MILPITAS, Calif., Sept. 2, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Vianeta Communications has named 14 information technology, health information management and privacy experts -- representing nearly 100 hospitals and clinics in North America -- to its Advisory Council. Many met for the first time this summer to advise Vianeta on its new modular e-HIM solution.
"We are very grateful to those who met with us in San Francisco and shared their expertise to help us fine-tune our new product," said Vianeta Executive Vice President Sanjay Bajaj. "Their enthusiastic response exceeded our expectations. Unlike the San Jose area where Vianeta is based, San Francisco is not sunny in the summer, but we certainly enjoyed basking in Council praise of our existing product suite."
Vianeta has pioneered the use of XML technology to create a unified Web-based e-HIM software platform called Vianeta Harmony. Hundreds of hospitals and clinics throughout North America use Vianeta Harmony --the only native XML health IT solution on the market -- to reduce cost, improve revenue cycles, maximize efficiency, prevent errors, improve quality, ensure patient privacy and build a solid foundation for a true electronic medical record.
"Council members told us we were right on target in terms of aligning our new e-HIM solution with healthcare needs and culture," noted Sanjay. "They also said they believed this product could help them move more quickly and affordably towards a true electronic medical record. Their intense, informed and detailed feedback is being used to 'tweak' the product so we can officially launch it at the October AHIMA meeting."
Said Council member Carroll Schnabel: "I've spent 30 years in the field, and seldom has a vendor asked what they should do to keep my physicians, transcriptionists, coders and HIM supervisors happy. I look forward to continuing to partner with Vianeta as they help us achieve our goal of comprehensive, timely access to accurate patient information while protecting patient privacy." Schnabel is privacy officer and director of health information management at the 175-bed San Juan Regional Medical Center, a Level III trauma center in Farmington, N.M., serving New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah.
"This was an extremely valuable meeting," noted Vicky Patterson, director, health information services, at 346-bed Altoona Hospital, a private, nonprofit facility in Altoona, Pa. "Vianeta really listens to its customers and it shows."
"I've been with Vianeta a long time," added Council member Tunde Oyefeso, a Los Angeles-based HIM consultant who's been HIM director at various Tenet facilities. "And it's very exciting to see the direction they're taking in terms of helping hospitals and clinics fully automate and unify their HIM process.
Continued Oyefeso: "Sad to say, most hospitals still have dysfunctional information systems. You can go crazy trying to make all those disparate software systems out there talk to each other. But now Vianeta comes along with a solution that can help hospitals make sense of this 'Tower of Babel' because it speaks a universal language'-XML. This 'Extensible Markup Language' helps express patient health information in a granular form that enables easy interoperability among multiple vendor systems. Vianeta uses XML to help create, store and organize this information in one unified, interactive e-HIM platform that gives everyone from physicians to coders immediate, appropriate, secure access from wherever they may be. What excites me is that this product can turn HIM directors into heroes because now we have exactly what other departments need.
"For me, this Council meeting underscored how quickly our role as HIM directors is changing. We just can't afford to snooze in terms of technology or we will definitely lose. The line between IT and HIM just gets blurrier everyday. We must be able to go back and forth between the two worlds successfully.
"HIPAA pushed us to be more accountable and now everyone from Dr. Brailer to President Bush is pushing us to utilize new technology like Vianeta's. Our challenge is to transform those thousands upon thousands of patient records gathering dust in the basement into the information our clinicians need to give patients the safest possible care. Vianeta appears well-equipped to take us there quickly and affordably. I'm pleased to help them stay on track."
Council Members
Cyndy Abram Director of HIM and Quality Management
Contra Costa Regional Medical Center
and Health Centers
Martinez, California USA
Shivan Boodoo Project Manager, Information Systems
Alberta Cancer Board
Edmonton, Alberta CANADA
Roger Brudno Chief Information Officer
Oroville Hospital
Oroville, California USA
Donald Livsey Vice President and CIO
Children's Hospital & Research Center at Oakland
Oakland, California USA
Nancy Logan Director of Health Information Management/Case
Management
Gulf Coast Medical Center
Biloxi, Mississippi USA
Sandra Moreh HIM Director
Placentia Linda Hospital
Placentia, California USA
Health Information Consultant
HIS Logic
Stephanie R. Director, Regional IT Infrastructure
Olivier Sutter Health
Sacramento, California USA
Tunde Oyefeso HIM Consultant and Former Director of HIM
Tenet Health hospitals
Los Angeles, California USA
Vicky Patterson Director, Health Information Services
RHIT, CCS Altoona Hospital
Altoona, Pennsylvania USA
Mary Robertson Health Information Manager
RHIA Fairview Range Regional Health Services
Hibbing, Minnesota USA
Carroll Schnabel Privacy Officer/Director, Health Information
RHIA Management
San Juan Regional Medical Center
Farmington, New Mexico USA
Joe Wivoda Chief Information Officer
Fairview Range Regional Health Services
Hibbing, Minnesota USA
Joseph T. Wood Vice President and CIO
III The Medical Center
Columbus Regional Healthcare System
Columbus, Georgia USA
David Wueste Chief Information Officer
HealthSmart Corp.
Long Beach, California USA
About Vianeta
Headquartered in northern California, Vianeta Communications provides XML-based software solutions for health information management that help healthcare organizations of any size or shape automate HIM processes. Hundreds of hospitals and clinics, 60,000 physicians and 4000 HIM staff members throughout North America use Vianeta Harmony products to effectively create, aggregate, manage, process and distribute patient health information, enabling their organizations to reduce cost, improve revenue cycles, maximize efficiency, prevent errors, improve quality, ensure patient privacy and build a solid foundation for a true electronic medical record.
Vianeta Harmony combines digital dictation, speech recognition, transcription, document scanning and distribution, and electronic integration with multiple hospital departmental systems, to unify health information into a central e-HIM platform. Clinicians can make care decisions, e-sign documents, and correspond quickly with coders and other internal/external staff by accessing digital patient folders that reside on this unified e-HIM platform from work, home or wherever.
Vianeta Harmony significantly reduces chart distribution costs and improves clinician satisfaction with automated printing and faxing to specific locations. Analysts can access chart deficiency information online and track flow of documentation. Coders can access complete patient records online for optimum efficiency thus enabling remote coding. Business offices can fulfill their HIM needs without burdening "Release of Information" staff. And patients can access records and communicate with caregivers online.
Incorporating Light Weight Portable Documents, XML and Web technologies, Vianeta Harmony affords 360-degree views and enterprise-wide control of HIM operations, automates workflow to reduce operating costs, and optimizes communication and coordination throughout the enterprise. And unlike other solutions that entail expensive Word deployments and proprietary hardware, Vianeta's open architecture minimizes IT investment and support needs.
On the Net: Vianeta site: http://www.vianeta.com
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