A Few Follow-Ups from Previous Articles.

1. Isoft.

It seems the news has gone from bad to worse.

http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_1434324.html

Goldman Sachs Slashes iSoft Target >IOT.LN

Thursday, November 30, 2006 11:22:48 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires

1459 GMT [Dow Jones] Goldman Sachs cuts iSoft's (IOT.LN) price target to 55p from 80p, to reflect estimate changes in light of the company's financial restatements, revisions to its banking facilities and the renegotiation of the NHS contract. The bank says "significant financial and execution risks remain, which could potentially bring the company close to breaching its banking agreements." The new target is based on "25% probability of bankruptcy, 45% probability of a maintenance DCF value of 65p, and 30% probability of 85p." Reiterates neutral recommendation. Shares trade -2.5% at 39p. (BBL).

This can hardly be good news for those in NSW, the ACT and Victoria who have believed the iSoft promise of a long stable commercial relationship.

2. Oacis Privacy Controls.

To date I have yet to hear from John Mleczko who is the Director Projects Branch ICT Services, Department of Health, South Australia regarding my few questions on just how patient control of information is preserved and managed in South Australia’s Oacis environment. It has only been since the 23rd of November, 2006 so I am sure I will hear soon.

3 Personal Health Records

On the 29th November, iHealthBeat (www.ihealthbeat.org) reported on a major new PHR project in the following terms.

“Large Employers To Launch EHR Plan

Wal-Mart Stores, Intel, British Petroleum and other companies next week will announce a plan to provide and promote usage of portable electronic health records for their employees, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Last summer at the request of CDC, Wal-Mart and Intel joined together on the plan after meeting separately with the agency to discuss individual company efforts to reduce health costs. According to the Journal, the goal of the collaboration is to reduce health spending by having patients coordinate their own health care among hospitals, pharmacies and physicians.

The EHRs, which will be stored in a multimillion-dollar data warehouse, will be interoperable and routinely updated. Eventually, about 10 employers will collaborate on the plan, and each will contribute $1.5 million for the initiative. The companies maintain that portable EHRs will allow employees and insurers to evaluate price- and quality-performance data from millions of employees, as well as reduce medical errors, duplication of tests and administrative overhead.

In addition, physicians could use the records to measure the effectiveness of different treatments for groups of patients with chronic illnesses. The companies plan to use market pressure and incentives to encourage physicians and hospitals to participate in the program.

According to the Journal, the "employers will insist that health care providers adopt electronic records and prescribing as a condition for future business." Wal-Mart will use its purchasing power to put bar codes on products intended for use in hospitals and clinics. The companies also expect employees to select physicians who are willing to use and update their records, although employee participation is not mandatory, according to the Journal.

Meanwhile, the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation is discouraging employers from participating in the initiative until adequate privacy protections are put in place (McWilliams, Wall Street Journal, 11/29).

Clearly the majors in the US private sector see benefits in such initiatives.

4. 100 Posts

Amazingly the blog has now made it to 100 posts with this entry. A small sip of champagne I think.

Thanks to all who read and especially those who bother to comment!

David.