New & Improved

Mobile Clinical Assistant

Motion Computing, headquartered in Austin, Texas, recently launched the C5 mobile clinical assistant (MCA) at UCSF Medical Center during a joint conference with Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel. The MCA was created by Intel with support from Motion Computing to enable nurses, physicians and other clinicians to do their jobs on the move.

Motion Computing claims that the Motion C5 integrates design elements with point-of-care data and image capture technologies to simplify workflows, ease clinician workloads and improve overall quality of care.

According to Motion Computing, the C5 combines multiple devices into one, including a built-in bar code and RFID reader for patient identification, as well as supply, specimen and medication administration verification.

Torrence, Calif.-based Saitek Industries Ltd., recently released its backlit keyboard, Eclipse Red. Designed for medical professionals, the computer keyboard has backlighting that shines through laser-etched keys.

According to Saitek, the illuminated console works in dimly-lit corridors or any type of low-light/no-light situation. Eclipse's weighted base and rubber feet keep the keyboard firmly planted to a desk or cart, the company touts.

Wayne, Pa.-based MEDecision and San Francisco Calif.-based Medem plan to combine health plan information with the physician-patient relationship to deliver a transportable personal health record through a payer-provider partnership.

Through this collaboration, MEDecision will deliver its Patient Clinical Summary, a payer-based, clinically validated, electronic health record, to patients and their providers through iHealth, Medem's online personal health record.

St Paul, Minn.-based, Acuo Technologies recently announced the availability of a new software component, the PACS Aggregation Engine.

According to Acuo Technologies, PACS Aggregation Engine, a component of the Acuo DICOM Services Grid, can be licensed and used with any third party DICOM-compliant application, such as DICOM workstations and traditional department PACS. Common applications include location DICOM device object location, content pre-fetching and archive data migration.

San Francisco, Calif.-based McKesson recently announced plans to introduce the HorizonWP Nursing Portal. According to McKesson, the portal gives users secure, anytime access to patient data via the Internet.

McKesson claims the new portal serves as a command center, giving nurses access to the information most relevant to them including clinical and medication histories, flowsheets, images and results as well as charting, medication administration, order management, fetal strip monitoring and nursing-specific census management.

Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Ingenix recently launched its Health Information Exchange Solutions that it hopes will help physicians, hospitals, health plans and administrators operate more efficiently by enabling real-time, 24/7 access to and exchange of critical financial and clinical data.

According to Ingenix, its Health Information Exchange Solutions are a portfolio of integrated health information technology and connectivity offerings that will make data accessible to all healthcare system participants in real time using open networks and products.

StatCom coordinates patients and resources from admission through discharge, including managing beds, environmental services and discharge. The product informs physicians, staff, and family as to the patient's status and location, and provides real-time tools to manage departmental flow, the company claims.

Aurora, Colo.-based Health Language Inc. (HLI), a supplier of language engine technology for medical vocabulary, recently announced the addition of ICD-10-CM functionality to the Language Engine (LE) product.

According to HLI, the capabilities of the Language Engine will allow users to translate ICD-9-CM inpatient and outpatient diagnostic coding into the approved ICD-10-CM code sets.

The LE product provides a tool for healthcare organizations, application solution providers, payers and government agencies to localize, update and disseminate over 70 controlled, licensed healthcare terminologies, mappings and other terminology-related content issued by a growing number of standards bodies.

New features include support for recurring and global tickets, software license compliance and a customizable sidebar.

Citel, headquartered in Seattle, Wash., recently launched the Portico Telephone VoIP Adapter to enable and convert existing PBX phones into IP phones over existing wiring infrastructure. The Portico platform provides VoIP functionality without "rip and replace" cost for network upgrades, new handsets, and retraining, the company says.

According to Citel, Portico TVA connects legacy PBX handsets to a premise-based IP PBX or Hosted IP service provider network. VoIP services pass through Portico TVA directly to existing PBX handsets over existing wiring, transforming them into new IP phones.