ElectronicHealthcare

Abstract

McKesson Information Solutions announced the winners of its second annual VIP Award, honouring healthcare organizations for Vision, Innovation and Performance in the use of information technology to address critical business issues. As the highest scoring international entry, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance in Chatham, Ontario, won an honourable mention for successfully building an integrated information system across three hospital sites. Chatham-Kent improved more than 200 financial and clinical processes and saved $1.6 million (Canadian) through more efficient use of resources.

At the New HP (Hewlett Packard) Anne Lawrence has been appointed the lead in healthcare as part of a mandate that reports to David MacKay and Vice President Lynn Anderson. Anne is very active on key industry boards and committees carrying this array of acronyms: OHA's ICT, CST, HIMSS and ITAC.

MedStar Health, the largest healthcare provider in the Baltimore, M.D-Washington, D.C. region, has selected Picis as the corporate vendor for total perioperative automation.

ALI's industry-leading PACS solution now is Horizon Medical Imaging™ from McKesson Information Solutions. According to KLAS Enterprises, Horizon Medical Imaging rates tops in 17 of 18 categories, including:

• Lived up to expectations
  
• Money's worth
  
• On-time implementation
  
• Implementation within budget

Any CIOs interested in politics? The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) is determined to change both the composition and the comprehension of today's and tomorrow's members of provincial parliament. That's why they contracted Politrain Inc. to design an RN Candidate Training Program for RNs interested in getting involved in provincial politics. Seventeen registered nurses of all political persuasions signed on for the first two days of training.

Coming in January 2003: The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) and 3M Canada have joined to reward exceptional contributions to teaching and learning at Canadian Universities. The community of 3M teaching fellows embodies the highest ideals of teaching excellence and scholarship with a commitment to enhance the educational experience of every learner. Email enquires should be directed to Dr. Arshad Ahmad, Coordinator, 3M Teaching Fellows Program at: arshad@jmsb.concordia.ca. Some details:

• Up to 10 awards, presented annually at the STLHE conference in June, recognize exemplary contributions to teaching and learning in Canadian universities.
  
• The award includes lifetime membership in the Society.
  
• 3M Fellowship winners will attend an expense-paid, three-day retreat at the Chateau Montebello, November 1-3, 2003, to celebrate other exceptional achievements in teaching and provide an opportunity for outstanding teachers to share experiences and ideas.

Kim Elliott of Agfa reminds us that The Michener Picture Archiving and Communication Systems Graduate Program is the first and only PACS program in Canada that offers hands-on and clinical experience. The program combines three online didactic courses with a four-week full-time clinical component at one of its three affiliated sites: The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto; Credit Valley Hospital, Mississauga; and William Osler Health Centre, Brampton. For more information contact The Michener Institute. Try: jgould@michener.ca.

For more information about image and information management with a Canadian perspective sign up for Agfa's e-letter. Go to: Agfa.ca.

The company recently announced the initial installation and clinical deployment of a full Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) at Trillium Health Centre - one of a long line of new installations announced by Agfa this year.

The team of Adrienne Denham and Will Humphrey, law students from the University of Ottawa, finished ahead of 11 other teams to win this year's prestigious International Negotiation Competition for Law Students at Kingston University Law School in England. Adding to the Canadian success story, the University of Victoria team of Lynn Jenkins and Paul Brackstone finished in a tie for third. The winners credited the help and feedback received from their employer - Fraser Milner Casgrain lawyers in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Looks good on 'em.

From the Cerner web site: Established in 1995, the First Hand Foundation focuses on paediatric healthcare. The First Hand mission is "to directly impact the health status of a young life." The foundation is a non-profit organization supported by the generosity of Cerner Corporation, its associates, its business partners and friends. More information at: firsthandfoundation.org.

On the Philips web site you can find Auscultation Case Studies (including diagnoses). Each case study provides a patient's history, the results of a clinical exam, actions that result from the exam, heart sounds and the diagnosis. These cases are ideal for classroom activity or valuable as self-paced learning aids to expand knowledge of auscultation. Go to: medicalphilips.com and click on the "Cardiac Challenge."

Here's information you just can't buy. Fortunately, CISCO provides it for free. Sign up at: cisco.com/public/corp_news.shtml

Packet™ Magazine for technical, hands-on users, Packet delivers in-depth information on the latest Cisco solutions and industry trends, as well as tips, troubleshooting techniques and case studies for enterprise and service providers and small and midsize customers.

iQ Magazine A bimonthly publication. Using the successful models of Cisco Systems and its customers, it offers executives a real-world perspective on how to build Internet business strategies throughout their organizations.

The Internet Protocol Journal offers networking professionals tutorial and implementation articles, as well as technology and standardization updates for all levels of the protocol stack. It also serves as a forum for discussing all aspects of internetworking.

THiiNC Information Management Inc (THiiNC iMi) is hiring: Health Information Professionals (HRAs/HRTs); Services; Manager; Manager, Sales and Marketing, Clinical Information Services; Statistician/ Health Data Analyst. You will find a direct link to their recruitment page at longwoods.com/jobsite/index.html.

In the feature story, "Making the Connection: How University Health Network is Bringing the Information Age to Healthcare," author Matthew Anderson, vice president and chief information officer of the Toronto-based UHN, reports on the progress of care@uhn, an extensive and comprehensive five-year, enterprise-wide plan designed to support care delivery with electronic tools. At the heart of care@uhn is Per-Se's Patient1 Clinical Information System. Anderson describes care@uhn's five key programs; how clinicians have embraced the CPR system; the effects on patient safety and regionalized medicine trends; measurable results from clinical decision support; the innovative Virtual Library project; and an "impressive" $1.5 million in financial savings realized for fiscal year 2001-2002. Writes Anderson, "Care@uhn is a solid plan for a 21st century, technology-minded organization like UHN. It is revolutionizing the way UHN delivers care." Read the article on line at: per-se.com/news/perse_news.htm

GHX - the first end-to-end supply chain solution for healthcare - now lists these partners: Omnicell, provider of an integrated suite of clinical infrastructure and workflow automation solutions for healthcare; Neoforma, builder and operation of Internet marketplaces that empower healthcare trading partners; Ormed, which offers five Internet-enabled suites which are linked to the Ormed Medical Exchange, providing seamless e-procurement functionality. See: ghx.com.

Pharmacy.ca is the first pharmacy in Canada to license the patented encapsulation technology, Exact-Script® that allows its pharmacists to quickly and accurately make virtually any strength of any medication.

Microsoft has endorsed HP as a "worldwide prime integrator" for Microsoft.NET technologies. The .NET solutions will incorporate Microsoft's .NET connected software and HP's broad array of industry-leading technology platforms. HP has named .NET as its No. 1 application platform for industry standard HP ProLiant Servers.

Microsoft has announced a joint venture with Accenture. The new company ­ Avanade - will offer integration for Microsoft solutions in the enterprise. No decision yet whether this includes healthcare. New GM for Canada is Richard von Hagen.

Dr. Michael Guerriere and Dave Wattling, together with John Ronson and Rhonda Linton have created a new consultancy, Courtyard Group Ltd. They acquired an existing healthcare professional services firm and launched operations with 20 staff and a solid book of business. Staff offer a special mix of expertise in: healthcare and business; operations and IT; public and private sector.

The Board of Directors of Medical Information Technology, Inc. (MEDITECH) has voted that Lawrence Polimeno, the President and Chief Operating Officer, be promoted to the newly created office of Vice Chairman, and that Executive Vice President Howard Messing be promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer. MEDITECH has been a leader in healthcare information systems technology since 1969 and offers a series of software solutions for acute and long-term care facilities, home healthcare providers and physicians' offices.

Over the summer, the Alberta Research Council Inc. (ARC) announced the appointment of Dr. Peter Sargious as Medical Advisor to ARC at the divisional level. He will assist with the strategic marketing of ARC's Life Sciences division and provide medical leadership in the Advanced Materials, Sensors and Intelligent Systems division which includes the Telehealth Interoperability Lab. In addition to this appointment, Dr. Sargious is also Assistant Professor with the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, Staff Physician at Peter Lougheed Centre, Medical Leader for Chronic Disease Management of the Calgary Health Region and a Member of the Health Information Standards Committee for Alberta Health and Wellness.

Myrna Francis is now Senior Vice President Strategic Alliances at Canada Health Infoway in its Toronto office.

The former chief information officer with the government of Ontario, Scott Campbell becomes the interim Chief Information Officer for the government of British Columbia on October 7. He will develop a strategic plan for information management and e-government and will also be responsible for identifying applications and defining requirements that must be met to put the applications in place for the province. Mr. Campbell is well known in the Canadian public-sector information technology community.

Also in British Columbia, Gerri Sinclair has stepped down as president of the Premier's Technology Council, but will remain a member of the council and also continue to serve on the B.C. Progress Board. Ms. Sinclair leaves to join Microsoft Canada as General Manager of MSN.CA where she will be responsible for strategic planning, business development and marketing of MSN.CA, Canada's leading Web portal providing online services such news, information, entertainment and a variety of communication tools, one of which is Hotmail.