Raymond D. Aller, MD, and Hal Weiner
BtB Software marketing compliance relationship management system
BtB Software has released its StaffTrak laboratory-specific compliance relationship management software. The system is designed for laboratories using human resources department software that doesn’t meet their unique needs or labs that are tracking compliance relationships manually.
The software tracks staff training, inoculations, and accidents and includes e-mail notifications of meetings, RSVPs, attendance records, and continuing education units received. Users can access and track laboratory documentation for each staff member.
Using the software’s built-in report generator, users can print attendance sheets and sorted lists of attendees, as well as grades for compliance reporting. Staff member names can be imported from other data files. Standard operating procedures tracking functionality will be added this summer.
The system has three user levels: super users, who can manage the data for all users; administrators for groups, who can manage the data for their specific group, such as the laboratory, nursing, or support staff; and regular users, who can access only their own data.
StaffTrak can be hosted locally or via a secure Internet connection. A cloud-based, full-featured demonstration is available for testing.
BtB Software, 707-502-2821
Congressman introduces health IT innovation bill
Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) has reintroduced the Healthcare Innovation and Marketplace Technologies Act, or HIMTA, which he originally introduced as a work in progress in December.
The current version of the bill, HR 2363, which is slightly more comprehensive than the original version, establishes an Office of Wireless Health at the Food and Drug Administration to clarify FDA regulations pertaining to the use of wireless technology in health care. The bill also develops a support program at the Department of Health and Human Services to help mobile health application developers conform to current privacy standards. Furthermore, the legislation creates a grant program that encourages risk taking and new approaches to developing information technology, forms a low-interest small business loan program for clinics purchasing new health care services, and establishes two-year grants to support employee retraining for new positions in health information technology.
“The legislation seeks not only to improve health care delivery, but to ensure that our government agencies have the tools they need to encourage innovation,” said Honda when introducing the bill.
CCHIT releases information technology guide for ACOs
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology has published guidance on the HIT capability required to support an accountable care organization.
The guide, titled “A Health IT Framework for Accountable Care,” identifies and prioritizes the information technology needs for such entities. It addresses the IT capabilities necessary for such functions as patient and clinician relationship management, clinician engagement, care coordination, and financial management. It details such areas as patient safety, privacy, and security, as well as data collection, integration, and management.
“It is designed as a starting point for provider groups developing HIT roadmaps, for payers looking to assess or complement the HIT capabilities of their provider partners, or for HIT developers designing products to fill gaps in currently available technology,” according to a statement from the CCHIT.
The guide is available at www.cchit.org/hitframework.
Contracts and arrangements
UCSF Dermatopathology and Oral Pathology Service, San Francisco, has entered into a contract to obtain the revenue cycle management solutions and pathology billing services of McKesson Business Performance Services. BPS is a business unit of McKesson Technology Solutions.
McKesson Technology Solutions, 404-338-6000
PathCentral has announced that Penn Medicine, Philadelphia, will participate in the PathCentral Pathology Network, the company’s online information exchange and digital consultation forum.
PathCentral, 855-557-7501
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Dr. Aller is director of informatics and clinical professor in the Department of Pathology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He can be reached at raller@usc.edu. Hal Weiner is president of Weiner Consulting Services, LLC, Florence, Ore. He can be reached at hal@weinerconsulting.com.