Conmergence

Semantic Interoperability on Steriods

over at MBlog.

Smart Phone Electronic Medical Record / Mobile Contactless Payment / Remote Monitoring, Developments Toward...

<ed.note>Since vendors are looking at remote monitoring for disease management I should list those as well. I'll also be on the look out for sensors which are car-based now that wi-fi is available in automobiles. There are some parallel developments which I guess I should mention: Major League Baseball and other event vendors as well as transportation providers and social networks are putting the cell phone closer to the center of their business models. ( Robert Neelbauer on social graphs here -- cells will eventually be tracked by them. ) Of course, on the other end of the spectrum is home automation.</ed.note>

Phillips (still using POTS lines)
Qualcomm
Nokia's Intellisync Call Connect for Cisco

Shout out to http://www.wirelesshealthcare.co.uk who usually gets these stories before anyone else.

The Tech Scene: Banking by Cell Phone - This Time It's for Real?,
Use of Mobile and Wireless Technology Jumps in Hospitals,

iPhone ? ? ? ( Remember Osirix ), icefirst, liferecord, Access, aKos, ARANZ Medical, Asia eHealth presentations, Banco do Brasil, Blackberry [2], Diebold, Docobo, ebay VOIP (Skype), Gemalto, Google [2][3][4], INSIDE Contactless, J/Speedy, mBlox, mFoundry, Microsoft, m-Wallet, Obopay, payWave, Mayo Clinic InTouch, NTT DoCoMo, PayPal Credit Card, Privium, Samsung, telSpace, Telzuit's Bio-Patch PDA,
Telemedicine & eHealth Directory 2005, Verisign, ViVOtech, FeliCa, [2], Mifare [2], NFC Forum, Blackberry, Ubuntu mobile, Globe Telecom and Smart Communications

Wired for Health Quality Act

here. <ed.note>Note: Sec. 403. Facilitating the Provision of Telehealth Services Across State Lines</ed.note>

HR-XML Adds Support for Healthcare Savings Accounts

post here:

Health care spending account (HSA) support. Under the U.S. tax code, an HSA is a tax-exempt account established exclusively for the purpose of paying qualified medical expenses. A requirement for an HSA is for the account beneficary to be covered by a high-deductible health plan — a plan type supported by the USTierCoverage component of HR-XML’s enrollment schema. See the revised Enrollment documentation for details, but the HSA support involved relatively minor changes to the USTierCoverage component. Several changes also were made to the USSpendingAccountCoverage component to better handle other types of spending account enrollments (healthcare reimbursement accounts, flexible spending accounts (FSAs), dependent care spending accounts, etc.).

LinkedIn OpenHealthCare Group Launched

<ed.note>In order to better network between the various OS efforts touching healthcare I asked LinkedIn to set up a group. If you're a biz dev, booster, coder, contributor, venture-type, the invite is here.</ed.note>

Navigant Capital Advisors Healthcare Services "Quarterly Dialogue"

<ed.note>I met Brad at a Medical Banking Project function and he has been kind enough to keep me in the loop:</ed.note>

2007 continues to be a strong period for the healthcare sector on top of a record year in 2006 as over 250 transactions were announced in Q1. Due to continued liquidity and a buoyant lending market, private equity groups have gained further purchasing power in the marketplace in pursuit of high growth sectors, such as healthcare services and healthcare information technology. Notable first quarter transactions include:

• In the information services sector, The Blackstone Group's $3.3 billion cash acquisition of Cardinal Health's Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services business unit;
• In the alternate site sector, Texas Pacific Group's announcement to acquire HealthSouth's Surgery Division for $945 million; and
• In the long-term care sector, Formation Capital and JER Partners' $1.3 billion buyout of Genesis Healthcare.

In addition to the volume of healthcare M&A transactions, underlying valuations continue to be lofty, as numerous transactions were completed at acquisition multiples in excess of 10.0x TTM EBITDA. Further, public equity returns through Q1 were equally impressive; 12%-15% returns enjoyed in the healthcare distribution, healthcare information technology and long-term care segments. Given these factors and the overall market performance within the healthcare services sector, we expect significant transaction volumes for the remainder of 2007.

In response to these market trends and our sole focus on serving the middle market, the Investment Banking Group at Navigant Capital Advisors has enjoyed significant success having completed more than $1.7 billion of merger, acquisition, divestiture, and recapitalization transactions over the past year. In combination with our cadre of dedicated restructuring professionals, the NCA Investment Banking team now numbers more than 50 professionals, led by seasoned deal professionals focusing on the middle market transaction needs of companies, private equity groups, lenders, and management teams competing in the Healthcare, Business Services, Consumer Products & Specialty Retailing, Industrial Growth, and Insurance sectors.

We welcome your comments and hope that you continue to find our Quarterly Dialogue informative.

Best regards,
Brad Burkett
bburkett@navigantcapitaladvisors.com

Cerner HSA Card [ was: Medical Banking's Vision Preposterous [ Just don't tell Cerner's CEO Neal Patterson ]]

"Cerner to extend health plan ID, payment card to other employers", By Julius A. Karash, The Kansas City Star

UDEF and Electronic Health Records

Ron Schuldt writes:

For those who have not read the President’s Health Information Technology Plan, I recommend that you see the following 

I offer the following based on my assumption that an individual’s electronic health record will include topics such as:

Electronic Health Record Information (identification)

Patient Information (identification, address, phone number, date of birth, gender)

Primary Care Doctor Information (identification, address, phone number)

Insurance Coverage Information (identification, address, phone number)

Medical Conditions (identification and time period)

Medical Treatment Process (identification and time period)

Medical Treatment Substances (identification and time period)

Assuming the above topics and probably others are expected to be an integral part of an individual’s electronic health record, I offer the following UDEF names and IDs for each topic. Note: Proposed UDEF extensions are in italics

New Banking Innovations For Better Healthcare At Fifth National Medical Banking Institute

Current Registration Fee Extended to February 28, 2007

Franklin, TN (February 21, 2007) Join thought leaders from Harvard Medical School, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Alliance for Healthcare Information Technology (NAHIT), Booz Allen Hamilton, PricewaterhouseCoopers, BearingPoint and many others at the Fifth National Medical Banking Institute, located at the beautiful Marietta Conference and Resort Center from March 5-7, 2007.

Register Today & Save:  http://www.mbproject.org/5MBI2007_registration.php

Our agenda outlines the emergence of an eHealth ecosystem and provides invaluable insight about how banks can assist in the national build-out for both administrative and clinical messaging.

The 1600 employer-strong Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) will chair a new Value In Health Educational Track after moderating a Large Employer Panel featuring Pitney Bowes, Wachovia and Sanofi-aventis (the third largest pharmaceutical manufacturing firm in the world). Through the efforts of a new MBProject/AIAG Joint Taskgroup on Value In Health, a delegate from the Board of the recently announced Dossia Project, that is implementing some 3 million PHRs for employees of Intel, Wal-Mart, Pitney Bowes, BP, Cardinal Health and others, is presenting and participating in MBProject's E/PHR Use Case working sessions at the Institute.

A new 'Medical Banking Blog' (MBlog) is capturing the 'Institute Buzz', and recently interviewed Roy Ramthun, former economic advisor to President Bush in the area of health savings accounts (see MBlog at www.mblog.mbproject.org ) or visit our home page at www.mbproject.org and click on ?MBlog?. Ramthun kicks off Day 2 (March 7th) of the Institute and is followed by national health IT strategist Scott Wallace, President/CEO of NAHIT, who will focus on what?s needed today to move the eHealth agenda forward. We?ll then hear a senior officer at Booz Allen Hamilton talk about the ?MegaCommunity Model? that has been used around the world to convene leaders around complex social issues.

The Institute, guided by a new President?s Council comprised of ACS, Mellon, PNC Bank, McKesson and Subimo/WebMD, offers seven educational tracks, five concurrent sessions, insightful plenary sessions with industry leaders, workgroups focused on the 'HSA Accumulator' and bank-driven E/PHRs. Attendees include high level executives from leading banks, financial services firms, healthcare stakeholders, privacy and consumer groups and others.

The Exante Networking Reception at Brumby Hall and Gardens provides an exceptional forum for networking with colleagues.

The National Medical Banking Institute is proud to recognize its sponsors. For more information about each firm, please click on the link provided below.

-- Educational Grantor: Exante Financial Services www.exantefinancialservices.com

-- Platinum Sponsors: Sanofi-aventis www.sanofi-aventis.com; ACS www.acs-inc.com

-- Gold Sponsors: Fifth Third Bank www.53.com; PNC Bank www.pnc.com

-- Silver Sponsor: Cerner www.cerner.com

Our Speakers:

--Ann Mond Johnson, President, Subimo/WebMD

--Bill Marvin, President, CEO & Founder, InstaMed

--Bob Nay, Director, Financial Services Convergence, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida

--B.P. Fulmer, President, Medical Banking Institute; Executive Director, Commercial EDI, ACS

--Brian R. Kelly, Director of Finance & Business Dev., University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Strategic Business Initiatives, Incline Healthcare Solutions

--Christopher Queram, President & CEO, The Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality

--Dan Johnson, President & CEO, SearchAmerica

--David Harris, National Healthcare Revenue Cycle Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

--David Hom, Human Resources ? Strategic Initiatives, Pitney Bowes, Inc.

--David McCallie Jr., MD, VP, Medical Informatics, Cerner Corporation

--Dean Mason, President, UnitedHealthcare/Exante Bank

--Devika Kumar, Associate VP, Revenue Cycle Services, QHR

--Eric Racine, Pharm.D., Associate VP, Employers & Quality Associations, US Managed Markets, Sanofi-aventis

--Isaac S. Kohane, MD, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor of Pediatrics & Health Sciences & Technology, Director, Children?s Hospital Informatics Program, Children?s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

--James Dean, Sr. Manager, Financial Services Practice, BearingPoint

--James F. Kragh, Founder, President & CEO, Good Health Network

--Joseph A. Fortuna, M.D., Medical Director, E&C and AHG Divisions, Delphi Corp/Automotive Industry Action Group

--John Casillas, BS, CT (ASCP), Chair, Medical Banking Institute; Executive Director & Founder, The Medical Banking Project (Keynote)

--John Hardin, B2B Product Manager, SOA/Business Integration, Sun Microsystems

--John Lindquist, President & CEO, Electronic Warfare Associates, Information & Infrastructure Technologies

--June St. John, CTP, Sr. VP, Treasury Services, HSA Product Manager, Wachovia

--Karen M. Bell, MD, MMS , Director, Office of Health IT Adoption, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Dept. of Health & Human Services

--Katherine C. Haley, Legislative Assistant on Social Policy, US Representative Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)

--Kathleen Nolan, Health Division Director, National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices

--Kelly Birch, VP Sales & Channels, Exante Financial Services

--Kimberly Darling, Founder & President, Competitive Health

--Lori Daugherty, President & CEO, WorkingRx

--Mark Trail, Chief, Medical Assistance Plans, Dept of Community Health, State of Georgia

--Maureen L. Turo, VP, Healthcare Market Specialist, Mellon Financial Corp.

--Michael Connors, Executive Advisor, Booz Allen Hamilton

--Dr. Michael L. Nelson, Director, Business Development, Health Market Science

--Paul G. Chicos, President & CEO, E-Duction

--Reggie Van Lee, Sr. VP, Booz Allen Hamilton

--Rex Brooks, President & CEO, Starbourne Communications Design

--Richard Flores, VP, Revenue Cycle Operations, LifePoint Hospitals

--Richard Whitmer, CEO, Insight Healthcare Financial

--Richard E. Williams, Director, Portfolio Management Group, ACS

--Roy Ramthun, President, HSA Consulting Services, former Sr. Health Policy Advisor to President George W. Bush

--Scott Fad, Corporate Director, Projects & Planning, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Delaware

--Scott Krah, VP & Healthcare Product Executive, Healthcare Solutions, Fifth Third Bank

--Scott Wallace, President & CEO, National Alliance for Healthcare Information Technology, Chair, Commission on Systemic Interoperability, Dept of Health & Human Services

--Shawn A. Jenkins, President & CEO, Benefitfocus

--Thomas J. Hricik, National Director, HSA Product Distribution, ACS /Mellon HSA Solution, ACS

--Vincent Marzula, VP and Product Group Manager, Treasury Management Division, PNC Bank

--William A. Howard, Jr., Executive VP, Markets, Fiserv Health

About the Medical Banking Project
The Medical Banking Project (a.k.a. "MBProject") is a policy research, strategic advisory and Industry Action Group that is increasingly member-driven. We facilitate ?medical banking? ? a latent market development evolving from the integration of banking and healthcare systems ? through educational forums and industry initiatives that inform policy and commerce. MBProject is spearheading two related initiatives: a global, open source software platform ("C.O.M.B.A.T. - Cooperative Open-source Medical Banking Architecture & Technology") to combat rising healthcare costs using medical banking principles and technology; and, a fee-based, bank-driven community system ("Charitable Communities Network™") to coordinate safety net healthcare access for the unbanked and underserved. The initiatives demonstrate how banks can deliver substantive cost benefits to care givers, health plans, employers and consumers. For more information please go to http://www.mbproject.org. Medical Banking™ is a trademark of the Medical Banking Project (a.k.a. MBProject).

Contact: Evelyn Marquez Sanchez
615-794-2009
info@mbproject.org

MBProject Sharpens Aim to C.O.M.B.A.T. Healthcare Costs

The Medical Banking Project announced its first pilot effort – the “HSA Accumulator Use Case” – under its national reference architecture program dubbed “C.O.M.B.A.T.”, short for “Cooperative Open-source Medical Banking Architecture & Technology”. The effort uses advanced banking systems to fight against rising healthcare costs.

The Use Case targets a critical problem in consumer-driven healthcare; namely, on-demand access to how much a patient owes when using a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). Because this is often difficult to determine, financial risk by hospitals and physicians under the HDHP formula is expected to increase and this will adversely impact adoption.

“Much like credit card firms authorize payment at the counter, care providers should be able to ascertain what the HDHP patient owes and get paid in real time whenever possible,” said John Casillas, Founder of MBProject. “The issue is troubling employers because they are investing in new consumer-driven plans and want to see them succeed. Accordingly, we’re delighted that Exante Bank and United Healthcare is providing seed funding for this project. Our member banks and financial services firms are also participating to broaden adoption of an open solution.”

The Project organized two national meetings in 2006 (Atlanta/September; Chicago/November) resulting in the organization of workgroups that will meet at the 5th National Medical Banking Institute (March 5-7, 2007 in Marietta, Georgia), open to the public. Registration for the 2-day event is available at http://www.mbproject.org.

“We needed an open forum that could build cross-industry consensus around a hybrid transaction so we turned to MBProject,” said Dean Mason, President of Exante Bank, an operating unit of United Healthcare. The open standard will incorporate seamless transfer of available and/or credited funds from Health Savings Accounts, and will be comprised of existing banking and healthcare standards that incorporate HIPAA and relevant banking requirements.

MBProject asked David Harris, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to facilitate the development of the business requirements at member sessions. “MBProject offers a consensus-based program to standardize cross-industry data exchanges. Their program is supplemented by extensive and ongoing education,” Harris said. “Facilitating adoption of this transaction is important for building out HSAs and other hybrid solutions in the marketplace.” Harris chairs MBProject’s HSA Workgroup and writes a “Dr. HSA” column for the MBProject website.

MBProject Member ACS sponsored an initial meeting in Atlanta to isolate issues in real time processing. “We bring a real world operating perspective to the table,” said BP Fulmer, Executive Director, Commercial EDI, ACS, “because we do real time adjudication of Medicaid claims in some areas of the country as well as deliver real time eligibility and status reporting – both key components to a solution.” Fulmer is President of the National Medical Banking Institute and heads its President’s Council with leading domain experts in banking and healthcare.

MBProject’s C.O.M.B.A.T. Initiative compiles existing standards and open source components to build out a testing harness and prove a new class of software code called “mbXML”. The program has attracted a growing cadre of global firms like Disney, Sanofi-Aventis, Visa, PNC Bank, McKesson, Wachovia, US Bank, Fifth Third Bank and most recently Sun Microsystems, among others.

“We looked at what they were doing and decided it was ‘Sun-sized’,” said Peter Berkman, Senior Director, Composite Applications and Platforms, Sun Microsystems, a global leader in open standards and information technology. “We joined MBProject because we believe there are opportunities to reduce healthcare costs using the medical banking approach and we’re very pleased to team with the pioneers of this strategy. They are obviously highly committed to making it happen.” Sun will host the C.O.M.B.A.T. platform and has assigned full time resources to build out a new “medical banking ecosystem that is global in nature”.

“Our work is multi-domain and long term in nature,” Casillas said. “When we addressed privacy and security policy in 2001 we believed that a testing platform could demonstrate the efficacy of utilizing banking systems for healthcare. At that time the discussion around the convergence of healthcare and banking was not prevalent and we had to pioneer the dialogue and articulate models that could leverage banks to reduce healthcare costs. Today medical banking discussions are emerging around the globe. Our Members are fully engaged and we’re energized about how new cross-industry innovations in this arena will tackle critical healthcare challenges.”

To learn more about medical banking and the C.O.M.B.A.T. HSA Accumulator Use Case, plan to attend the Fifth National Medical Banking Institute on March 5-7, 2007 at the Marietta Conference Center and Resort in Marietta, Georgia.

To register, see: http://www.mbproject.org/5MBI2007_registration.php

For more information on C.O.M.B.A.T., see: http://www.mbproject.org/combat-homepage.php

For questions please call MBProject offices at 615.794.2009.