Healthcare IT News - December 2007 - (Page 34)

34 Healthcare IT News ■ December 2007 vENdoRS in tests and hospitalization after a patient contracts an infection, he said, and the money is well spent. “We’ve kind of become a hub of best-practice knowledge,” he said, adding that hospitals generally see a 13.5 percent reduction in costs associated with infection control in the year following deployment of the MedMined solution. Cardinal Health isn’t the only vendor targeting MRSAs. GetWellNetwork, Inc. a Bethesda, Md.-based provider of interactive patient care solutions, has leveraged www.HealthcareITNews.com its PatientLife bedside communication system to educate patients and their families on the importance of preventing infections (the system has been deployed at the Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del.). And the Datalux Corp. of Winchester, Va., says its IPIX all-in-one computers employ a number of safeguards, including an antimicrobial additive on all exterior surfaces, to minimize the threat of bacterial infections in the hospital. ■ More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: INfectIoNS 1207 involving a lot of data analysis.” likely occur – both in the hospital According to Hymel, MedMined and in a post-discharge setting. Continued from page 1 MRSA Scorecard identifies patients “We’re transforming the infechospital-wide view of where MRSA who have tested positive for the tion control department,” he said. infections have occurred, who’s bacteria and distinguishes between “It’s not just about data collection been infected and, more impor- those who came into the hospital any more, but using that data” to tantly, where such infections could with the infection and those who improve the healthcare setting. occur in the future. likely acquired it in the hospital. It Hymel says the technology “is not “Figuring out who has an infec- then tracks the patient back through inexpensive” – the average hospital tion in a hospital that may have the hospital to pinpoint where the spends $150,000 to $200,000 a been acquired in the hospital is infection could have occurred. year for the service – and can be up very difficult,” says Patrick Hymel, Furthermore, Hymel said, the and running in about 45 days, with vice president and medical direc- program can look at all lab data much of that time spent collecting tor of Cardinal Health’s MedMined and Fri Sep 14 11:25:22 2007 and ROI_Healthcare_IT_News_8.125x10.625new2.FH11 use predictive analytics to pinPágina 1 standardizing incoming data. services. “It’s a laborious process, point where infections would most C Contrast that to the money spent M Y CM MY CY CMY K InfeCTIons ● seCurITy Continued from page 33 solution based on input from those providers. With hospitals large and small concerned about protecting sensitive information, vendors like Symantec, Encentuate, Cisco, Sentillion and Compuware Covisint are faced with a complex environment, but one ripe for growth. Symantec officials point out that many healthcare providers’ IT resources are being strained by the rapid growth of information and interconnections, and with that strain comes an increased risk to security. Among Symantec’s customers are Baptist Health South Florida, which serves approximately 100,000 patients annually, and Touchstone Behavioral Health of Glendale, Ariz., which provides behavioral treatment programs for at-risk children from four locations in the Phoenix area. “There’s money being made in penetration, in hacks and viruses, in spam, so the threats that we chase are constantly evolving,” said Steven Porter, Touchstone’s IT director. “To combat that with a single product and a single console makes it a little easier.” ■ More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: SecurIty 1207 ● auCTIon Continued from page 33 �� the NASDAQ National Market. Officials at Royal Philips said the company would take a fourth-quarter charge of $461.6 million. Philips purchased 60 percent of MedQuist shares for $1.2 billion in 2000. It later bought 10 percent more. Four years later, the transcription company fell on hard times when it was accused of overcharging some of its customers and its billing practices came under scrutiny. Investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts ensued. In March, the company agreed to pay $7.75 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by shareholders. ■ More at HealthcareITnews.com e Connect: auctIoN 1207 �� ● e ● Connect: PIcIS 1207 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8178 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8213 http://www.picis.com/DCHS http://www.picis.com/DCHS http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8212 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=8256

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Healthcare IT News - December 2007

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