Hello,

I would like a list of the top three companies which provide solutions
for electronic medical file management, claim processing and
integration with insurance companies and Clearinghouses.

The idea is to allow a patient to walk into a hostpital on a national
scale and have his card scanned.  They would automatically be able to
know what's covered and what's not, what's his medical history and so
on.. There needs to be some sort of privacy control for the patient..
But those are details I'll leave for direct communication with the
recommended companies once you list them.

They need to be able to handle large scale turn key projects on the
level of a whole country.

Deliverables:

1. Why they're considered one of the top three.
2. High level contact information for strategic project discussion
initiation.
3. A link to their online portfolio, if one exists online.
4. Presentations that can possibly be downloadable on how these
solutions impact the quality of life when implemented at a
considerable scale.

Thank you.

/Lizardnation

---

Request for Question Clarification by ragingacademic-ga on 16 Dec 2002 09:46 PST

lizardnation -

Thanks for your question.
If you can, please make the following clarifications -
1) What are you expecting in terms of high level contact info?  CEO? 
VP Biz Dev?
2) What do you mean by "online portfolio"?  Current customers? 
Products?  Something else?
3) All of these companies have information online in reference to how
their solutions improve quality of life etc. - few if any will have
actual .ppt files.  Will pointers to online resources suffice?

thanks
ragingacademic

---

Clarification of Question by lizardnation-ga on 16 Dec 2002 16:37 PST

Hello Ragingacademic,

1. CEO, if not possible, then VP.

2. Projects they've done or are doing.  They should probably express
some high profile projects they're proud of and consider as a show of
what they're capable of.

3. Presentations don't need to be in the form of a .ppt file, though
probably enough in terms of nature of content to allow for one to be
created out of them.

Thank you for asking.

/Lizardnation

---

Request for Question Clarification by ragingacademic-ga on 16 Dec 2002 23:37 PST

lizardnation -

I have the top three medical IT companies that provide EMR (Electronic
Medical Records).  At this point, I also have most of the rest of the
information you require - however, not all three necessarily do both
medical file management AND claims processing (they all do
integration, however).

Will this be sufficient, or do they have to do both?

btw, at least in the case of one of these companies, I am somewhat
disappointed by the extent of info available through their Web site. 
You may be able to contact them and receive additional information in
hard copy.  I'll make sure you have the correct address.

Please let me know as soon as you can.

thanks,
ragingacademic

---

Clarification of Question by lizardnation-ga on 17 Dec 2002 07:43 PST

Hello Ragingacademic,

They probably have partnerships with companies to cover the part they
lack.  It might be important to get a consultancy company in the
middle.

The information you've stated, if they're the top, would be sufficient
for me to get moving on the issue.

Though, I would appreciate material on EMR and Claims processing to be
able to compile a presentation out of to lock down this answer. :-)

Thank you.

/Lizardnation

---

Request for Question Clarification by ragingacademic-ga on 17 Dec 2002 07:55 PST

Lizardnation -

Great, that sounds good - I'll do some research on EMR and claims
processing to complete the picture for you.

I won't be able to get back to this until late tonight, however.

thanks,
ragingacademic

---

Clarification of Question by lizardnation-ga on 17 Dec 2002 09:53 PST

Hello Ragingacademic,

That's fine, I'm sure it'll play a major role in the quality and
thoroughness of the content.

Thank you.

/Lizardnation

---

Request for Question Clarification by ragingacademic-ga on 17 Dec 2002 23:50 PST

lizardnation -

My apologies, but this will take another day or so.
I will be out most of the day tomorrow, I hope to still find the
question here when I return...

thanks,
ragingacademic

---

Clarification of Question by lizardnation-ga on 18 Dec 2002 00:20 PST

Hello Ragingacademic,

Hopefully. :-)

/Lizardnation

Dear lizardnation,

You requested information about the top three companies that provide
solutions for electronic medical file management, claim processing and
integration with insurance companies and Clearinghouses.

The specific segment within the medical IT (Information Technology)
space in which such companies are found is called ERM – Electronic
Record Management.

Health Informatics is one of the leading proprietary newsletters
covering the medical IT and ERM space.  Every year, the company
publishes a report covering the 100 leading medical IT companies.  The
2002 report is at –

http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/issues/2002/06_02/top100.pdf

According to the Health Informatics report, the following three
companies lead the industry in terms of ERM, including electronic
medical file management, claim processing and integration.  All three
can (and will gladly, I’m sure) handle large-scale turnkey projects of
the magnitude you describe.

1.	GE Medical Systems
2.	McKesson Information Solutions
3.	Cerner

I will now provide the required details per each company.

GE Medical Systems
****************

GE Medical Systems’ Information Technology Solutions can be accessed
at –

http://www.gemedicalsystems.com/it_solutions/

According to Health Informatics, GE’s Information Technology division
did $1.6b worth of business in healthcare IT in 2001, up from $1.0b in
2000.  The company’s ERM practice grew substantially following its
acquisition of the bankrupt Medicalogic/Medscape.

At the heart of GE’s ERM effort is the Centricity portal.  Information
about the Centricity portal is available at –

http://www.gemedicalsystems.com/it_solutions/clinical/centricity_portal.html

There is extensive information here about GE’s Centricity project.

Contact Information for GE Medical Systems IT division in Milwaukee -

NAME	GE MEDICAL SYSTEMS
ADDRESS	8200 W TOWER AVE
CITY	MILWAUKEE	
ST	WI		
ZIPCODE	53223		
PHONE	(414)355-5000	
FAX PHONE	(414)355-3790	
EMP SIZE	1,000 to 4,999	
SALES	$100 to $500 MILLION
LASTNAME	LUCIER		
FIRSTNAME	GREG	
TITLECODE	CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
GENDER	MALE		
SQUARE FOOTAGE	40,000+		
OWN OR LEASE	OWN		
CONTACT LAST NAME	LUCIER		
CONTACT FIRST NAME	GREG	
EXECUTIVE TITLE	PRESIDENT	
CONTACT LAST NAME	WORRELL	
CONTACT FIRST NAME	BRIAN		
EXECUTIVE TITLE	CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
CONTACT LAST NAME	PATSCOT	
CONTACT FIRST NAME	STEPHEN	
EXECUTIVE TITLE	HUMAN RESOURCES EXECUTIVE
CONTACT LAST NAME	MCCRILLIS	
CONTACT FIRST NAME	GARY		
EXECUTIVE TITLE	TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE
CONTACT LAST NAME	KING		
CONTACT FIRST NAME	KEVIN		
EXECUTIVE TITLE	MARKETING EXECUTIVE
CONTACT LAST NAME	HAUSER		
CONTACT FIRST NAME	NANCY		
EXECUTIVE TITLE	PURCHASING AGENT


McKesson Information Solutions
**************************

McKesson Information Solutions can be accessed at – 

http://infosolutions.mckesson.com/

According to Health Informatics, McKesson Information Solutions did
$930.4m worth of business in healthcare IT in 2001, down from $1.02b
in 2000 and $1.3b in 1999.

McKesson’s Transaction Solution Hub is the nation's largest healthcare
clearinghouse, transmitting over 279 million electronic data
interchange transactions annually

http://infosolutions.mckesson.com/products/categories/ProductDetail.asp?pid=36&strTxt=Transaction%20Solution%20Hub&nid=324&strCat=HIS%20Solutions#Benefits.asp

Benefits are at –

http://infosolutions.mckesson.com/products/categories/Benefits.asp?pid=36&strTxt=Transaction%

But most information at McKesson is still on good old paper – and
there is a link for “More Information” where you can fill out a form
and receive info via mail.

Several of McKesson’s solutions address various aspects of EMR, for
example –

Practice Point Manager “provide(s) patient billing, registration,
reporting, accounts receivable management, scheduling, managed-care
capabilities, and electronic claims and statement processing
functions” –

http://infosolutions.mckesson.com/products/categories/ProductDetail.asp?pid=51&strTxt=PracticePoint%20Manager&nid=325&strCat=Physician%20Solutions

While Horizon Physician Portal provides Web-based physician access to
patient information –

http://infosolutions.mckesson.com/products/categories/web_solutions.asp?cid=1005&strTxt=Web%20Solutions

You’ll have to wade through McKesson’s 3-4 dozen health IT offerings
to understand exactly what they have to offer and how all of this
works together; unfortunately, most of the detailed content is going
to have to be ordered via mail.

Here is contact information for McKesson’s IT division –

McKesson Information Solutions Headquarters
5995 Windward Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30005 
1-800-981-8601
404.338.6000

Graham O. King
President

Duncan James
Group President, Strategic Services and Marketing

Rusty Overton
Executive VP, Strategy and Business Development


Cerner
******

Cerner can be accessed at – 

http://www.cerner.com/

According to Health Informatics, Cerner did $542.6m worth of business
in healthcare IT in 2001, down from $404.5m in 2000 and $340.2m in
1999.

Cerner also has a very extensive portfolio of software products – you
can view the entire portfolio  at –

http://www.cerner.com/products/default.asp

Access Management seems to be one of the companies EMR components –

http://www.cerner.com/products/products_4a.asp?id=106

Again, there is precious little information online, and you will have
to contact the company to receive in-depth collateral and case
studies.

Another EMR product for outcomes management is Apache – a brief
description is available at –

http://www.cerner.com/products/products_4a.asp?id=523

PowerChart is an EMR product for the acute care environment – 

http://www.cerner.com/products/products_4a.asp?id=41

The HealthSmart Revenue Cycle Integration Suite handles claims
processing; it is apparently already integrated with CapStone and
ProFit –

http://www.cerner.com/products/products_4a.asp?id=163


Contact information for Cerner –

NAME	CERNER CORP
ADDRESS	2800 ROCKCREEK PKWY
CITY	KANSAS CITY
ST	MO
ZIPCODE	64117
PHONE	(816)221-1024
FAX PHONE	(816)474-1742
EMP SIZE	1800
CORP EMP	4173
SALES	$542,605,000 
LASTNAME	PATTERSON
FIRSTNAME	NEAL L
TITLECODE	CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
CONTACT LAST NAME	DEVANNY III
CONTACT FIRST NAME	EARL H
EXECUTIVE TITLE	PRESIDENT
CONTACT LAST NAME	TOBIN
CONTACT FIRST NAME	GLENN P
EXECUTIVE TITLE	CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
CONTACT LAST NAME	NAUGHTON
CONTACT FIRST NAME	MARC G
EXECUTIVE TITLE	CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
CONTACT LAST NAME	NAUGHTON
CONTACT FIRST NAME	MARC G
EXECUTIVE TITLE	CONTROLLER
CONTACT LAST NAME	GARVER
CONTACT FIRST NAME	STEPHEN D
EXECUTIVE TITLE	ADMINISTRATION EXECUTIVE
CONTACT LAST NAME	OBOYSKI
CONTACT FIRST NAME	DAVID
EXECUTIVE TITLE	CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE
CONTACT LAST NAME	SWORD
CONTACT FIRST NAME	STANLEY M
EXECUTIVE TITLE	HUMAN RESOURCES EXECUTIVE
CONTACT LAST NAME	DIETRICH
CONTACT FIRST NAME	ALAN D
EXECUTIVE TITLE	MARKETING EXECUTIVE
CONTACT LAST NAME	BLACK
CONTACT FIRST NAME	PAUL M
EXECUTIVE TITLE	SALES EXECUTIVE


EMR - Electronic Medical Records
********************************

“Electronic Medical Records – Comparisons by Physicians for
Physicians” is a wonderful site with tons of material on the EMR
space.  It is available at –

http://www.elmr-electronic-medical-records-emr.com/

See especially the EMR Primer available at – 

http://www.elmr-electronic-medical-records-emr.com/electronic_medical_record_Primer.htm

As well as the comparison table at – 

http://www.elmr-electronic-medical-records-emr.com/ComparisonExcel.htm

And, here is a survey of EMR from the American Academy of Family
Physicians (associations of physicians are called “academies” – this
is the national association of all family physicians in the US) –

http://www.aafp.org/fpm/20010100/45elec.html

Here is another good overview of EMR with a wonderful set of links –
this overview is courtesy of the Graduate Program in Medical
Informatics at OHSU.

http://medir.ohsu.edu/~epshteyn/MINF528/emr.htm

Also, Healthcare Informatics published a report on Computer-based
Patient Record Systems in May 2001 –

http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/issues/2001/05_01/cpr.pdf

I could not find decent information about claims processing – if you
are interested, I could provide you with some citations of articles
that you may be able to retrieve through your local library.

I hope this response adequately addresses your request.  Please let me
know if you are in need of additional information concerning this
query.

Thanks,
ragingacademic


Additional Links:

Comprehensive list of EMR vendors
http://www.fammed.usouthal.edu/stfm/SWEMRFrame.htm

Additional Healthcare Informatics Reports
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/spotarch.htm
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/reports/reports.htm

---

Request for Answer Clarification by lizardnation-ga on 20 Dec 2002 22:31 PST

Hello Ragingacademic,

Thanks for the research, it covered most of what I need.  

Would like to ask you to find me information that comes to satisfy the
claims processing in terms of how it impacts the overall process,
cashflow of the different organizations involved and the total cost of
medical services.

I'm interested in the value it adds and the logic behind it from what
success stories might bring fourth?

If you can't find this information, I'll have to contact these
companise to get it if it exists. :-)

Great work!

/Lizardnation

---

Clarification of Answer by ragingacademic-ga on 27 Dec 2002 16:36 PST

lizardnation -

My apologies for the delay in returning to this question, I have been
quite busy the last few days completing some papers for my phd
program...

Ok, I owe you some information in the matter of claims processing.

I have found some good information.

Cardiff markets a medical claims processing module called MEDIclaim -
good information, diagram and spec sheet at -

http://www.cardiff.com/MEDIclaim/

Plexis has some information about its claims management solution -

http://www.plexisweb.com/products-claims-manager.htm

Captiva also markets a claims processing solution; they have the most
in-depth info -

http://www.captivasoftware.com/products/claimpack.asp

The last two companies will also allow you to download their product
brochures, which should contain additional information and help
further.

For a case study using CA software, see -

http://www3.ca.com/successstories/success_detail.asp?CID=35023

(note that this is a custom implementation using CA's Cleverpath
Predictive Analysis Server, but still may be useful to you!)

I hope this helps some.
I don't know why there is so little useful info about this online, I
have combed through dozens and dozens of sites and most are very
primitive and barely provide any value.

Please let me know how your project is going and if you are in need of
additional help along these lines.

thanks,
ragingacademic

---

Clarification of Answer by ragingacademic-ga on 11 Jan 2003 20:16 PST

lizardnation -

Just a note to thank you for the great rating.
Thanks much!

ragingacademic

Thank you Ranginacademic,

I'm building up a case where a well selected and integrated solution
based on what you've retrieved for me would be ideal for a country
wide implementation having the right legislative backing.

I appreciate you coming back to me on the information I was waiting
for under the circumstances of the holidays.

Thank you.

/Lizardnation

Lizardnation -

Hi.  Thanks for your comments.
I continue to work on trying to compile relevant information for you,
and will post within a couple of days.

Just wanted you to know I'm still working on this!

thanks,
ragingacademic