Lockheed Martin wins $170 million in government health IT contracts
Information technology services provider Lockheed Martin has won $170 million in multi-year health IT contracts from the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the company announced. Designed to help the government improve provision of health IT systems, the largest contract – $142 million – establishes desk support, a help desk, and call center services under the HHS Program Support Center. The contract is for three years, with an option for four one-year extensions, according to Lockheed Martin Health Solutions Vice President Steve Lubniewski. Another $28 million contract enables Lockheed Martin to provide support and Web application design and development for the National Institutes of Health Office of Computer and Communications Systems Software Support Services. The $28 million contract has a five-year base period with four one-year options. Lockheed Martin’s customers include the Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services, Federal Occupational and Health, Social Security Administration, and the Department of Defense and Department of Veteran Affairs. http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/...

GE Healthcare launches $90 million HIE business unit
GE Healthcare is investing $90 million in a new business unit to help healthcare providers improve use of health information exchange (HIE) networks. According to GE Healthcare Information Technology Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brandon Savage, the new unit, eHealth, will provide the expertise and technology needs to support regional and statewide HIEs. The unit will include LifeSensor, an online personal health record system; a secure platform for health data exchange; a Web portal that allows clinicians to obtain patient medication history, laboratory results, radiology images, and referral data from different physicians; and technology to support a master record index to ensure patient records are correctly matched up with patients. http://www.genewscenter.com/content/Detail.aspx...

College awarded $25 million to build remote medicine school in VA
A proposed medical school at King College in Bristol, TN, has received a $25 million development grant from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (VTICRC). The grant, one of the largest lump sums ever awarded by the commission, was offered with several stipulations, including that the school be built in Virginia, according to VTICRC Executive Director Neal Noyes. The money must also be equally matched by other sources, including King College. The school, expected to open by fall 2012, will cost about $50 million annually to operate and have an almost $75 million economic impact on the Southside Virginia region within a few years, Noyes added. The medical school will include expanded broadband services, allowing it to serve a wider area of patients remotely, according to state delegate Terry Kilgore. http://www2.tricities.com/tri/news/local/education/...

New mobile e-care system set to take on swine flu
Philips VISICU is tailoring its telemedicine technology program to help prepare for and contain a potential H1N1 flu outbreak. According to Brian Rosenfeld, M.D., chief medical officer of the Baltimore-based remote medical care products provider, VISICU’s new eCareMobile system allows off-site physician specialists to remotely monitor intensive care unit patients and receive warning alerts on patients’ health. An extension of the company’s popular eICU program used by nearly 250 hospitals nationwide, eCareMobile “provides an alternative method for dealing with surge capacity demand while minimizing exposure of critical care specialists to infected patients,” Rosenfeld said. Hospitals throughout North America are seeing a record number of emergency room visits from patients who have flu-like symptoms, so any effort that can reduce patient load will be of great benefit to patients and physicians alike, he added. http://visicu.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=70

House considers bill on medical device tracking, claims submission  
A modified healthcare reform bill under consideration in the House of Representatives would establish national standards for electronic claims submission and other Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act (HIPAA) standards, and also require the Food and Drug Administration to implement a unique device identification (UDI) system for medical devices. The HIPAA provision in H.R. 3962 calls for officials to develop data exchange capabilities that can, among other actions, support machine-readable identification cards within five years. The medical device tracking provision calls for UDI regulations to be in place within six months of the bill’s approval. In addition to helping the medical industry remain up-to-date with the locations of various medical devices used by patients, UDI will also improve electronic ordering, inventory management, and information sharing, resulting in about $16 billion in savings annually, according to Blair Childs, senior vice president of public affairs at Premier healthcare alliance in Charlotte, N.C. http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf

Wireless pacemaker series unveiled by BIOTRONIK
Implantable cardiac product maker BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG, has launched its new Evia pacemaker, the industry’s first and only unit with complete wireless remote monitoring and follow-up capabilities, the company announced. According to BIOTRONIK marketing communications director Amela Malja, patients with an Evia pacemaker can be remotely monitored through the company’s home monitoring wireless system and only have to make one annual in-clinic visit. BIOTRONIK is also planning to launch a new pacemaker-led system which will be MRI-compatible under specific conditions during the first half of 2010, Malja added. The company’s wireless home monitoring system has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European CE mark approval, allowing marketing in both locations. http://www.biotronik.com/sixcms/...

Patient monitoring system provider earns $13.5 million contract
The healthcare division of Hawthorne, CA-based OSI Systems Inc. has been awarded a one-year, $13.5 million Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract from the U.S. Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia to provide patient monitoring systems, sub-systems, training, and consumables. According to OSI Systems Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Deepak Chopra, products provided will be distributed nationally to all branches of the U.S. armed forces, in addition to other U.S. government agencies. http://investors.osi-systems.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=417634

Pan-African telemedicine project seeks qualified training personnel
Efforts to launch a continent-wide telemedicine project in Africa are being hindered by a lack of qualified personnel to train and work with system engineers, according to a government official of the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. The republic will still be able to implement its portion of the Pan-African e-Governance Project, scheduled for start-up today, according to Health and Sanitation Minister Sheku Tejan Koroma. But technologically skilled persons, as well as additional funds to maintain and extend the network to other provinces, are necessary to keep the system functioning, Koroma said. The Pan-African Project aims at improving the skills of medical practitioners by helping them follow certain medical procedures. Once completed, the project will connect with 54 countries, including India. http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=A095D9F2-1A64-6A71-CE7967C5378FD78E

Virtual medical team platform to improve patient-physician communication
The Family Medicine Education Consortium Inc. (FMEC) and Human Science Inc. are collaborating on an effort to create virtual teams that connect primary care physicians with the sub-specialist physicians with whom they share the care of patients, the companies announced. The PatientCarenet.org platform allows physicians to engage in immediate and secure dialogue with colleagues through threaded messages, virtual conferences and discussion boards, according to Steven M. Schwartz, M.D., associate professor of family medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine and an FMEC member. This new healthcare technology tool also reduces peer-physician communication challenges, enabling real-time, direct doctor-to-doctor communication that enhances professional relationships and frees up doctors’ times, he said. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/family...     http://www.humanscienceinc.com/index.html?swf_pn=1

National health IT coordinator to gauge public interest in HIEs
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) plans to conduct a survey to determine consumers’ interest in health information exchange. Public comment is being accepted until Dec. 28 by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as to the type of information collections that should take place during the eight-week survey, which ONC hopes to conduct using computer-assisted telephone interviews of 2,500 persons nationwide. ONC will hold a Web seminar prior to the publication of the final report to convey the findings to the general public. A final report will be posted on http://healthit.hhs.gov. Public comment may be addressed to Sherette.funncoleman@hhs.gov. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-25935.htm

HIE system needs tighter implementation standards
Tighter standards are needed to ensure greater implementation of health information exchange (HIE) systems among the nation’s healthcare providers, according to representatives of several health plan groups, hospitals, doctors’ practices, and vendors. Speaking before the Health Information Technology Standards Committee’s Implementation Workgroup in Washington, D.C. last week, participants noted various frustrations in attempting to launch HIEs. Such hindrances included varying interface standards for each laboratory, difficulty by physicians in connecting with local hospitals to collect patient data, and competition for resources with a more rapid or direct clinical effect. Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra said the committee will forward its recommendations to the Health and Human Services Department, which will consider them for upcoming regulations for distributing $20 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments. http://fcw.com/articles/2009/10/29...    http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news...

Early EHR users say tool will ultimately improve health IT  
Few groups involved in implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) are finding it to be smooth sailing, but many are still optimistic that health information technology will ultimately improve as a result of their efforts, according to a survey by the American Medical Group Association (AMGA). Eighty-five percent of AMGA members have implemented EHRs and now consider them to be essential in providing medical care and controlling costs, according to AMGA President and Chief Executive Officer Donald W. Fisher. Groups that have experienced the greatest success thus far with EHRs are the ones that are patient and persistent with their use. It is also important to implement the system in stages, allowing physicians and staff the time to become proficient with the new product, according to the survey. http://www.amga.org/AboutAMGA/News/article_news.asp?k=338