 |
 |
|
March / April 2006
NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES
TRENDS
MedCommons Announces Free Emergency Personal Health Record
MedCommons Inc. has launched a new service that marks a new chapter in universal and secure access to patient medical information. MedCommons Emergency CCR, a new emergency patient-centric Continuity of Care Record (CCR), provides critical information to hospital physicians about medications, past surgeries, and allergies in case of emergency. The CCR is easily accessible via a standard Web browser and a convenient username and password provided by the patient or other approved individual.
Until now, personal health records were proprietary, tied to a particular enterprise and of widely variable quality. Adrian Gropper, M.D., chief science officer for MedCommons, said, "The launch of our Emergency CCR solves a critical consumer outreach problem by using an ANSI- recognized standard with the potential of connecting all patients to all providers. A patient's relevant medical history can now be accessed at the click of a mouse from our secure and independent Web site, with the patients able to manage privacy controls to suit their individual situation."
David Kibbe, M.D., director, Center for Health Information Technology, American Academy of Family Physicians, said, "It is critically important that personal health data are 'freed' in the sense that they are mobilized from proprietary databases — and then placed under the control of individual patients and their personal physicians and providers via EHR and PHR technologies. The secure solutions for point-to-point and single-sign-on multi-site and network exchange of relevant health information in the MedCommons demonstration should help many people visualize the national health information network based on open standards of the future."
In addition to the free Emergency CCR, MedCommons products include a full range of CCR storage and transmission tools, as well as tools to enable secure CCR-based communications
of scanned PDF documents and DICOM diagnostic imaging studies. MedCommons integrates with any CCR-enabled EHR and PHR solution as well as CCR-enabled labs and radiology centers and supports advanced single-sign-on capabilities based on international-standard Liberty Alliance privacy protocols.
MedCommons CEO Bill Donner, said, "We feel the Emergency CCR is an important first step in broader adoption of personal health records by patients around the U.S." Donner added, "Security and privacy are critical elements to this process, and we believe we have developed the only secure and private, yet accessible solution in the marketplace today."
MedCommons develops, markets, and sells a national network
for sharing authoritative patient medical information among doctors, hospitals, and their patients. MedCommons medical record transport service, The Commons, is the first standards-based patient and physician-accessible network that connects personal health records (PHR), electronic health record (EHR), and national healthcare IT systems. To facilitate enterprise integration, MedCommons also supports Liberty Alliance standard single-sign-on protocols and DICOM standard radiology images.
Source: http://medcommons.net
Allen Technologies Releases Bedside Interactive System
Allen Technologies, Inc. (ATI), has announced the release of Vigo OneTouch, a 17" touch screen LCD bedside interactive system that leverages a convergence of IP technologies operating over ATI's existing VIGO platform architecture. Using existing and enhanced applications, Vigo OneTouch offers the industry's smallest single PC computer board with Celeron or Pentium M processing; user identification card reader; credit card reader; bar code interface; VOIP telephone; RFID; PACS; external fluid-proof keyboard, on-screen virtual keyboard; bedside data capture interface for clinical applications and medication management; webcam; and e-mail and Internet access.
Allen Technologies provides Vigo, an interactive/multimedia wide-area network for hospitals over which a broad range of on-demand video and data entertainment, educational, and information services are delivered to hospital staff and patients. Using digital technology over a single network, ATI converges interactive bedside displays and smart televisions offering low cost point-of-care data management, bedside Internet/mail, equipment tracking, premium patient entertainment, on-demand education for patient/staff, and gift shop e-commerce for patients and family.
Source: www.allentek.com
Global Care Quest Announces Launch of ICIS
Global Care Quest, a provider of advanced critical medical information systems, announced at the 2006 HIMSS conference the launch of ICIS (Integrated Clinical Information System), a real-time, fully integrated information system that permits physicians and other care givers to view comprehensive digitized information on even the most critically ill patients from anywhere in or outside of the hospital.
The benefits of ICIS for any hospital system are to improve access to patient data, save healthcare workers' time, trim the cost of care, and improve patient safety. By centralizing digital information in a common location, physicians will be able to minimize their roles as data gatherers, instead focusing their time on clinical decision-making.
ICIS was piloted at UCLA Medical Center, where more than 1,000 physicians were voluntarily trained on the system over a 9-month period. Physician adoption, a key consideration in deploying any automated clinical system, has not been a problem at UCLA.
Dr. Neil Martin, professor and chief of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and co-developer of ICIS said, "With functions far beyond pagers and voice-only cell phones, ICIS represents the next generation of wireless medical communication.Ý In the future, we see every physician carrying a personal wireless information device that provides real-time access to complete patient data."
According to Dr. Martin, these tools hold the promise to improve the quality and safety of patient care, avoid medical errors, and enhance cost-effectiveness. By using ICIS to automate routine and cumbersome paperwork, physicians and other healthcare workers can save time and concentrate on taking care of patients.
ICIS integrates digital medical records, bedside charting and laboratory results, and patient history to create a comprehensive digital medical data storage and retrieval system that is displayed in real-time. This state-of-the-art software solution advances existing technology by offering PDA and cellular smart phone access to real-time data from bedside ICU monitors, as well as X-ray and CT/MRI scan imaging, and laboratory results.Ý Physicians can access medical data throughout the medical center via the hospital's wireless network (Wi-Fi or 802.11b), and remotely, outside the hospital, through high-speed cellular network connections (1xRTT, EV-DO, EDGE).
ICIS integrates with hospital and clinical information systems through wireless networks accessible on both Palm OS and Pocket PC (Windows Mobile devices), as well as standard MS Window-based desktop and Tablet computers. Patient privacy is protected through use of authentication codes and data encryption that meets HIPAA requirements.
Global Care Quest, headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California has 20 employees and is funded by Lexington Partners, a global private equity investment firm. Mr. Cleve Adams was recently named chief executive officer of Global Care Quest. Mr. Adams is a veteran executive who has managed several successful technology start-ups over the past 25 years.
Source: www.globalcarequest.com
Welch Allyn Products Maximize Productivity and Minimize Errors
Welch Allyn has announced three new products — the Welch Allyn Connex Data Management System, Spot Vital Signs LXi, and Propaq LT — which are part of the company's vital signs solutions initiative designed to let frontline caregivers capture, analyze, and transmit more patient data quickly and efficiently in a variety of clinical settings.
"Healthcare providers are under constant pressure to save time, screen and diagnose accurately, and treat patients quickly without compromising care," said Doug Linquest, executive vice president at Welch Allyn. "Hand-written vitals and transcription errors complicate matters further. Our goal is to deliver products that significantly reduce these pressures so frontline caregivers can be more productive and provide more comprehensive care. These products capture and document electronic patient vital signs quickly, easily, and accurately so providers can focus on their most important task — enhancing patient care."
The Welch Allyn Connex Data Management System automatically receives electronic vital signs data from select Welch Allyn devices and transmits the data directly to electronic files that can be transferred to an existing electronic medical records system (EMR), eliminating the need for manual data entry by providers, increasing efficiency, and alleviating the risk of transcription and latency errors. Data that is collected automatically includes systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, and pulse oximetry of adult and pediatric patients. Connex also allows for manual input of all automated readings, comments, and other physiological parameters.
Spot Vital Signs LXi is the industry's fastest multi-parameter spot-check device that can be customized for use in a variety of clinical settings. Its speed comes from Welch Allyn's proprietary SureBPTM blood pressure technology, which measures on inflation, taking accurate blood pressure readings in approximately 15 seconds — about half the time of other spot-check devices available today. Spot Vital Signs LXi offers the latest blood pressure, temperature, and SpO2 technology, as well as a number of other features, including manually entered weight, height, respiration rate, and pain level; connection to select digital weight scales; Body Mass Index (BMI) calculation; and connectivity to EMRs
The Propaq LT is a durable and lightweight patient monitor that allows healthcare providers to extend continuous vital signs monitoring to more patients than ever before. Weighing less than two pounds, the Propaq LT comes equipped with essential continuous monitoring capabilities in a compact design. It can be used in a number of bedside, transport and ambulatory applications, and it is deployable in areas in and outside the hospital where technical complexity or cost made monitoring impossible in the past.
Source: www.welchallyn.com
FDA Issues Guidance on Hospital Bed Design
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published final guidance designed to reduce the occurrence of hospital bed entrapments. The guidance, entitled "Hospital Bed System Dimensional and Assessment Guidance to Reduce Entrapment" identifies special issues associated with hospital bed systems and provides design recommendations for manufacturers of new hospital beds and suggestions for healthcare facilities on ways to assess existing beds. The guidance characterizes the body parts at risk for entrapment, identifies the locations of hospital bed openings that are potential entrapment areas, recommends dimensional criteria for new hospital bed systems, provides information about reporting entrapment adverse events, and includes a description of recommended test methods for assessing gaps in hospital bed systems.
Key body parts at risk of entrapment are the head, neck, and chest. Potential zones of entrapment in a hospital bed system are:
Zone 1: Within the rail
Zone 2: Under the rail, between the rail supports or next to a single rail support
Zone 3: Between the rail and the mattress
Zone 4: Between the rail, at the ends of the rail
Zone 5: Between split bed rails
Zone 6: Between the end of the rail and the side edge of the head or foot board
Zone 7: Between the head or foot board and the mattress end
"This guidance will assist individuals, families and healthcare facilities in making better informed decisions to ensure a safe sleeping environment for people who need these beds," said Larry Kessler, Sc.D., director, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "While not all patients are at risk for an entrapment, and not all hospital beds pose a risk of entrapment, this new guidance will help ensure that new hospital beds are designed to reduce the potential for entrapment and that entrapment risks that may exist with current hospital bed systems are identified."
This guidance document is the result of a years-long partnership between the FDA and the Veterans Administration, Health Canada's Medical Devices Bureau, representatives from national healthcare organizations and provider groups, patient advocacy groups, and medical bed and equipment manufacturers, who formed a working group in 1999 known as the Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup (HBSW). The HBSW also worked in cooperation with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission to improve patient safety associated with the use of hospital beds.
FDA has received approximately 691 entrapment reports over a period of 21 years from January 1, 1985, to January 1, 2006. In these reports, 413 people died, 120 were injured, and 158 were near-miss events with no serious injury as a result of intervention. Elderly patients in hospitals and nursing homes, especially those who are frail, confused, restless, or who have uncontrollable body movement, are most vulnerable to entrapment. Entrapments have occurred in a variety of patient care settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, and private homes. Long-term care facilities reported the majority of the entrapments.
The final guidance, "Guidance for Industry and FDA Staff; Hospital Bed System Dimensional and Assessment Guidance to Reduce Entrapment," is available on FDA's website at: http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/beds/.
Source: www.fda.gov
Statit Software Launches Performance Indicator & Management Dashboard Solution
Statit Software, Inc., has announced a new approach to the measurement and analysis of healthcare indicators called the Performance Indicator & Management Dashboard (piMD). This Web solution provides a powerful "analyses engine" that allows objective, sustainable, and defendable decisions to be made based on a wide array of analyses.
A review of many healthcare organizations revealed a critical need for a monitoring and reporting system to enable executive-level process and accountability management. Current systems failed to meet the needs of healthcare executives, managers, and clinical staff because they do not allow for accountability management, integration of existing data from heterogeneous sources, user-defined performance alerts, drill-downs to finer analysis granularity, and timely and effective delivery of information.
The Statit piMD solution engages healthcare professionals by:
- the access and display of real-time information from databases, spreadsheets, and ancillary information systems
- moving back and forth from big-picture analysis to transaction-level details
- analyzing and safely sharing information throughout the organization
- deriving knowledge to support timely, data-driven decisions
- helping meet JCAHO, CMS, or other external organization standards, as well as benchmarking against internal targets
Source: www.statit.com
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
