Mid-Atlantic Group Network of Shared Services (MAGNET), a U.S. healthcare group purchasing organization, signed a five-year contract with Eastman Kodak Company that makes Kodak’s digital imaging products available to MAGNET member facilities.
Under this contract, MAGNET participating healthcare facilities can now purchase Kodak computed radiography systems, Kodak digital radiography systems, Kodak laser imaging systems as well as a variety of x-ray films.

Siemens has been given the okay to acquire the diagnostics division of Bayer Healthcare without restrictions. The approval was granted yesterday by the European Commission, following the earlier approval by U.S. antitrust authorities at the beginning of October. For Siemens, this follows the acquisition of the Diagnostic Products Corp. (DPC) at the end of July. Upon completion of the Bayer acquisition, which is expected by early 2007, both companies will be merged and will operate as "Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics."

Eastman Kodak Co.’s Health Group recently launched KODAK Business Diagnostics Services, focused consulting services that enable healthcare facilities to deliver improved productivity, revenue gains and reduced waste when implementing new digital imaging technologies, including picture archiving and communications systems (PACS).

Thinking Systems Corporation released a new version of ThinkingPACS, which supports the new DICOM 3.0 2006 standard for color and grayscale presentation states, key objects and structured reporting.

The University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center is the first site in the U.S. to install Siemens’ Inveon, a PET, SPECT and CT hybrid-imaging device, which researchers at the university hope will allow them to better visualize and characterize disease.
Inveon’s modular design allows users to image individually or with all three modalities in combination. The system is instrumental for imaging molecular biomarkers enabling the identification of disease pathways, evaluation of disease progress, tracking response to novel therapies and may speed drug development.

A large California-based study has shown that patients with heart failure who start taking statins, compared with those who don't, will live longer and have a lower hospitalization risk regardless of cholesterol levels, presence or absence of coronary disease, and other CV drug therapies, “Heartwire” reported this week.

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology is inviting organizations to submit their ambulatory electronic health-record products for possible certification during the next application period, running Nov. 1-14. The application period marks the launch of CCHIT certification of ambulatory EHRs internally developed by physician practices, hospitals and health systems.

The names of products receiving certification during this period are tentatively scheduled to be announced Feb. 1.

ECRI (www.ecri.org), an independent, nonprofit health services research agency, recently published an evaluation of six anesthesia systems for full-range, inpatient surgical use and two anesthesia systems designed for outpatient use. Two articles, published in consecutive issues of ECRI’s Health Devices journal, provides product specifications and purchasing options, based on ECRI’s first-hand testing, to assist healthcare facilities in selecting an anesthesia
system.

Six of 10 doctors surveyed, upset about low reimbursement, red tape and long hours, said they’ve considered leaving the practice of medicine, according to the American College of Physician Executives.

About 70% of those physicians said they knew of at least one doctor who quit medicine because of “low morale.” The annual ACPE survey included responses from about 1,200 physicians. Fatigue was cited as the No. 1 problem by 77 percent of respondents. Emotional burnout was a close second at 66 percent. About 4 percent of physicians said they have had suicidal thoughts.

Weston County Health Services, Newcastle, WY has purchased an IMCO Teleradiology System from IMCO Technologies. The system will have bidirectional capability between an offsite radiology group and the hospital.

Subscribe to
© Copyright Wainscot Media. All Rights Reserved.
Subscribe Now