CMS seeks info on e-messaging doctors

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wants to find out about technology to let it send messages to doctors and other health care providers on handheld devices.In a new , CMS said it wants to identify vendors that can reach a large number of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists. The agency estimates it will send one to two messages a month, and it wants health care professionals to be able access messages while caring for patients.Sometimes the messages will need to be sent to targeted groups, by specialty or geographic location, the RFI noted. The agency also wants the ability to track the messages its sends.Because the messages might be created in different formats, CMS said, it wants vendors to suggest tools that will let it covert Microsoft Word and Adobe Portable Document Format files into formats that can be sent, opened, stored and read on a variety of handheld devices. The agency is accepting comments until Dec. 21.