News

Interest in healthcare IT adoption has surged forward recently, but the industry needs to stay focused on interoperability, cautioned experts at the World Health Care Congress.

When the federal government gets involved, speed to market is not the first thing that comes to mind. The Federal Health Architecture (FHA), however, appears to be a game changer.

At HIMSS09 held in Chicago last month, the two words I heard most were, “meaningful use.

The stage is set for unprecedented healthcare reform possibilities, with many of the key leaders now in place. David Blumenthal, MD, took his new position as National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on April 20. For the first six months, healthcare IT leader John Glaser, CIO of Partners Healthcare, will advise him on how best to approach the HITECH Act within the stimulus package.

By Eric Wicklund, Managing Editor CHICAGO – Australia’s largest healthcare IT company is looking to make its mark in America. IBA Health Group’s iSOFT subsidiary announced its plans during HIMSS09 conference last month with the release of Lorenzo Health Studio, designed to allow healthcare providers to integrate disparate IT solutions and develop an electronic medical record without an expensive “rip-and-replace” program. “We have a transformational product that is different than that which exists in the U.S. today,” said Gary Cohen, executive chairman and CEO of iSOFT. Company officials say Lorenzo and other iSOFT solutions support the free exchange of information across diverse care settings and participant organizations.” According to Cohen, the company’s products help link disparate systems together. “It’s like a LEGO kit – it’s modular,” he said. According to published reports and Cohen, IBA plans to change the name of the company to iSOFT in May, pending shareholder approval. IBA, which trades under the iSOFT brand outside of Australia, took over iSOFT in late 2007. Lorenzo is already in use in 37 countries across five continents, and was launched globally last year. Lorenzo is now being used to support the United Kingdom’s UK National Program for IT, billed as the world’s largest civilian IT project. That project, however, has been going slower than planned. Following the departure of Fujitsu and Accenture, two IT vendors remain. CSC is handling the iSOFT Lorenzo deployment in northern and central sections of England, while BT is installing Cerner Millennium software in London and early adopter trusts formerly handled by Fujitsu in southern England. On April 15, the UK government’s Department of Health re-affirmed its confidence in both iSOFT Lorenzo and Cerner Millennium to work effectively, once development and testing are completed. Officials added that the Lorenzo deployments are at an early stage, and that any new rollouts will depend on the success of the earlier projects. Government officials also announced, on April 16, the signing of new contracts with both CSC and BT to keep the program running. In unrelated news, IBA Health announced on April 16 that its iSOFT European business unit has signed a $9.1 million deal with the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to continue supplying the teaching hospital with patient administration, care and logistics systems for another three years. The deal follows agreements signed earlier this year in the Netherlands with hospitals in Rotterdam, Leiden and Friesland. And on April 8, the company won a two-year, $3.1 million deal with German private healthcare group Damp Holding AG for an integrated radiology information system (RIS) and picture archiving and communications system (PACS) connecting six acute care hospitals in Germany and an operating center in Denmark.

The news that Wal-Mart was entering the electronic medical record market via its Sam’s Club subsidiary has been a hot topic, with many physicians raising doubts about how successful the venture might be.

The Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel and its partner in health IT advancement, the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology – no slackers to the cause – have seen their work skyrocket – since the passage of the stimulus package in February.

Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) has introduced legislation aimed at facilitating nationwide adoption of electronic health records, particularly among small, rural providers.

Technology of varying types is making it possible to track new cases of Swine Flu in close to real time.

The United Hospital System, which serves southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, is deploying an ambulatory and performance management solution across its acute care and outpatient settings.