IRVING, TX – VHA Inc., the national health care network, has launched a campaign to educate member hospitals on the ways information technology can streamline processes and improve patient care and increase cash flow.


"Health care providers continue to have concerns around managing daily operational functions as cost-effectively as possible," said Steve Berling, national vice president of sales for VHA. "However, while cash flow is a constant concern, it can be improved by effectively managing information input and flow in almost every area of patient care, reimbursement and compliance."

To help members identify areas for cost reduction and operational improvements, VHA is offering participants a free IT and services assessment. Information technology can help hospitals better manage increasing patient case loads, improve patient check-in and insurance verification, improve medical coding, patient care, clinical outcomes and claims submissions and improve converting paper records to electronic medical records -- all resulting in improved cash flow.


"Our applications run faster and perform better, enabling us to implement a network solution that will help our clinicians provide rapid, quality patient care," said Eric Mynster, IT operations manager for Mercy Memorial Hospital System in Monroe, Mich.

Jennifer Busby, director of health information management for Maury Regional Medical Center, Columbia, Tenn., added that "applying new information technology resources has allowed us to focus on the electronic medical record transition by freeing up time previously spent physically locating, retrieving, processing and returning paper medical records."

According to Mike Cummins, senior vice president and chief information officer at VHA, health care providers have an opportunity to enhance quality of care, improve operational efficiencies and comply with health care reform requirements through the use of information technology.


"Our goal is to help members maximize their performance and improve cash flow by bringing real value and real assistance to key operational areas," he says. "Our IT portfolio includes industry-leading suppliers of technology services and products including value-added resellers, software and services providers, and IT staffing solutions."

These include: 3M Health Information Systems; athenahealth; Business Strategy, Inc.; CDW Healthcare; ePlus Technology, Inc.; Greenway Medical Technologies; Insight; MedPlus, Inc.; NextGen Healthcare; Paragon Development Systems; Parker Healthcare IT; Technisource Staffing Services.