Maryland-based health management company WellNet Healthcare is launching Point to Point Healthcare this month. WellNet's clients nationwide will be among the first to test-drive the new system that lets employees create a personal network uniting their insurance claims manager with multiple doctors and pharmacies to better coordinate treatments. An online concierge helps workers find new specialists, and a message system reminds them to pick up prescriptions.
The Cleveland Clinic is putting drug-coated stents from multiple suppliers in its cardiologists' hands for the next year, but it appears industry heavyweight Boston Scientific Corp. isn't in the mix. As a renowned heart hospital, the Cleveland Clinic lends much gravitas to suppliers who win contracts there. In late 2006, Cleveland Clinic signed an 18-month deal that made Boston Scientific a "preferred vendor" at a time when Johnson & Johnson had the only other coated stent available in the U.S. market. After a nearly four-year drought, more devices are now competing for doctors' attention, and multiple companies will be supplying the Cleveland Clinic for the next year now that the Boston Scientific contract has expired, said Clinic representatives.
Royal Philips Electronics has launched a handheld ultrasound system for cardiologists to obtain diagnostic data bedside. Philips representatives said the CX50 CompactXtreme features its PureWave transducer, which can improve penetration in difficult-to-image patients. It also features Philips XRES adaptive image processing for reduced speckle and haze inherent with ultrasound imaging. The Philips CX50 CompactXtreme also supports adult transthoracic and transesophageal cardiology applications, the representatives said.
Although hospitals spend millions of dollars on the most advanced imaging devices and robotic surgeons, patients who don't need specialized care will never see that equipment. For common procedures, patients are more likely to need help with the daily challenges of hospital stays, such as taking medication, treating wounds, and going to the bathroom. To accommodate the typical patient, some hospitals are adopting relatively simple, but practical high-tech solutions to everyday problems.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has signed into law a bill that will require hospitals and community health centers to use interoperable electronic health records systems if they seek to obtain or renew licenses to operate in 2015 or afterward. The law outlines a goal of "full implementation of electronic health records systems and the statewide interoperable electronic health records network by January 1, 2015." It also sets up a mechanism for creating a statewide health information network. The law, however, stops short of requiring doctors in private practice to use health IT.
Beginning in January 2009, the Bush administration will expand access to online records in Arizona and Utah as part of an ongoing effort to encourage greater use of health information technology. The records will contain up to two years of information from Medicare's records, with patients having the ability to add to their records and share them with physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers. Advocates believe personal health records and electronic medical records, along with other utilities like electronic prescriptions, can reduce medical errors, improve efficiency, and lower costs in the healthcare system.