HealthManagement, Volume 1 / Issue 2 Summer 2006

As the only pan-European association dedicated to healthcare IT management, HITM offers its members unique opportunities to:

+ Participate in advocacy groups that impact EU healthcare IT legislation.

+ Share your knowledge with and learn from the experiences of your peers.

+ Learn industry best practices and standards.

+ Attend the HITM annual General Assembly, Congress and other special events.

 

Open Source Initiative Targets Bird Flu

IBM and over 20 major worldwide public health institutions, including the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced the Global Pandemic Initiative, a collaborative effort to help stem the spread of infectious diseases.

 

As part of the initiative, IBM said it would contribute several of its key software technologies to the open source community and establish healthcare "Innovation Centres" at the company's worldwide research laboratories to work with the global healthcare community on this initiative.

 

The threat of a pandemic is a definitely global phenomenon," said Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our response must be similarly global, and must rely - as with so many other major issues we face today - on open, collaborative innovation. IBM is proud to join with our partners in this effort, grounded in our core value of 'innovation that matters’.”

 

Some of the software used in this initiative will allow electronic health information to be more easily shared and mined for trends about outbreaks and how disease could spread. Called the Interoperable Healthcare Information Infrastructure (IHII), the technology is designed to improve communication and collaboration among medical professionals and researchers by helping them collect and share health data.

 

IBM also plans to build an open source community dedicated to using epidemiology tools to rapidly develop models about howdisease might spread from place to place. The STEM (Spatio- Temporal Epidemiological Modeler) is designed to tap into

information from IHII and other data sources like roadmaps, transportation infrastructures and animal migration patterns. The models could then be used in preparedness plans such as vaccine distribution.

 

Frost & Sullivan Honours Siemens for Medical Imaging Growth and Technology Excellence

Frost & Sullivan recently presented its 2006 Medical Imaging Growth Award and 2005 Award for Excellence in Technology to Siemens Medical Solutions.

 

Each year, the Medical Imaging Growth Award is given to a company that has demonstrated an exceptional growth strategy within its industry. Siemens was chosen this year in recognition of its renewed commitment to pursue innovative growth strategies that forget the way for continued market expansion and sustained industry ascendancy. As part of their product portfolio, Siemens' products encompass a line of products and services spanning the entire range of medical imaging modalities and clinical specialties, from computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and digital radiography (DR) to offerings in mammography, surgical-interventional imaging and oncology care.

 

Frost & Sullivan's Excellence in Technology Award is given to a company that has pioneered the development and introduction of an innovative technology to the market, and either impacted or has the potential to impact several market sectors. In the field of fusion technology for medical diagnostics, Siemens and the University of Tennessee are recognised for their collaborative effort to create a unique PET/CT (Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography) technology capable of bringing high-resolution fusion imaging into clinical practice.

 

Virgin to Install Telemedicine Equipment  Across Fleet

Virgin Atlantic is to install telemedicine equipment on board all of its aircraft after signing a deal with British hardware company Remote Diagnostic Technologies.

 

The equipment (Tempus), designed for small spaces, can monitor pulse, temperature, blood pressure and blood oxygen as well as sending back video pictures of the patient. The company says non-medical staff can be trained how to use the new system in a few hours.

 

The system will be linked to an international telemedicine centre, MedAire Centre, in Phoenix, Arizona, which already has a database of airports and emergeny medical facilities around the world. Using satellite technology, the system will send vital statistics and video to doctors on the ground. The clinicians can then advise the best course of action to the plane crew. The upgrade from the older system will give greater backup to cabin crew.

 

Images sent across from the plane can be annotated by clinicians on the ground to aid communication. Doctors also have the option of remotely controlling the screen, starting and stopping readings. The telemedicine unit can fit in an overhead compartment or underneath an economy class seat.

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