Session Topic: Writing an I.T. Donation Contract

Health Data Management Magazine, January 1, 2008

Hospitals that have launched information technology donation/subsidy programs to encourage community physicians to adopt electronic health records remain far and few between. But many more are considering such programs and an educational session is tailor-made for them at the HIMSS Conference, Feb. 24-28 in Orlando.

Laura Jantos, principal at ECG Management Consultants Inc. in Seattle, will co-host an the session to discuss the do's and don'ts of writing a contract that protects the interests of a hospital while being acceptable to community physicians.

There are plenty of sticking points to tackle, Jantos says. Implementation and support services, for instance, need to be clearly defined, as do termination procedures. The contract must explain what data a physician who terminates an EHR contract can get back, and if the procedures change if the physician was terminated for cause.

The session also will explore the different models of donation/subsidy programs and the pros and cons for donor and recipient. For instance, there are differences between a shared data model and a federated model on such issues as what data is shared with others and system uptime guarantees, Jantos says.

Session #33, "Drafting an Effective Contract Under Stark/AKS," will be held Monday, Feb. 25 at 11:15 a.m. in Room 304 A-D of the Orange County Convention Center.

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