News in brief - Dec. 18, 2006

CCHIT expands certification - Wal-Mart completes generics rollout - Collection class-action suit gets green light

CCHIT expands certification

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology announced Nov. 28 that it will begin work to expand its certification for ambulatory electronic medical records software to address the needs of different medical specialties. CCHIT is establishing a process to prioritize which specialties it will address first, with the goal of developing criteria for systems that meet the needs of two or three specialties in 2007 and additional specialties thereafter.

"CCHIT has developed an excellent set of criteria for ambulatory electronic health records. Now, we will make certification even more valuable by starting to differentiate according to the needs of specialized disciplines and settings," said Mark Leavitt, MD, PhD, chair of CCHIT. The work will be funded by the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

Wal-Mart completes generics rollout

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Nov. 27 that it has implemented its low-priced generics program at all its pharmacies nationwide. Under the program, Wal-Mart is selling a 30-day supply of 331 generic prescriptions covering 143 separate medications for $4 each.

Since the Bentonville, Ark., retailer launched its program in October, several supermarkets and others have launched similar initiatives. These include Target, which announced in November that all its pharmacies would match Wal-Mart's price for generics.

Collection class-action suit gets green light

A class-action suit against Scripps Health, a San Diego-based hospital group, will go forward after San Diego Superior Court Judge Steven Denton rejected an attempt to have the case dismissed.

Phillip Franklin, a patient who was uninsured at the time of his treatment at Scripps, filed a class-action cross complaint against Scripps in July after he was sued by the hospital group through a collection agency. Franklin claims he, like other uninsured patients, was charged unreasonable, unconscionable and excessive hospital bills

Scripps filed a motion to have the case dismissed, claiming existing law permitted the conduct Franklin alleges in his suit. The court last month found the law does not "provide Scripps with the express unfettered right to charge uninsured patients unconscionable rates that bear no relation to the actual services performed."

Franklin is seeking relief on behalf of tens of thousands of uninsured patients treated at Scripps since July 19, 2002, according to the law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, which is representing Franklin.