Newsletter



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|December 2000 |

|Volume 5, Issue 4 |

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|Inside this Issue |

|1|Using Inventory |

| |Management Concepts to Reduce Nursing |

| |Costs |

| |Pages 2-6 |

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|1|Membership News |

| |Page 5 |

|4|GT Health Systems Update |

| |Page 6 |

| |Upcoming Events |

| |Page 6 |

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| |Membership Change Form |

| |Page 10 |

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| |Pictures from Conference |

| |Page 12 |

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The President’s Message

By Cherryl McKee, FHIMSS, McKessonHBOC

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Dr. Justin Myrick, FHIMSS

Honored and Named Member Emeritus of the GA HIMSS Chapter on November 30, 2000

On Thursday, November 30, 2000, GA HIMSS honored Dr. Justin Myrick, FHIMSS. Approximately 100 GA HIMSS members, current and former students, friends, family, and Georgia Tech faculty members joined together to toast and roast Justin for all the support and work for GA HIMSS and the healthcare industry.

Justin will be retiring in May 2001 after 27 years at Georgia Tech and 30 years in teaching. In 1974, Justin began teaching in the newly created Health Systems program. In 1983, Health Systems (HS) rejoined ISyE and moved into the Groseclose Building, and Justin became the Director in 1985.

Justin’s early research interests included rural health and EMS. One project developed by Justin and the HS research staff was the creation of the Rural Volunteer Emergency Medical Coordinator program which brought an emergency medical capability to 68 rural Georgia towns having no doctor or ambulance.

In 1975, Justin helped start the first group-model HMO in Georgia. That HMO ultimately merged with Kaiser Permanente. In 1986, Justin became the stateside volunteer manager for a medical mission in Honduras. With a staff of 54, the mission has 6 isolated mountain clinics and an inpatient alcohol treatment center. Justin assisted this program from 1986 until early this year including writing two USAID grants for eight years of funding which targeted maternal/child health.

Justin considers the 600+ healthcare alumni as his and the Program’s greatest contribution. He has valued the continued relationships with the GT alumni. Many of these alumni have become active members of the GA HIMSS Chapter because of Justin’s support and encouragement to get involved while still students. Justin was instrumental in helping our Chapter develop the role for student representation on the Chapter Board of Directors, and for the continued success of this initiative.

Justin served on the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) board from 1980 to 1982 including President in 1982. He was active

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with the Health Services Division

of IIE and helped form the Society for Health Systems, serving on the SHS board in 1988 and in 2000. He is a Fellow in both societies.

A native of Tennessee, Justin graduated from the University of Alabama and worked for Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, CT. After finishing an MS at New York University, he joined the faculty of University of Central Florida. After three years, he took a leave of absence and completed the Health Systems Ph.D. program at the University of Missouri-Columbia and was then recruited by Georgia Tech.

Justin and Melissa, with sons, Jay and Andrew, plan to travel the U.S. for a year and then settle in Tennessee. Justin will return to Atlanta on “certain Saturdays in the fall” when the leaves turn red and yellow and “toe-meets-leather!”

As was evidenced by the attendance at the dinner on November 30th and by the many email messages received Justin has touched and influenced many people throughout the industry. His presence and always cheerful attitude will be missed at the functions he cannot attend, but we know that he will be touching many more lives as he and his family travel the country and his legacy with GA Tech and HIMSS will continue on for many years to come.

Justin, we will miss you as you start this next exciting phase of your life. We wish you and your family all the best and will always welcome you “home” to GA HIMSS!

USING INVENTORY MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS TO REDUCE NURSING COSTS - Part I

By:

S. K. Kachhal, Ph.D., University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI 48128

Nancy Burton, RN, MSA, CAN, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI 48120

Most hospitals recruit nurses only to fill any vacancies they may have at a certain point in time. When a nurse leaves an institution, a standard process is set into motion to recruit a replacement nurse. This recruitment may take a few weeks to a few months depending upon the time of the year, as it is easier to recruit nurses close to the graduation date of new groups of nurses. Even after recruitment, a nurse has to go through orientation and in-class training, which is followed by training on the floor with a preceptor. It could take as long as several months before the new nurse is able to take a full patient load on a nursing floor. During this period, hospitals often use agency nurses whose hourly charges could be twice the normal hourly rates for staff nurses. Hospitals also use overtime for existing nurses to cover for shortages. These extra costs are significant, especially if the turnover rate is high.

The idea is to treat nursing resources as a supply that is consumed when a nurse leaves the institution. A fully trained nurse must then be available ready to work. If an inventory of trained nurses is maintained in the institution, this would be possible without a significant lead-time. It may be possible to significantly reduce the nursing costs by applying inventory management concepts to this situation. In Part I, this paper looks at the inventory management terminology in the context of managing nursing resources. A case study is presented that applies these concepts to reduce nursing costs on the in-patient nursing units. Part II contains the estimation of potential savings from the application of inventory management concepts.

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT TERMINOLOGY APPLIED TO NURSING RESOURCES

Inventory Type

Inventory models have been applied to several different types of inventory. In a manufacturing organization, these are raw materials, in-process materials, finished goods, service parts, and supplies. In a health care system, inventory concepts have been applied to dietary items, medical-surgical items, maintenance supplies, pharmaceutical items, office supplies and the like. Here an attempt is made to apply inventory concepts to nursing personnel.

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Lead-time

This is the time span from the point when an order is placed for a supply to the point when the supply is received from the vendor. For nursing resources, lead-time can be defined as the period from the point of time a nurse gives a notice to the supervisor about leaving the position to the point of time when a replacement nurse is actually available to take-up full workload for that position. This lead-time would include the time spent on a number of steps such as getting management approval to hire, posting the position, advertising, reviewing applications, interviewing, contacting references, making an offer, orientation, in-class training, and on-unit training with a preceptor.

Ordering Costs per Order

In general inventory management, ordering costs refer to the costs associated with placing a new order for the material. It includes the cost of preparing a purchasing order, placing the order, receiving the order, and other similar costs. In general, the ordering costs do not depend on the quantity ordered. In nursing resources, the ordering costs would be the cost associated with posting the positions and advertising. These costs are not expected to change significantly with the number of nurses being recruited.

Cost per Unit

In inventory models, the cost per unit refers to the price paid to purchase each unit. In nursing resources, there is no per unit price paid for each nurse acquired through recruitment. There are other costs that are incurred for each person that is recruited. These are the costs associated with filling out the paperwork, reviewing the application, interviewing, contacting references, making an offer, orientation, and on-unit training with a preceptor. It will also include the salary paid to nurses during their orientation and training period. In certain situations, signing bonuses have been given to recruits or payments have been made to individuals who referred a nurse to a hospital; these payments will also be included in the cost per person.

Inventory Carrying Costs or Holding Costs

These are the costs associated with keeping the items on hand and include cost of the capital invested in the items, storage costs, insurance costs, and the cost of shrinkage and obsolescence.

In the context of nursing resources, this would include the salaries paid to the nurses after they have been trained but are waiting for an opening to start working.

Stockout

A stockout is not having an item in stock at the time an order is received for that item. In nursing resources, it would mean not having a trained nurse available for assignment within two weeks when a nurse gives a two-week notice about leaving a position.

Shortage Costs

It is the cost associated with a stockout. If an item is not available when needed, one may have to acquire the item from an alternate source at a much higher cost. The additional amount paid is a shortage cost. If it is not possible to obtain the item from an alternate source and it results in loss of sales or some other damages, it is also considered a shortage cost. In nursing resources, the shortage cost may be the extra costs associated with the use of agency nurses and the use of overtime for existing staff until a new nurse is available to fill in the position. If an agency nurse can not be found and the staff nurses are not available to work overtime, the nursing unit may have to function at less than ideal staff level, which may result in poor quality of service and complaints from patients. The loss of revenue due to these patients selecting other providers and influencing other potential patients, is also a shortage cost.

Anticipation Inventory

Anticipation inventory is the inventory used to absorb uneven rates of demand or supply. For example, a manufacturer of air-conditioners may build extra inventory to meet the expected demand for air-conditioners in the summer. In nursing, the demand for replacement nurses is random, with no seasonality. However, the supply of nurses varies during the year. The largest supply is after the May graduation of student nurses.

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Another group, smaller in size,

graduates in December. It is not uncommon for some systems to recruit heavily during these periods to fill in the vacancies. Anticipation inventory would mean hiring nurses in anticipation of needs during the rest of the year when the supply of nurses is much lower.

It should be noted that the treatment of nursing resources as an inventory item has a lot of similarities with the manufacturing environment but still has several differences that make the application of standard inventory models somewhat difficult. Fresh graduates of nursing programs may be considered as the raw material that goes through the process of orientation, in-class training, and training on the nursing unit with preceptors in order to transform them into finished goods ready for assignment as nursing positions become available.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project setting is Henry Ford Health System (HFHS), which is a comprehensive health system providing an array of acute, specialty, primary and preventive health care services backed by excellence in research and education to its service population in Southeast Michigan.

This project was conducted for Henry Ford Hospital, the flagship hospital of the HFHS. Henry Ford Hospital is a 900 bed tertiary care, teaching hospital located in the city of Detroit. The hospital has divided its inpatient units into several clusters. One of these clusters is the General Medicine Cluster that consists of several General Practice Units (GPUs) and Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

The General Medicine Cluster wanted to develop a model to assist in proactively hiring and training nursing staff in anticipation of the demand generated by the normal attrition (resignation and transfers) that occurs each month. The normal practice has been to initiate the recruiting process only after a nurse gives two weeks notice to the nursing administration about the intention to resign or transfer out of the cluster. It is estimated that it takes between three to four months from the point when a request is made for a new hire to the point when a person actually becomes available to work in the cluster (after all the required in-class and on-unit training with preceptor). During this training period, the nurse acting as a preceptor is only partially available for regular staffing of the unit. The staffing shortfalls are made up by using high-cost agency nurses and overtime.

Henry Ford Hospital hired a consulting company to study the use of agency nurses and overtime in all the nursing units. The study recommended hiring over 70 staff nurses to eliminate the use of agency nurses and to reduce the use of overtime by 50%. This action was estimated to save the hospital over two million dollars per year. The additional staff nurses would correct the understaffing that has existed for several years. The consulting company did not address the replacement of nurses due to attrition. It was planning to look into it in the second phase, if the consulting contract was renewed.

The nursing administrator of the general medicine cluster was looking into ways to reduce nursing-costs further by reducing the use of agency nurses and overtime due to constant attrition and transfer-out of the cluster. The Management engineering department was asked to look into the problem.

Project Objectives

The objectives of the project were to study the demand for nurses due to attrition and transfers for the past three years and to evaluate the cost impact of recruiting ahead of time as compared to the practice of initiating the recruitment process after a nurse gives two-weeks notice. A strategy to recruit nurses based on inventory management concepts was also to be developed.

Methodology

A meeting was held with the Nurse Administrative Managers (NAMs) in the General Medicine Cluster to study the process for determining the need for overtime and/or agency nurses and obtaining the necessary approvals and resources. Data was obtained for the nurse attrition and transfers out of the cluster over the past three years.

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A meeting was held with Human Resources to understand the recruitment process. The Director of Nursing Education was

contacted in order to understand the training needs of new recruits. A cost analysis was performed to compare the option of recruiting ahead of time using the current recruiting process. Finally, several recruitment alternatives were generated and applied to the demand pattern of earlier years for evaluation.

OBSERVATIONS

Based upon the information gained from interviews and meetings, and the analysis of data on recruitment and training, the following observations were made for the GPUs:

20% of the vacancies are filled through transfers and the other 80% through outside recruitment; and out of the vacancies filled through transfers, almost all are filled by transfers from other GPUs. Also, out of the vacancies filled through outside recruitment, fresh graduates fill 90% of the vacancies and experienced nurses fill the other 10%.

If a transfer is from a GPU, it takes on the average 10 weeks from the time the job is posted to the time when a nurse is able to take full load in the ICU. If the position is filled by a fresh graduate from outside, this time is 20 weeks. For an experienced nurse recruited from outside, this time is only14 weeks.

During the period while recruiting and training is being done, 55% of the time the position is filled by an agency nurse, 25% of the time is covered using contingents, and 20% of the time by use of overtime. The agency nurse pay is $42 per hour with no benefits. The overtime pay is $30.75 per hour (including 2.5% benefit match). The regular starting pay for a staff nurse is $17.63 per hour plus 24% benefits for a new hire without any experience. It is $20 per hour

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plus 24% benefits for a new hire with some experience

Part II of this paper will continue with the estimation of potential savings from the application of inventory management concepts.

Note: This paper was awarded “Best Paper” at SHS 2000. Congratulations to S.K. Kachhal and Nancy Burton on a job well done. And thanks for sharing with GA Himss!

Alexandria Combs, a current graduate stuent, and Amanda Mewborn, currently an undergraduate, are our new student representatives. Alexandria is taking the lead and Amanda will continue in the role after Alexandria graduates. Amanda will be starting the graduate program in January, 2001. Congratulations and Welcome to Ga Himss!

The November 30th Georgia Himss meeting was held as a tribute to Dr. Justin Myrick. The theme was a “roast and toast”. Many current students, former students, professors and other health care professionals were in attendance. A fun time was had by all. Dr. Myrick is retiring in May and will be greatly missed.

Dr. Francois Sainfort joined the Health Systems staff this fall. He will be taking over the Health Systems program as Dr. Myrick retires. Prior to his arrival at Ga Tech, Dr. Sainfort was a Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with joint appointments in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Preventative Medicine. During that time, he was also Center Director for Quality and Productivity Improvement and Program Director for the Health Systems Engineering graduate program. Ga Himss would like to welcome Dr. Sainfort and his wife, Dr, Julie Jacko, who is also a faculty member at ISYE.

FREE GEORGIA CHAPTER OF HIMSS RECEPTION

AT THE 2001 ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2001

5-6 PM

HILTON RIVERSIDE HOTEL, NEW ORLEANS, LA

The Georgia Chapter of HIMSS will be hosting a reception from 5 – 6 pm on SUNDAY February 4th at the Hilton Riverside Hotel. Please mark your calendar and plan on spending some time with your local chapter! There will be hordeavres and beer, wine, and sodas complimentary of HIMSS. You do not have to register, just drop by! Also, please feel free to bring your colleagues as well! We hope to see you there!

THANKS FOR MAKING THE FALL CONFERENCE 2000 A HUGE SUCCESS!

We would like to extend a BIG thank you to all of our speakers, sponsors, student volunteers, and our attendees who made the Fall Conference in October such a huge success. We received lots of positive feedback from attendees regarding the high caliber of the presentations. We had 78 attendees including 28 speakers and 7 student volunteers.

We would like to thank our sponsors who helped tremendously in the overall success of the conference:

( Agilent Technologies ( Focal Communications

( The Lane Group ( SBC Group

( VIRTMED, Inc.

Also, our student volunteers ensure that registration operated smoothly and that our speakers’ needs were met. Thanks to our students:

Alexandria Combs

Elizabeth Crowell

Derek Gibson

Lopa Kataria

Arpita Mukherjee

Hetal Patel

Stuart Staggs

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SOLICITING IDEAS FOR THEMES FOR GA HIMSS FALL CONFERENCE 2001

THURSDAY OCTOBER 4 – FRIDAY OCTOBER 5, 2001

Given the success of our Fall Conference this year, we would like the meeting to become an annual event. We are soliciting ideas for themes for the meeting. We would like to hear from our membership any topics which you would like to learn more about. Please email Carolyn Copenhaver at carolyn@ with any ideas. We really need your input to help make this conference successful! Thanks so much!

Also, our members who make presentations are who makes our conferences and programs successful and popular! Please begin thinking of work in which you are involved with that would make for an interesting and educational presentation. If you would like to submit a proposal, please complete the following and email the information to Carolyn Copenhaver at carolyn@:

( Speaker(s) Name(s), Title(s) and Organization(s)

( Contact(s) Phone Number(s) and Email Addresses

( Proposed Title of Presentation

( Description of Presentation (1 Paragraph)

( Speaker Background (1 Paragraph)

We will not be finalizing proposals until Summer 2001, but you can never start too early!! Also, one presenter per presentation will receive free registration !

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SOLICITING IDEAS REGARDING JUNE 2001 SITE VISIT MEETING

We would like our June meeting in 2001 to be a site visit to an interesting healthcare related facility. We would like to get suggestions from you regarding where to visit. The site visit is not limited to a hospital, and we would like to visit a site that is technologically innovative. If your facility would be interested in hosting the chapter or if you know of an interesting place, we would appreciate hearing from you. Please contact Caroline.Gipson@. Thanks for your participation!

OPPORTUNIES FOR SPONSORSHIPS AT THE GA CHAPTER OF HIMSS FALL CONFERENCE 2001

THURSDAY OCTOBER 4 – FRIDAY OCTOBER 5, 2001

All sponsorship opportunities include the following benefits:

• Company listed all applicable marketing materials, including the GA HIMSS newsletter and website

• Company listed in the final program/agenda

• Company listed on event signage

• Company cited in the President's meeting welcome

• One pate promotional piece in the agenda packages (if supplied by company)

*Coffee/Afternoon Break sponsors will have company listed on signage at break tables.

**Lunch sponsors will have company listed on signage on tables.

The following sponsorship opportunities are available. Please note that we will accept the first offer that we receive on any one item. GA HIMSS appreciates your support!!

OPPORTUNITIES DONATION

Speaker Gifts $250

Thursday Morning Coffee Break* $500

Friday Morning Coffee Break* $500

Thursday Afternoon Break * $500

Thursday Evening Reception $750

Thursday Lunch** $1500

Friday Lunch** $1500

Attendee Tote Bags/Giveaways $1000 for GA HIMSS to produce or company may donate

Brochure Development (2 Opportunities) $250

Brochure Mailing (2 Opportunities) $250

LCD Panel Can Donate Use of LCD Panel or $750

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BECOMING A SPONSOR:

Please email the following information to Carolyn Copenhaver at carolyn@. We will contact you regarding the opportunity that you selected. Please note that we will accept the first offer that we receive on any one item. GA HIMSS appreciates your support!!

Information to Email:

Contact Name

Sponsor’s Name

Email Address

Telephone Number

AHIMA TRIUMPH AWARDS – 2000

Legacy Award

Bonnie S. Cassidy, FHIMSS

The enduring tradition of the Edna K. Huffman Literary Award — the basis for the Legacy Award — honors significant contributions to the HIM field’s knowledge base through recent, insightful publications. Bonnie Cassidy contributes to the HIM profession through her literary work, including a recent monthly column in the Journal of AHIMA with regards to HIPAA. Her articles are extremely informative and provide excellent practice-related skills and methods. She demonstrates the highest level of achievement by offering guidance and assistance to others through her many publications and services. Her dedication to improving the practice abilities of our HIM professionals, while raising the image of HIM practice as a key component of today’s information management and technology strategies for a successful healthcare organization.

Her personal leadership is exemplified in her achievement and recognition as an RHIA in AHIMA, a Fellow in HIMSS, a Certified Professional in Utilization Review (CPUR), a diplomat of the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, and a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) with NAHQ. Bonnie is always several steps ahead of the rest when it comes to representing and understanding our professional services. Bonnie Cassidy indeed deserves AHIMA’s Legacy Award.

Bonnie is currently a Principal and the Healthcare Service Area Leader in Atlanta for The North Highland Company.

Membership change form

If your membership information changes, please fill out the following information and send it via fax to 404-214-2211 or send the information in an e-mail to jstigaard@.

Name:________________________________________

Title:________________________________________

Organization:________________________________________

Telephone:________________________________________

Address:________________________________________

City:______________________________________ State:_____ Zip:_________

E-Mail:________________________________________

SHS 2001 Conference

“Healthcare Performance Management: Strategies and Solutions”

September 9 – 12, 2001 : Orlando, FL

The 13th annual Society of Health System Conference will be September 9th through 12th in Orlando, Florida. The Conference Planning Committee and SHS Board are hard at work to improve upon the revised conference structure offered in 2000. We plan to:

• Offer a Keynote Speaker who will be able to give attendees insight into how organizations are responding to current and anticipated industry or regulatory trends.

• Present a new C*O Panel with CEO, CIO, and CFO representatives who will address the Management Engineering profession.

• Increase time allotted for attendees to visit the vendor exhibits

• Continue to offer the DOME Panel presentation and build on the success of last year’s panel.

• Confirm a Plenary Speaker who will focus on personal development.

• Increase student involvement in the annual conference.

• Expand opportunities for attendees to share experiences with colleagues and network!

We are designing the conference to be an interactive, hands-on learning experience. We plan to address the top 5 topics of interest to our members. The topics are:

• Cost Containment and/or Reduction

• Information Systems / Information Technology

• Quality / Performance improvement

• Tools and Techniques (detailed review of a specific tool & application)

• ME Profession / Personal Development

Each of the above topics will be thoughtfully incorporated into concurrent sessions, roundtable discussions, panel presentations, and interactive workshops. Our goal is to give you an opportunity to learn, discuss, and then apply tools to address each issue. In addition, we will continue to offer pre-conference workshops to further enhance your skills.

The “Call for Presentations” was recently issued and will remain open until February 2, 2001. You are invited to share your ideas and knowledge of related issues. If you have a skill, application, or case study that conference attendees can use to help them translate strategies into action, we encourage you to submit a proposal and share your expertise with colleagues. For details on deadlines, submission guidelines, and speaker responsibilities, visit .

As the 2001 Conference Chairperson for the SHS Conference, I am proud to be able to present you with a networking and educational opportunity like no other. Mark your calendar now to ensure you will be at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida from September 9th through 12th!

Sincerely,

June Logan

SHS 2001 Conference Chairperson

Pictures from the Fall 2000 1 ½ Day Conference:

GA HIMSS

Thank You to Our 2000 Sponsors

Gold

JMJ Technologies, Inc.

McKesson HBOC

North Highland Company

Northside Hospital

SciHealth

Saint Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta

Silver

Agilent Technologies

Deloitte Consulting

Tyler & Company

Bronze



Southern Regional Medical Center

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FOCUS ON HEALTH CARE

E-Health Panel from 1 ½ Day Conference (L to R):

Jonathon Arking,VP Business Development, ; Keith Stanton, Executive VP and CTO, ; Tim Moses, CEO, ; Harris Berman, PhD, CTO and Co-Founder, ; Dr. Charles Demosthenes, Emory Healthcare; Dennis Byerly, CEO, Third Millenium Healthcare Services.

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Membership News

Welcome New Members!!!

Jeanne Watson

Jacqueline Beauvais, Agilent Technologies, Inc

Ellen Meyer, Emory Hospitals

Darlena Kinnett, McKessonHBOC

Tim Penning, Athens Regional Medical Center

Jeffrey O'Neil,

Paige Shee, Price Waterhouse Coopers, LLP

Sheryl Langenbeck, Tenet Health System

Kenny Hartley, Ascension Corporation

Bill Martin, Seven Mountains

Sherri Lane, The Lane Group

Melinda Robinson,

Ernest Bedsaul, Southern Regional Health System

Michelle Shores, EMSI-

Michelle Cohen, EMSI-

Larry Cohen, MD, EMSI-

Radford Harrell, ThoughtBank, Inc.

James Mitchell, ThoughtBank, Inc.

Roger Ray, Kaiser Permanente

Nancy Nixon, Huntsville Hospital

Deborah Eng, The North Highland Company

Roberta Rochman, Per-Se Technologies

Ramana Annaamraju, Pro-Tech Software Systems

Akhila Aiyer, Hello Doc

Dana Shamanski, Arthur Anderson

Mary Ann Rossi, Lockheed Martin Healthcare Solutions Group

Hilary Goodno, Georgia Tech

Ramona Wenger, McKesson HBOC

Ellen W. Meyer, Emory Hospitals

Christy L. White-Porter, Aclera Corporation

Kerry Vaughn, St. Mary's Health Care System

Deborah Michels, MS, RHIA

Additionally, if you have not been receiving e-mails about Georgia HIMSS activities, please e-mail John at jstigaard@ so your e-mail address can be changed, added or corrected.

Focus on Healthcare is a quarterly publication of the Georgia Affiliated Chapter of HIMSS. Any omissions or errors will be corrected in subsequent issues. The opinions expressed in these articles are those of the contributor, and do not necessarily reflect the policy or opinions of Focus on Healthcare, GA HIMSS, or persons acting for them. Readers are encouraged to respond, express their own opinions, and submit new items and articles for publication to Melissa Rehberg, Saint Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta, 1100 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 510, Atlanta, GA 30342 or e-mail to mrehberg@.

Please fill out and send in the Member Change Form if you move or change jobs.

UPCOMING

EVENTS

SUMMER MEETING

The tentative date for our summer meeting is Thursday, June 21 at lunch time. The summer meeting is traditionally our site visit / facility tour. Date and time may change based on site selected. If you have suggestions for possible meeting locations, contact Caroline Gipson.

FALL CONFERENCE

The dates selected for the Fall 2001 Conference are Thursday and Friday, October 4 and 5. More details to follow as they are available.

HOLIDAY MEETING

The date selected for our Holiday Meeting 2001 is Thursday, November 29th – in the evening. More details to follow as they are available.

Georgia Tech

Health Systems Update

Above: Cherryl McKee presenting Katie Mazzuckelli with National Award

Cherryl McKee presenting Dr. Myrick with National Award

Vice President / Program Chair Caroline Gipson with National Himss President, Steve Lieber at the 1 ½ day Fall conference

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PERSONAL TIDBITS

• Welcome Alexandria Combs and Amanda Mewborn, our new student representatives.

• Congratulations to Mary Ellen Skeens, our new Secretary

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