Healthcare IT News - October 2008 - (Page 52)

www.HealthcareITNews.com October 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 51 NEWSBRIEFS gE hEalthcaRE EyES SENIoRS WIth NEW dIStRIButIoN dEal GE Healthcare has announced a distribution and technology collaboration agreement with Living Independently Group, Inc., a New York-based provider of telecare and passive monitoring systems used to assist in the care of seniors. The deal allows GE Healthcare to distribute and co-market Living Independently’s QuietCare product, a behavioral remote patient monitoring system that uses wireless sensors to track the daily patterns of seniors’ activities. In return, Living Independently will use GE’s Global Research Center to study new innovations. HP: EDS integration means layoffs Wall Street stunned; analysts predict ‘leaner, meaner’ company. By ErIC WICkluNd, Managing Editor PALO ALTO, CA – Computer giant HewlettPackard, moving quickly to integrate newly acquired Electronic Data Systems (EDS) into its portfolio, has announced that it will cut 24,600 jobs, or 7.5 percent of its workforce, over the next three years. Both HP and EDS are prominent in the healthcare sector, providing hardware, soft- thE NEWS: HP announces huge layoffs. ➔ What It mEaNS: Computer giant hopes to ➔ remain ahead of IBM in the healthcare IT market. INtERSyStEmS addS aNothER tRuSt to ItS uK poRtFolIo The InterSystems Corp. is boosting its presence in the United Kingdom with another implementation for the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT). The Cambridge, Mass.-based vendor has made its Ensemble rapid integration platform available to the North, Midlands and East of England (NME) Trusts, adding to its portfolio of seven other UK trust implementations. CSC of Falls Church, Va., the local system provider for NME will deliver Ensemble as a standard trust integration engine. New name, new territory give Healthland a boost By ErIC WICkluNd, Managing Editor ware and outsourcing services. The news, announced Sept. 15, stunned Wall Street and signaled HP President and CEO Mark Hurd’s urgency in making his latest acquisition, the $13.25 billion purchase of Plano, Texas-based technology-services firm EDS, work in the face of increased competition from the likes of IBM. “I can assure you, we will nail this integration,” Hurd told reporters in announcing the job cuts. “We do believe the synergized companies are in a pretty damn strong market position.” Officials say most of the job cuts will come from EDS, and nearly half will be in the United States – though officials emphasized that about half of the jobs lost would be added back as services and consulting positions. The departments most affected would be those duplicated in both HP and EDS – legal, human resources, real estate and information technology. Analysts had expected job losses in the INTEgraTE see page 54 Reminders play a role in preventive health outcomes Adults who are sent reminders are more likely to receive preventive screening. Men age 40-64 who received a screen for prostate cancer in the past 2 years Women age 40-64 who received a mammogram in the past 2 years Adults age 18-64 who had their cholesterol checked in the past 5 years e ● Connect: GraPHS 1008 GLENWOOD, MN – A name change and the acquisition of a Texas-based software company have officials at Dairyland Healthcare Solutions thinking big while hoping to keep their rural roots. Officials at the 28-year-old Glenwood, Minn.-based provider of IT services to small community and critical access hospitals announced last month that the company is now called Healthland. In a d d i t i o n , t h e c o m p a ny announced the acquisition James Burgess of Advanced Professional Software, Inc. of Waco, Texas, giving the Healthland a foothold in the South. CHaNgEs see page 53 37% 70% 62% 79% 82% 50% SOURCE: COMMONWEALTH FUNd 2006 HEALTHCARE QUALITY SURVEY. RIvERSIdE compaNy acquIRES hEalthcaREFIRSt HEALTHCAREfirst, an Ozark, Mo.-based developer of IT services for the home health and hospice industry, has been acquired by The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm. The deal is expected to broaden HEALTHCAREfirst’s reach in the market. The company offers a line of software-based services designed to maximize reimbursements, simplify billing and coding, eliminate paperwork and provide electronic tools to manage patients, personnel and payers. ChartOne joins HealthPort, springs eWebHealth loose By ErIC WICkluNd, Managing Editor – Officials of HealthPort and ChartOne say their recent merger will help advance the concept of an all-in-one solutions for medical practices – while the spinoff of a third company leaves officials there ready to advance their own softwareas-a-service products. ALPHARETTA, GA New Picis release puts data to work for hospitals By ErIC WICkluNd, Managing Editor WAKEFIELD, MA – On September 23, HealthPort, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based developer of EMR, practice management, document management and release-of-information services, among others, announced the acquisition of ChartOne, a Burlington, Mass.-based provider of ROI software and services. That same day, ChartOne officials announced that they had spun off their eWebHealth subsidiary into its own company. eWebHealth officials then announced that the next release of their product suite would be released on the Microsoft .NET platform. “As an independent company, we will HEalTH see page 55 WoRKFloW.com, zIRmEd SIgN dEal to INtEgRatE pRoductS Workflow.com, based in Cleveland, has entered into a partnership with Louisville, Ky.-based ZirMed to integrate clinical and revenue management platforms. Under the deal, Workflow.com’s electronic health record and practice management products will be integrated with ZirMed’s revenue cycle management software. Officials from both companies said the deal is a natural integration of services needed by healthcare providers looking for an all-in-one solution. More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: VeNDorS 1008 ● With its CareSuite family of high-acuity care information systems, Picis has helped hospital critical care and intensive care units around the world accumulate all sorts of data on patient encounters. Now the Wakefield, Mass.-based vendor is taking the next step by helping hospitals make better use of that data. Picis introduced eView for Critical Care Manager last month, part of the newly launched version 8.2 of the company’s CareSuite product. The eView release is designed to consolidate clinically rel- Picis’ eView for Critical Care Manager, part of the newly launched version 8.2 of its CareSuite series, allows clinicians to see relevant patient data anytime and from any place. evant data gathered during the patient’s ICU experience into a Web-based view, accessible to clinicians anywhere. Clinicians are then able to quickly and easily identify which patients need immediate attention, while they’re also getting a complete view of the overall department status, from which they can drill down to specific patients. “There’s literally thousands of clinical datapoints provided for each patient in critical care,” said Steve Pennock, Picis’ vice president of perioperative and critical care product lines. “You have to make sure that (the clinicians) are looking at the right information at the right time.” Picis officials point out that a hospital’s critical care areas account for 30 percent to 40 percent of overall spending and are among the more resourceintensive areas of the hospital. Carlos Nunez, MD, Picis’ chief physician executive, said ICUs are becoming more crowded and complex, forcing hospitals EvIEW see page 52 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10115 http://www.imagenow.com/focus http://www.imagenow.com/focus http://www.imagenow.com/focus http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10113 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=10147

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Healthcare IT News - October 2008 Contents Seattle's Slate Board 2.0 MGMA Newsmaker IT Battles Infection Beyond Adoption Excellence in Maine Carrot and Stick HP Layoffs Mobile Workstations Automating Offices

Healthcare IT News - October 2008

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