As we close out our fiscal year and come to the half-way point in the calendar year, I remain with one giant marker on my schedule, the InSight 2008 Annual Conference. With the successes of conference past, I have nothing but the highest expectations for the upcoming event taking place September 24-27. I am truly looking forward to the opportunity to once again meet with McKesson leaders and the InSight membership – CIOs, clinicians, IT professionals and physicians alike.

I encourage you to visit the Annual Conference Web page where you can get a peak of what's to come this September, in Grapevine, Texas. Take a look at the schedule at a glance for an overview of the planned activities, browse through the Schedule Builder to customize your event experience

or read through Frequently Asked Questions to find the answers to some of your most important inquiries.

If you're a CIO or top IT professional, I highly recommend the CIO Forum. An event made by CIOs, for CIOs as a way to network and share on business solutions that are top of mind to you and your organization.

The 2008 InSight Advance Program is soon to hit mailboxes. Inside you will find educational session highlights, hotel and travel information and even some new happenings at the InSight Annual Conference.

To read the President's Message in its entirety, click here.

Polls are open for the 2009 InSight Board of Directors and Committee members. Take a look at each candidate’s professional biography and cast your ballot today.

Vote for President Elect, Vice President Finance, Director Education, Director Enhancements and Nominating Committee. The elections close on July 25.

by Tammy Inglis-Drew, Vice President Membership

InSight's Membership Committee continuously seeks new opportunities to create value for existing members while spreading the word about InSight to future members. I'd like to report on some of the key activities we've been involved with recently, and where we want to take our membership development efforts going forward.

Last year, InSight's Board of Directors commissioned a Market Segmentation Study to deepen our understanding of how we can strengthen our membership base, especially by identifying where there may be opportunities to better meet member needs. Although we might have welcomed a few surprise "Eurekas!" of revelation, the study actually showed that InSight is already delivering the types of value that members and prospective members seek most from their technology user group.

The most significant issue identified in the study was one of awareness. Many of our colleagues who value the opportunity to participate in enhancements, and who seek educational programs and the chance to collaborate in peer-to-peer networking, haven't come to recognize (yet!) that InSight is the leader in providing those benefits to McKesson users.

We've also used other formal and informal channels to seek your input on ways to increase the value of your membership experience. One idea that's come up often…

To read the rest of Tammy's article, please continue here.

InSight is looking for your input in developing updates to the Document Repository. We are currently gathering requirements to improve the tool and would like additional feedback from InSight members.

Think we’re missing a function? Let us know. Have an idea for an enhancement? Submit your request.

Visit the Web site Change Request tool and provide us with your thoughts.

Online registration and education details are now available under "Annual Conference" on www.insight-net.org.

Take a look at what’s new this year, learn about the CIO Forum or browse through the full list of educational offerings in the online Schedule Builder.

Register before July 21 to save more than $300.

Now McKesson has announced another significant new offering, this time to improve the economics of delivering care. Horizon Enterprise Revenue Management™ is focused on helping hospitals and health systems manage the complex reimbursement, collection and patient management issues they face every day. Designed with customers at the table, this solution enables financial managers to reinvent the processes, rel! ationships and organizational dynamics involved in managing the revenue cycle process.

In emails to customers June 20, McKesson emphasized its commitment to current HIS revenue cycle solutions, noting that it has no plans to sunset STAR™, HealthQuest® or Series™, or any of its complementary revenue cycle offerings. McKesson is working with customers to provide long-term maintenance, support and implementation plans, and said it will also continue to invest in future development such as the work under way to prepare for ICD-10 implementation.

Built to run on the cost-effective, open Horizon Architecture platform, Horizon Enterprise Revenue Management will integrate with both McKesson and non-McKesson clinical applications. Clinical integration provides better support for decision-making throughout the care process, enabling continuous medical necessity checking, coordinated care planning, and better case management. The solution also supports re-engineering how consumers interact with health systems by providing more online capabilities and moving many administrative tasks to the front of the care process. In addition to improving productivity and workflow, the solution is designed to increase cash flow by providing the option to collect payments upfront and reduce cost of ownership by consolidating revenue cycle functions and requiring fewer interfaces.

This solution leverages McKesson's RelayHealth® intelligent network, connecting health systems with physicians, patients, payors and banks. It also includes access to the InterQual® clinical decision support criteria used by payors and providers across the United States.

Read McKesson's press release for more details. You will be able to see this advanced solution at the InSight 2008 Annual Conference, Sept. 24-27, in Grapevine Texas.

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