Matt Mullenweg Riffs on Starting a Bank

I often get asked something along the line of, “If you weren’t leading Automattic, what would you work on?” There’s not a single answer to this question; the answer changes day to day. But I think if you asked me today, I’d say I would like to start a bank.

Social Media and Medical Banking

Something to point out: HIMSS has - as of 3/23/10 - over 1,700 fans on Facebook, over 4,600 Twitter followers and close to 27,000 members in its LinkedIn group [started May 2008]. These communities were built slowly over time with a focus on quality interactions starting from zero.

HIMSS11 Call for Proposals and Reviewers Now Open

The Call for Proposals and the Call for Reviewers for the 2011 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition—Feb. 20-24 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando—are now open.

The online proposal form and reviewer application are available through May 24. Individuals interested in submitting conference education proposals should spend time reviewing the many available online resources including information on intended audiences, various topic categories and evaluation criteria.

Annual HIMSS Conference reviewers are the backbone of the entire Annual HIMSS Conference education process. Reviewers are the first to see proposals submitted to HIMSS through the call for proposal process. Reviewers and their recommendations are incredibly important to the Annual Conference Education Committee and the role that they play in the proposal selection process. Finally, reviewers are an important resource for presentations that are selected to move forward to the annual conference; they act as coaches during the presentation preparation process and as moderators for the presentation during the conference.

This is an opportunity to make a mark on the 2011 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition. Share expertise and an organization’s real-world experiences with health IT. Become part of the largest health IT conference and exhibition in the world.

For more information on submitting an education proposal for HIMSS11, contact HIMSS Manager of Annual Conference Education Debra Clough at 312-915-9559.

Banks enter the healthcare landscape

John Casillas notes:

Esther Dyson, one of Foreign Policy’s “2009 Top 100 Global Thinkers,” called medical banking a top lever for change in healthcare. Giving a nod to the idea, the global HIMSS organization and Medical Banking Project united in 2009 to form a new, non-profit, industry-neutral platform with global reach. From its formal introduction into the marketplace by MBProject in 2001, medical banking has entered the dialogue of numerous industry forums and survived repeated Senate mark-ups (see Section 1104 of H.R. 3590). Yet, while our cry has been heard, implementation is far from over.

More here.

CDHPs, HSAs will play a greater role in mHealth

A recent post of mine begins:

My assumption is that over time mHealth will grow to more heavily interconnect with consumer driven health plans and healthcare savings (and related) accounts. Two sessions at the recent HIMSS 8th National Medical Banking Institute provided current information which I think Mobility Blog readers will find valuable.

Other such posts listed at the Conmergence Blog Work tabby.

Authors@Google: Thomas Goetz

March 08, 2010 — THE DECISION TREE stems from Goetz's unique experience as an editor at WIRED and as a student working on a Masters in Public Health. Goetz was struck by the unfortunate disconnect between the public health world and the tech world. Wasn't there was a way to combine the promise of technology with the rigor of public health in order to engage people more predictably, strategically, and effectively with their own health, he wondered? In the book, Goetz looks at the tools and technology available to us now from DNA analysis that can predict future health issues, to social networks that can keep us abreast of the latest treatments. Goetz balances the science and ideas in the book with stories of real people who are utilizing these tools allowing us to see the opportunities and possibilities in action. The Decision tree is an organizational system that maps out our options, factors in all relevant info (family history, our habits, conditions, etc), and guides us toward the best possible health care choices. A Decision Tree has the power to turn the chaos of medical science into a system that makes sense by prioritizing facts and evidence over instinct and tradition. It puts the patient in the central role as decision maker not the doctor, insurance company, or hospital administrators.

Dear 8MBI@HIMSS10 Attendees

First of all I want to thank you very much for taking time to join our effort. I appreciate it and I hope you derived value. If not, I would like to know. Let me know what you would change too. This is free form – send me an email. I will acknowledge all replies and we will factor your suggestions into our 2011 planning process.

Our vision is simple: design an efficient healthcare financial network. By accomplishing this we can as an industry convert some $35 billion in wasted dollars so providers can offer better care, or expanded care, in their communities. To do this we must evolve and facilitate sustaining models. I want to say that again. Our efforts must focus on sustaining models. That is truly the only way to grow this area that, while having great social goals, must survive the ebb and flow of commerce and competition. This is one good reason why we are developing a new, neutral, G7 Roundtable of engagement. We need great “move forward ideas and solutions” that integrate the good work done to construct building blocks (privacy, technical standards, specialty payment systems, etc) into efficient end-to-end healthcare financial networks.

Our short term focus must now move from learning about how the HIMSS global engine can propel our movement (what we covered at the Institute) to discrete case studies of medical banking innovation in the marketplace. We need to focus on the pragmatic while at the same time evolving thought leadership. HIMSS Medical Banking Project will keep this new paradigm of activity and ideas in front of our membership. One way we’ll do this is by merging content areas in medical banking, financial systems and payer administration…and we will seek to develop resources targeting medical consumerism as well (globalization of healthcare, medical tourism, account-based plans, etc). The “tsunami” of 5010/ICD10 transformation is also a key forward focus as are other areas (mHealth, community care platforms, fraud and abuse, etc).

We look forward to, and frankly need, your continued engagement. Please join HIMSS MBProject if you’re not a member today. Our membership plan has changed dramatically in terms of cost and a whole new layer of benefits! We need your input ALL YEAR LONG, not just at the Institute! Thanks so much again for spending time with us in Atlanta!

John Casillas
Senior Vice President
HIMSS Medical Banking Project, Business and Financial Information Systems
230 East Ohio Street, Suite 500
Chicago IL 60611-3270
www.mbproject.org / www.himss.org
615.794.2009
HIMSS...providing HIT leadership through knowledge and education for the betterment of healthcare. Go to www.himss.org to see how.

Eighth National Medical Banking Institute Speaker Handouts

Provided by HIMSS Medical Banking Project at http://www.himssconference.org/mbhandouts/

Comment Period Closing on Proposed Rule for Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program/Meaningful Us

As part of the HITECH Act in 2009, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administers the Electronic Health Record (EHR) incentive programs under Medicare and Medicaid. CMS prepared a proposed rule on the EHR incentive programs for public comment. This proposed rule includes the definition of meaningful use and other requirements for qualifying for incentive payments.

The comment period for this proposed rule closes on March 15, 2010. CMS welcomes your comments which may be submitted through http://www.regulations.gov. For additional information on the proposed rule, visit http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Recovery/11_HealthIT.asp on the Web. Here you will find fact sheets, presentation materials summarizing the proposed rule, and links to the proposed rule itself.

Call for Topic and speaker proposals, Smart Card Alliance Annual Conference, May 17-20, 2010

Educational conference tracks are still being finalized by a multi-industry conference steering committee, led by a members of the Smart Card Alliance. The Smart Card Alliance committee is seeking new topics for consideration for this year’s conference program consistent with its theme of “Smart Cards in Action: Issuers and Users in Payments, Identity, and Mobile.” The proposed topics should involve the issuance and usage of smart cards and alternative smart technology (i.e., UICCs, smart tokens, embedded chips) that fall into one of the following categories:

• Identity management and security implementations
• Payments and emerging payments implementations, Open or Closed Loop models
• Mobile and NFC-enabled access and payments implementations
• National or international government–issued citizen ID programs
• Pilots based on emerging smart card and related technologies and applications

The conference steering committee favors vendor-neutral, educational presentations that focus on the real-life applications of payments and digital security technologies and systems.

Proposals must be submitted using the online form below. The deadline for proposal submission is Monday, March 8, 2010.

For additional information contact please contact Randy Vanderhoof at [email protected].