You can now purchase and immediately download Microsoft software applications from the new Microsoft Online Store. With broadband Internet becoming more and more available, and with folks driving less, this is a shrewd move on Microsoft’s part, and I predict the service will be extremely popular.
IT News Online (PR Newswire): Spheris, a leading global provider of clinical documentation technology and services, today announced results for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2008.
Net revenues for the third quarter of 2008 were $44.7 million compared with $48.9 million in the third quarter of 2007. The decrease in net revenues was due primarily to the impact of net lost business and lower average pricing.
Operating income for the third quarter of 2008 was $1.2 million, or 2.7% of net revenues, compared with operating income of $1.5 million, or 3.1% of net revenues, in the third quarter of 2007. The decrease in operating income was due to lower net revenues, accelerated technology investments to further develop and enhance our product and service offerings, as well as costs associated with the expansion of our global capacity. These costs were partially offset by operational cost savings from increased utilization of our global production workforce and speech recognition technologies, in addition to other cost savings initiatives.
Health IT Strategist Newsletter: In outlining his healthcare agenda for 2009, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, said one of his goals is to promote widespread use of health information technology.
Stark in September introduced the Health-e Information Technology Act of 2008, which would take steps to establish an interoperable health IT system and assist providers with the resources to adopt such a system.
The U.S. needs a standardized records system, Stark said, emphasizing that such technology would reduce costs and medical errors and assist with public health emergencies.
Other priorities in 2009 include Medicare’s physician pay fix, reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and working with the Obama administration on general healthcare reforms, Stark said.
Stark believes Congress should erase Medicare’s physician payment formula—and the debt that goes with it—and start from scratch. Medicare’s sustainable growth-rate formula, or SGR, used to determine physician payments, is tied to growth in the economy and has been threatening payment reductions since 2003. Deferring these cuts through congressional actions has resulted in billions of dollars in debt to the federal government. The key is getting lawmakers on the budget committees and the fiscally conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats to forgive this so-called “credit card debt,” Stark said.
Even more pressing is the reauthorization of SCHIP, he said. SCHIP’s temporary extender bill expires in March 2009, Stark said, citing Medicare Advantage overpayments and physician specialty hospitals as two likely sources for financing the bill.
SwampFox is reporting that AccuScribe, located in Charleston, South Carolina, has hired The Bosworth Group to provide marketing, public relations and design counsel, including interactive and web design.
AccuScribe provides medical transcription services to University Hospital Systems, Level 1 Trauma Centers, Large Medical Practices, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Statewide Departments of Social Services, and Statewide Departments of Juvenile Justice.
The Bosworth Group, established in 1984 and based in Charleston, is a marketing consulting, advertising and public relations firm with regional, national and international clients in travel and hospitality, packaged goods, real estate development, healthcare and medical technology and aviation.
Net revenues for the third quarter of 2008 were $81.3 million compared with $82.5 million in the third quarter of 2007. The decrease in net revenues of $1.2 million or 1% from the prior year period was driven primarily by lower average pricing.
The operating loss for the quarter improved to a loss of $5.3 million compared to an operating loss of $10.3 million in the third quarter of 2007. The current period operating loss includes a charge of $5.9 million related to a tentative settlement of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation of the company. The DOJ and the company have reached a tentative agreement to settle the DOJ’s civil investigation for a payment of $6.8 million of which $0.9 million was previously recorded. Non-GAAP operating income (excluding the cost of investigation and legal proceedings, net) improved by $7.8 million to a profit of $1.9 million in the third quarter of 2008 compared to a non-GAAP operating loss of $5.9 million in the third quarter of 2007.
Cost of revenues were reduced by $7.1 million or 11% to $57.2 million in the third quarter of 2008 compared to $64.3 million in the third quarter of 2007. This resulted in a decrease in cost of revenues as a percentage of net revenues to 70% compared to 78% in the third quarter of 2007.
Selling general and administrative expenses declined $2.4 million or 15% to $13.1 million in the third quarter of 2008 compared to $15.5 million in the third quarter of 2007. This decline primarily reflects the benefits of the restructuring actions taken by the company in 2007.
Cost of investigation and legal proceedings, net, increased to $7.2 million in the third quarter of 2008 compared to $4.4 million in the third quarter of 2007. The third quarter of 2008 includes an estimated charge of $5.9 million to settle the DOJ investigation of the company. Excluding the impact of the DOJ settlement estimate, the costs of investigation and legal proceedings, net declined from $4.4 million in the third quarter of 2007 to $1.3 million in the third quarter of 2008.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, net revenues declined 5% to $247.5 million while the company’s operating loss improved to a loss of $8.9 million compared to a loss of $9.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2007. On a non-GAAP basis (excluding the cost of investigation and legal proceedings, net), operating income for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 improved by $16.3 million. Non-GAAP operating income in the nine months ended September 30, 2008 was $6.4 million compared to a non-GAAP operating loss of $9.9 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2007.
As of September 30, 2008, the company had $47.3 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand and no debt.
BenchMark KB provides its users with a robust knowledge base including Stedman’s(R) medical terminology and drug name content, a referring physician database, the AHDI Book of Style, mentoring tools and best practices, all delivered via web services in real time. Developed by InterFix, the Knowledge Base is part of a research initiative with the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), formerly the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT).
ZyDoc Medical Transcription has announced that it will work with Alignment Acquisitions, LLC to expand ZyDoc’s U.S. client base through the acquisition of small to midsize medical transcription companies.
The acquisition strategy will target established U.S.-based transcription services with annual revenues above $200,000. Newly acquired companies will be run by the ZyDoc Operations Center and management team and retain many of the acquisition targets’ existing employees.
Cost and security concerns about bringing health care record keeping into the 21st century through electronic health records (EHR)have led to a call for an effective regulatory and oversight system from a pair of Case Western Reserve University professors.
“Electronic information can be illicitly accessed from anywhere and transmitted across the globe quickly, cheaply, and with little risk of detection,” said Sharona Hoffman, professor of law and bioethics at the School of Law. “EHR systems could transform health care in the U.S., but their potential will be realized only with careful oversight.”
Hoffman, along with her husband, professor Andy Podgurski from the Case School of Engineering, are responsible for one of the first scholarly studies to assess the need for federal regulation of electronic health record systems. “Finding a Cure: The Case for Regulation and Oversight of Electronic Health Record Systems” (Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, forthcoming 2009) comes on the heels of two previous publications by the two on security and privacy issues of EHRs and critiques of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule.
Most Americans would argue against an increase in government regulation, but as Hoffman believes, some regulation in an area like health care record systems is needed.
“We regulate drugs, transportation, communication, food, and many other goods and services,” she said. “A safe and effective transition to computerized medical records cannot be achieved without federal regulation.
