A Medical Device Daily

Royal Philips Electronics (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) introduced a new structure for its Healthcare Informatics (Andover, Massachusetts) business to align its entire portfolio of clinical information solution including patient monitoring, enterprise and clinical image management anesthesia information, women's health information, and cardiology information systems at this year's Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS; Chicago) conference in Orlando, Florida.

The company said the realignment will allow it to better meet the clinical workflow and information needs demanded by its clinical customers. At the same time, it allows Philips to harmonize clinical systems with the infrastructure and integration needs required by informatics customers.

"Integrating Patient Monitoring into Healthcare Informatics enables us to find synergies between our software competencies and monitoring solutions recently strengthened by the acquisitions of XIMIS (El Paso, Texas), Emergin (Boca Raton, Florida) and Visicu (Baltimore, Maryland)," said Oran Muduroglu, CEO, Healthcare Informatics, for Philips Healthcare.

He added, "Philips' innovation in IT simplifies workflow and provides easy access to all relevant information for more informed diagnosis and decision-making. By better managing the flow of data through the continuum of care, healthcare organizations can significantly impact operations and focus more effort on their core business: taking care of patients."

In other news from the conference:

• InterSystems (Cambridge, Massachusetts) reported that application partner ForHealth Technologies (Daytona Beach, Florida) has launched intravenous (IV) room workflow automation software built on the InterSystems Ensemble rapid integration platform. IntelliFlow leverages Ensemble technology to set new standards for streamlining workflow and reducing opportunities for error in the IV room — one of the most critical and least-automated areas in any hospital.

InterSystems develops database and integration software. Its product line includes the InterSystems Cache high-performance object database, InterSystems Healthshare platform for regional and national electronic health records, and InterSystems Ensemble rapid integration platform. Ensemble has been ranked No. 1 for integration engines for the last two years by KLAS, a healthcare technology research firm.

ForHealth is a recognized innovator in automation systems for hospital pharmacies, and offers IntelliFill-i.v., an automated syringe-based dose preparation system, as well as the newly released IntelliFlow_.

• Microsoft (Redmond, Washington) reported the release of its Patient Safety Screening Tool (PSST), a software-based solution designed to help healthcare organizations identify potential adverse events that occur during hospitalization. The PSST features a set of indicators that provide information on potential in-hospital complications and adverse events following surgeries and medical procedures.

The first module of this platform available is the Patient Safety Screening Tool for Sepsis offering. Microsoft's Patient Safety Screening Tool for Sepsis is being supported and delivered by Microsoft partner Accent on Integration (AOI), a leading systems integrator focused on the healthcare market, with clinical direction from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC; Nashville, Tennessee). Built entirely on the Microsoft platform, the solution leverages Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 and Microsoft InfoPath (Office 2007 version).

With highly adaptable code that can be modified to any customer environment, the PSST for Sepsis is designed to provide rapid implementation with minimal configuration. The solution's first focus is on tracking sepsis, the 10^th-leading killer worldwide, but will have the ability to track many other diseases.

• McKesson (Alpharetta, Georgia) reported introducing its Patient Care Advantage, an expansion of the company's widely adopted care delivery platform. The company said it establishes its Horizon Clinicals as the first integrated solution to unify medical and interdisciplinary care plans, driving evidence-based practice across all members of the care team. The solution incorporates the new Care Team release with more than 8,000 new features and advanced clinical workflow support enabled by a new and expanded Horizon Architecture. Patient Care Advantage reflects extensive customer collaboration and the user experiences of more than two million clinicians who rely on Horizon Clinicals everyday.

McKesson is a healthcare services and healthcare information technology company.

• Ascom (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) a developer of on-site wireless communications solutions and InfoLogix, a leading provider of healthcare mobility and RFID solutions, have teamed to make hospital asset and personnel tracking data available directly on clinicians' wireless handsets, through a new integrated Location Based Service (LBS) platform.

Developed to improve the use of key assets and personnel, this solution takes the power of InfoLogix's RFID asset and patient tracking solution, including advanced wireless applications that utilize an 802.11 WLAN network, active RFID tags and middleware to provide specific location information for things and people, and combines it with Ascom's on-site wireless technology and Unite Professional Messaging Suite to deliver information directly to a clinician's wireless handset.