Healthcare IT News

Practice expects to improve compliance and drive bottom-line results ATLANTA – Feb. 9, 2012 — Radiology Associates of Northern Kentucky, PLLC (RANK), the largest private radiology practice in Greater Cincinnati, has replaced its long-time billing vendor with McKesson Revenue Management Solutions (RMS). To increase reimbursements and strengthen regulatory compliance, the 32-physician practice will use McKesson RMS’s industry-leading radiology billing services, financial reporting and compliance support. Backed by more than 1,200 radiology billing experts, RMS services are designed to help practices grow revenues and control costs while staying current with the latest regulatory requirements. “As a large, sub-specialty radiology practice, we’re constantly faced with the challenge of how to operate more efficiently and improve patient services without raising costs,” said C. Chad Wiggins, chief executive officer of Radiology Associates of Northern Kentucky. “By partnering with McKesson, we get the benefit of enhanced revenue management services, radiology expertise, and proven experience helping practices like ours improve bottom-line results.” Web-based business intelligence and reporting tools will help RANK enhance decision-making, with real-time analysis of financial data down to the patient level and a new mobile application that will allow users to access reports using the iPad. Leadership will have anytime, anywhere access to vital information on the performance of the practice, including accounts receivables, staff productivity and profitability. “McKesson’s financial reporting tools were very attractive to our group,” added Wiggins. “With the insight gained from these reports, we’ll be able to more effectively track and manage our business and improve compliance in the current regulatory environment. The mobile reporting options that McKesson offers are particularly useful for monitoring our metrics remotely.” The practice will use McKesson’s robust compliance services to help improve coding accuracy. With more oversight and auditing of the charge capture and coding process, the practice expects to reduce denials, increase cash collections and minimize lost revenues. “The inherent complexity of radiology billing can make it challenging for practices to protect their financial health without sacrificing care quality,” said Pat Leonard, senior vice president and general manager for McKesson RMS. “We’re proud to offer full-service revenue management solutions to help radiologists streamline operations, minimize costs and focus on delivering quality care.” About Radiology Associates of Northern Kentucky Radiology Associates of Northern Kentucky, based in Crestview Hills, Ky., is a sub-specialty group providing complete diagnostic imaging and interventional radiology services to seven hospitals in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati area. The group is the largest private imaging practice in the region with more than 30 radiologists as well as one of the top 50 private practices in the country. For more information, visit http://www.radassociatesnky.com. About McKesson McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com. Media contact: Yancey ... Read more

World-class medical imaging workflow solutions to facilitate care coordination for better care, better business ATLANTA and SARASOTA, FL, Feb. 8, 2012 – Today McKesson announced that it has acquired peerVue Inc., an innovative provider of solutions that simplify diagnostic medical imaging workflow, expedite communications for improved quality and efficiency, and support customer efforts to improve patient safety. The acquisition extends McKesson’s portfolio of enterprise imaging and information management systems with highly flexible workflow capabilities that address site-specific needs such as critical results management, peer review and emergency department communication for multiple disciplines. “peerVue brings world-class capabilities that facilitate care coordination, which is essential for better care and better business as part of our Better Health 2020 strategy,” said Kevan Torgerson, president, Enterprise Medical Imaging group, McKesson. “By addressing critical imaging workflow needs, particularly for radiologists, our combined capabilities empower care teams to more effectively engage with one another and to make better informed decisions throughout the diagnostic workflow.” Supporting those decisions is peerVue’s QICS, or Qualitative Intelligence and Communication System. A web-based technology platform, QICS provides the functionality to engage, analyze data, alert users and facilitate workflow at every point throughout the exam life cycle. “Improving workflow is not only the key to higher-quality, safer patient care,” noted Torgerson. “It’s also the key to improving efficiency and productivity for a better financial result.” Based in Sarasota, Fla., peerVue has a solid track record of delivering solutions to some of the country’s leading healthcare organizations with thousands of users depending on its technology to facilitate timely, high-quality care. “We look forward to becoming part of McKesson, which is widely known for its reach and leadership in imaging and information management,” said Kyle Lawton, peerVue’s chief executive officer. “We can bring together new care coordination capabilities to close the gaps in workflow for clinicians and enable better health in this generation and beyond.” Together, McKesson and peerVue will connect the entire care team and speed the diagnostic process across the continuum of care — helping healthcare organizations achieve better care, better business and better connectivity. About McKesson McKesson Corporation: Currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com. About peerVue Since its inception in 2002, peerVue has been redefining the healthcare IT market with intelligent workflow and communication solutions that enable healthcare organizations to improve patient care, while also reducing risk and simplifying processes. With a passion for technology and innovation, peerVue was established to solve critical workflow and communication gaps in healthcare that jeopardize patient safety and render imaging organizations inefficient. peerVue delivers solutions worldwide with dozens of integrations to leading healthcare imaging and IT across multiple specialties, including radiology, mammography, cardiology and pathology. Media Contact: Yancey Casey (404) ... Read more

Health Evolution Partners, company focusing on healthcare IT solutions, has started a partnership with Verizon, a leading provider of healthcare IT solutions, aiming to promote the adoption of mobile healthcare (mHealth) systems in the United ... Read more

Healthcare data management survey found 55% of respondents chose disaster recovery as a top IT investment priority for 2012 ASHTEAD, UK AND WOBURN, MA - February 7, 2012 - Following the success of their 2010 survey results, BridgeHead Software's second-annual healthcare data management survey found that disaster recovery (DR) is still the number one health IT investment priority, above other choices such as archiving, virtualization, cloud computing and digitizing paper records. The survey asked healthcare IT professionals from all over the world about their ongoing strategies for managing their hospital's IT systems. A majority of 55% of respondents listed DR among their top three IT investment priorities for the next year - an increase of 11 points compared to last year's survey which saw 44% of healthcare IT professionals choose "backup/disaster recovery" as one of their top three IT investment objectives. Jim Beagle, CEO of BridgeHead Software, said, "These survey results confirm what we expected: disaster recovery is becoming more of a priority, not less. This is largely due to the fact that hospitals continue to generate massive amounts of different types of data via a variety of information systems - from PACS and RIS to accounting and administration. Amid this technological complexity and unstoppable data growth, the first step towards a robust DR strategy is not an easy one to define." Beagle continued, "At BridgeHead, we believe the foundation for effective DR in hospitals is to understand data volumes as well as the type of data you are managing. If you don't know these answers, it will be incredibly difficult - if not impossible - to implement an effective DR strategy that can reliably protect vital data in the case of a system outage, loss, corruption or disaster. I find it intriguing that over a third of our respondents, all of whom were health IT professionals, did not know or were uncertain how much data they were managing on primary storage facilities. Another third did not know whether their data volumes had increased or decreased in the last year." He added, "For those hospitals that don't have a full account of their data volumes, we recommend using an analytic tool such as our free FileScan utility, which profiles a hospital's data and provides a detailed report to help them make informed business and IT decisions." BridgeHead Software plans to release the full report on the findings in March. In the meantime, below are some supporting statistics from the Healthcare Data Management Survey 2011:     64% of respondents said their organisations had a disaster recovery strategy in place, but only 26% of those strategies were "robust, tried and tested";     68% of respondents said their data volumes had grown over the last year, 30% were unsure whether data volumes had changed and 2% said data volumes had decreased;     60% of respondents said they were managing more than 1 TB of data on primary store, but 35% were unsure how much data they were managing on primary store;     45% of respondents said their organisations were planning a major storage upgrade (1 TB or more) in the next year;     55% of respondents said some applications had archiving abilities, but only 16% said they had a full archiving policy that migrated data to the appropriate storage tiers. BridgeHead Software's free FileScan tool is available for download at: http://www.bridgeheadsoftware.com/resources/download/162 BridgeHead Software's free whitepaper "Why Disaster Recovery Is Different in Healthcare" may be downloaded at: http://www.bridgeheadsoftware.com/resources/download/240 To register to receive full results from this year's BridgeHead Software Healthcare IT Leadership Perspectives: Data Management Survey as soon as they are available, please email info@bridgeheadsoftware.com. About the BridgeHead Software Healthcare IT Leadership Perspectives: Data Management Survey: A leader in healthcare data and storage management, BridgeHead Software conducted the survey in 2011. It was completed by 158 healthcare IT professionals from all over the world, with the majority coming from the United States or the United Kingdom. BridgeHead plans to release full survey results, which cover cloud computing, archiving technologies, storage hardware, green IT and more, in March of this year. For more information or to request a copy of the findings as soon as they become available, please contact the appropriate regional media contact listed below. About BridgeHead Software: BridgeHead Software offers hospitals a scalable, future-proof solution to help IT and clinical departments overcome the challenges stemming from rising data volumes and increasing storage costs. Over 1,000 hospitals, worldwide, use BridgeHead's Healthcare Data Management (HDM) solution to STORE all of their information efficiently and intelligently; PROTECT that data from misuse and loss; and SHARE that content with other applications and/or users. To learn more about BridgeHead Software, visit: http://www.bridgeheadsoftware.com Follow BridgeHead Software on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/BridgeHeadHDM BridgeHead Software Media Contacts: UK and EMEA Rose Ross Omarketing +44 208 255 5225 rose@omarketing.co.uk www.twitter.com/Rose_at_O US Joan Geoghegan Cavalier Communications +1 978-371-3921 ... Read more

Berlin, 6 February 2012 – Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship pilot project IT Future of Medicine (ITFoM) meets in Berlin on 9-10 February 2012. The first full consortium meeting will bring together around 120 delegates from nearly 70 partner institutions comprising internationally acknowledged researchers from academia and industry to discuss the next steps towards building a ‘virtual patient’ model. The ITFoM consortium, coordinated by Prof Dr Hans Lehrach from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, will discuss a ten years research program to create the ‘virtual patient’ model and to submit this proposal to the European Commission in the frame of the FET flagship program by the end of April 2012. The vision of the ITFoM project is to build a personalized patient model, a ‘virtual patient‘. This ‘virtual patient’ will support clinicians and general practitioners in their decision-making for medical therapy, allowing them to choose the optimal treatment for each individual and predict future health risks. The basis for the ‘virtual patient’ model is data pertaining to the genetic make-up of an individual and data on their protein and metabolite levels, which are used as indicators for the health status of a patient. These molecular data will be combined in the model with anatomical and physiological data, and also with information about the life styles and environment of each patient. Decisions on specific medical treatments for patients will be based on data analysed by the model. ‘Virtual patients’ will support medical practitioners in choosing drugs with the optimal effect on the patient, and will drastically reduce unwanted or even harmful side-effects of drugs. About Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship: Within the EU Framework Program for Research and Technological Development, Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) is funding frontier research based on radically new visions of what can be done and grounded in scientifically valid ideas. FET Flagships are large-scale, science-driven and mission oriented initiatives that aim to achieve a visionary technological goal. The six FET Flagship Pilot Actions to be launched are:     FuturICT - The FuturICT Knowledge Accelerator and Crisis-Relief System: Unleashing the Power of Information for a Sustainable Future.     Graphene - Graphene Science and technology for ICT and beyond.     Guardian Angels - Guardian Angels for a Smarter Planet.     HBP - The Human Brain Project.     ITFoM - IT Future of Medicine: a revolution in healthcare.     RoboCom - Robot Companions for Citizens. To prepare the launch of the FET Flagships, the 6 Pilot Actions are funded for a 12-month period starting in May 2011. In the second half of 2012 two of the Pilots will be selected and launched as full FET Flagship Initiatives in 2013. Web: http://www.fet11.eu/ Media Contact: Polona ... Read more

McKesson Revenue Management Solutions expected to boost efficiency, enhance patient service ATLANTA, Feb. 2, 2012 – Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, Calif., has selected McKesson Revenue Management Solutions (RMS) to help transform its revenue cycle operations. With 100 physicians and 115 residents, Kern will use McKesson’s solution to help consolidate and simplify professional fee billing and accounts receivable management across its clinics and physician practices. RMS will interface with the medical center’s existing McKesson Horizon Practice Plus™ billing system to help eliminate inefficiencies and create a streamlined patient experience. Together, the solution and services should help the medical center enhance workflow and improve patient service. After a detailed request for proposal process, Kern decided on McKesson RMS largely due to its robust resources and strong relationships with payers in the California region. The medical group needed a solution to help centralize its billing and collections processes and build a seamless connection between its clinics and medical center. In addition, Kern wanted to put an end to redundant billing and administrative tasks. “McKesson already has brought tremendous value to the relationship,” said Lisa Ohlfest, administrator of Kern’s clinics and physician practices. “We get the benefit of a comprehensive billing and practice management system to help us connect all of our facilities and streamline our operations. With McKesson, we now have a partner with bench strength and expertise in the California healthcare market to help us improve our financial performance.” McKesson RMS is the nation’s leading provider of healthcare billing and revenue management services, backed by more than 4,000 billing experts. The services are uniquely designed to help practices improve efficiency and grow revenues while staying current with the latest regulatory requirements. “Healthcare providers are under increasing pressure to improve efficiencies and control costs,” said Pat Leonard, senior vice-president and general manager for McKesson Revenue Management Solutions. “At McKesson RMS, our goal is to help organizations like Kern continue to build a financially sustainable future so that everyone – the hospital, physicians and especially patients – can deliver and get access to the best care possible.” About Kern Medical Center Kern Medical Center is a 222-bed acute care teaching hospital. The medical center serves a community of approximately 650,000 residents, and the hospital is owned and operated by the County of Kern. As an academic teaching hospital, Kern Medical Center trains 113 residents/fellows per year in the fields of Emergency Medicine, Family Practice, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Psychiatry ranging in duration from one to five years. Kern Medical Center provides care for over 16,000 inpatients annually, while its clinics provide care and services for over 100,000 patients. About McKesson McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com. Media contact: Yancey Casey ... Read more

UltraLinq Healthcare and the Premier Inc healthcare alliance collaborate to help members improve healthcare. New York, New York (PRWEB) January 24, 2012: The Premier healthcare alliance Inc., a world leader in helping to deliver measurable improvements in care, and UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions, an innovator in cloud-based medical image management, have announced a new group purchasing agreement. Effective December 1st 2011, UltraLinq has been added to the products endorsed by Premier to help improve the health of communities. “UltraLinq is excited to join Premier and it’s impressive array of shareholders, partners, and vendors in helping to improve patient experience and outcomes while allowing alliance members to manage risk and control costs,” said Stephen Farber UltraLinq’s CEO. “Premier programs like QUEST, which in three years have saved hospitals $4.5 billion and over 24,000 lives, promote responsible, patient-centric care and epitomize the direction healthcare should be moving in. We are eager to take part in this transformation.” About UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions: UltraLinq is a cloud-based medical image viewing and management service. Through UltraLinq, exams can be securely uploaded, reviewed, distributed, and archived from anywhere with internet access, allowing users to focus on improving patient care and efficiency rather than on hardware and IT. To learn more, visit http://www.UltraLinq.com. About the Premier healthcare alliance, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient: Premier is a performance improvement alliance of more than 2,500 U.S. hospitals and 80,000-plus other healthcare sites using the power of collaboration to lead the transformation to high quality, cost-effective care. Owned by hospitals, health systems and other providers, Premier maintains the nation's most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing ... Read more

Kaiser Permanente, a leading provider of healthcare services, announced that 9 million of its patients are now having the ability to access their medical information records through a new app. The latter has been designed so that it allows access via mobiles. The company introduced a new app for Android systems, along with other systems such as iPhone, which allow full access to the patient information record. A lot of data are now available on the internet for patients to review. For instance, 68 million lab test results, conducted in 2011, were available online for Kaiser Permanente patients. Kaiser Permanente patients have been already enjoying a number of e-services, for instance, 12 million e-visits were reported in 2011. In addition, patients have been able to email their doctors during the last 5 years. The company expects that with the new app, more patients will be using the company’s e-services. George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, said "This is the future of healthcare,” He continued “Healthcare needs to be connected to be all that it can be. This new level of connectivity is happening real time, and it is happening on a larger scale than anything like it in the world. The fact that a Kaiser Permanente patient in an emergency room in Paris or Tokyo can simply pull out their mobile device and have immediate and current access to their own medical information is an evolutionary and revolutionary breakthrough for medical connectivity." Christine Paige, Kaiser's senior vice president of marketing and Internet services, added "Our members love our current connectivity tools," She continued "Now we will extend our entire connectivity toolkit for patients through a mobile phone. Our mobile-optimized site and app take connectivity to the next level by making the mobile experience easy and enjoyable. We believe that convenience, paired with a great user experience, will meet members' needs and will ultimately result in improved health and patient-physician ... Read more

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center ranked in top 5% worldwide for safety, quality of care and efficiency in new global rating by HIMSS Analytics Asia Dubai, UAE (25 January 2012) - HIMSS Analytics Asia announced King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center (KFSH&RC)  in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has achieved Stage 6 on the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM). King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center has been recognized for meeting all criteria for a Stage 6 hospital in the deployment and use of clinical information technology to improve patient safety, quality and efficiency. HIMSS Analytics developed the EMR Adoption Model in 2005 as a methodology for evaluating the progress and impact of electronic medical record systems for hospitals in the HIMSS Analytics™ Database. Tracking their progress in completing eight stages (0-7), hospitals can review the implementation and utilization of information technology applications with the intent of reaching Stage 7, which represents an advanced electronic patient record environment. Putting the achievement into perspective, as of Q4 2011, just 5.2% of more than 5,300 hospitals in the United States tracked by HIMSS Analytics had reached Stage 6 on its EMRAM. "King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center is clearly leading the way on EMR adoption," said John Hoyt, Executive Vice President, Organizational Services, for HIMSS.  "Stage 6 represents an advanced level of sophistication and puts King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center literally in a league of its own in the Middle East and amongst the top 5% globally." King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center has deployed several very strategic clinical applications which have been shown to improve quality and safety, such as: Computerized Practitioner Order Entry (CPOE) where physicians enter patient orders directly into the clinical information system which interacts with an intelligent clinical decision support system Physician Documentation supported by clinical decision support Closed Loop Medication Administration with the use of bar codes to verify the right medication for the right patient at the right time in the right strength and form Nursing Documentation  online with some direct medical device connectivity for physiologic vital sign capturing There is increasing evidence that points to significant safety and quality improvements with clinical information systems. Further, health authorities are also finding that recruiting and retaining staff has improved by adopting a modern clinical computing environment. "As the first recipient of this prestigious accolade in the region, the hospital has demonstrated once again its constant focus on electronic health records to enhance still further the quality of care and clinical outcomes for our patients, " said Professor Qasim Alqasabi, CEO, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre. The King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre will be honored with their Stage 6 Award at the HIMSS Middle East Conference & Leadership Summit which takes place at the new Rocco Forte hotel in Abu Dhabi on 20-21 May 2012. Criteria for Stage 6 hospitals Have made significant executive commitments and investments to reach this stage. Appear to have a significant advantage over competitors for patient safety, clinician support, clinician recruitment, and competitive marketing for both consumers and nurse recruitment. Have almost fully automated/paperless medical records when they have implemented their IT applications across most of the inpatient care settings. Are either starting to evaluate their data for care delivery process improvements or have already documented significant improvements in this area. Have made investments that are within reach of most hospitals and recognize the strategic value of improving patient care with the EMR. Have begun to create strategic alignments with their medical staff to effectively utilize information technology to improve the patient safety environment. Are well positioned to provide data to key stakeholders, such as payers, the government, physicians, consumers and employers, to support electronic health record environments and health information exchanges. About Hospital King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC) is a state-of-the-art tertiary medical and research facility serving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region.  Located in the capital city of Riyadh and coastal port of Jeddah, the hospital system is the national referral center and research hub for oncology, organ transplant, cardiac care, genetic disease, and other tertiary diseases.  KFSH&RC has gained a world-wide reputation for its dedication to advancing medical science and research over the past three decades and has established collaborative relationships with internationally recognized institutions. KFSH&RC is a JCIA-accredited health institute since 2003 and operates 1,200 beds with approximately 11,000 employees.   The Hospital took the grass-roots step, like many hospitals grappling with efficiency and quality in patient care, to reconcile multiple stand-alone legacy systems and implemented an integrated patient-centric electronic health record including computerized provider order entry system.  An outcome of this step produced one of the region's first and largest Integrated Clinical Information Systems (ICIS). About HIMSS Analytics Asia HIMSS Analytics Asia is a subsidiary of Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) which is a wholly owned not-for-profit healthcare IT organization. HIMSS Analytics Asia collects and analyzes healthcare information related to IT processes and environments, products, IS department composition and costs, IS department management metrics, healthcare trends and purchase-related decisions. HIMSS Analytics Asia delivers high quality products, services and analytical expertise to healthcare delivery organizations, healthcare IT companies, state governments, financial companies, pharmaceutical companies and consulting firms.  For more information, please visit www.himssanalyticsasia.org For more information, contact: Shamal Marketing Communications Josse Dulka Office: +971 4 3652713 Cell: +971 50 6540229 mail: ... Read more

Charleston, SC, January 24, 2012–Avreo® announced today that KLAS, an independently owned and operated healthcare research organization, has ranked Avreo interWORKS ™ number 1 for radiology community RIS in its 2011 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services report. Avreo’s interWORKS product earned a high score of 89.6 out of 100. Avreo interWORKS also earned a 100% positive response when asked, “Would you buy from this vendor again?” in the business indicators section of the surveys. This ranking builds on Avreo’s 2010 ranking where interWORKS tied for 1st for community RIS in the 2010 RIS in the Middle: The Integration Tug of War report. Avreo’s Radiology Workflow Solutions™ (RWS), including interWORKS, were developed from the ground up to incorporate all Radiology Workflow services in a single-database, single-server system. These services provide scheduling, registration, technologist quality assurance, diagnostic and clinical viewing, dictation, transcription, automated report distribution, insurance verification, precertification, mammography viewing, and referring physician access. Avreo values customer service and is pleased to accept this designation as a category leader for KLAS. “We are extremely pleased to have been ranked number one in the interWORKS community RIS vendor category by the independent research firm KLAS,” said John Sloan, CEO of Avreo. “At Avreo, our primary goal is to develop Radiology Workflow Solutions that help our customers provide outstanding service to both patients and physicians, while streamlining their internal radiology workflow and processes. All feedback Avreo receives is applied to drive the product forward and continue to support the goals of our customers.” The Avreo RIS emulates the familiar paper workflow common to radiology departments and community hospitals. Its Master Folder™ concept facilitates physician adoption by emulating a traditional radiology jacket, making it both easy to learn and access information. Avreo’s color-coded scheduling DayPlanner provides an at-a-glance status report of all appointments scheduled for every resource and modality. Automated report distribution functionality distributes reports to referring physicians through their choice of email, fax, or network printer. Avreo consistently supports its clients at a high level with an easy to implement, easy to use integrated RIS/PACS solution. About Avreo Avreo, founded in 1997, is a leading provider of Radiology Workflow Solutions for outpatient facilities, multi-specialty organizations, community hospitals, radiology groups, and orthopedic practices. Our family of innovative solutions combines services from RIS, PACS, Dictation, Transcription, and Automatic Report Distribution within a single application, single database solution to encompass all the features a busy practice or hospital needs to operate efficiently. Avreo is a privately held company based in Charleston, SC. Avreo offers solutions on an operational (fee/exam) or capital acquisition payment model. For more information, visit http://www.avreo.com or call 1-800-844-9926. About KLAS KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors. KLAS’ mission is to improve delivery, by independently measuring vendor performance for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors. Working together with executives from over 4500 hospitals and over 2500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends, and statistics, which provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry. KLAS measures performance of software, professional services, and medical equipment vendors. For more information, visit www.KLASresearch.com, email marketing@KLASresearch.com, or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative. Primary Contact: Amber Haberberger Avreo, Inc. Email: ahaberberger@avreo.com Phone: 1-800-844-9926 ext. 826 Web: ... Read more

As 2013 deadline looms, hospitals recognize need for comprehensive, organization-wide change ATLANTA, Jan. 23, 2012 – With the transition to ICD-10 medical coding requirements expected to take effect in less than two years, providers face a mountain of change in virtually every corner of their organizations. To help them prepare, McKesson recently announced a unique ICD-10 Transition Service that takes a three-step approach to help organizations move to the new coding system regardless of their information systems vendor. The service starts with a readiness assessment, to compare the provider’s current technology, processes and operations to what is needed under ICD-10. Based on this analysis, a customized roadmap is developed. McKesson continues to provide support throughout the ICD-10 transition to ensure that new systems and services are deployed to meet the requirements. Training also is offered to help clinicians learn to document procedures with the level of specificity needed under the new mandate. Winter Haven Hospital in Winter Haven, Fla., is one of nine hospitals already using McKesson’s ICD-10 Transition Service to prepare. “The move to ICD-10 is a hospital-wide project that has a major impact on everyone in the organization, from physicians to health information management staff to medical records staff,” said Pat Mongoven, director of technology, Winter Haven Hospital. “McKesson has the expertise and resources to help ensure that we are equipped to successfully address the challenge.” “Our preliminary analysis of customer sites indicates that transitioning to ICD-10 could affect as many as 63% of a hospital’s claims, 45% of medical records and more than 50% of payer contracts,” said Wanda Hudson, vice president, Revenue Cycle Services, McKesson. “McKesson’s service offering is uniquely designed to smooth this transition and reduce the potential for loss in revenues.” Hospitals that have not begun preparing for the switch to ICD-10 will need to make significant changes to their health IT systems wherever there is a diagnosis or procedure code entered, processed or transacted – a considerable task as these codes traverse a variety of systems for a number of purposes. Payer contracts, many of which tied reimbursement to ICD-9 codes, will have to be re-negotiated to link payments to ICD-10 codes. In addition, extensive training will be needed across the enterprise – from  admissions, billing and claims to eligibility checking and quality reporting. A recent KLAS report showed that less than 10% of providers are halfway through their ICD-10 compliance work.1 “With such comprehensive change required, organizations must take action quickly to avoid losing substantial revenue when the federal government and other payers stop acknowledging ICD-9 codes in 2013,” added Hudson. “The transition to ICD-10 requires a holistic approach. We are pleased that our new service is resonating with providers and meeting a critical need in the market.” To learn more about the ICD-10 Transition Service, visit McKesson’s website or the McKesson booth at HIMSS, #2545. About Winter Haven Hospital Established in 1926, Winter Haven Hospital serves as the major medical center for east Polk and Highlands counties and the U.S. Highway 27 / Ridge Corridor. The 527-bed hospital is a locally owned and operated not-for-profit organization. The hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and has more than 300 board-certified physicians on its medical staff representing every major specialty. Affiliated with the University of Florida College of Medicine/Shands Healthcare, Winter Haven Hospital also is the home of Bostick Heart Center, the Cassidy Cancer Center, the Regency Center for Women and Infants, the Center for Urology and the Robotics Institute, a nationally accredited Stroke Center and the nationally accredited Joy-Fuller Rehab Center. For more information, visit www.winterhavenhospital.org. About McKesson McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit: http://www.mckesson.com. Media contact: Yancey Casey (404)338-2468 yancey.casey@mckesson.com 1 KLAS ICD-10: Preparing for October 2013 report; September 2011, www.KLASresearch.com, © 2012 KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights ... Read more

iPLATO Healthcare, a leading provider of mobile health (mhealth) solutions, announced that 60 GP practices, in two Primary Care Trusts in UK, will be added to its mHealth platform. Following the recent addition, 300,000 people in the south eastern England will be able to use iPLATO’s mHealth services. Tobias Alpsten, Managing Director of iPLATO Healthcare, said "Since the summer we are connecting one new practice per day to our platform" He added "With these agreements in place we will see this growth continue at least until the end of the NHS financial year. Of course we have seen this level of growth before.” Mr. Alpsten continued “However, things have changed in the NHS so this time around the growth is driven by QIPP and proven savings for primary care commissioning, public health and clinical commissioning groups from improved patient engagement. The population-wide approach to integrated mHealth that iPLATO champions has proven superior to the patchwork of services driven by individual surgeries, community services, hospitals and public health teams.” He concluded “More than anything these two wins validate that iPLATO mHealth is part of the solution to challenges faced by the NHS. We are delighted to add new mHealth innovation partners to our ... Read more

North Hawaii Community Hospital (NHCH) has recently received a new contract from Hawaii Island Beacon Community (HIBC). Accordingly, NHCH will establish a health information exchange (HIE) across the North Hawaii. Installing the HIE system has started earlier this month, and it will take place throughout this year. Nearly 32,000 patients are expected to benefit from the new HIE. Officials say that the new system is a step in the road to build a Hawaii-wide data sharing solution. Susan B. Hunt, project director and CEO of HIBC, said “We are pleased to support the groundbreaking initiatives of NHCH to help providers in the North Hawaii region adopt and benefit from the latest technology in healthcare,” She continued “NHCH has pioneered the use of electronic health records by North Hawaii providers and helped to achieve a nearly 95 percent adoption rate – one of the highest for any community nationwide. The region is more than ready to take the next step, and both patients and providers will benefit from the streamlined operations that a secure HIE system makes possible,” Wellogic, a company providing IT services, is cooperating with NHCH in its HIE project. Wllogic has carried out the technical basis needed for beginning of the installation process. The company will also provide technical training for NHCH staff. William Park, MD, chief medical officer and general surgeon at NHCH, commented on the new HIE project. He said “It’s an exciting breakthrough for healthcare in North Hawaii.” He added “Our partnership with Wellogic has been very successful, and we have built up to a smooth launch. Through access to comprehensive, up-to-date patient information for providers and, eventually, patients themselves, care will be more efficient, more easily coordinated and more ... Read more

Whether large community or critical access, hospitals rely on strong governance to meet ARRA objectives ATLANTA, Jan. 13, 2012 – Senior leader support, physician alignment and daily monitoring of analytics scorecards – all are key success factors cited by hospitals who recently attested to meet the Stage 1 Medicare criteria outlined under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Among those first-year strivers are hospitals that use the Horizon Clinicals® and Paragon® electronic health record (EHR) and Quality eMeasures reporting solutions from McKesson. McKesson’s customers have been busy advising peers on everything from governance to physician alignment to workflow changes. “We worked closely with McKesson until we were ready to attest, so we now have 2012 to focus on ICD-10 and other challenges,” said Richard Ferrans, MD, vice president and chief medical information officer of Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Miss. “When you’re implementing workflow changes, support is critical. For us, the winning combination has included executive champions who understand the value of technology, physicians dedicated to making it work, and a vendor partner that’s truly committed to our success.” Eligible hospitals must demonstrate that they meet 19 objectives focused on both IT adoption and clinical quality measures. The data must be calculated by a certified EHR. Horizon Clinical and Paragon EHR solutions were certified last year by the Drummond Group's EHR ONC Authorized Testing and Certification Body program. Many McKesson customers have had EHRs or components of EHRs in place for years. The difference is that now Medicare and Medicaid incentives are available to qualifying hospitals and physicians and facilitate moving them forward together, toward the same standards for data exchange and adoption. Once providers start routinely sharing portable, up-to-date medical information on a large scale, patients should reap the benefits. “We began our EHR journey long before any mention of ARRA or stimulus dollars,” said Joe Freudenberger, chief executive officer, OakBend Medical Center. “We believed from the start that we were well-positioned, with strong governance and cross-functional teams focused on the goal. Our clinicians understood that we were serious about using information technology (IT) to improve the delivery of care, and McKesson supported us in reaching the necessary adoption levels and performance metrics.” To assist the organizations in working through each ARRA objective, McKesson hosted webinars and supplied content design guides, workflow diagrams, intra-shift reports for identifying missing documentation and scorecards for tracking performance against thresholds. Internal competition was one proven strategy for spurring adoption. Centra, in Lynchburg, Va., effectively used scorecards to track their performance. The hospital assigned each objective to a senior executive. For example, the chief nursing officer was assigned vital signs and advance directives while the chief medical officer monitored computerized physician order entry and the chief financial officer tracked preliminary cause of death. They knew their scores would be displayed at the beginning of each staff meeting, so they would call their director of clinical information in advance and ask what they needed to do to reach their numbers. “This level of automation and workflow change is a real game-changer for IT staff and frontline clinicians alike,” said Dave Souerwine, president, McKesson Provider Technologies. “For these hospitals, this is not just an IT project; it’s a clinical transformation project. We feel very privileged to have the opportunity to contribute to this important milestone for our customers.” About ARRA The federal government has allocated $27 billion to encourage the health care industry to adopt information technology in three stages through 2015. To qualify for funds, hospitals and physicians practices must meet standards related to improving quality, safety, efficiency and reducing health disparities; engaging patients and families in their care; improving care coordination; improving population and public health; and maintaining privacy and security. About McKesson McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com. Media contact: Yancey Casey ... Read more

Breakthrough Business Model Provides Initial Financing of $125 Million, Fosters Collaboration and Creates Independent, Innovative Biotech Company Boston, Mass. and Cambridge, Mass. - January 10, 2012 - Third Rock Ventures and Warp Drive Bio today announced the launch of the new company and its broad strategic partnership with Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), which positions the companies to transform the discovery and development of natural product drugs using Warp Drive Bio’s proprietary genomic technology and Sanofi’s natural products expertise. Warp Drive Bio was founded by Third Rock Ventures and world-leading scientist Gregory Verdine, Ph.D., and was incubated at Third Rock Ventures for two years. Joining Dr. Verdine as co-founders are two additional leading scientists/entrepreneurs, Harvard Medical School professor of genetics and genomics expert George Church, Ph.D., and University of California, San Francisco professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and protein-protein interaction expert James Wells, Ph.D. Greylock Partners is also participating alongside Third Rock Ventures and Sanofi in financing the company. The launch and strategic partnership provide Warp Drive Bio with full funding to aggressively advance its core research and development strategy over at least the next five years. This groundbreaking and innovative business model launches Warp Drive Bio, fully defines the collaboration deal structure - including a possible future acquisition of Warp Drive by Sanofi if certain milestones are achieved - and provides up to $125 million in initial funding, including up to $75 million in equity investment, to accelerate the development of Warp Drive Bio’s platform and establish proof of concept. Importantly, Warp Drive Bio is founded as a fully independent company and retains strategic direction, operational management and full rights to select assets. This approach enables Warp Drive Bio to advance its programs in collaboration with Sanofi, while also maintaining the ability to secure additional future partnerships to advance its programs. “This innovative collaboration between Sanofi and Third Rock Ventures provides the opportunity to build significant value and the potential for venture capital levels of return,” said Alexis Borisy, partner at Third Rock Ventures and interim chief executive officer of Warp Drive Bio. “Importantly, it also enables us to advance and accelerate the development of our proprietary genomics platform, unlock ‘nature’s drugs’ and, ultimately, create breakthrough therapies for patients.” Warp Drive Bio is leading the reemergence of natural products in the era of genomics to create breakthrough therapies targeting critical biological pathways, particularly those that are currently considered “undruggable.” Built upon the belief that nature is the world’s most powerful medicinal chemist, Warp Drive Bio is deploying a battery of state-of-the-art technologies to access powerful drugs that are now hidden within microbes. Key to the Warp Drive Bio approach is the company’s proprietary “genomic search engine” that enables hidden natural products to be revealed on the basis of their distinctive genomic signature. Warp Drive Bio is developing additional breakthrough technologies to induce the production of these novel drug candidates and to determine their mode of action, ultimately enabling Warp Drive Bio to convert genomes into drugs. “Revolutionary advances in microbial genomics have provided the blueprints for nature’s factories that assemble natural products and have revealed vast treasure troves of novel natural product drugs hidden within microbes,” said Dr. Verdine, professor of chemistry in Harvard University’s department of stem cell and regenerative biology, venture partner at Third Rock Ventures and co-founder of Warp Drive Bio. “Prior to Warp Drive Bio, no one had created a comprehensive discovery engine that selectively mines from nature those products with transformative pharmaceutical potential. Warp Drive Bio has developed that capability and is using it to discover powerful next-generation drugs that target the central circuitry of human cells in completely new ways. We are thrilled to be working closely with Sanofi and our other partners as we aggressively move forward to bring these desperately needed medications to patients suffering from life-threatening and debilitating diseases.” “We are very excited about this investment and collaborative partnership in a start-up biotechnology company based on outstanding science” declared Elias Zerhouni, president, global research & development, Sanofi. “By combining Warp Drive Bio’s unique proprietary technology and Sanofi’s extensive drug development capabilities, we are convinced that this open and creative model of pharma-biotech partnership will boost innovation for the benefit of patients.” About Warp Drive Bio Warp Drive Bio is driving the reemergence of natural products in the era of genomics to create breakthrough treatments that make an important difference in the lives of patients. Built upon the belief that nature is the world’s most powerful medicinal chemist, Warp Drive Bio is deploying a battery of state-of-the-art technologies to access powerful drugs that are now hidden within microbes. Key to the Warp Drive Bio approach is the company’s proprietary “genomic search engine” and customized search queries that enable hidden natural products to be revealed on the basis of their distinctive genomic signature. Launched in 2011 through a groundbreaking strategic partnership with Sanofi and with financing from Third Rock Ventures and Greylock Partners, the company was founded by renowned scientist Dr. Gregory Verdine, along with Dr. George Church and Dr. James Wells. For more information, please visit www.warpdrivebio.com. About Third Rock Ventures Third Rock Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2007 with the mission to launch transformative life sciences companies. With more than $800 million and two funds under management, the firm is focused on working with passionate entrepreneurs to build exceptional companies working in areas of disruptive science that will make a difference in the lives of patients. The firm has assembled a team with deep expertise and a proven track record of building respected and successful life sciences companies. With decades of complementary, cross-functional operational and leadership experience, the Third Rock team actively engages with its portfolio companies to provide hands-on strategy and experience to successfully launch companies with the best vision, science, operations, people and culture. With offices in Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA, Third Rock is well positioned geographically to closely collaborate with its portfolio companies to achieve their goals. To learn more about Third Rock and its portfolio companies, please visit www.thirdrockventures.com. Media Contact: Dan Budwick vice president, media relations pure communications, inc. ph: ... Read more

Fifth Partnership Will Help Translate Cancer Genomic Science to Clinical Results CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – January 10, 2012 – Foundation Medicine, Inc., a molecular information company that brings comprehensive cancer genome analysis to routine clinical care, today announced the initiation of a strategic collaboration with Sanofi (NYSE: SNY). Foundation Medicine will use their genomic sequencing and analytic capabilities to identify genetic biomarkers and potential companion diagnostics for select Sanofi oncology drug candidates. This is Foundation Medicine’s fifth major pharmaceutical company alliance, each of which utilizes the company’s comprehensive technology for providing a fully informative molecular cancer profile. “Sanofi and Foundation Medicine share a commitment to new clinical solutions that address individual patient needs,” said Donald A. Bergstrom, M.D., Ph.D., associate vice president and global head, translational and experimental medicine at Sanofi. “Sanofi is focused on increasing innovation in R&D through networks of creativity that can harness complex science to enable targeted therapies for patients. Foundation Medicine is an ideal collaborator in this mission.” “Foundation Medicine has rapidly become a molecular analysis partner of choice for both academia and the biopharma industry,” said Michael J. Pellini, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Foundation Medicine. “Our unique capability to correlate clinical data with specific genomic alterations has enabled these innovative partnerships in genomic discovery for cancer treatment. Targeted cancer therapeutics routinely demonstrate improved clinical safety and efficacy when matched with the patients most likely to benefit, and we believe this alliance with Sanofi will help catalyze the development of their targeted candidates.” Foundation Medicine has signed five strategic biopharmaceutical alliances to date around their complete molecular information capabilities. These partnerships complement Foundation Medicine’s core cancer diagnostics capability, a comprehensive cancer genomic test that provides physicians with genomic information that may help match patients with treatments or clinical trials specific for the genomic profile of their tumor. About Foundation Medicine’s Comprehensive Cancer Genomic Test Foundation Medicine’s comprehensive cancer genomic test uses next-generation sequencing to analyze routine clinical specimens (i.e., small amounts of formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tumor tissue) for molecular alterations in approximately 200 cancer-related genes. The test is optimized for clinical-grade analysis of tumor tissues, overcoming multiple complexities (such as purity, ploidy, and clonality) inherent to tumor genomes. Test results are reported through a secure, interactive website linking genomic data to a structured knowledge base of relevant, publicly available scientific and medical information. The company also aims to provide information on relevant clinical trials to enable a more rapid recruitment of patients into trials for targeted therapies. Foundation Medicine’s test can serve as a helpful decision-support tool for physicians to recommend cancer treatment approaches tailored to each patient’s molecular subtype. About Foundation Medicine Foundation Medicine is dedicated to improving cancer care through the development of comprehensive cancer diagnostics that will help physicians inform treatment decisions based on an individual patient’s molecular cancer subtype. Foundation Medicine’s first laboratory developed test, based on a next-generation sequencing platform, is designed to accommodate a broad landscape of cancer genome information and a growing repertoire of targeted treatments and clinical research opportunities. Foundation Medicine’s test will assist physicians to make prompt and informed determinations about the best cancer treatments and clinical trial options for each patient, taking into account each patient’s unique cancer-associated alterations alongside publicly available scientific and medical information. The company’s founding advisors are world leaders in genome technology, cancer biology and medical oncology; they, alongside clinicians, biotech and molecular diagnostics industry leaders, are working to harness emerging technologies to develop unparalleled tests that will identify and interpret an ever-growing set of actionable genomic alterations, truly enabling personalized cancer medicine. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.foundationmedicine.com. Media contact: Dan Budwick vice president, media relations pure communications, inc. ph: ... Read more

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust has selected System C to supply and implement its Medway patient administration and electronic patient record (PAS/EPR) system across the Trust. The news follows on the heels of major wins for Medway at Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, and the Ministry of Defence. At Mid Staffordshire, System C was selected from a final shortlist of three suppliers after a rigorous 6 month OJEU procurement process.  Solutions purchased by Mid Staffordshire include the Medway PAS, the e-prescribing module Medway EPMA , the data warehouse and reporting system Medway BI, Medway Order Communications and Results Reporting, and Medway clinical proformas. System C’s portal product, Medway Connect, will be used to integrate numerous third party applications. The contract also includes a comprehensive deployment service including data migration, localization, integration, training, testing, floor walking and round-the-clock support.Medway will replace the Trust’s legacy iSoft PAS and clinical systems. Dr Ian Denley, senior vice president of System C, said: “We have devoted many years to building new generation .NET patient administration and clinical systems for the NHS. Being selected by Mid Staffs is a huge endorsement for our people and for the Medway PAS/EPR.” He added: “We have met dozens of Trust staff through the course of the procurement and have been really struck by their real enthusiasm for this project.  We are very much looking forward to working together.” Mid Staffordshire provides healthcare at Stafford and Cannock Chase Hospital for over 300,000 residents. For more information, please contact: Nicky Willmore Director of Communications System C 07711 371772 01622 691616 About System C: System C Healthcare plc (www.systemc.com), specialises in the design and development of clinical patient management and business intelligence software, and provides systems implementation and consulting services to the health and social care sectors. System C is a subsidiary of McKesson ... Read more

Rennes, France – January 9, 2012 – ETIAM, the leading European provider of secure medical networking solutions and services, today announced that Eric Le Bihan, PhD, has become its main shareholder and president. Le Bihan succeeds ETIAM co-founder Emmanuel Cordonnier, who will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer for the North American subsidiary, ETIAM Corp. As a recognized telecom veteran and co-founder of Orange Healthcare, the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world's leading telecommunications operators, Le Bihan brings over 26 years of sales, marketing, and management experience to the ETIAM. “Eric is exactly the right leader for ETIAM,” said Cordonnier. “His strong telecom industry knowledge will help ETIAM to grow its networking solutions and services portfolio. We are delighted to welcome Eric to ETIAM.” “ETIAM is a particularly attractive company through its technological expertise, varied teleimaging solutions and strong customer base, both in Europe and the USA,” Le Bihan said. “I intend to work with the ETIAM team to expand the company through the continuous delivery of easy-to-use and reliable medical image communication solutions and services.” Le Bihan served as First Managing Director for Orange Healthcare from 2006 to 2008. Recently, he founded Freemax, the first WiMax operator in Tuscany (Italy). Le Bihan also held positions at Orange, Nortel and Netgem. About ETIAM ETIAM provides secure medical networking solutions to hospitals and healthcare professionals with end-to-end, easy-to-use, feature-rich software and services, through a unique software technology and platform. With more than 2,000 customers in Europe and North America, ETIAM solutions allow physicians to securely and reliably exchange medical images while benefiting from 24/7 support. ETIAM solutions seamlessly integrate documents, film, video, visible light and other images, transports and distributes them to any PACS and electronic health record (EHR) systems. ETIAM Corp. Contact: 185 Alewife Brook Parkway Suite 410 Cambridge, MA 02138 – USA Toll Free: (877) 384-2662 (USA & Canada) Phone/Fax: (617) 395-5809    Jeanne-Marie Phillips Phone: (203) 977-3333 E-mail: jphillips@healthflashmarketing.com www.etiam.com info@etiam.com Jeanne-Marie Phillips Phone: (203) 977-3333 E-mail: ... Read more

Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has selected Medway Maternity from System C to provide a single solution for the collection, storage, reporting and retrieval of maternity clinical information for women in its area. The Trust mainly serves the 272,000 people living in Poole, East Dorset and Purbeck and is responsible for around 5,000 deliveries a year.  Maternity care is shared between midwifery and medical staff in community settings and in the Poole Hospital maternity unit, the centre for all high risk care in East Dorset. System C’s successful bid at Poole Hospital follows recent wins for Medway Maternity at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, where the company is supplying a whole PAS/EPR, and at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the largest acute teaching trusts in the country handling over 10,000 births a year. Other users of Medway Maternity include Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust; Northampton General Hospital NHS trust; University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; NHS Ayrshire & Arran. Services provided by the Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, including its maternity services, are rated as excellent by the Care Quality Commission. “Our maternity services are very busy and highly thought of - it’s vital that we have ready access to the clinical information we need about our women to continue to provide them with the very best service we can,” said Sandra Chitty, head of midwifery at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. “We pride ourselves on offering truly woman-centred birthing services at Poole Hospital, and we’re confident that our new clinical information management system will allow us to focus even more of our time on the women we support during pregnancy.” As well as being used by practitioners in the hospital and community clinics, midwives working in the home will be able to enter assessment and booking information directly into Medway using lap tops and mobile devices. The software will record the complete timeline for maternity care, covering the full range of antenatal, delivery and post-natal services for both the mother and the baby.  It will also allow the capture of links to paternal details as appropriate and will allow for the recording of names and relationships of ‘lodgers’ staying with the mother or baby. “We are delighted to be working with Poole Hospital on such a comprehensive system,” said Dr Ian Denley, senior vice president System C.  “The Trust is very focused on making use of leading-edge technology to meet the challenges of joined-up and high quality maternity care.” System C will interface Medway Maternity to the Trust’s existing Camis PAS and to other information systems within the hospital, such as its results reporting software and SEND, the system used within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Poole Hospital is the major trauma centre for East Dorset and provides a broad range of district hospital care and a number of core services - ear, nose & throat, child health and maternity - for a wider catchment area, including Bournemouth and Christchurch. The hospital also provides specialist services, such as oral surgery and neurological care, for the whole of Dorset and is the Cancer Centre for Dorset. For more information, please contact: Nicky Willmore Director of Communications, System C 01622 691916 07711 371772 About System C Healthcare: System C Healthcare (www.systemc.com), specialises in the design and development of clinical patient management and business intelligence software, and provides systems implementation and consulting services to the health and social care sectors. System C is a subsidiary of McKesson Corporation, which currently ranks 14th on the FORTUNE 500. McKesson is a global healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to helping its customers deliver high-quality healthcare by reducing costs, streamlining processes, and improving the quality and safety of patient ... Read more

Cloud-based system to reduce costs and support value analysis ATLANTA, Jan. 4, 2012 – McKesson today announced a fully-integrated, cloud-based sourcing solution designed to completely automate the healthcare supply chain. McKesson Strategic Supply Sourcing™ will give providers unprecedented visibility and control over their medical-surgical supply spending. The solution is the first offering on the market that can support multiple materials management information systems (MMIS) and combine external and internal data for a single, comprehensive view of an organization’s supply chain spend. Users of the new solution will have access to information on critical medical-surgical supplies, high-cost physician preference items, and group purchasing organization or self-contracted items through a private marketplace. Normalization of spending data will help support providers’ value analysis projects and ensure that they are purchasing the right products at the right price. “According to a recent article by Materials Management in Healthcare,1 supply chain costs consume as much as 40% of total operating budget, the second-largest expense for hospitals after labor,” said Chris Bauleke, president, Health Systems Performance Management, McKesson Provider Technologies. “As a result, effective supply chain management is a critical element of strategic financial planning for hospitals. Automating the purchasing process should help to improve contract compliance and reduce unnecessary spending.” According to the March 2011 Strategic Sourcing whitepaper released by the Aberdeen Group, traditional tracking systems often miss as much as 60% of an organization’s medical-surgical supply item spend, which results in providers paying different prices for supplies and maintaining multiple contracts for the same items across their organizations. With McKesson’s sourcing solution, users can effectively leverage each organization’s purchases and negotiate more favorable contracts. Using artificial intelligence built into the new sourcing solution, providers can create and view a virtually unlimited set of parameters and naming conventions to achieve a detailed understanding of all purchases. By aggregating the data, the solution can enable providers to find and eliminate duplicate contracts and create functionally equivalent product identifiers to consolidate purchases. The expected result is greater efficiency and savings in both time and money. In addition, McKesson offers on-site and remote consultants to advise organizations on how to maximize their savings. “McKesson Strategic Supply Sourcing is part of our comprehensive approach to resource management,” added Bauleke. “Hospitals continue to face increasing financial pressures. Our new solution will provide them with the tools they need to understand and effectively manage the supply chain and realize significant and long-lasting financial improvements.” About McKesson McKesson Corporation, currently ranked 15th on the FORTUNE 500, is a healthcare services and information technology company dedicated to making the business of healthcare run better. We partner with payers, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting. McKesson helps its customers improve their financial, operational, and clinical performance with solutions that include pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supply management, healthcare information technology, and business and clinical services. For more information, visit http://www.mckesson.com. Media Contact: Yancey Casey ... Read more