folders. Complete Denver
Business Journal article available at: http://www.bizjournals.com…
Standards
Groups to Collaborate
March
10, 2005
Two
standards development organizations will work together to build
interface standards to promote interoperability of health care
information systems. The initial focus of the collaboration
between Object Management Group and Health Level Seven is to
address standards to enhance the information exchange capabilities
of electronic medical records. Complete Health Data Management
article available at:
http://healthdatamanagement.com/html/n
ews/NewsStory.cfm?DID=12499
Ex-health
Secretary Joins Firm as Adviser on Industry's Revamp
March
9, 2005
Former
Health Secretary Tommy Thompson is joining consulting and law
firms as an adviser to health-care companies, major employers and
state governments. Mr. Thompson, the secretary of Health and Human
Services during President Bush's first term, will join Deloitte &
Touche USA LLP and the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
LLP. At Deloitte, he will help establish a practice area focused
on solving health-care problems that will involve insurers, states
and other entities. At Akin Gump, Mr. Thompson will advise
companies and health-care providers about regulation and policy.
The firm's clients include hospitals, cancer-treatment centers and
pharmaceuticals makers. Complete Wall Street Journal article only
available with subscription at:
http://online.wsj.com…
Smart
Card Offers Ease, Opportunity for Health Industry
March
7, 2005
Saint
Thomas Hospital's SmartCard program is still in its early phases,
but already shows the potential benefits of melding technology and
care. The medical center in February launched the program for
patients enrolled in the center's Women of Heart program. The
technology stores a patients' demographic data, medical history
and insurance information on a card that's protected by a personal
identification number and photo of the patient. Complete Nashville
Business Journal article available at: http://www.bizjournals.com…
Medical
Data Made Whole Health Exchanges Hope to Offer All Patient Records
in One Place
March
8, 2005
One
of the main stumbling blocks in the American health care system,
many experts say, is the inefficient use of computer technology to
manage medical records. Now, in Santa Barbara County, a network of
hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and doctors is pioneering new
technology that will allow medical professionals with different
computer systems to share clinical information. The initiative may
well be a first step toward the creation of a national
patient-care data bank. Complete San Francisco Chronicle article
available at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/
c/a/2005/03/08/BUGRGBLOL41.DTL
Indy
Docs to Get Electronic Records
March
3, 2005
St.
Vincent Health Indianapolis will implement electronic medical
records software for 300 employed physicians in its ambulatory
care setting. Complete Health Data Management article available
at:
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/html/
PortalStory.cfm?type=vend&DID=12481
Medical
Records' Digitization Offers a Quick Cure
March
1, 2005
The
digitization of patients' medical records is drawing strong
interest from a wide range of sources, from medical facilities
hoping to radically alter patient care and existing IT systems all
the way to the desk of President George Bush. In the broadest
sense, the move to digital patient records is mandated by new
regulatory compliance rules. But for health care organizations
such as West Branch Medical Center in Michigan, the move from
paper-based records is a way to improve the speed, access and
accuracy of handling records daily. Complete eWeek article
available at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1768372,00.asp
Survey:
Records Prices Cross the Line
March
2, 2005
A
survey from the American Academy of Family Physicians found that
prices for electronic records have fallen under the $10,000 per
physician per year threshold that many experts have said would
have to be crossed for widespread adoption. Complete Health Data
Management article available at:
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/htm
l/news/NewsStory.cfm?DID=12475
Linux
in Government: Linux Systems Administrators
February
28, 2005
Linux
Journal commentary provides views on the assets of Linux system
administrators. Complete article available at:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8114
Most
Americans are Unwilling to Pay for E-mail with Doctors
March
1, 2005
Many
U.S. adults have a keen interest in corresponding with physicians
online, but few Americans are willing to pay for it, the latest
Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive health-care poll
finds. Eighty percent of those polled said they'd like to be able
to e-mail questions to their doctors, while 69% would like to
receive test results or reschedule appointments online. However,
only one in three Americans say they are willing to pay for such
services, according to the poll Complete Wall Street Journal only
available with paid subscription at: http://online.wsj.com…
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