ASP Financing Functionality for RIS from Absolute Software

New application service provider (ASP) financing adds functionality to the RIS solution from Absolute Software, Houston. Absolute’s RIS, when purchased with advanced financial management and billing capabilities, now provides a complete practice management solution designed to streamline operational workflow and financial efficiency in hospital radiology departments, imaging centers, surgery centers, and private practices. The Web-based system, which can be configured across multiple sites, offers such features as real-time and batch patient insurance eligibility verification; an enhanced claims editor and clearinghouse solution; automated self-pay collection processes; a drag-and-drop user interface; and advanced report generation tools, complemented by an array of report delivery options to referring physicians, including fax, e-mail, and online report access.
(877) 763-3729; www.absolutemedicalsoftwaresystems.com

Results Distribution System and Workflow Solutions from AMICAS

A new results distribution solution from AMICAS Inc, Boston, offers radiologists the ability to use Web-based technology to integrate reports with key images, creating a single “multimedia” report for referring physicians. The Vision Reach system is a password-protected Web solution involving no plug-ins, helper applications, or heavy downloads. It provides a customized Web portal with the look and feel of popular e-mail programs, and it notifies referring physicians via e-mail as reports become available. A second offering from AMICAS, the RadStream workflow solution, aims to boost radiologist productivity by supporting automation and documentation of results communication as well as integrating disparate PACS with the AMICAS Real Time Worklist. The Worklist automatically prioritizes the radiologists’ workload, presenting the most acute cases first; meanwhile, automated communication streamlines interactions between radiologists and referring physicians. RadStream is fully integrated with the new AMICAS Vision Series 5.0 PACS and the Vision Reach tool.
(617) 779-7878; www.amicas.com


Enterprise Systems Integration Software from Compressus

Compressus Inc, Washington, DC, will showcase its enterprise systems integration solution at HIMSS this year. The MEDxConnect system—which offers connectivity and interoperability between diagnostic acquisition devices, PACS, HIS, RIS, and related information systems—supports HL7 and DICOM. Key components of the solution include the Medical Message Mediator (M3), which uses the communications protocols and semantics of each participating information system to control the flow of images, reports, message, standard patient demographics, and data important to diagnosis and treatment planning. M3 also maps data elements, bridging isolated islands of data and mediating interoperability between different applications to create an IHE-adherent virtual integrated information system. Another key component is the Systems Management Dashboard, which provides a means by which the health care enterprise can monitor workflow in real time, tracking inefficiencies and bottlenecks through a number of numeric and graphic tools.
(202) 742-4307; www.compressus.com

Radiology Department Management Tool from Sectra

Sectra Inc, Linköping, Sweden, has enhanced its tool for optimizing workflow and resource utilization in radiology departments, the Control Tower management tool. Offering department managers full control and overview of current production statistics, as well as historical data used for trend analysis, the Control Tower system now features live reports capable of analyzing bottlenecks in real time. Live reports also give an on-demand overview of current queue lengths, patient waiting times, and resource usage. “The new version of Sectra Control Tower features a full set of predefined reports and a standardized interface that allows us to customize new predefined reports for specific needs,” Staffan Bergstrom, vice president of marketing at Sectra, said in a press release. “Because the new version runs in a Web browser, it is easy to deploy and can be used anywhere at anytime. It also is an aid in long-term procurement decisions.” Sectra Control Tower collects data from Sectra’s radiological IT systems.
(203) 925-0899; www.sectra.com

Next-Generation Enterprise PACS from ScImage

V3.0 of the single database PACS from ScImage, Los Altos, Calif, made its debut at RSNA 2006 and will be demonstrated at HIMSS 2007. In its latest iteration, PicomEnterprise has evolved into a complete multi-department workflow system, enabling examinations from multiple departments to be scheduled, tracked, reported, archived, and distributed via a single Web-based log-on by employing a single database to organize varied data from each department. “ScImage’s PicomEnterprise is a single Web-based system that accomplishes efficient resource and data organization by providing tools for examination scheduling and tracking, Web-based conflict resolution, primary interpretation and reporting tools, and results reporting to the designated recipient,” Sai Raya, PhD, founder and CEO of ScImage, explained in a press release. The combination of our workflow solution, PicomEnterprise, and our active data center, PicomOnline, enables cash- and resource-constrained environments to increase efficiencies by more effectively using limited resources.
(866) SCIMAGE; www.scimage.com

Informatics Advancements and PACS Upgrades from Philips Medical

At HIMSS, Philips Radiology Informatics (formerly Stentor Inc), Brisbane, Calif, will highlight its suite of iSite PACS solutions for radiology, as well as showcase its informatics offerings for different clinical specialties, including cardiology, orthopedics, and oncology. V3.5 of the iSite PACS (shown here) enables total access to diagnostic-quality images and relevant information throughout the enterprise; features upgrades include a new core IHE-compliant database, an HL7 workflow engine, back-end system architecture harmonized with Philips user interface design standards, and a localization framework for internationalization support. iSite also has gained clinical value through the addition of several advanced visualization and processing applications, now interfaced with the iSite Radiology application. The company also will showcase its new interfaced support for the cardiology care cycle within the Xcelera Cardiovascular Information Solution and interfaced solutions for the orthopedic care cycle.
(877) 318-1808; www.stentor.com

Radiologist Task Center from Swearingen

Swearingen Software Inc, Houston, will showcase at HIMSS its Radiologist Task Center, which offers a one-stop radiologist dashboard integrated into the company’s RISynergy system. On a single screen, radiologists using the Task Center can view the procedures that they are required to perform on any given day; view the schedule of all procedures and visits for the day; view, edit, and sign off on transcribed reports; view a list of completed examinations waiting to be read; and access patient visit history, current visit detail record, or schedule detail record, as well as all previous transcribed reports for any given patient. In addition, the Task Center allows the radiologist to sync up auxiliary systems, like a PACS or a dictation system, with the displayed patient record; this allows all systems to display the selected patient’s current information.
(800) 992-1767; www.swearingensoftware.com

Multimedia Storage Systems from Agfa HealthCare

At HIMSS, Agfa HealthCare, Greenville, SC, will demonstrate its new IMPAX Data Center, a large-scale multimedia storage system for all types of medical images and diagnostic results. Designed to serve hospital groups, regional health care organizations, and national medical archives, the IMPAX Data Center was designed with the demands brought by new technology, such as multislice CT, in mind. By consolidating information in a central clinical data foundation, the Data Center takes multimedia information necessary to support the electronic health record (EHR) and organizes it within one infrastructure. The Data Center can receive hundreds of images per second and can manage almost 1,000 terabytes of information. It is DICOM-compatible and fits with IHE integration profiles; it also incorporates IHE for all applicable radiology, cardiology, and IT infrastructure integration profiles. The Data Center can be integrated with any new or existing Agfa PACS as well as into legacy or multi-vendor environments.
(800) 581-2432; www.agfa.com/healthcare

Enterprise Information Management Software from Kodak

At HIMSS, Kodak’s Health Group, Rochester, NY, will introduce the latest software addition to its Carestream Enterprise Information Management (EIM) platform. The upgrade will facilitate integration of images into electronic medical records and give providers easier access to patients’ medical-imaging examinations via a content browser. This feature allows users to access a variety of patient files archived on storage systems managed by Kodak’s Carestream EIM platform. For example, referring physicians will have the capacity to browse imaging files stored in cardiology, oncology, and other imaging systems in addition to the traditional radiographic visualizations available on PACS.
(800) 328-2910; www.kodak.com/go/health

Virtual Radiology Network from NeuroStar

NeuroStar Solutions, Atlanta, will introduce the newest version of its Virtual Radiology Network (VRN) clinical image workflow platform at HIMSS. The VRN offers Web-based image management, pulling images from existing modalities and PACS at multiple locations through an integrated network of on- and off-site servers and makes them available to any authorized user through integrated worklists. For sites without a PACS, VRN provides an affordable alternative. V6.4 offers such features as online ordering and setup via NeuroStar’s eStore; online support, training materials, and tools; access to an online community of users with a variety of collaborative tools; and enhanced dynamic routing of studies to the physician, based on resource allocation and optimization.
(866) 809-4746; www.neurostarsolutions.com

PACS and RIS Upgrades from Sage Software

Sage Software (formerly Emdeon Practice Services), Tampa, Fla, will display both its Intergy PACS and its latest Intergy RIS at HIMSS 2007. Intergy RIS 3.5 features new alert functions, such as insurance plan alert, referring provider alert, and document delivery system status alert; it also offers additional productivity reports, an appointment limits feature, report approval enhancements, and a supervising provider function. Intergy PACS, powered by IntegradWeb PACS from Dynamic Imaging, Allendale, NJ, uses the power of the Web to deliver images, reports, and patient information from locations both local and remote at any time, from any PC. Intergy now features digital mammography integration and leverages the power of clinical applications, such as Voxar 3D from Barco, Kortrijk, Belgium; Vitrea from Vital Images Inc, Minnetonka, Minn; MedView from MedImage Inc, Ann Arbor, Mich; and TraumaCAD from Orthocrat Ltd, Petah-Tikva, Israel. Intergy PACS also offers a comprehensive archiving solution with an advanced, on-demand architecture that provides optional clustering and cost-efficient disaster recovery solutions.
(877) 932-6301; www.sagehealth.com

Upgraded Imaging Information Solutions from Vital Images

At HIMSS, Vital Images, Minnetonka, Minn, will showcase three new information solutions: the latest version of Vitrea, an accessibility tool called VitreaACCESS, and the latest version of ViTALConnect. Combined, the three are designed to facilitate improved communication between radiologists, radiologic technologists, and other clinical users, including surgeons, oncologists, and referring physicians. Bolstering the power and speed of the newest workstation applications is the communication and distribution flexibility provided by the Internet. Physicians using Vitrea 3.9 can manipulate studies to create key images, and then send them to ViTALConnect 4.0; there, enterprise users both inside and outside the facility can continue analysis and manipulation via a Web interface. VitreaACCESS allows radiologists to access their advanced visualization desktop from a remote location utilizing their VPN, extending the system’s capabilities even further.
(866) 433-4624; www.vitalimages.com