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Health Briefs
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Business New Haven
9/6/1999
By: BNH
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The Key to Web Security
Middlesex Hospital in Middletown is the first hospital in the state to successfully install the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) Public Key/Private Key Infrastructure (PKI) network security system, known as Chime-Trust on the Chime-Net network. The system exceeds the federal requirements, established by the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 and proposed regulation by the Health Care Financing Administration, for the security of health-care information over the Internet. Chime-Trust provides connections between member institutions and the Internet since 1993, offering services such as Internet access, Web site hosting and design and e-mail, as well as providing access to various insurance carriers for claims-submission, processing and eligibility verification. "Middlesex would like to leverage the power and simplicity of Web technology to continue to deliver such information to any willing partner, as long as we can authenticate the person on the other end of the wire. We can achieve that now with Chime-Trust," explained Paul Oates, director of information services at the hospital.
Books for Babies
Milford Hospital has started a follow-up program for babies born at the hospital. All of the hospital's babies who are turning one year old will receive a present: a board book, compliments of Milford Hospital, the hospital's auxiliary and the Literacy Center of Milford. The birthday presents are Phase II of Milford's Books for Babies program, which is designed to provide continuing encouragement for early reading. Phase I of the program provides 500 new mothers at Milford Hospital with a Books for Babies kit, including a board book, tips and pamphlets about reading aloud and a "Born to Read" bib. "Reading to a baby as a toddler is such an important part of development," said Jeanne Kennedy, director of volunteer services at Milford Hospital. "Babies and toddlers who are read with, not to, pick up all kinds of pointers about reading and have an easier time learning to read at school."
VNA Community Health Care Health Watch
VNA Community Healthcare is implementing Health Watch, a personal-response system for any patient who would benefit from being able to signal for help in an emergency. The device is meant to extend care to at-risk patients who don't need a caregiver 24 hours a day but would benefit from increased monitoring. Health Watch consists of a personal transmitter, a help console which is placed in the home, and the Health Watch Response Center where signals are received. "Isolation can be dangerous for the elderly, especially when there isn't anyone to answer their calls for help," said Susan Faris, president and CEO of VNA Community Healthcare. "Health Watch enables our caregivers to be just a touch of a button away in an emergency, yet patients are able to maintain their independence."
Nurse Honored for Wound Care
Griffin Hospital nurse Diane Merkle, program director for Griffin's Comprehensive Wound Healing Center, has been honored with the Exchanges International Wound Care Ambassadorship. In conjunction with this honor, Merkle flew to Manchester and London to attend the fourth annual European Wound Healing Summer School at St. Anne's College at the University of Oxford. The four-day program included lectures and clinical workshops. Merkle plans to publish two articles in professional wound healing journals and orally present her experience at the 2000 Symposium on Advanced Wound Care in Texas next April. Additionally, Merkle will receive a $2,000 grant to further the knowledge of topical wound treatment through work at the hospital.
YNHH Accredited and Honored
The Cardiovascular Nuclear Imaging Laboratory at Yale-New Haven Hospital has become one of the first laboratories to be granted accreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories (ICANL). YNHH has also been listed among the nation's top hospitals in the 1999 ranking of America's Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. YNHH was listed in nine of the 16 specialties as having one of the highest quality clinical programs in the nation, based on an evaluation of medical data and reputation. YNHH was cited for its programs in cancer, gastroenterology, geriatrics, gynecology, neurology & neurosurgery, otolaryngology, psychiatry, respiratory disorders and urology.
ConnectiCare Allies with UConn
A new agreement between the University of Connecticut Health Center and ConnectiCare Inc. extends access for commercial group members of ConnectiCare health plans to a range of services within the UConn Health System. The Health System is the clinical arm of the University of Connecticut Health Center, and includes the John Dempsey Hospital and the UConn Medical Group. Patient-care services range from routine primary care and pediatrics to emergency services, labor and delivery, newborn nurseries and a variety of specialty hospital and outpatient services. ConnectiCare reported a consolidated net income of $1.4 million for the second quarter of 1999, versus a loss of $2.9 million for the same period of 1998.
New Blue
Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Connecticut has introduced two new HMO plans which company officials say are designed to make health-care coverage more affordable for individuals and small businesses. BlueCare Plus Direct, offered to individuals on a direct-pay basis, and BlueCare Plus Basic, a low-option plan which offers small employers significant premium savings over Anthem's other health plans, have been approved by the state's Department of Insurance. BlueCare Plus Basic became effective July 1; BlueCare Plus Direct September 1. Both new plans offer the same coverage, including basic medical care, preventive care and health promotion programs. "An increasing number of small businesses are not able to offer health insurance," said Linda Masci, Anthem's vice president and general manager for small-business accounts. "They can't afford it, which puts their employees in a difficult situation. We're confident these two health plans will go a long way toward improving access to health care."
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