Smiths Medical, part of the global engineering business Smiths Group, has recently introduced the Portex Thermovent T2 Heat and Moisture Exchange Device (HME) for tracheostomy tubes. This new product is now available in the market.

NexGenisys LLC announced that the St. Louis Area Regional Response System (STARRS) has contracted to provide the NexGenisys MEDS|POD and MEDS|Inventory system to its healthcare facilities, signifying a leap forward in regional efforts to protect against the deadly effects of a bio-terror attack, pandemic event or other widespread healthcare crisis. STARRS member hospitals will utilize the MEDS|POD system to facilitate the safe mass dispensing of medications to employee populations and possibly employee family members during disasters which require pharmacological intervention.

A new keyboard that reminds its user that it needs to be cleaned regularly has been developed by scientists at the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), with backing from NHS Connecting for Health.

The Advanced Input Systems Medigenic keyboard, which is claimed could cut cases of the MRSA superbug by up to 10 percent, was producted by UCLH consultant microbiologist Dr. Peter Wilson and clinical scientist Dr. Paul Ostro, with the support of NHS CfH.

NightHawk Radiology Services, LLC., announced today that it completed its first sale of its new Talon service to Advanced Radiology, as part of its strategy to target independent radiology groups across the country.
Talon, NightHawk’s proprietary workflow technology service, features image distribution that routes images to, and creates work lists for, the appropriate doctor by using the internet.

The number of hospital and non-hospital CT sites in the U.S. rose by 24 percent from 2003 to 2006, at an annual rate of 8 percent, according to IMV Medical Information Division’s recent census, as facilities replace their installed CT base and add capacity more rapidly.

Medicare issued a final rule on November 1, 2006 under the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS) that slashes reimbursement for multiple-scan heart imaging PET studies by 71 percent to $731.24, compared to $2,484.88 in 2006.
Under the HOPPS rule, the new rates for PET tumor imaging from skull base to midthigh will also drop by 26 percent to $855.43 compared to $1,150. Similarly, PET/CT imaging scans spanning from skull base to midthigh were cut by 24 percent, down to $950 from $1,250 in 2006.

McKesson, San Francisco, has agreed to purchase Per-Se Technologies, Alpharetta, Ga., in a deal worth $1.8 billion. The purchase, expected to close in the first quarter of 2007 if it meets regulatory approval, extends McKesson's reach in the pharmacy software systems arena as well as establishing a strong presence in the small physician-office practice-management software systems market, where Per-Se obtained a position through its August 2005 acquisition of the physician, hospital and retail pharmacy business of NDC Health for a reported $644 million.

The American Surgical Hospital Association (ASHA) announced that it is changing its name to Physician Hospitals of America (PHA). The new name reflects the association’s focus to promote the advancement of hospitals that include physicians as owners.

British finance minister Gordon Brown has launched a fund to immunize millions of children around the globe, calling it a great "Christmas present" for the world's poor. The 2.1-billion-pound (3.1-billion-euro, 4.0-billion-dollar) International Finance Facility for Immunization aims to pay for 500 million children over the next decade to be protected against polio, measles, diphtheria and hepatitis.

The fund works by selling long-term bonds to international money markets to raise money for developing countries now, with interest on these paid back using future aid funding.

Optio Healthcare today announced that Smith Northview Hospital, a 31-bed facility in rural Georgia, has selected Optio's subscription-based electronic health record (EHR) solution, QuickRecord(R), to provide physicians with remote access to lab results--an effort that will help the facility increase bottom-line revenue.

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