Australia’s NSW Health Chooses Epic for its Statewide Patient EHR

Five clinical laboratory information systems are part of the transition that will create a single statewide EMR for all New South Wales patients In a massive project, Australia’s New South Wales Ministry of Health (NSW Health) has selected health information system developer Epic to unify its five pathology laboratory information management systems (LIMS), nine electronic medical record systems (EMR), and six patient administration systems (PAS) into a statewide single digital patient record...

Ransomware Attacks on Scripps Health, Universal, and Utah Pathology Services Show Hospitals and Health Systems Are Increasingly in the Crosshairs

Recent attacks illustrate how costly a security breach can be and why clinical laboratories and pathology groups must work to protect their information systems from ransomware attacks Recent ransomware attacks on Scripps Health, Universal Health Services, and Utah Pathology Services clearly illuminate the vulnerabilities within the healthcare industry to being targeted. These attacks left patients’ protected health information (PHI) exposed and the healthcare organizations open to federal...

Text-based Appointment Reminder System Cuts Patient No-Show Rates by One-Third at California’s Largest Physician-Owned Medical Practice

Could clinical laboratories use texting to improving patient compliance with the medical laboratory test orders given to them by their doctors? California’s largest physician-owned medical practice has employed text messaging to reduce patient no-shows. Just as other innovations such as same-day walk-in clinical laboratory testing and patient at-home self-testing made it easier for patients to comply with physicians’ lab test orders, text messaging appears to help get more patients through the...

CMS Issues New Telemedicine Guidelines and Approves Seven New Procedures in Move to Further Encourage Telehealth Initiatives

As the Medicare program expands telemedicine services, the opportunity may arise for sub-specialist pathologists to offer consultation services across state lines More use of telemedicine across state borders has long been predicted as a way to improve access to care—particularly for patients in rural areas—as well as to give physicians and patients access to talented sub-specialists. Within the anatomic pathology profession, however, there are probably as many pathologists who view...

Hospitals, Physicians, and Clinical Pathology Laboratories Scramble to Prepare for Use of Form 5010 Beginning January 1, 2012

Some medical laboratory organizations risk coming up short on the deadline for implementation of 5010 standards Less than eight weeks remain before the January 1, 2012, deadline for implementation of Form 5010. Every sector of the healthcare system—from government and private payers to hospitals, physicians, pathologists, and clinical laboratories—is involved in this important healthcare reform. Many providers and payers are scrambling to meet the Health Insurance Portability and...
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