April 8, 2008 | Health Level Seven (HL7) and the Accredited Standards Committee X12 (ASC X12) today announced a joint webinar on the Plan-to-Plan Personal Health Record (PHR) Data Transfer Implementation Guide developed in collaboration with Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). The Implementation Guide is currently being balloted through HL7. The webinar will be held April 11, 2008 at 2:00 pm ET and will run for 90 minutes. It will educate attendees about the Plan–to-Plan PHR Data Transfer Implementation Guide, which was created for the US payer stakeholder community. Software developers and consultants responsible for implementation of the US realm PHR and EHR systems and local, regional, and national health information exchange networks as well as other interested parties are encouraged to attend the webinar. The registration fee is $75. For more information, or to register for this event, please visit http://www.hl7.org/events/X12042008/
The NHIN-HISPC-SLHIE Joint Forum: Fostering Partnerships to Advance Health Information Exchange is scheduled for April 30 to May 2. The Joint Forum includes participants from three Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) led contracts, the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN), the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC), and the State Level Health Information Exchange Consensus Project (SLHIE). For three days representatives from each of these contracts will share the stage, their knowledge, and expertise. The Joint Forum will be open to the public and includes plenary and concurrent breakout sessions. Additional information regarding registration and the agenda for the Joint Forum will be made available at following website in the next few days. Check for updates at http://www.hhs.gov/healthit/comingup.html.
GetWellNetwork announced the kick-off of GetConnected2008. Designed exclusively for the GetWellNetwork community, GetConnected2008 is the industry's first annual conference focused on IPC technology and improving the patient experience. More than 100 participants throughout the GetWellNetwork community are attending the two-day conference being held at the Hilton Washington Embassy Row, Washington, D.C. For more information about GetConnected2008, please visit http://www.getwellnetwork.com/conference/ or email [email protected].
Picis has announced the immediate availability of version 8.1 of its total perioperative automation (TPA) and critical care applications, part of the CareSuite family of high-acuity solutions. This release further enhances the interoperability portfolio of Picis solutions with hospital information systems (HIS) and bedside medical devices used in surgical areas and intensive care units (ICU). These advanced interoperability options enable hospitals to increase efficiency and clinical workflow by decreasing redundant data entry and improving the availability of patient data throughout the hospital, which in turn helps clinicians achieve better patient outcomes.
REACH Call, the leading provider of 100 percent Web-based telehealth solutions, has added a general telemedicine module to its service offering. This new general telemedicine module facilitates faster treatment for patients in rural areas by connecting rural ER physicians with specialists who can remotely diagnose, evaluate and recommend treatment for a variety of medical conditions from anywhere in the world using a Web browser. REACH developed the general telemedicine module in response to demand from current customers—hospitals that already use the company’s remote stroke diagnosis and evaluation service. This 100 percent Web-based service originally was designed to facilitate faster treatment for stroke patients in rural areas by enabling neurologists to remotely diagnose, evaluate and recommend treatment from anywhere in the world. These same hospitals realized the value of Web-based telemedicine and asked REACH Call to design similar modules for other medical conditions.
A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital (Fox) located in Oneonta, N.Y., has launched a sweeping initiative to implement advanced health-IT from McKesson as a key component in driving enhanced patient safety and clinical excellence. Under terms of a multi-million dollar agreement, Fox will implement the Horizon Clinicals suite of healthcare IT solutions along with McKesson’s pharmacy automation technologies. Combined, the solutions will automate key hospital functions and create “paperless�? electronic health records (EHRs) that span both inpatient and outpatient settings in the community it serves.
The Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM) announces the industry’s first Behavioral Health Workplace Center for employers with founding sponsor HealthMedia. IHPM’s Workplace Center for Behavioral Health will serve as the leading source of credible, usable information for employers on a full range of behavioral health issues, including identifying conditions and their co-morbidities, engaging employees in diagnosis and treatment, and measuring both healthcare and workplace productivity costs and outcomes.
Saint Clare’s Health System, New Jersey, has deployed DB Technology’s report automation and imaging solutions to help optimize the organization’s data management process. The four hospital system is using DB Technology's RAS technology throughout the organization in a variety of situations where paper once was the predominant form of communication: patient registration, accounting and other back-office processes as well as across hospital departments including human resources and the emergency room.