[EHR Scoop]

IMPAC Announces Automated Solution Update to Support 2006 CMS Oncology Demonstration Project


MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- IMPAC Medical Systems,
Inc., part of the Elekta Group and a leading provider of information
technology solutions for oncology care, announced today its plans to release
CMS 2006 Quality of Care -- an updated product solution in IMPAC's oncology
electronic medical record (EMR) designed to support CMS' (Center for Medicare
& Medicaid Services) 2006 oncology demonstration project, which assesses the
quality of care for cancer patients. To facilitate the accurate and efficient
collection of the CMS quality indicators, the updated version of IMPAC's EMR
will provide an opportunity for office-based hematologists and oncologists to
participate in the CMS 2006 oncology demonstration project.
CMS' 2006 demonstration project will gather information relevant to the
quality of care for cancer patients, including their treatments, the care they
receive from their doctors, and whether or not the care represents best
practice. The project will emphasize evidence-based practice guidelines.
Reporting will be associated with physician evaluation and management (E & M)
visits for established cancer patients who have one of 13 target cancers
(breast cancer, chronic myelogenous leukemia, colon cancer, esophageal cancer,
gastric cancer, head and neck cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma, non-small cell/small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic
cancer, prostate cancer, or rectal cancer). To qualify for the oncology
demonstration payment of $23, the physician must submit one G-code from each
of three categories when an E & M service of level 2, 3, 4, or 5 is billed.
CMS has established new G-codes to be reported by practitioners in this 2006
demonstration project.
IMPAC will incorporate new assessment methodology into its oncology EMR
which will correspond to each of the target diagnoses and include the
associated questions and responses. IMPAC will also support the electronic
capture, billing, and remittance for these G-codes via the EMR's fully
integrated medical billing system. In addition, CMS 2006 Quality of Care
Reports will feature additional ways to support the CMS initiative. These
reports will identify the patients that meet the pre-qualifications, locate
incomplete assessments, and reveal assessments missing code capture. The
company expects to release the EMR tool on a timeline commensurate with CMS'
acceptance of the new G-codes.

For more information, please contact:

Lorna Murdock, Marketing Communications Manager
IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc.
Tel: +1 650-623-8937, e-mail: lmurdock@impac.com

Investor Enquiries:

International: Peter Ejemyr, Group VP Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 733 611 000, e-mail: peter.ejemyr@elekta.com

United States: Lars Jonsteg, VP Investor Relations North America, Elekta
Inc. Tel: +46 708-783 735, e-mail: lars.jonsteg@elekta.com

About IMPAC Medical Systems
IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc., a company in the Elekta Group, provides
healthcare IT solutions that streamline clinical and business operations
across the spectrum of cancer care. IMPAC's open integration to multiple
healthcare data and imaging systems offers oncology-specific patient charting
and practice management, as well as best-of-breed systems for anatomic
pathology, clinical laboratory, and cancer registry. With products that range
from diagnosis and treatment through long-term follow-up, IMPAC provides a
comprehensive oncology management solution that helps improve overall
communication, process efficiency, and quality patient care. For more
information about IMPAC's products or services, please call 888-GO-IMPAC or
visit http://www.impac.com.

About Elekta
Elekta is an international medical-technology Group, providing meaningful
clinical solutions, comprehensive information systems and services for
improved cancer care and management of brain disorders. All of Elekta's
solutions employ non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques and are
therefore clinically effective, gentle on the patient and cost-effective. With
approx. 1,700 employees, Elekta's corporate headquarter is located in
Stockholm, Sweden and the company is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange
under the ticker EKTAb. For more information about Elekta's products or
services, please visit http://www.elekta.com.



SOURCE IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.impac.com

[EHR Scoop]

San Antonio OB/GYN selects electronic medical record by A4 Health Systems
11-28-2005

SAN ANTONIO & CARY, N.C. -- A4 HEALTH SYSTEMS®, a leading provider of healthcare IT solutions, announces that Institute for Women's Health (IFWH), San Antonio's largest OB/GYN practice, has selected HealthMatics® EMR Electronic Medical Record for its nine-location group of obstetrical, gynecological and fertility physicians. The group chose to install an electronic medical record system to improve patient care while minimizing the rising costs of health care delivery.

"Giving our physicians immediate and secure access to our patients' healthcare information will not only enhance the quality of care our patients demand, but it will also improve the customer service that they deserve," says Phil Stephens, CEO.

IFWH currently has 23 physicians and two nurse practitioners handling more than 475 patients per day. The practice chose HealthMatics EMR based on its ability to enhance productivity, to eliminate the time and costs associated with paper charts, and to better manage practice growth. Since many of the doctors rotate between locations, HealthMatics EMR will enable physicians to access important patient information from any of the nine locations throughout San Antonio.

IFWH will benefit from the ability of HealthMatics EMR to organize communication and chart information within the practice and with outside practitioners. It also manages procedures, prescriptions, lab orders and results with LabCorp® and Quest Diagnostics® and other data that traditionally rely on many people for collation into the patient chart. Additionally, IFWH will be protecting its patient data with A4's disaster recovery solution and with a proactive technical support feature that alerts A4 to potential problems before they occur.

About Institute for Women's Health
Institute for Women's Health continues to promote its mission of care through obstetrical, gynecological and fertility services. Founded in 1996, Institute for Women's Health proudly serves San Antonio, Texas and its surrounding areas with nine strategically placed locations. With 23 physicians and two nurse practitioners, Institute for Women's Health has become the largest OB/GYN and Fertility practice in South Texas. (www.ifwh.org)

About A4 HEALTH SYSTEMS
A4 HEALTH SYSTEMS (www.a4healthsystems.com) is dedicated to promoting community-based healthcare via healthcare IT solutions for consolidated clinical, financial and administrative patient information management. Led by its HealthMatics®, Canopy® and EmSTAT solutions, A4 provides software and service solutions for physician practice and hospital settings to improve and better manage the delivery of patient care. Founded in 1970, A4 has nationally implemented software and services in more than 1,600 healthcare organizations, including physician groups and small practices, and Emergency Departments and hospitals. A4 represents Authorized Access, Anywhere, Anytime, and is based in Cary, N.C., with additional locations in Michigan, Texas and New Hampshire. The company is privately held, with more than 400 employees.

[EHR Scoop]

A4 Health Systems® Connects HealthMatics® EMR Electronic Medical Record to Greater Cincinnati HealthBridge™ Network

CARY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 2005--
HealthMatics EMR is first EMR To Provide Physicians Access to Patient Lab Results, Transcribed Notes and Radiology Reports from Community's Clinical Messaging System

A4 Health Systems, a leading provider of healthcare IT solutions, announces connectivity between HealthMatics EMR Electronic Medical Record system and HealthBridge, a collaborative healthcare network serving the Greater Cincinnati Healthcare Community in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Physician practices utilizing HealthMatics EMR can now access lab results, radiology reports and transcribed notes from more than 17 hospitals via the clinical messaging system.

"I am addicted to our interface with the HealthBridge network. At times, we get mammogram and other imaging results back the day of the test, and we are able to discuss the results with our patients the same day," said Doug Magenheim, MD, Medical Director for My Doctor, LLC. "We can also identify care given to our patient by someone other than ourselves, such as a local hospital, and proactively follow up with that patient. The connectivity between HealthMatics EMR and the HealthBridge network has truly elevated the timeliness and quality of patient care we are able to deliver."

The interface between HealthMatics EMR and HealthBridge allows physicians to electronically pull clinical information from the network directly into the patient's chart. And, HealthMatics EMR is currently the only EMR with the ability to upload radiology and transcribed reports, in addition to lab results, from HealthBridge.

HealthMatics EMR electronically streamlines patient information management and enables practice-wide clinical workflow automation. An easy to use and customizable solution, HealthMatics EMR is a comprehensive Electronic Medical Record for both primary care and specialty physician practices.

"A4's commitment to community-based healthcare via healthcare IT solutions aligned with the collaborative efforts of HealthBridge to connect regional healthcare organizations for the secure transfer of patient medical information," said John McConnell, CEO of A4. "We place high importance on providing our clients with an advanced level of connectivity so they can easily and quickly access vital information about their patients."

HealthBridge provides authorized users secure access to 40 different clinical applications and delivers more than 1.3 million clinical results per month to 3,800 physicians. Participating health systems include Mercy Health, TriHealth, Health Alliance, St. Elizabeth, and Cincinnati Childrens.

About HealthBridge

A grass roots initiative owned and operated by the Cincinnati healthcare community, HealthBridge provides immediate, easy access to patient information in order to provide the best continuum of quality care. The clinical messaging system securely and easily exchanges patient information with the mission to improve the quality and efficiency of the community's healthcare through a shared networking infrastructure. www.healthbridge.org

About A4 Health Systems

A4 HEALTH SYSTEMS (http://www.a4healthsystems.com/) is dedicated to promoting community-based healthcare via healthcare IT solutions for consolidated clinical, financial and administrative patient information management. Led by its HealthMatics®, Canopy® and EmSTAT solutions, A4 provides leading healthcare information technology to improve and better manage the delivery of patient care. Founded in 1970, A4 has nationally implemented software and services in more than 1,600 healthcare organizations, including physician groups and small practices, and Emergency Departments and hospitals. A4 is based in Cary, N.C., with additional locations in New Hampshire, Texas and Michigan. The company is privately held, with more than 400 employees. For more information, please visit www.a4healthsystems.com or email sales@a4healthsystems.com.

[EHR Scoop]

St. Vincent's Medical Center Upgrades to Next-Generation IDX® Carecast™


Medical center will use advanced clinical IT to share electronic health
records with non-affiliated ambulatory care facilities, pursue CPOE
initiatives

BURLINGTON, Vt. and BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
IDX Systems Corporation (Nasdaq: IDXC) today announced it has signed an
agreement with St. Vincent's Medical Center to upgrade to the IDX®
Carecast™ enterprise clinical system. With Carecast, the long-time IDX
customer plans to create and share patients' lifetime electronic health
records (EHRs) with independent physicians in the region it serves, and
support patient safety initiatives with computerized physician order entry
(CPOE) and other advanced functionality. St. Vincent's is a 397-bed leading
referral center for Westchester County, New York, and southern Connecticut.
Since 2002, St. Vincent's has used Carecast's predecessor, IDX®
LastWord®, to integrate clinical and financial processes. Both Carecast and
LastWord are distinguished by the ability to fully integrate clinical and
financial information on a single database. The St. Vincent's team has
combined use of IDX technology with best practices and collaborative work
across disciplines to accelerate the revenue cycle. As a result, the
organization's financial performance has significantly improved since 2002.
St. Vincent's has achieved positive outcomes including a reduction in
accounts receivable (A/R) days from a 100-day high in 2001 to a current
average of 35 in 2005, and a 10-percentage-point increase in its clean claims
rate. An important measure of financial health, A/R days represent the
average number of days that a bill remains in a hospital's accounts receivable
department pending payment from payors. A/R days for U.S. hospitals averaged
nearly 50 days in 2Q 2005, according to the Hospital Accounts Receivable
Analysis Report (HARA) (Aspen Publications, 2005).
In 2005, the medical center also reported that it improved net patient
service revenue from $235 to $256 million and exceeded goals for cash
collections by $18 million.
"IDX technology has already enabled us to achieve remarkable success
integrating our clinical and financial operations. The result has been an
increase in staff efficiency, a better patient experience, and a significant
improvement in the medical center's bottom line," said Gary Weiner, St.
Vincent's CIO. "Our move to Carecast will position St. Vincent's for the next
stage in advancing our patient safety initiatives and streamlining clinical
workflow -- including building lifetime EHRs that will support seamless, safe
and efficient care not only at the medical center, but in ambulatory
facilities across the region."
St. Vincent's also plans to implement IDX® Imagecast™, closely
integrated with Carecast, to streamline scheduling and management of its
radiology and diagnostic medical imaging services. (The organization
previously purchased Imagecast.) The organization plans to provide referring
physicians with secure online access to view diagnostic images -- with
physician notes -- as well as the results of laboratory tests completed at the
medical center. The IDX advanced web framework will enable St. Vincent's to
link the Carecast enterprise clinical system with other diagnostic imaging
systems, Picture Archiving and Communications Systems, patient monitoring
systems, and medical devices in place at the medical center and at non-
affiliated facilities.
St. Vincent's is also currently developing an initiative that will enable
independent physicians to use the medical center's Carecast clinical data
repository, as well as other advanced system functionality. The program will
allow caregivers at the medical center and in ambulatory settings to
proactively communicate and share patient information via Carecast, building
EHRs that follow patients throughout the region.
Two private physician groups already have signed on to the initial phases
of the program, which will offer a range of services -- from the ability to
store and access diagnostic medical images in the Carecast database to use of
the system's registration, scheduling and billing functionality -- for a
competitive fee paid to St. Vincent's. The program can enhance healthcare
delivery across the region by making sophisticated healthcare IT tools
available to smaller provider organizations for which in a clinical IT system
might otherwise might be prohibitive. A report in the September 2005 issue of
Health Affairs placed the average cost per physician of acquiring a stand-
alone clinical IT system at $33,000 in up-front costs plus about $1,500 per
month to maintain.
"Carecast will be a critical tool to create a lifetime EHR that spans both
the physician office and the medical center, enabling the caregivers at St.
Vincent's and the clinicians we work with to provide enhanced patient care
across our communities," said Chief Medical Officer Jose Missri, MD. "We're
also looking forward to streamlining workflow for clinicians and improving
patient outcomes in our inpatient facility. Among other planned improvements,
Carecast's CPOE capabilities, advanced nursing technology, and pharmacy tools
will enable us to make care safer and more efficient throughout the medication
cycle."
St. Vincent's plans to begin to transition to CPOE in 2006. CPOE is
recognized for its ability to improve patient safety by placing sophisticated
decision-support technology at the point of care and reducing the risks
inherent in handwritten orders. IDX CPOE technology, combined with best
practices, has been shown to support healthcare providers' reductions in
potential medication errors by up to 80 percent.
The medical center also will build on its nurses' current use of
LastWord's online clinical documentation and electronic medication
administration record (MAR) functionality. The tools enable nurses to
efficiently capture patient data -- such as vital signs and the administration
of medications -- electronically, making it immediately available via the EHR
to physicians, pharmacists and other members of the care team. Moving
forward, St. Vincent's will leverage Carecast's advanced nursing assessment
capabilities, incorporating online protocols and decision support tools to
help support high-quality patient care. In addition, nurses will use the
system's Patient Summary View, which makes it easier for nurses to see at a
glance the status of all patients under their care, and better manage their
patient loads.
To further close the loop on medication safety, St. Vincent's also is
planning to use Carecast with Pyxis® automated medication dispensing
technology from Cardinal Health, and incorporate the use of smart pump
technology for the delivery of intravenous (IV) fluids and medications.
The organization will also benefit from Carecast Document Management,
powered by Streamline Health, which will ensure that paper-based documents --
such as patient consent forms -- can be managed and stored electronically
within the electronic health record.
"For years, St. Vincent's has demonstrated true innovation in integrating
clinical and financial workflow, decision-making and underlying IDX technology
to realize synergies across the organization," said Michael Raymer, Senior
Vice President and General Manager, Carecast Operating Unit. "We are very
enthusiastic about continuing to support St. Vincent's next phase of patient
safety initiatives at the medical center, as well as its programs to establish
lifetime EHRs and enhance healthcare for patients across its region."

About IDX® Carecast™

Carecast is a fully integrated clinical, financial and administrative
system, combining core clinical processes for orders, results, pharmacy and
clinical documentation with administrative and financial processes for
scheduling, registration, admitting, charging and billing. Representing the
next generation of electronic clinical information solutions, Carecast
delivers unsurpassed response time and reliability to support fast-paced
clinical environments. The system automates workflow throughout the
healthcare enterprise and enables rapid access to patient records across the
care continuum, from admission to discharge, including inpatient and
ambulatory care. The result is a comprehensive lifetime patient record that
enhances the quality of care and promotes operational efficiencies.
Developed by and for providers -- in collaboration with leading hospitals,
clinicians and healthcare executives -- Carecast builds on 25 years of
innovation with the IDX® LastWord® enterprise system. Customers include
leading healthcare organizations in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

About IDX Systems Corporation
Founded in 1969, IDX Systems Corporation provides information technology
solutions to maximize value in the delivery of healthcare, improve the quality
of patient service, enhance medical outcomes, and reduce the costs of care.
Our systems are deployed to serve approximately 150,000 physicians and are
installed at over 3,400 customer sites, including more than 850 group
practices and approximately 370 integrated delivery networks servicing more
than 500 hospitals.
IDX also provides its enterprise clinical software as a subcontractor to
BT, Local Service Provider for the United Kingdom National Health Service's
National Programme for Information Technology, an initiative to establish
electronic patient records for 50 million patients.
The IDX web strategy includes browser technology, e-commerce and web-based
tools -- built using Internet architecture -- that facilitates access for
patients, physicians and care providers to vital health information and data
managed by the IDX clinical, administrative, financial, and managed care
products. IDX has approximately 2,400 full-time employees.
IDX, Carecast and LastWord are registered trademarks or trademarks of IDX
Investment Corporation.

This press release contains forward-looking statements about IDX Systems
Corporation that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the
important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those indicated by such forward-looking statements are uncertainties or
difficulties in developing new services, including Carecast, possible failure
of IDX to realize the benefits of developing clinical guidelines, difficulties
in implementing systems, possible deferral, delay or cancellation by customers
of computer system or service purchase decisions, possible delay of system
installations and service implementations, development by competitors of new
or superior technologies, changing economic, political and regulatory
influences on the healthcare and e-Commerce industries, possible disruptions
in the national economy caused by terrorist activities and foreign conflicts,
changes in product pricing policies, governmental regulation of IDX's software
and operations, the possibility of product-related liabilities, and factors
detailed from time to time in IDX's periodic reports and registration
statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which important
factors are incorporated herein by reference. IDX undertakes no obligation to
update forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the
occurrence of unanticipated events, or changes in future operating results,
financial condition or business over time.

For more information, contact:
Catherine Sweeney
Media Relations - IDX Carecast
206.607.5462
catherine_sweeney@idx.com

Noreen McNicholas
Director - Marketing Communications St. Vincent's Medical Center
203-576-5256
nmcnicholas@svhs-ct.org

[EHR Scoop]

December 20, 2005 02:58 PM US Eastern Timezone

Zix Corporation e-Prescribing to Deploy at Independent Practice Association in New Jersey as Part of Aetna Contract; 68 Prescribers at Morris Somerset IPA to use PocketScript®

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 2005--Zix Corporation (ZixCorp®), (Nasdaq:ZIXI), a global provider of secure e-messaging and e-prescribing services, today announced that Morris-Somerset IPA (MSIPA), a New Jersey-based physicians organization, will have 68 prescribers use ZixCorp's PocketScript e-prescribing service in its various practices through an Aetna e-prescribing initiative.


The Aetna initiative, announced in July, supports access to ZixCorp's PocketScript for up to 1,000 New Jersey physicians. To date, more than 700 Aetna prescribers have been recruited to participate. PocketScript will enable participating physicians, including Morris-Somerset IPA members, to write and generate electronic prescriptions and have access to patient data, insurance formularies, and pharmacy information. The Aetna initiative also includes wireless handheld PDAs, wireless connectivity, training, service, and support for up to one year.

"This e-prescribing initiative is part of our pay-for-performance and clinical integration process," said Mark J. Atkins, MD, president of MSIPA. "Morris-Somerset IPA and our physicians receive a pay-for-performance bonus for meeting specific criteria, one of which is formulary compliance. PocketScript enables us to meet these criteria by providing information at the point of care. We feel it is important for our physicians to adopt technology for their practices as well as their patients for increased safety and convenience."

"It has been a pleasure to work with the leadership team at MSIPA and its member practices to deploy PocketScript," said Kirk Paul Kirkman, vice president of physician recruitment and retention for ZixCorp. "Once deployed, physicians will have a real-time, point-of-care solution that will provide both improved patient care and a powerful tool to optimize pay-for-performance contracts. The MSIPA members and patients will benefit from drug-to-drug, drug-to-allergy checking and a variety of online eligibility, formulary, and drug-dispensed history functionality."

About Zix Corporation

Zix Corporation (ZixCorp®) provides easy-to-use-and-deploy e-communication services that protect, manage, and deliver sensitive information to enterprises and consumers in healthcare, finance, insurance, and government. ZixCorp's email encryption services enable policy-driven email encryption, content filtering, and send-to-anyone capability while its e-prescribing service improves patient care, reduces costs, and improves efficiency for the healthcare community. For more information, visit www.zixcorp.com.

[EHR Scoop]

Business Computer Applications Inc. - Georgia Leader in Healthcare IT Raises the Bar on Healthcare for Inmates with Electronic Medical Records
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2006--Business Computer Applications, Inc. (BCA) (www.bca.us), a provider of information technology products and services to the commercial, federal, and state and local public and private health markets, is purging paper charts out of correctional healthcare - eliminating variance, and error in the systems' processing.

"We see enormous opportunity to better manage the healthcare of inmate populations, saving on the cost of care and helping to prevent adverse publicity and inadvertent exposure of the public to communicable diseases, as well as potentially costly litigation caused by claims of inappropriate, inadequate or nonexistent treatment of inmates," said Albert Woodard, CEO of the minority-owned company that he founded in 1977. "BCA's mission is to "raise the bar" on the efficiency and effectiveness of correctional healthcare providers and users, through the use of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and other technology, particularly at the county government level."

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in Dalton, GA, Nashville, TN and Arlington, VA, BCA has serviced the needs of hundreds of clients during its 28 years in business. Its technological offerings include managing and performing significant amounts of the work effort of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and providing Statewide Managed Care Management Information System (MCMIS) to Presbyterian Medical Services, in the state of New Mexico.

A leading provider of integrated end-to-end EMR solutions, BCA's capabilities translate fluidly to the EMR conversion process for correctional institutions nationwide. In an antiquated system where inmates leaving one correctional facility for another often carry their paper medical charts with them on the bus, every new inmate represents risk of medical error. There are more than 2.1 million people behind bars in the U.S. - an incarceration rate of 1 out of every 138 Americans, the highest in the world.

As prison populations soar BCA finds itself uniquely qualified to service the correctional health care market - in part, due to ongoing support of its proprietary PEARL® EMR application, used by one of the nation's preeminent correctional facilities. As a proven business model, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) utilizes the PEARL® EMR application installed at correctional institutions for the Texas State Dept. of Corrections. With over 170,000 inmates in 126 State and Federal institutions across Texas, the UTMB system is one of the largest of its kind worldwide.

Implementation of the PEARL® System has fundamentally changed how care is managed at prisons under the UTMB program," stated John Cook, President of BCA. Dr. Glenn Hammack, Assistant Vice President UTMB and Executive Director, UTMB Electronic Health Network concurs. "Since beginning implementation of the PEARL® product in 2000, we have taken the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's 120-plus location health care system virtually paperless. To our knowledge, Texas is the only state-wide correctional system that can make this claim. Specifically, the Pearl system contributes to the successes of the UTMB Electronic Health Network within the correctional environment by providing a seamless, easy to use electronic medical record."

Pearl® EMR, a proven, robust application, built on an Oracle-based patient record system, has allowed authorized UTMB clinicians to access the latest technology tools, including telemedicine, providing efficient access to all relevant inmate healthcare information.

BCA has been supporting UTMB since the late 1990's. This positive history made UTMB comfortable continuing with BCA for its advanced healthcare IT in the state's ongoing efforts to ensure that errors and waste are eliminated in the care delivery process to inmates, according to Dr. Hammack.

For Todd R. Wilcox, MD, medical director for the award-winning Salt Lake County (UT) Metropolitan Jail, a 2,100 detainee facility, name recognition and longevity were criteria in selecting an EMR partner. "The EMR industry is known for fly-by-night companies who come in and implement a solution that they are not around to support several years later. BCA demonstrated a long and distinguished track record, as well as the financial support to continue to be there for us in the future."

In what Dr. Wilcox described as a "watershed event" for the Salt Lake County Metropolitan Jail, EMR revolutionized the management style, as well as capability to deliver healthcare in an efficient, quality oriented and cost effective way. Like all healthcare organizations, the jail faced labor shortages, particularly amongst licensed healthcare providers. "By offloading repetitive clerical tasks onto the EMR we have been able to maximize our work force and to have clinical professionals taking care of patients, as opposed to filling out forms and tracking data."

Additionally, Dr. Wilcox noted that the PEARL® system has distinguished itself in ability to present data in an ergonomic format that allows providers to reach decisions quickly. "It speeds up good clinical decision-making as well as enables management to have instantaneous reports on any data element in the EMR. Well beyond the reporting capabilities of the software, the value of an EMR to the operation of a large healthcare entity really rests in the ability of the EMR to do repetitive tasks accurately without letting things fall between the cracks." Dr. Wilcox went on to say, "We have seen unbelievable gains in the quality and safety of our system, while at the same time we've been able to utilize the tools that an EMR provides to keep our costs low. From an investment perspective, an EMR is the single most cost effective and quality producing decision that an organization can make."

BCA estimates annualized revenues of $2 Million in 2005 from correctional healthcare accounts - the company's first year of strategic focus on an environment in critical need of accuracy, accountability and automation. This represents approximately 33% of the company's commercial business revenues.

[EHR Scoop]

Darin M. Camarena Health Centers, Inc. Selects InteGreat's IC-Chart EHR to Enhance Disease Management Capabilities

SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/12/2006 --

Darin M. Camarena Health Centers, Inc., a community health center with three locations in Madera County, Calif., selected InteGreat's IC-Chart electronic health record system to manage clinical data, submit electronic prescriptions, create real-time requisitions for ancillary services and employ disease management monitoring systems.

IC-Chart will also interface with the centers' Companion Technologies Mega West practice management system as well as Quest Laboratories for reference labs. IC-Chart will replace Camarena's current EHR system. The health centers will utilize IC-Chart to improve patient care through preventive health and tracking alerts, disease management tools and drug interactions. IC-Chart will enable the clinic to replace its manual tickler system with electronic reminders to automatically alert patients to schedule follow-up visits.

"We are converting to InteGreat's IC-Chart EHR because of its advanced disease management capabilities that will help us improve the quality of patient care. The system will also help us track important disease specific indicators and more easily monitor patients with chronic diseases," explains Kenneth Bernstein, MD, medical director at Darin M. Camarena Health Centers.

According to Selina Montoya, COO and CFO at Darin M. Camarena Health Centers, "We evaluated numerous EHR vendors. InteGreat's IC-Chart EHR was by far the most intuitive and easy-to-use. Their staff was highly responsive, their clients provided great references and their pricing was superior. We were also impressed with InteGreat's proven track record of converting historical data, which is important to us as we are converting from one EHR to IC-Chart."

About Darin M. Camarena Health Centers, Inc.

Founded in 1980 as The Madera Family Health Center, with one site to provide care primarily for migrant and seasonal farm workers, Darin M. Camarena Health Centers is now a three-site clinic with a diverse patient population from Madera County, including uninsured, Medi-Cal beneficiaries, and farm workers, as well as insured patients. Services include family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, health education, nutritional counseling, and lab and dispensary as well as prenatal, women's health, dental, health education, marriage and family counseling, and ultrasound. For more information, call (559) 664-4000.

About InteGreat

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based InteGreat is an industry-leading provider of electronic health record (EHR) software that enables physician group practices to enhance patient care while increasing productivity, eliminating paperwork and gaining a rapid return-on-investment. InteGreat's user-friendly, web-based, modular products provide management of clinical data, including transcription records, lab results and radiology reports, and capture critical patient health summary data and medications. For more information, call 800.676.1360 or visit www.igreat.com

[EHR Scoop]

HCA Midwest Health System is putting about $7 million into new electronic medical records systems in seven of its 12 Kansas City-area hospitals this year.

Read More: HCA to spend $7M on medical records system in KC

[EHR Scoop]

NYC Health & Hospitals Corporation Agrees to Pilot Implementation of Emergency Department System from A4 Health Systems; HealthMatics Selected as Top System for Automating ED

1/12/2006

A4 Health Systems®, a leading provider of healthcare IT solutions, has signed an agreement with New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) to provide the HealthMatics® Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) as a pilot implementation at Elmhurst Hospital. Pending the success of the pilot, the system may eventually be installed in all of HHC's 11 acute care hospitals. HHC chose HealthMatics ED to help handle the more than 900,000 adult and pediatric emergency room visits annually at its New York City hospitals, with the goal to enhance patient safety, improve clinical documentation and optimize provider access to patient information.

HHC conducted a rigorous search for an EDIS and A4's HealthMatics ED solution was voted the strongest system throughout the selection process for its comprehensive functionality and proven success at similar hospitals across the country. Through the system, HHC expects to enhance patient tracking, improve access to patient information, facilitate supervision of resident care at its teaching hospitals, improve clinical documentation and billing, and boost patient safety through electronic order entry and prescription management.

Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, the site of the pilot implementation, has a modern 525-bed facility and receives approximately 130,000 visits annually in its Emergency Department. HealthMatics ED will interface with existing hospital systems, including Admit-Discharge-Transfer (ADT) by Siemens, BedTracking® by Teletracking, and radiology, lab and clinical patient record by Misys. The interface to the hospital's inpatient electronic medical record (EMR) is especially important since clinical information will be electronically transferred as discrete data, eliminating data re-entry by providers and enabling access to patient chart information across the hospital.

"We look forward to working with A4 and are excited about using HealthMatics ED in the Elmhurst Hospital Emergency Department," said Stuart Kessler, MD, director of Emergency Medicine at HHC's Elmhurst Hospital Center. "After several years of researching and reviewing the various Emergency Department Information Systems available, we believe we have found the best solution to meet our needs. Not only will it benefit our patients, but it will allow our ED staff to work more efficiently by enabling better information flow within the ED, between the ED and the rest of the hospital, and with providers outside of Elmhurst Hospital."

HealthMatics ED electronically streamlines processes for the entire Emergency Department, including tracking, triage, nurse and physician charting, disposition and reporting. HHC will also take advantage of auto paging through HealthMatics ED, which will automatically alert caregivers to events such as returned abnormal lab results, outstanding orders, etc. Other system features include Remote Chart Access for community caregivers and hospital staff, so they can securely access an ED patient's chart via the Web without logging into the HealthMatics ED system.

"Elmhurst Hospital Center's implementation of HealthMatics ED is another step in our continuing efforts to use information technology to improve the delivery of care, improve patient safety and reduce costs," commented Chris Constantino, executive director at Elmhurst. "We hope the system will not only improve efficiency in the Elmhurst ED and the hospital, but more importantly, will allow our providers to better serve the patients we treat."

About Elmhurst Hospital Center

Comprised of 545 beds, a Level I Trauma Center, a 911 Receiving Hospital, and an Emergency Heart Care station; Elmhurst Hospital Center is a major tertiary care provider in the borough of Queens. With centers of excellence in Mental Health, Cardiology, Women's Health, Pediatrics, Rehabilitation Medicine, and Renal Services, Elmhurst Hospital Center offers a superior level of care, utilizing cutting-edge technology including laparoscopic surgery, kidney stone crushing ultrasounds, and the latest in radiation therapy for cancer. Elmhurst Hospital Center also extends its services into the community offering patients treatment at eight different offsite medical clinics and four school-based programs.

About NYC Health & Hospitals Corporation

New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) takes care of the Big Apple. HHC has facilities in all five boroughs of New York City. As the largest municipal healthcare system in the US, HHC operates a network consisting of 11 acute care hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centers, long-term care facilities, over 80 community clinics and a home health care agency. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, MetroPlus, HHC operates a Health Plan which enrolls members in Medicaid, Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus. HHC facilities treat nearly one-fifth of all general hospital discharges and more than one third of emergency room and hospital-based clinic visits in New York City.

About A4 HEALTH SYSTEMS

A4 HEALTH SYSTEMS (www.a4healthsystems.com) is dedicated to promoting community-based healthcare via healthcare IT solutions for consolidated clinical, financial and administrative patient information management. Led by its HealthMatics®, Canopy® and EmSTAT solutions, A4 provides software and service solutions for physician practice and hospital settings to improve and better manage the delivery of patient care. Founded in 1970, A4 has nationally implemented software and services in more than 1,600 healthcare organizations, including physician groups and small practices, and Emergency Departments and hospitals. A4 represents Authorized Access, Anywhere, Anytime and is based in Cary, N.C., with additional locations in New Hampshire, Texas and Michigan. The company is privately held with 400 employees.

[EHR Scoop]

(BW) Greater Rochester IPA Signs with Healthvision for Clinical Information Data Exchange; GRIPA Becomes Third Connected Healthcare Community Client in New York

Read More: IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2006--Healthvision, a leading health information technology company, today announced it has signed a contract with the Greater Rochester Independent Practice Association (GRIPA) to provide a shared health information exchange to enable a clinically integrated healthcare delivery continuum. "GRIPA will deploy additional Healthvision services including electronic prescribing, referral management and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) interoperability," according to Scott Decker, Healthvision's CEO.

[EHR Scoop]

Alaska Open Imaging Center Selects Optio Software
AOIC Extends the Frontiers of Teleradiology by Providing Online Access to Physicians

ALPHARETTA, Ga., Jan. 4, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) --

Optio® Software, Inc. (OTCBB:OPTO) announced today that Alaska Open Imaging Center (AOIC), an independently owned network of diagnostic imaging centers serving Alaska physicians and residents, has selected the Optio QuickRecord® and MedEx™ Suites to dramatically reduce paperwork in their four facilities and accelerate turnaround times on hundreds of daily radiology reports.


The Optio QuickRecord Suite will integrate with the AOIC picture archiving and communications system (PACS) to electronically capture, store and route radiology orders and scans throughout Alaska, by area the largest state in the United States with 586,432 square miles.

QuickRecord will provide a universal hub and Web-enabled access point for all current and historic patient documents. Once the data is captured in QuickRecord, authorized radiologists can immediately access this composite view of patient information from within any AOIC center, their own practice or any off-site location with Internet access. Results can also be made available to referring physicians through electronic delivery.

"We're excited because Optio technology will allow us to realize our goal of becoming a statewide teleradiology network for all Alaska physicians," said Jeff Kinion, AOIC chief executive officer. "With QuickRecord's automatic inbound and outbound faxing capability, we can dramatically reduce internal and external fax redundancy, and ultimately, serve patients and physicians faster, more accurately and more securely. And, because we're licensing QuickRecord on a subscription basis with remote implementation and maintenance, the impact on our capital budgets is minimal."

The QuickRecord Suite will also provide AOIC with an electronic library of administrative and clinical forms that can be generated on-demand and automatically populated with patient information. The system electronically stores and prints checks, bar-coded wristbands and labels, registration forms, discharge summaries, aftercare instructions and other documents, so caregivers spend less time handling paperwork and more time with patients. Optio's electronic signature capture capability captures and securely binds patient and physician signatures to electronic forms without scanning.

"At AOIC, our definitive product is the physician's report, and QuickRecord will enable us to expedite turnaround times," said Sam Korsmo, AOIC chief operating officer. "Currently, we have 24-hour turnaround from the time a patient walks in to the time the referring physician receives the radiologist's report. We expect Optio to reduce this to a few hours. Shorter wait times for diagnoses and treatment add up to better health care and increased physician and patient satisfaction."

Optio solutions also establish a path for gradual transition to a paperless environment and a foundation for a community-based electronic medical record (EMR). In a state with a land mass larger than Texas, California and Montana combined, electronic access to health records is crucial to providing quality care to areas isolated by rugged geography and climate. In fact, Alaska reaches so far west that the International Date Line had to be bent to keep the state all in the same day.

"We spoke with several vendors, and Optio was the only one that could provide us with a comprehensive EMR and forms solution," concluded Korsmo. "Other companies' products were geared for hospitals of 100 beds or more and didn't fit our needs and they were too expensive."

About AIOC

Founded in 2001 in Wasilla, Alaska, AOIC has locations in Anchorage, Soldotna, Fairbanks and Wasilla. A pioneer of secure, Web-based teleradiology, AOIC offers positron emission tomography (PET), ultrasound, nuclear medicine, digital radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography and bone density screening. For more information, visit www.alaskaopen.com.

About Optio Healthcare Solutions

More than 700 healthcare organizations use Optio forms automation, electronic medical record and clinical document management solutions to capture, format, scan, view, sign, archive and deliver real-time access to patient information at the point of need. For more information about our healthcare solutions, visit www.optiosoftware.com.

About Optio Software, Inc.

More than 5,000 companies use Optio solutions to achieve unprecedented speed, accuracy, functionality and quality in their inbound and outbound document processes and extend their enterprise resource planning (ERP) and hospital information systems (HIS) applications. Founded in 1981, Optio Software maintains world headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga., with Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters in Paris and sales offices in Germany and the United Kingdom. More information about Optio Software (OTCBB:OPTO) is available at www.optio.com.

[EHR Scoop]

Misys Healthcare Systems' products earn “2005 Best in KLAS” honors
12-22-2005



RALEIGH, N.C. – Misys Healthcare Systems, a leader in healthcare IT, continued its strong performance in the annual KLAS ratings with its acute-care departmental products and electronic health records (EHR) offerings earning high marks. KLAS recognizes healthcare vendors for their leadership in working with customers to resolve issues and match expectations to reality.

Two Misys Healthcare Systems’ products, Misys Laboratory™ and Misys Radiology™, were designated as “2005 Best in KLAS” for placing first in their respective market solution categories for the second straight year. Misys’ leading EHR solutions – Misys CPR™, Misys EMR™ and Misys Homecare™ – as well as its enterprise practice management solution, Misys Vision, were also among the leaders in their categories, or showed improvements from last year.

“Healthcare providers know the value that Misys products bring to their organizations, and our strong standing in the KLAS report show we not only deliver solid solutions, but back it with responsiveness and quality professional services,” said Tom Skelton, Chief Executive Officer of Misys Healthcare Systems. “KLAS reveals the opinions of our clients – that’s the validation that’s most important to us and what makes these awards meaningful.”

During the assessment process, KLAS performs in-depth, confidential interviews with IT executives and department directors to gather valuable insight into specific strengths, weaknesses and future expectations for the products. Among the conclusions in this year’s report were:


Misys Radiology and Misys Laboratory were named first in the radiology and laboratory systems categories, respectively, to achieve “2005 Best in KLAS” status. In interviews, providers emphasized that “Misys does a good job of supporting the system and keeping the product at a state-of-the-art level.”

Misys CPR continued its ascent in the awards and was listed among the top three in the Acute Care CDR, Orders and Charting category. Ninety-six percent of providers responded that they would purchase Misys CPR again, and 96 percent stated they would recommend the product to their peers. Providers were also impressed with Misys’ “commitment to technology.” Misys CPR’s strong ranking indicates the product’s direct impact on patient safety thanks to the true integration of the entire system, including medication management via Misys Pharmacy IMM. With the anticipated roll-out of Web enablement in the near future, the company anticipates continued improvement in the category in years to come.

For the fourth year in a row, Misys Homecare secured a top three spot in the Home Health category, as well as a top two spot in the Hospice category. These rankings uphold Misys Homecare’s superior ability to meet the operational and regulatory requirements of home health providers through enhanced documentation and point-of-care automated support.

Misys EMR was listed as the only Ambulatory EMR (6-25 physicians) that saw a percentage increase in its overall ratings over last year – up 4 percent. The product was also one of only two products in Ambulatory EMR (1-5 physicians) category that made rating percentage gains.

Misys Vision was recognized for the second year as a leader in the Ambulatory Billing & Scheduling (with over 100 physicians) category, placing second. Re-emphasizing the common theme among providers using Misys’ healthcare technology, 95 percent stated they would recommend Misys Vision to their industry peers.
KLAS Enterprises, an organization dedicated to improving healthcare information technology (HIT) delivery, bestows its Year-End “Best in KLAS” Awards to technology and service providers based on information in customer satisfaction surveys completed by healthcare professionals at physician practices throughout the country.

About KLAS Enterprises
Founded in 1996, KLAS is the only research and consulting firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare information technology (HIT) vendors and products. KLAS strives to improve HIT delivery by independently measuring vendor performance for the benefit of consultants, investors, vendors, and healthcare provider partners. KLAS, in concert with thousands of healthcare executives and professionals, has created a dynamic database of HIT evaluations and opinions of healthcare executives, managers, and clinicians from over 4,600+ healthcare facilities and 1200+ clinics on 500+ HIT products. The Top 20 Report reflects the summary of HIT product performance data collected over a 13-month period. For further information, contact KLAS Enterprises, LLC at 801-226-5120 or on the Web at www.healthcomputing.com.

About Misys Healthcare Systems
Misys Healthcare Systems, one of the top five healthcare IT companies in North America, develops and supports reliable, easy-to-use software and services of exceptional quality that enable physicians and caregivers to more easily manage the complexities of healthcare. Misys’ family of leading clinical products and Web-based technologies – Misys Optimum™ solutions – are designed from the ground up to share patient data across all medical care settings. Misys Optimum connects community-based physicians and caregivers to the acute care enterprise, enabling increased efficiencies, better decision-making and improved hospital-physician relations. For more information, visit www.misyshealthcare.com.

About Misys plc
Misys plc (FTSE: MSY), the global software company, is one of the world’s largest and longest-established providers of industry-specific software. Founded in 1979, Misys serves the international banking and healthcare industries and the UK general insurance industry, combining technological expertise with in-depth understanding of customers’ markets and operational needs. In banking, Misys is one of the top four software providers worldwide and the largest outside the US, with over 1,200 customers, including 49 of the world’s top 50 banks. In healthcare, it is a top five software provider in the US market, serving more than 92,000 physicians in 18,000 practice locations, 1,250 hospitals and 600 home care providers. In UK general insurance, Misys is the market leader in software solutions. Through Sesame, a wholly-owned subsidiary, the company is also a leading provider of support services to about 7,800 financial advisers in the UK. Misys employs over 6,500 people who serve customers in more than 120 countries. For more information, visit www.misys.com

[EHR Scoop]

BizCom Healthcare Solutions, Inc. introduces web-based to help doctors
01-25-2006


Raleigh, NC – As a high-tech remedy for physician-owned medical practices, BizCom Healthcare Solutions, Inc. has introduced web-based services that not only allow doctors to be current with today’s technology, but promote office efficiency – saving both time and money. BizCom Healthcare Solutions works with physician practices to custom-design a website and web-based tools, such as online prescription refill requests, electronic patient registrations and online payments that fit with the needs of their practice, their patients and providers. BizCom also provides cost analysis tools and maintenance and support packages for physicians.

“By providing web-based services to their patients in a secure, encrypted environment, physicians can streamline their practice, save money and increase their patients’ overall satisfaction,” says Mark Wiener, president of BizCom Healthcare Solutions, Inc. “We’ve found that patients like having an alternative to calling their physician’s office for prescription renewals, appointments, referrals and billing questions. They also like being able to complete registration forms online at home, where they have access to all their information makes filling out the forms easier and reduces the amount of time they spend in the waiting room. Patients like the flexibility of paying their doctor’s bill online.”

For physicians, offering these web-based services means reduced call volume and paperwork, improved cash flow, and fewer late payments. A custom-designed website from BizCom can reduce the call volume to doctors’ offices, by providing such routine information as the services they offer, their area of specialty, their biography, timely medical information, the health plans with which they are affiliated, frequently asked questions and directions to their office.

BizCom’s online prescription refill service substantially reduces the amount of time doctors and/or their staffs spend processing prescription refills. The service can be used for any prescription that has been previously prescribed to the patient. Patients enter their refill requests online, which are automatically sent to their physician’s office. BizCom’s Internet-based prescription manager enables quick approval, using the signature capture pad. The prescription manager then faxes the approval refill to the designated pharmacy and returns a fax confirmation, along with a copy of the prescription. The patient can then pick up their prescription from the pharmacy when ready. Other options are the written prescription can be picked up by the patient at the office or the written prescription can be mailed to the patient’s home.

With BizCom’s online payment “storefront,” physicians can improve their cash flow by receiving patients’ payments over the Internet in a secure environment. According to Mark Wiener, “Many patients appreciate being able to pay their bill online – at their convenience – with either a check or credit card. In most cases, doctors will receive payment sooner than they would if the patient had mailed their check. And since data on all transactions is encrypted, paying a bill online is more secure for the patient than mailing a check or paying by credit card.”

BizCom’s web tools also offer customized interfaces with physicians’ practice management and electronic medical records (EMR) systems, enhancing patient care, improving efficiency, increasing profitability and helping medical practices stay current with industry standards and regulations, including CMS and HIPAA. BizCom’s custom interfaces help streamline patient information management and enable physicians and their staff to focus on patients instead of paperwork.

About BizCom Healthcare Solutions, Inc.:
BizCom Healthcare Solutions, Inc. provides comprehensive business management services to physician-owned medical practices that are either starting from the ground up, or who are already established but need to restructure their processes. BizCom customizes client plans based on their individual needs in order to help each practice run more efficiently and profitably. For more information, contact Mark Wiener at 919-855-8399 or by email to mwiener@bizcomhcs.com.

[EHR Scoop]

Press Release Source: MEDSTRAT, Inc.


Orthopedic Digital X-Ray; The Time is Now for Private Practices in the New York Area!
Wednesday January 25, 10:11 am ET


DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- MEDSTRAT, Inc., the originators of Orthopaedic Digital Imaging, are proud to announce the addition of four new sites of the MEDSTRAT ECHOESystem™ Picture Archive and Communications System (PACS) in the greater New York City area in the first half of Jan 2006 alone. The ECHOES installed systems will allow private office orthopedic practices on-line access and diagnostic analysis of their digital x-rays across multi-site facilities, remote locations and surgical centers. ECHOES' standard package includes an easy HL7 interface that works well with industry standard Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Practice Management Software (PMS) platforms. One of the sites is at the private practice of Dr. Enrique Ergas, a well known and respected surgeon in Manhattan, NY along with his partner Thomas Youm whom purchased the ECHOES system because MEDSTRAT could provide for the needs of a busy two man group with requirements of on-line remote x-ray image access from multiple locations at an affordable price.

MEDSTRAT's full PACS product offering includes customized workflow and diagnostic image viewing, as well as the advanced set of MEDSTRAT's orthopedic pre-operative case planning and templating tools. The platform provides the physicians with all the incredible benefits of going Digital at a reasonable cost vs. traditional radiology vendors that have attempted to enter the market with more cumbersome and expensive systems.

Mike Cowden, MEDSTRAT's CEO, states, "Orthopaedic Digital X-Ray is one of the hottest fields in all of Medicine, particularly imaging today, and MEDSTRAT has provided orthopedic surgeons with a platform that will enable them to fight back against rising film and chemical costs and declining reimbursements in addition to significantly improved workflow. We understand the financials of private practice and we want to partner with physicians to help them grow their business."

Coming off the most successful year in company history MEDSTRAT nearly doubled the number of installs vs. the previous year. January's success is just a continuation of how powerful the ECHOES platform is in terms of value to the orthopedic practice and its market acceptance in the orthopedic imaging space.

About Dr. Enrique Ergas

Dr. Enrique Ergas received his medical degree from the University of Chile Medical School. Dr. Ergas completed two years of residency in General Surgery at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Dr. Ergas has been certified by the State Board of New York since 1967. His practice has been located in New York City since 1971. Dr. Ergas is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons, as well as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is Clinical Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at New York University School of Medicine.

Dr. Ergas' hospital activities include serving as Director of Latin American Programs and Vice Chairman of the Tissue Committee at the Hospital for Joint Diseases-Orthopaedic Institute. Dr. Ergas has lectured extensively in Orthopaedic Surgery both nationally and internationally, as well as being a moderator at multiple symposiums. He has received many awards including the Masada Award in 1974 for medical services at Hadassah Hospital in Israel as a combat surgeon during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Dr. Ergas also received a Certificate of Award from the State of Israel for volunteer work during the Yom Kippur War.

Dr. Ergas is affiliated with the Hospital for Joint Diseases, NYU Medical Center, and the NYU-HJD Joint Replacement Center of NYC.

About Thomas Youm

A native of Long Island, New York, Dr. Youm graduated cum laude from Yale University. He attended New York University Medical School where he was elected to the AOA honors society. He completed his orthopaedic residency at NYU-Hospital for Joint Diseases. While in residency, Dr. Youm completed specialized training in orthopaedic trauma surgery at Seattle's Harborview Hospital, one of the busiest and most respected trauma centers in the country.

About MEDSTRAT, Inc.

MEDSTRAT originated digital x-ray imaging for orthopedic practices to meet the unique needs of the orthopedic surgeon and address the demanding challenges orthopedic surgeons face every day, including the pressure to reduce costs and deliver faster, higher-quality patient care. Based upon a proven, high-performing digital medical imaging platform, MEDSTRAT allows for the elimination of film, chemicals, and processing, increases workflow efficiency and staff productivity, and provides significant cost savings. For more information call 800-882-4224 or visit http://www.medstrat.com .

MEDSTRAT is a registered trademark of MEDSTRAT, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: MEDSTRAT, Inc.

[OrthoMan]

Elekta Receive Order for Complete Impac IT Solution to University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust
1/31/2006 5:33:00 AM EST

Elekta, a world leader in advanced radiation therapy, comprehensive cancer management and non-invasive treatment of brain disorders, today announced an order from University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust for a comprehensive oncology management system from IMPAC Medical Systems, a part of the Elekta Group and a leading provider of information technology solutions for oncology care. This single-database oncology-specific image-enabled electronic medical record (EMR) will help the Trust to provide better care for cancer patients living in Coventry, Warwickshire and beyond.

IMPAC's integrated software system helps improve overall treatment and practice management across the spectrum of cancer care by streamlining diagnostic and treatment information, charge capture and billing, and scheduling information into a patient chart that is instantly accessible from remote locations by hospital staff.

With the new information management solution, The Arden Cancer Centre in the new University Hospital will now be able to obtain an integrated real-time link to all the clinics in the cancer network, as far a field as Redditch, Warwick, Rugby, Solihull and Nuneaton as well as across the whole of the Trust.

Availability of the Trust's and the Cancer Network's integrated system enables a cancer patient to be admitted into the Emergency Department where the staff will have instant access to the patient's record. The staff will immediately know the patient's diagnostic, chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment information. This allows the emergency staff to provide continuity of treatment to best meet the patient's needs.

The contract for the new system and implementation was signed on Monday, January 30, in the presence of hospital staff and representatives from the Elekta Group, IMPAC's parent company.

Arden Cancer Centre Superintendent Radiographer, Bill Kelly, said: "The new system has many benefits for both the patient and staff alike. We will have all of the patient's information, in one single system including x-rays and this will be available for the consultant, radiographer, pharmacist or anyone else involved in the patient's care to instantly access the patient's medical record."

The system can also be used to electronically schedule and prescribe chemotherapy sessions, making treatment safer and more efficient, while improving waiting times by making best use of both staff and equipment. Having this information at the touch of a button will also facilitate clinical trials, and aid in research into the causes and treatment of cancer.

Elekta is already the sole provider of digital linear accelerators and related radiation therapy technology to the Arden Cancer Network. With the introduction of the IMPAC system, the hospital confirms its position as a center of excellence for cancer management and leading edge technologies, keeping the Trust at the forefront of cancer management and treatment delivery across the UK and Europe.

"IMPAC are both delighted and proud to be working with UHCW. We believe that this is the first and largest truly integrated comprehensive oncology information management solution to be delivered to an NHS Trust", said Stewart Pegrum,

Sales Manager, IMPAC UK. "Our collective drive, vision and passion for the delivery of premium cancer treatments will lead the way in cancer service delivery within the UK."

About Elekta

Elekta is an international medical-technology Group, providing meaningful clinical solutions, comprehensive information systems and services for improved cancer care and management of brain disorders. All of Elekta's solutions employ non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques and are therefore clinically effective, gentle on the patient and cost-effective.

Clinical solutions include among others Leksell Gamma Knife® for non-invasive treatment of brain surgery and Elekta Synergy® for image guided radiation therapy (IGRT). Following the acquisition of IMPAC Medical Systems Inc. in April 2005, the Elekta Group is the world's largest supplier of oncology software.

Elekta's systems and solutions are used at over 3,000 hospitals around the world to treat cancer and manage clinical operations as well as to diagnose and treat brain disorders, including tumors, vascular malformations and functional disorders.

With approx. 1750 employees, Elekta's corporate headquarter is located in Stockholm, Sweden and the company is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. For more information about Elekta, please visit www.elekta.com.

About IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc.

IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc., a company in the Elekta Group, provides healthcare IT solutions that streamline clinical and business operations across the spectrum of cancer care. IMPAC's open integration to multiple healthcare data and imaging systems offers oncology-specific patient charting and practice management, as well as best-of-breed systems for anatomic pathology, clinical laboratory, and cancer registry. With products that range from diagnosis and treatment through long-term follow-up, IMPAC provides a comprehensive oncology management solution that helps improve overall communication, process efficiency, and quality patient care. For more information about IMPAC's products or services, please call 1-650-623-8800 or visit www.impac.com

[OrthoMan]

VisualMED Clinical Information System Successfully Implemented: Kansas Hospital to Be Entirely Paperless by End of February
BIOWIRE2K


MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2006--VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp. (OTCBB:VMCS) announces today that it has completed the deployment of its flagship Clinical Information System at Kansas Surgery Recovery Center, a Wichita area hospital that is one of the most modern specialty healthcare facilities in the United States.

The hospital is a privately owned orthopedic specialty hospital, which performs a greater number of operative procedures than most big city general hospitals, a first of its kind in the State of Kansas. With 10 operating rooms, the hospital performs between 8,000 - 10,000 operative procedures per year.

The VisualMED system operates across close to 100 workstations, with hundreds of users, including all doctors, all nurses, all other therapeutic staff (physical and occupational therapy, etc.), and most hospital Administrators. Users can access the VisualMED system on-site or remotely. Doctors and nurses are able to have full access to the system using mobile and wireless devices, as well as the fixed grid independent workstations throughout the hospital.

Surgeons and their staff use the system inside the operating and procedure rooms, creating comprehensive clinical notes in real time, which are then automatically uploaded to the patient's electronic medical record. The system is at all times interfaced with admissions, local laboratory, PACS, anesthesia equipment, and other key systems.

Due to the fundamental strength of the platform on which the VisualMED technology is based, the system has an extreme flexibility which has allowed this implementation to take place in a period of 5 months from contract signing to go-live.

VisualMED and hospital staff expects all clinical documentation to be entirely paper free by the end of February.

"We are pleased the speed of implementation of our system," says Gerard Dab, Chairman and CEO of VisualMED. "This shows that we can have a system go live in a small to medium sized hospital within a few short months of the contract signing, which means substantial savings for the hospital."

About the Company and its products

VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp. is a leading provider of clinical informatics solutions that help hospitals and healthcare authorities reduce medication errors, increase personnel efficiency and bring down operating costs. One of its key components is a fully automated Electronic Medical Record with decision-support at point of care, a core solution in the new agenda to promote greater patient safety and reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with medication error. The company is involved in major private and government initiatives on three continents to modernize hospitals and healthcare delivery systems.

Detailed information on our company and its products is available on our web site at www.visualmedsolutions.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information provided herein, this press release may contain information and statements of a forward-looking nature concerning the future performance of the Company. These statements are based on suppositions and uncertainties as well as on management's best possible evaluation of future events. Such factors may include, without excluding other considerations, fluctuations in quarterly results, evolution in customer demand for the Company's products and services, the impact of price pressures exerted by competitors, and general market trends or economic changes. As a result, readers are advised that actual results may differ from expected results.

VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board:VMCS)

Contacts
VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp.
Barry Scharf, COO
(514) 274-1115, ext. 108
www.visualmedsolutions.com
OR
Source:
VisualMED Clinical Solutions

[EHR Scoop]

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(CCNMatthews - Feb. 28, 2006) - VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp. (OTCBB:VMCS) announces today that it's participation at the Hospital Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference in San Diego reflected the company's new visibility in the marketplace and resulted in significant exposure and new sales leads.

There was a was a fivefold increase in visits to the VisualMED booth, as compared with previous years, a clear indication that healthcare information technology purchasers are moving away from general hospital information systems and are starting to focus more on software with point of care clinical applications. As well, VisualMED was approached by several vendors of complimentary offerings with a view towards establishing new marketing relationships.

"Established healthcare facilities are feeling the pressure as forward-looking hospitals begin to acquire enterprise-wide, clinical information systems," says Gerard Dab, VisualMED Chairman and CEO. "These systems afford greater levels of security and cost-savings which can make a hospital safer, more efficient and generally more competitive. Hospital managers are beginning to act on this, as denoted by the significant increase in visits to our booth.

Senior VisualMED clinical staff spent the week giving demonstrations of the of VisualMED system, offering prospective clients a first-hand look at the full range and mobility of the system as it operates in a hospital setting.

The HIMSS yearly conference is the most important venue for vendors and purchasers of information systems to meet and initiate relationships.

About the Company and its products

VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp. is a leading provider of clinical informatics solutions that help hospitals and healthcare authorities reduce medication errors, increase personnel efficiency and bring down operating costs. One of its key components, Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), is a core solution in the new agenda to promote greater patient safety and reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with medication error. The company is involved in major government initiatives on three continents to modernize hospitals and healthcare delivery.

Detailed information on our company and its products is available on our web site at www.visualmedsolutions.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information provided herein, this press release may contain information and statements of a forward-looking nature concerning the future performance of the Company. These statements are based on suppositions and uncertainties as well as on management's best possible evaluation of future events. Such factors may include, without excluding other considerations, fluctuations in quarterly results, evolution in customer demand for the Company's products and services, the impact of price pressures exerted by competitors, and general market trends or economic changes. As a result, readers are advised that actual results may differ from expected results.

CONTACT INFORMATION
VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp.
Barry Scharf, COO
(514) 274-1115, Ext.108
www.visualmedsolutions.com

[EHR Scoop]

ZyDoc Alerts Doctors with Patients Affected by ADHD Drug Warnings: At-Risk Patients Identified through Transcription Data Mining


Using data mining technology, ZyDoc Medical Transcription service automatically notified physicians as to which of their patients were using medications with FDA advisories. ZyDoc’s easy-to-use transcription service with data mining capability allows any medical practice to participate in the electronic record revolution to extract vital information from their medical records without limitations of current EMR systems.

Hauppauge, NY (PRWEB) February 28, 2006 -- On February 9th, an FDA advisory committee recommended a “black-box” cardiac risk warning for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medications in the methylphenidate and amphetamine classes, including Ritalin, Concerta, Methylin, Metadate and Adderall. Currently under debate, the recommendation came after reports of the deaths of 25 people, 19 of them children, among people using both types of medications. Faced with this information, physicians using paper-based medical records had no practical way to identify which of their thousands of patients are taking these medications. However, physicians using the ZyDoc Transcription service were automatically notified as to which of their patients are using these medications and who is at high risk due to known cardiac problems.

James Maisel, M.D., ZyDoc Chairman explains, “As a provider and repository of web-based medical transcription records, we felt an obligation to help our physicians identify patients of this advisory. Advisories, recalls and warnings have become a growing problem for physicians and patients, as illustrated by recent complications concerning Vioxx and defibrillators. While most physicians struggle with indentifying their at-risk patients, ZyDoc can easily analyze a physician’s previously transcribed word processing documents and extract the vital data. In this case, our physicians were immediately informed which of their patients might be affected by the advisory using ZyDoc’s standard overnight transcription delivery service. As always, patient confidentiality was not compromised”

Steve Koski, CEO of ZyDoc explains the significance of this event. “The medical informatics industry has assumed that relational databases would be required to obtain this type of information. They have been critical of free text solutions using transcription due to limitations of data extraction. Clearly, our data mining capability dispels those assumptions, and enables a non-EMR practice to extract vital information from their medical records. In this way, ZyDoc’s easy-to-use transcription service allows any medical practice to participate in the electronic record revolution. It gives physicians the best of both worlds: ease of use and important clinical data.”

About ZyDoc Medical Transcription
Founded in 1993, ZyDoc is a full service transcription company featuring HIPAA compliant web-based records with e-signature, faxing and infrastructure ASP legacy-replacement and integration solutions. Physicians, transcriptionists, and hospitals use these services to produce, organize, and distribute multi-specialty patient electronic medical records (EMR) in Community Health Information Networks (CHIN). ZyDoc solves the PC literacy, data entry bottleneck, implementation, and cost issues that plague other clinical documentation and transcription companies. The company uses transparent embedded technology that leverages front and back-end speech recognition, workflow enhancements, and the Internet. ZyDoc is a development partner with SUNY Computer Sciences at Stony Brook, Microsoft Solutions Partner, ScanSoft Platinum Dealer, and an IBM Speech Premier Business Partner. In 2004, ZyDoc was ranked third nationally in medical transcription by The Medical Records Institute.