A Medical Device Daily

General Dynamics Information Technology's (Falls Church, Virginia) ViPS business sector has been awarded a task order worth roughly $45 million by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The task order, awarded under a CMS Enterprise Systems Development contract, has a five-year period of performance.

As the prime contractor, General Dynamics Information Technology's ViPS will provide computer software services and system maintenance for the CMS Drug Data Processing System and Payment Reconciliation System.

Work performed will include system design, software enhancements, technical improvements and support for ongoing management reporting and processing of prescription drug events for the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Part D) program.

"General Dynamics is delighted to continue our support to CMS and lend our extensive experience with large systems to achieve CMS' mission," said Marcus Collier, senior vice president of General Dynamics Information Technology's Civilian and Homeland Security Solutions Division. "We are pleased to support CMS in its efforts to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries receive quality care and to develop better evidence on risks, benefits and costs of prescription drugs using claims data."

In other agreements/contracts news:

• Creekridge Capital (Minneapolis), a nationwide independent healthcare and technology vendor leasing company, has signed a program agreement with Medical Positioning (Kansas City, Missouri) to provide vendor leasing programs for the company's full suite of specialty beds.

Medical Positioning manufactures and sells specialty beds to hospitals and physicians for a variety of applications, including cardiology, radiology and mammography.

Art Greve, senior vice president at Creekridge Capital, noted, "Medical Positioning realized very early the need for quoting a monthly payment to its clients, particularly in an economy in which capital is a precious commodity. We have created several no brainer' operating alternatives for physicians and hospital departments to acquire the beds they need to provide efficient treatment for their clients."

• QuadraMed (Reston, Virginia) reported an agreement with e-MDs (Austin, Texas) to enable QuadraMed's hospital clients to offer an interoperable, ambulatory electronic health record and practice management solution to affiliated physician group practices.

• Ontario Systems (Muncie, Indiana), a provider of revenue cycle management and collection management services and software, reported a multi-year contract with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC; New York). MSKCC has purchased Ontario Systems' Revenue Savvy to manage the center's revenue cycle using new tools to follow up on third-party claims and manage the claim denial process.

Premier Purchasing Partners (San Diego) reported that new agreements for pulse oximetry devices have been awarded to Masimo Americas (Irvine, California), Nellcor Puritan Bennett (Mansfield, Massachusetts) and Nonin Medical (Plymouth, Minnesota). Effective June 1, these agreements are available to acute-care and continuum-of-care members of the Premier healthcare alliance.