Check back often to see where we're garnering media attention. If you're a member of the media, we invite your inquiry at the contact numbers listed to the right.
ASC Industry Leader to Know: Tom Deas, Jr., MD
Becker's ASC Review, March 2012
Private Health Information Exchanges are Leading the Way
HealthData Management, March 2012
HIEs Today and Tomorrow
HITExchange, February 2012
Sandlot Solutions' Chief Medical Officer talks about the role of health information exchange (HIE) for creating effective accountable care organization models and Sandlot's physician group collaboration in creating technology to support practice needs.
Healthier Transitions: Texas Providers Try Out Accountable Care with Strategies to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
HealthLeaders Special Supplement, December 2011
For the full story, visit HealthLeaders.com.
Building Stakeholder Trust in HIEs
Healthcare Informatics - Online, November 2011
By Jennifer Prestigiacomo
Industry leaders discuss how to build effective governance models. Dr. Tom Deas, Sandlot CMO, shares his thoughts on how trust is built within an HIE.
Sandlot partners with TactusMD
The Fort Worth Business Press, October 2011
By Carolyn Poirot
Sandlot, a clinical health information technology company founded by Fort Worth physicians in 2006, has partnered with TactusMD Inc., a physician-owned electronic health records company based in Marietta, Ga.
2011 Report on Health Information Exchange: Sustainable HIE in a Changing Landscape
eHealth Initiative, October 2011
This report builds on the 2011 HIE survey results which indicate at least 255 communities across the U.S. are continuing to bring together multiple stakeholders to focus on the secure exchange of health data to improve health and healthcare for patients. This report shows data from 24 HIE initiatives that indicated they were sustainable, out of 196 initiatives that responded to the survey.
Fort Worth firm joins with Georgia firm to offer health care tech
Fort Worth Business Press, October 2011
By Alicia Howe
A Fort Worth clinical health information technology company founded by practicing physicians has partnered with a Georgia firm to offer integrated service solutions.
Three HIEs Make News
Health Data Management, September 2011
By Joseph Goedert
The article highlights three HIEs who made news this week by announcing new milestones, initiatives or go-lives.
Pioneer ACO Applicants Offer Proposals for Innovative Payment Methodologies
ACO Business News, September 2011
NTSP Executive Director Karen Van Wagner is quoted in the recent ACO Business News article "Pioneer ACO Applicants Offer Proposals for Innovative Payment Methodologies" found in the September 2011 issue. Van Wagner talks about NTSP's recent application to become an accountable care organization and what being an ACO would mean for NTSP and Medicare patients.
ACO Business News is a monthly newsletter that offers the latest news and business strategies on accountable care organizations for physicians and provider groups, hospitals, health palns and advisers. For more information about ACO Business News, visit www.aishealth.com.
HIEs: Back from the Dead
Health Perspectives, August 2011
By Ed Daniels
Sandlot is mentioned in the HIT Perspectives article "HIEs: Back from the Dead" featured in the August 2011 issue. The article discusses what makes certain HIEs thrive and identifies key stakeholder groups for HIEs.
Secrets of HIE Success Revealed: Lessons from the Leaders
National eHealth Collaborative, July 2011
This report was commissioned by NeHC to provide in-depth studies of successful and mature HIEs in diverse geographies and market types. The report captures the key dimensions of success for HIE leadership and sustainability, contributes to the development of a national roadmap for health information exchange and provides insight and guidance for emerging HIEs.
Doctor mixes faith, medicine in seminars to help people live healthier lives
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 2011
By Jim Jones
NTSP physician Dr. Errol Bryce speaks about combining faith and medicine in his practice. He also discusses the seminars he conducts to help people live healthier lives.
5 Pillars of a Successful HIE
HIT Exchange, May 2011
By Debra Gordon
In April, five of the country’s largest health systems announced they were creating their own health information exchange (HIE).
That action on the part of Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, Kaiser Permanente in California, the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, and Group Health Cooperative in Washington state-coupled with the release last year of $547 million in federal grants for state HIEs-may finally be enough to push the promise of the HIE into reality. The question is, will the reality be sustainable? And furthermore, what separates a successful HIE from a failed one?
Physician-Centric Health Information Exchange Solutions
HIT Exchange, May 2011
In 2006, a group of physicians set out to create an HIE that would allow them to follow patients in real time, make fast, safe decisions, eliminate redundancy, and improve care quality. The result is Sandlot, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of North Texas Specialty Physicians (NTSP).
Thomas Deas Jr., MD, board-certified gastroenterologist and internal medicine physician, is the chief medical officer of Sandlot and an active board member and past president of NTSP. In the following interview, Dr. Deas shares his perspective on the origins and potential of physician-driven HIE systems.
Can HIE technology be extended to the ACO model?
SearchHealthIT.com, April 2011
by Don Fluckinger
BOSTON — A group of physicians hope to prove that their health information exchange (HIE) technology can become an accountable care organization (ACO), but whether such a model would be sustainable remains to be seen.
At this year's Lawson Software Inc. Conference and User Exchange (CUE) 2011, health care providers demonstrated new ways of mashing up clinical and back-office workflows in an effort to cut costs through creative data integration. One of those projects came from Sandlot LLC, a private HIE owned by North Texas Specialty Physicians.
Sandlot's innovation? It's an HIE creating its own ACO.
A Model for ACOs
Applying best practices from an IPA’s Medicare risk business to ACOs
Healthcare Informatics, April 2011
By Karen van Wagner and John Gorman
Lately, there has been a great deal of attention paid to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). And for good reason: the health care industry’s strides toward adopting the ACO model are being driven by the desire to reduce Medicare costs by improving coordination and continuity of care. Applying the ACO model can help improve the quality of care for a specific population of patients while reducing costs over time. This trend may eventually help push the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and its providers a step closer to value-based purchasing of healthcare.
However, achieving ACO status is a large undertaking, and the right organization design must be implemented to ensure success. A good model can be found in independent practice associations (IPAs), and particularly those who manage Medicare risk populations. IPAs offer best practices and lessons learned from their long history of managed care contracting and its affiliation of independent practices, which operate as a virtual network. As healthcare organizations across the U.S. plan their ACOs, examining working models for coordinating care and managing quality—such as the one in place at North Texas Specialty Physicians (NTSP), a 600-physician IPA headquartered in Fort Worth—can reveal critical areas where investments must be made.
Front Line Highlights and Key Themes from HIMSS 2011
MedHealthWorld.com, March 2011
by Tony Schueth
The annual HIMSS conference is an ideal place to catch up with industry trends, preview new health technology solutions and prioritize investments in HIT. While the investment in attending can be substantial, I always find it to be worthwhile. The sheer size of this event can make it challenging for attendees, but the draw is amazing and it’s difficult to beat the amount of information that is disseminated.
Electronic health systems find traction with incentives
Fort Worth Business Press, February 2011
by Elizabeth Bassett
Read The Article
Dr. Ken Pool was medical director of a neuroscience center for the Methodist Health System when he started experimenting with electronic programs to help coordinate the care for stroke patients.
This was in 1990, and he went to the board to ask for funding to create or find an electronic patient management system. There were plenty of electronic systems already in place, for labs, radiology, billing and bed management, but there wasn’t anything specific to patients and their care.
How MLR Can Hurt or Help Contract Negotiations
HealthLeaders Media, January 2011
by Karen Minich-Pourshadi
Read the article
Healthcare reform is changing how everyone transacts business in the industry, and that’s not just providers but also payers. Of course, when payers’ profits diminish, providers can expect to feel it too. Now that 2011 has arrived, payers will start to feel the pain of the medical loss ratio taking effect, which means hospital and health system financial leaders should prepare themselves for contract negotiations that may require them to think outside the norm, and work with payers.
Realizing the Promise of EMRs
How a Group of Physicians in Texas Moved Forward on EMR and HIE at the Same Time
Healthcare Informatics, August 2010
by Karen van Wagner and Michael R. Solomon
Read the article
The unspoken truth about electronic medical records (EMRs) has finally been exposed. A recent study by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Studying Health System Change concludes that implementing an EMR system within a medical group is inherently limited in enabling quality improvement through better coordination of care. This research, sponsored by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund, determined a vital need for clinicians to redesign their practices to streamline the exchange of health information across organizations involved in the patient care continuum.
E-records cut healthcare costs
NBC 5, June 2009
By Deborah Ferguson
Sandlot Chief Medical Officer Dr. Thomas Deas, Jr. talks to NBC 5's Deborah Ferguson about the benefits of e-records.
Local company working to link electronic medical records
Local company could be in line for stimulus funds with electronic record-keeping
Fort Worth Star Telegram, May 22, 2009
By DIANNA HUNT
Download this article as a PDF.
The patient was sitting in the waiting room at Dr. Tom Deas’ office when he collapsed, disoriented and confused.
He hadn’t been in the office in years, and his medical files were out of date. Deas turned to his computer, however, and quickly found a cache of records from a recent hospital visit that indicated the man was diabetic and could be dehydrated.
The patient quickly responded to treatment.
"We basically went from knowing nothing to having a pretty good understanding of his problem," said Deas, a Fort Worth gastroenterologist.
The computerized system Deas used is part of a new Fort Worth-based medical network called Sandlot, a health information exchange company created by the physician-owned North Texas Specialty Physicians to link doctors, hospitals, labs and pharmacists into one easily accessible system.
It’s just the sort of program that could be in line for some of the $19 billion in federal stimulus funds set aside for the computerization of healthcare records, officials say.
Sandlot is among the most advanced of a small number of information exchanges in the country — and is believed to be the only one in Texas that provides access to physicians…
Read the rest of the article by downloading it as a PDF.
Health exchange pushes patient record access
Fort Worth Business Press, April 6, 2009
Read the article online at Fort Worth Business Press web site.
BY ELIZABETH BASSETT
A patient who hadn’t been in to this particular doctor for four years came in for an appointment. While in the waiting area, the patient suddenly became weak and incoherent.
In the time since the last visit, the office had switched to electronic medical records, and the referring physician had not faxed over any medical records, and if the staff couldn’t find some kind of medical history to potentially help, then an ambulance would have to be called to take the patient to an emergency room.
Through the electronic medical record, though, the staff was able to find a continuity of care record, a document updated by other physicians in Tarrant County who had seen the patient. The CCR listed a recent hospital admission, a complete list of diagnoses and problems, medications, allergies and lab studies. The staff saw that the patient had diabetes, congestive heart failure and other conditions, and was able to treat the patient on-site…
Read the rest of the article by downloading it as a PDF.
Texas HIE Goes Live
Healthcare IT News, February 24, 2009
FORT WORTH, TX – Sandlot, a wholly owned subsidiary of North Texas Specialty Physicians located in Fort Worth, Texas, has gone live with a health information exchange and integrated electronic medical record platform that links providers in the Tarrant County area.
Hospitals, doctors and other healthcare providers in the Tarrant County area share patient medical information through SandlotConnect, an interoperable health information exchange.
Sandlot's HIE is powered by Irving, Texas-based Healthvision's Cloverleaf Integration Services, a technology that provides for the exchange of information among various software applications, data repositories and information technology systems within and outside an enterprise. The services give clinicians, administrators, staff and external partners the power to share clinical, financial and administrative data in real-time.
"Healthvision products have seamlessly worked together to provide a solid platform to serve up patient data as requested," said Telly Shackelford, chief executive officer for Sandlot. "Our healthcare providers are embracing the efficiencies they are experiencing via our HIE."
Sandlot's HIE allows physicians on an Allscripts EMR to talk to a physician on a NextGen EMR.
Healthvision's technology leverages Initiate Master Data Service and Initiate Identity Hub to link patient data stored in different systems to create a consistent and comprehensive view of patients.
"Healthvision is proud to play an integral role within Sandlot's health information exchange," said Russell Fleischer, Healthvision's chief executive officer. "Our interoperability solutions continue to provide solid foundations that organizations can build on to improve operational efficiencies and patient care."
