The Most Advanced Laboratory Information System for the Anatomic Laboratory

Tampa, FL, December 14, 2011 – Physicians Independent Management Services, Inc. (PIMS), a nationwide medical billing and practice management services provider, is proud to introduce its fifth version of PathX, a feature-rich anatomic pathology software platform.  PathX 5.0, will offer innovative features including customizable test order lists, test results tracking, case auditing, and incident tracking.  PathX 5.0 also provides pre-billing support, with CPT codes, ICD-9 codes, and vendor-specific fee schedules.

PathX’s intuitive platform provides a complete set of tools needed to keep the modern day laboratory ahead of the curve.  Developed and refined by pathologists over the past seven years, PathX 5.0 is a feature-rich software package that exceeds expectations set by the most demanding user, providing seamless case tracking throughout each stage of the workflow process. Focusing on the diverse specialists within the laboratory setting and the individual demands placed on the laboratory information system (LIS), cases can easily be tracked from data entry to lab technician, to pathologist, to transcriptionist, and finally out to the referring physician.  Additional PathX functionality was designed to include automated pathologist case assignment based upon specialties, schedule, and client preference, as well as digital imaging functionality, specimen tracking by customizable fields, and lab/client/pathologist summary reports.  Since 2004, PathX has remained true to its distinct promise of providing an all-inclusive LIS; to that end, with multiple report distribution options included at no additional cost.

Utilizing the latest technology on the market, PathX 5.0 has been designed to integrate seamlessly with hospital information systems (HIS), electronic health records (EHRs), medical billing systems and other equipment with send/receive capabilities.  PathX is hosted within PIMS’ state of the art data center located in Tampa, Florida, with daily replication to a Homeland Security protected Tier-4 disaster recovery site. PathX is compliant with both the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and the recently enacted, Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act, ensuring your laboratory remains compliant with industry regulations impacting the healthcare sector.

“PathX’s intuitive design allows my employees to easily maneuver the system and efficiently enter cases, coding and billing, thereby increasing our productivity,” said Loretta Sayles, Laboratory Director of Reliance Pathology Partners. “PathX is infinitely customizable, ever evolving, and configured to meet the needs of each pathologist, lab technician and everyday user. PathX grows as we grow.”

About PIMS:
Founded in 1998, Physicians Independent Management Services, Inc. (PIMS) is one of America’s leading full-service Medical Billing and Practice Management Services companies, also offering a robust Laboratory Information System focused on anatomic pathology practices. www.pims-inc.com

Media Contacts:
Physicians Independent Management Services, Inc.  (866) 944-0404  
Dr. Keith Pautler, MD, President  pautlerk@pims-inc.com  (813) 490-7206 (W)
Chris Hazelwood, CPA,  CFO hazelwoodc@pims-inc.com (813) 490-7279 (W)

Tampa, FL, October 17, 2011 – Physicians Independent Management Services, Inc. (PIMS), a nationwide medical billing and practice management services provider, announced today that they entered into a strategic arrangement with GTE Federal Credit Union (GTE). This agreement will allow PIMS to utilize GTE’s state-of-the-art data center for secure patient record keeping in the event of a disaster and bring a new level of security to PIMS’ clients.

Understanding the extreme importance of providing uninterrupted access to patient information, PIMS sought out a remote data center that could offer the highest level protection.  PIMS’ high standards of security were met when GTE offered the ability to utilize its Category 5 rated data center.  Contained within a Homeland Security Protected building, the data center serves as the disaster recovery site for a government municipality and other credit unions across the state of Florida.  Fed by two separate power grids, the site is also powered with two 1000 megawatt generators, 6,000 gallons of fuel, and first access to fuel in the event of a disaster.

PIMS’ disaster recovery initiative is only the latest in its attempts to ensure physician clients are compliant with both the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and the recently enacted, Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.  Through the HITECH Act, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) further increased the penalties and sanctions for HIPAA non-compliance, imposing personal liability, breach reporting requirements, and direct sanctions for violations.  PIMS’ contingency planning under the arrangement with GTE highlights its dedication to ensuring physician clients’ Protected Health Information (PHI) remains secure and continuously available to the proper recipients.  This strategic arrangement further provides HITECH mandated recovery and backup of Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI), allowing all PIMS’ clients to remain compliant with industry regulations impacting the healthcare sector.

“PIMS’ recoveries, through automated failure procedures and self-correcting systems, will now be even more dynamic, as our critical data can be restored almost instantaneously at a remote site” said Jhamaul Hanner, PIMS IT Manager. “We are excited by the opportunity to partner with a local service provider, who is a pillar in the community, and offer our clients the business continuity they come to expect.”

About PIMS:
Founded in 1998, Physicians Independent Management Services, Inc. (PIMS) is one of America’s leading full-service Medical Billing and Practice Management Services companies, also offering a robust Laboratory Information System focused on anatomic pathology practices. www.pims-inc.com

Media Contacts:
Physicians Independent Management Services, Inc.  (866) 944-0404
Dr. Keith Pautler, MD, President  pautlerk@pims-inc.com  (813) 490-7206 (W)
Chris Hazelwood, CPA,  CFO hazelwoodc@pims-inc.com (813) 490-7279 (W)

Advanced IT infrastructure enables PIMS to better serve customers’ critical needs.

Tampa, FL, September 12, 2011 – Physicians Independent Management Services, Inc. (PIMS), a nationwide medical billing and practice management services company, is proud to announce the official completion of the Stage II addition of its state-of-the-art data center.

In a world quickly gravitating towards the use of EHRs (electronic health records), hospitals, outpatient facilities and medical providers require uninterrupted access to patient information in order to offer sound patient care, while meeting government regulations. PIMS understands the vital role IT infrastructure plays in today’s dynamic healthcare industry. Utilizing the newest Virtualization Management Platform on the market, PIMS successfully consolidated twenty physical servers with room to accommodate an additional fifteen virtual guest servers. PIMS further upgraded its data center to run the latest data protection manager, thus allowing all virtual servers to be backed-up multiple times a day, fully and intact, with no impact to end users. A second 2010 DPM server was also installed at its Disaster Recovery Site to replicate all data, providing an additional layer of protection to PIMS’ customers for their restoration and recovery needs.

“Data virtualization offers our customers peace of mind in knowing that our IT applications will operate uninterrupted, with no data loss, allowing each of our customers the ability to focus solely on providing the utmost in patient care,” said Dr. Keith Pautler, MD, President. “We invested heavily in our IT infrastructure to ensure we remain on the forefront of industry regulations and data security.”

About PIMS:
Founded in 1998, Physicians Independent Management Services, Inc. (PIMS) is one of
America’s leading full-service Medical Billing and Practice Management Services companies,
also offering a robust Laboratory Information System focused on anatomic pathology practices.
www.pims-inc.com

Media Contacts:
Physicians Independent Management Services, Inc. (866) 944-0404
Dr. Keith Pautler, MD, President pautlerk@pims-inc.com (813) 490-7206 (W)
Chris Hazelwood, CPA, CFO hazelwoodc@pims-inc.com (813) 490-7279 (W)