Contact:
Tracie Sweeney / tsweeney@bryant.edu
Bryant University, Smithfield, RI
(401) 232-6183
Online newsroom: www.bryant.edu/news

SMITHFIELD, R.I. (Oct. 21, 2012) – Professionals in the fields of accounting, healthcare and information technology are gathering at Bryant University Oct. 25-26 to explore how the revolutionary financial reporting standard known as XBRL might serve as a model for healthcare information standardization.

XBRL, which stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language, has its roots in XML, a set of rules released in 1998 for encoding documents in a form that can be read by computers. Bryant University Professor of Accounting Saeed J. Roohani, Ph.D., was among the first to recognize the potential that XML held for the international accounting world. Through the efforts of Roohani and a handful of others, XBRL is now the global standard for exchanging business financial information.

Today, Roohani believes that the development and adoption of XBRL might serve as a roadmap for the healthcare industry. He organized the Bryant conference as a way for experts in accounting, healthcare and information technology to explore the topic.

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“Standardization of healthcare reporting data that has been collected from healthcare entities will be the key to measuring outcomes, quality and performance – a critical step in creating value and controlling various healthcare-related costs,” Roohani said. “If you cannot measure it you cannot manage it.”

Guest speakers include Jim St. Clair, senior director of interoperability and standards at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, who on Thursday, Oct. 25, will present a new proposal by the American Medical Association regarding physician reporting standardization.

A full schedule of speakers and topics is available from Tracie Sweeney. Please contact her for details.

Bryant University XBRL and Healthcare Standardization Conference
Thursday, Oct. 25, 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 26, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Oct. 25 topics: XBRL and healthcare – costs vs. benefits, continuity of care, financial innovation, the Alabama Health Information Exchange, health information technology

Oct. 26 topics: healthcare fraud detection, nutrition and healthcare standards, cloud computing, analytics.

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