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On assignment, back soon

You’re probably wondering where I’ve been the last few weeks. I’ve got a major assignment due on Nov. 30 — I’m working through Thanksgiving weekend — so blogging has taken a back seat. I’ll be back in a week or so, probably with coverage of the mHealth Summit.

November 26, 2011 I Written By

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Don’t forget D.0

While everyone’s scrambling to comply with ANSI X12 5010 standards for HIPAA transactions by Jan. 1—or whenever CMS gets around to enforcing them—there’s another piece of the upgrade that hasn’t been talked about much. That’s the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs’ version D.0 standard for pharmacy transactions.

I got an inadvertent reminder this week when I picked up some prescription refills. One of my meds was out of refills, so my doctor sent a refill electronically (woohoo). Inside the bag of meds was a printout that may not have been intended for me to see, or perhaps I was supposed to mention it to my doctor. The notice contained a “reject message” with the note, “VERSION D.0 REQUIRED AS OF 1/1/2012.

Obviously, the script went through and I got my refill, but I sure hope people don’t start getting prescriptions actually rejected for being in the old NCPDP 5.1 format after the first of the year. Prescribers, get in touch with your vendors. Vendors, remind your e-prescribing clients. It’s not a big change like 5010 and the forthcoming ICD-10, but it’s significant. So get it done.

November 18, 2011 I Written By

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Extormity’s HIMSS unveiling

In case you missed it, fictional vendor Extormity “came out” at HIMSS11. CEO Brantley Whittington revealed himself as the alter ego of Jeff Donnell, president of PHR vendor NoMoreClipboard.com. Donnell played the character the whole way, even sitting down for a lengthy “interview” with well-known medical informaticist Dr. Lyle Berkowitz during the HIT X.0: Beyond the Edge sub-conference. Today, Extormity released the video, along with the presentation slides from this tongue-in-cheek session.

Click here to watch.

November 14, 2011 I Written By

I'm a freelance healthcare journalist, specializing in health IT, mobile health, healthcare quality fast $5000 loans-cash.net with bad credit, hospital/physician practice management and healthcare finance.