Final countdown for HIMSS Davies Public Health finalists

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) has selected six organizations as finalists for the 2010 HIMSS Davies Ambulatory Care and HIMSS Davies Public Health Awards of Excellence, an annual award honoring healthcare organizations successfully achieving value from  EHRs.

The finalists, four independent physician practices and two public health organizations, will receive a site visit, according to the Chicago-based society. Finalists in the HIMSS Davies Organizational and Community Health Award categories will be announced in late June. Winners will be determined after site visits and final committee votes, with the winners announced in mid-September.

The HIMSS Davies Public Health finalists are:
  • Wisconsin Division of Public Health, Wisconsin Immunization Registry; and
  • Florida Department of Health, Florida SHOTS (State Health Online Tracking System), a statewide immunization registry.

The four HIMSS Davies Ambulatory Care Award finalists receiving site visits are:
  • Family Practice Associates in Wilmington, Del.;
  • Grove Medical Associates in Worcester, Mass.;
  • The Diabetes Center in Ocean Springs, Miss.; and
  • Miramont Family Medicine in Fort Collins, Colo.

In all HIMSS Davies Award categories, the application serves as a tool for an applicant to assess and document EHR progress based on four areas: management, functionality, technology and value. 

Winners will be invited to present at the 2011 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla., and to serve on their respective HIMSS Davies Award Committee, HIMSS stated.

Around the web

Positron, a New York-based nuclear imaging company, will now provide Upbeat Cardiology Solutions with advanced PET/CT systems and services. 

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.