A Medical Device Daily

Sharp HealthCare (San Diego), which describes itself as one of the largest integrated healthcare systems in California, has selected Cerner (Kansas City, Missouri) as its clinical information systems solution provider.

Sharp HealthCare will implement the Cerner Millennium suite of clinical solutions throughout its system of seven hospitals. Sharp HealthCare has been a Cerner client for more than 15 years and this implementation expands on their existing agreement.

Sharp's first implementation of Cerner's clinical system suite will be in the existing Sharp Memorial Hospital in November of 2007. In 2008, Sharp is opening its new Memorial Hospital, which is being designed with a “paper-light” environment in mind, and will assist in providing greater safety measures by closing loops in the care and medication processes. This will entail CPOE and complete online clinical documentation. Beyond the removal of cumbersome paper records, Cerner's digital healthcare approach enables the continuous evolution of care, which will help Sharp achieve the optimal healthcare experience through technology. To date, Cerner has helped five other facilities transition to a digital environment.

In other agreements news:

• Amicas (Boston), which focuses on radiology and medical image and information management solutions, reported that Affinity Health System (Appleton, Wisconsin) has successfully deployed Amicas Vision Series PACS as its image management platform across three hospitals and numerous affiliated clinics. Affinity Health is a network of 20 clinics, three hospitals, a long-term care facility and a health plan serving Northeast Wisconsin.

• Premier Purchasing Partners (Charlotte, North Carolina) reported a new agreement for point-of-care coagulation meters, reagents, consumables and service with International Technidyne (Edison, New Jersey). The 47-month agreement, effective Oct. 1, is available to both the acute-care and continuum-of-care markets. The agreement varies from a standard 36-month term to more evenly distribute the expiration of Premier contracts.