July 8, 2008 | Motion Computing has announced the C5 mobile clinical assistant (MCA) and F5 semi-rugged tablet PC feature upgrades and new custom peripherals created for the unique design of the devices. The C5 now features integrated mobile broadband and solid state drive (SSD) options to extend its usability to the point of care, regardless of patient location. Additionally, the C5 and F5 now feature improved capacity with standard 80 GB hard disk drives (HDD) at no additional cost.
Spyglass Consulting Group, a market intelligence firm and consultancy, has announced the results of a comprehensive RFID end-user market study. The adoption and investment in RFID solutions primarily to track high-value mobile assets, patients and staff members represents a 204 percent increase from Spyglass’ 2005 RFID study. Highlights of the trends in RFID 2008 report: RFID investments are focused on departmental applications; RFID tracking solutions provide compelling value proposition; and passive RFID solutions are emerging for niche applications.
Hallmark Health System serving Boston’s northern suburbs has adopted Simplifi 797, a Pharmacy OneSource product, to simplify meeting all of the requirements of USP Chapter 797 for compounding sites throughout three of its hospitals: Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Melrose-Wakefield Hospital and The Hallmark Health Cancer Center. Simplifi 797 is a web-based application that automates, integrates and streamlines the quality activities and documentation required to meet USP Chapter 797. Simplifi 797 manages task scheduling and monitoring and automates the reporting of exceptions and compliance.
MediNotes Corporation has unveiled a redesigned website providing physicians with comprehensive, centralized EHR product information. This consolidation enables them to quickly determine the MediNotes software most suitable for their practice. Visitors to www.MediNotes.com will experience new features, including information on discipline-specific solutions for over 20 specialties, revamped product tours, as well as user-friendly navigation based on size of practice and/or whether the site visitor is looking for a stand-alone EHR, an integrated EHR/practice management (PM) solution, electronic prescribing or supply chain management (SCM) software.
MedPoint Communications has named James Jung as its new senior manager of application development. He is responsible for managing the company’s team of programmers and analysts to provide customers with MedPoint’s leading array of eMedia, eMeeting, ePortal and learning module services. Jung joined MedPoint in June with more than 20 years of IT experience. Over the past eight years, this included serving as a project manager at Baxter Healthcare, as well as a consultant developing customer relations solutions and sales force programs for Abbott, Hospira, and other leading companies.
Preferred Health Systems, one of the largest health care insurance and provider networks in Kansas, is upgrading its document management and workflow system to SunGard’s EXP Macess, a leading enterprise content management and workflow system. Preferred Health Systems chose SunGard’s EXP to introduce more automated processes, advanced integration, optimization and workflows into the company’s claims management and call center departments in order to improve customer service and communication between departments.
Washington Radiology Associates (WRA) has implemented Fusion PACS MX 3.0 with integrated Merge Mammo 7.10 from Merge Healthcare. Operating six outpatient facilities in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, WRA delivers imaging services including digital mammography, digital x-ray, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography. Clinical, professional and technical staffs now utilize Fusion PACS MX 3.0 and the integrated Merge Mammo 7.10 for diagnostic interpretation and quality control of all modalities across all WRA facilities. The practice realizes improved efficiency by eliminating multiple processes, speeding report turnaround time and reducing the potential for erroneous repeat interpretations.
The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) has announced that it is on target to deliver the first-ever Common Security Framework (CSF) by January 2009. The HITRUST CSF is a comprehensive set of tools to aid organizations that create, store, access or exchange electronic health, financial, and other sensitive information in protecting their information assets and managing related risks, costs and complexities. The HITRUST CSF is comprised of three components—an Information Security Implementation Manual, a Standards and Regulations Cross- Reference Matrix, and a Readiness Assessment Toolkit. The Information Security Implementation Manual is a certifiable, best–practice based specification that scales according to the type, size, and complexity of an organization to provide prescriptive implementation guidance. The HITRUST Common Security Framework version 2009 will be available for license later this year. More information on the HITRUST CSF can be found on the company’s website at www.hitrustalliance.org/csf or by calling (469) 587-2250.
Howard County General Hospital (HCGH) has installed MDA TransQuest, the real-time wireless patient transport dispatch system from MDA Technologies. A member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, HCGH is a 219-bed, not-for-profit facility in Columbia, MD. MDA TransQuest optimizes patient flow by dispatching, managing and tracking patient transportation within hospitals. Delivered through PDAs, the product provides up-to-the-minute information about transport requests and sets priorities based on origin, destination, STAT requests and proximity of the last drop-off point. Accessed through a hospital's intranet, relevant data is delivered to transporters' PDAs through the hospital's wireless network. The system is helping streamline patient flow and automating operations for the staff of approximately 16 transporters.