Students collect data at healthcare conference

Students in the Healthcare and Information Technology Seminar in the Mason School of Business at the College of William and Mary participated in the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Virginia Chapter (HIMSS VA) conference held at Kingsmill Resort on Friday, Oct 16, 2009.

HIMSS is the healthcare industry’s membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology and management systems for the betterment of healthcare with over 23,000 individual members and over 380 corporate members.

At the Virginia Chapter conference, the students discussed and collected data for a project examining the requirements for an information system used to ensure healthcare provider compliance for regulations of a new federal program -- the Recovery Audit Contractor Program -- designed to decrease erroneous Medicare reimbursements.

The class project was sponsored by Practice Management Associates (PMA), Inc., a healthcare revenue cycle management firm locally headquartered in Williamsburg,  with the purpose of supporting the profitability and sustainability of emergency physician groups. 

At the conference, the students also attended presentations by prominent political and industry leaders such as the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) from the major Virginia healthcare systems and John McDonald, Deputy Secretary of Technology, Commonwealth of Virginia. regarding a variety of healthcare information management topics including the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on Virginia healthcare reform initiatives.

The professor and students sincerely thanks the following for their continued support: Mr. Brian Lamprecht, CIO, of PMA for his direction with the class project and attendance with the students at the conference, Mr. Mike Sanders Former President HIMSS VA, the conference planning and support personnel, and those professionals associated with the development of the seminar Mr. Bert Reese, CIO of Sentara Healthcare, Dr. Dave Levin VP and Sr. Medical Director Sentara Healthcare, and Dr. Ann Chinnis Professor of Emergency Medicine West Virginia University School of Medicine. 

The students from the seminar in attendance were Nakeisha Cole, Lauren Ingle, Katie McCarney, Brad Sipe, and Matt Thames.  The seminar is taught by Professor Chon Abraham and designed to provide an overview of topics related to healthcare information technology implementation, use and impact.