A Medical Device Daily

Dialog Medical (Atlanta) a provider of informed consent and patient education systems for hospitals and physician practices, reported a contract renewal with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which includes a base period of 12 months and nine 12-month option periods. The VA signed a national licensing agreement for Dialog Medical's iMedConsent application in May 2004 and installation across all 158 VA medical centers was completed in 2005.

iMedConsent includes procedure-specific consent forms for more than 2,100 medical and surgical procedures; patient education documents for thousands of diagnoses and treatments; and an extensive anatomical image gallery that allows the physician to annotate images and simplify complex topics for the patient. In addition, the application automates the completion of patient documentation ranging from HIPAA disclosures to advance directives, including the digital capture of signatures, paperless storage of signed documents and electronic notation in the patient's electronic medical record.

iMedConsent serves as the backbone for the VA's Electronic Support for Patient Decisions (ESPD) initiative - helping VA healthcare facilities establish a standard of care as it relates to educating patients about conditions, treatment alternatives, benefits, and procedure risks.

"The Department of Veteran Affairs' decision to renew its contract speaks volumes about the organization's commitment to improving patient safety and enhancing patient understanding," said Michael Burke, president of Dialog Medical.

Dialog says that its iMedConsent application is currently used by more than 15,000 physicians in over 175 hospitals and in thousands of physician practices nationwide.

In other contract news:

  • SXC Health Solutions (Lisle, Illinois), a provider of pharmacy benefits management (PBM) services and healthcare IT solutions to the benefits management industry, reported that the Court of Federal Claims has upheld the decision made by the VA Health Administration Center in Denver, Colorado, to award a multi-year PBM and pharmacy network services contract to the company. The agreement has a provision for a one-year base period term and options that, if all are exercised, would extend the contract to 60 months and generate about $6.9 million in administration fees over that term. "We are pleased with the court's opinion and will now focus on completing implementation and launching this program in the first half of 2008," said Gordon S. Glenn, chairman and CEO of SXC. "We look forward to supporting the VA HAC with management of their prescription drug programs and enhancing the overall healthcare experience for their beneficiaries." SXC is a provider of healthcare IT solutions and PBM services.
  • Health Management Systems, (HMS; New York) reported that it has been awarded an umbrella audit contract by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services under the Medicaid Integrity Program. The contract qualifies HMS to bid on individual Task Orders issued by CMS for a variety of auditing functions designed to identify inappropriate payments. The term of the contract is one year; CMS has the option to renew the contract on an annual basis. Section 6034 of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 established the Medicaid Integrity Program (MIP) designed to provide CMS the resources necessary to combat fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid. Congress appropriated $5 million in FY 2006 with an additional $50 million in FY 2007 and 2008 and $75 million annually in FY 2009 and each year thereafter to carry out the operations of this program. HMS was one of five firms awarded an audit contract. HMS said it is the nation's leader in cost containment, coordination of benefits, and program integrity services for government healthcare programs.