U-Alabama at Birmingham selects Navigant to aid revenue cycle

Here is Health Data Management’s weekly roundup of health information technology contracts and implementations:

• University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System has outsourced revenue cycle functions to Navigant Cymetrix under a seven-year contract, which covers more than 1,000 physicians as well as hospital revenue cycle operations. Administrative and business office functions to be managed include the processing and payment of claims along with accounts receivable management, payer account follow-up and self-pay account resolution.

• Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital in Phoenix will implement the EPAD portable neurological monitoring system to detect nerve damage during surgeries. The vendor is SafeOp Surgical; Abrazo is its first client in Arizona. The technology is particularly effective for rapid detection of “Positioning Effect” where nerves may be damaged because of an unrecognized extended compression or stretching, or compromise of blood supply.

• UMass Memorial Health Care, serving central Massachusetts with four hospitals and 1,700 physicians, has bought the entire enterprisewide imaging software suite from Agfa HealthCare. The platform covers cardiology, radiology, vendor-neutral archive, imaging exchange, universal image viewer and business intelligence. Workflow and clinical/educational collaborative tools were especially impressive, according to Max Rosen, MD, chair of radiology.

• Beacon Health System in South Bend, Ind., and also serving southwest Michigan already uses Cerner’s electronic health record and now will add the Millennium revenue cycle management suite. The goal is to enable clinicians to have a more holistic view of a patient’s care by incorporating clinical and financial information together. Beacon has three hospitals, home care services and a medical group.

• Doctors Imaging in Metairie, La., is live on the radiology information system of AbbaDox Ris. The practice swapped out its incumbent technology in favor of improved scheduling, registration and workflow functions. The new software is compatible with existing imaging sharing capability, patient and physician portals and referral management software.