A Medical Device Daily
InterSystems (Cambridge, Massachusetts) said yesterday that Oleen (Silver Springs, Maryland), an InterSystems implementation partner, will provide the InterSystems CACHÉ-based SurgiDat system to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
SurgiDat (Stamford, Connecticut) a part of Medical Systems Design (MSD), is an InterSystems application partner that specializes in software solutions for inventory automation in healthcare.
“We are gratified to have the opportunity to work with Oleen and SurgiDat to provide the top-tier, highly innovative SurgiDat surgical instrument management software to VA hospitals,” said Paul Grabscheid, InterSystems VP of strategic planning. “InterSystems has very successful working partnerships with both companies,” he said, “and it was exciting to participate in uniting domestic and internationally-based partners for this opportunity to enable the VA’s healthcare strategy.”
“Oleen is excited about the opportunity to work with SurgiDat and InterSystems to deliver a new generation of process control in surgical instrument management to the VA,” said Mark Plitman, Oleen VP. “We are very pleased that InterSystems, which provides the CACHÉ database technology platform for SurgiDat, helped to establish a strong business relationship that works positively for everyone involved.”
“The combination of InterSystems’ high-performance object database technology, Oleen’s consulting expertise and SurgiDat’s rich features and capabilities ensures the success of this initiative,” said Todd Kemp, CEO of MSD.
InterSystems develops database and integration software, while Oleen is an IT consulting firm to the healthcare industry.
In other contract news:
• Encorium Group (Wayne, Pennsylvania) a multinational contract research organization (CRO) that provides design, development, and management capabilities for clinical trials and patient registries to many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, reported the signing of an extension to an existing contract for Global Data Management services valued at nearly $2 million.
A significant portion of the revenue from this contract extension, which was signed during the fourth quarter, is expected to be recognized during the first half of 2008 as services are performed.
Kenneth Borow, MD, Encorium Group’s president/CEO, said, “This contract extension is an excellent example of the value that Encorium’s Global Data Management services brings to our company and our clients. It is especially noteworthy since it represents repeat business from one of our largest customers. These services will be conducted in our subsidiary in Estonia where we have significant data management capabilities and a very beneficial cost structure. Importantly, this press release is the first in a series of new business announcements that we expect to make over the next several weeks.”
• McKesson (San Francisco) reported that it has signed a national agreement with Community Health Systems (CHS; Nashville, Tennessee), an operator of general acute-care hospitals. Affiliates of CHS own or operate more than 125 hospitals in 28 states with a total of nearly 18,800 licensed beds. CHS will deploy McKesson’s physician portal, electronic medical records, and performance analytics tools across most facilities.
CHS has selected McKesson to deploy clinical information systems in over 40 of its larger hospitals, reflecting the strength of McKesson’s Horizon Clinicals offering and the strategic relationship between the two organizations.
“McKesson has proven to be a strong partner that shares CHS’ commitment to clinical and operational excellence for large and small hospitals alike,” said Wayne Smith, CHS president/CEO, and chairman. “With a portfolio of highly-rated solutions that are widely used in healthcare, we look forward to their ongoing expertise in deploying solutions targeted to the needs of our facilities.”
Most CHS facilities should receive Horizon Physician Portal, which enables physicians to make more timely and informed decisions by giving them “anytime, anywhere” access to patient information such as vital signs, medication orders, test results and diagnostic images. CHS should also deploy McKesson’s enterprise document imaging system, which can be used to electronically capture, index, complete, access and store legal electronic medical records. More than 120,000 physicians across the US currently log on to McKesson imaging systems to access, review and sign patient charts online.
McKesson’s analytics tools can enable CHS hospital executives and managers to monitor, measure and adjust processes, with the goal of improving clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction and financial performance.