Healthcare News & Articles

Electronic Healthcare Records are but one realm in which IT can improve the workflow and processes in the healthcare industry. While the industry in the US is just starting to standardize and improve on its EHR systems through the HITECH act, other technologically-advanced countries are going beyond simple recording of patient data. In South Korea, the so-called Ubiquitous Health (U-health) initiative will entail continuous monitoring of patient information even while outside of the hospital setting.

IBM (news, site) is extending the reach of its analytics software in the healthcare market with the announcement that they are joining up with one of the US’s largest healthcare providers, Premier, to create a new platform that will link data across more than 2400 hospitals across the US.

When we say health care, it’s pretty much accepted that usability isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

By 2011, American hospitals, medical professionals and healthcare facilities will start enjoying government incentives for improved electronic healthcare records (EHR). At this point however, the industry is in dire need to plug security leaks in how it handles patient data. According to estimates, the healthcare industry in the United States is vulnerable to US$ 6 billion annually from data breaches in various forms.

The 2009 US Stimulus Act is implementing changes in the way healthcare providers use electronic healthcare records (EHR). By 2011, eligible providers and professionals will get benefits by implementing EHRs, and those who fail to adopt qualified EHR systems will have their Medicare payments penalized. This is seen as an opportunity by developers and service providers that offer outsourced services, such as software development and records management. However, privacy concerns might come in the way of offshore companies winning contracts from healthcare companies.

Consolidating its role in the health sector, Hyland (news, site) picks up CSC Group, a company that offers revenue, financial and paper-scanning tools for the kidney bean counters.

Cabinet NG (news, site) has just notched up another scalp with the announcement that it has gone into partnership with DataNet, a software provider for the not-for-profit and free medical services sector.

The partnership will see Cabinet NG’s document management software integrated into DataNet’s MedServices, which provides all levels of patient tracking including prescriptions, electronic medical records and scheduling from a single interface.

Combined with CNG-SAFE (Shared Access Filing Environment), DataNet will be able to utilize complete chart, document and workflow management in medical centres that are specifically for people who have no, or very little, medical insurance.

MResult Corp. released its new Hospital Portal Starter Site based on the Web CMS Ektron CMS400.NET.

The Starter Site includes a customizable information architecture, content templates and pre-defined functional modules designed to help hospitals quickly implement consumer-facing Web sites.

An attractive acquisition target for the bigger players in the enterprise content management space because of their success in both the healthcare and banking industries, the purveyors of the OnBase document management solution have gone in a different direction and agreed to be acquired by a private equity firm.