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.

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. announced today a partnership with BRIT Systems for the integration and distribution of its image management system, as part of its plan to provide integrated PACS systems to enhance workflow and image quality for 2-D, 3-D and 4-D data.

According to OTECH, their poll data indicates that there is overwhelming interest for PACS administrator certification: 90 percent of the respondents indicated that certification is desired and 83 percent would consider getting certified. In addition, 50 percent of the respondents feel they need additional IT skills, while 37 percent indicate that additional IT and clinical training is needed.

Duke University engineers have shown that a 3-D ultrasound scanner they developed can successfully guide a surgical robot.
The scanner could find application in various medical settings, according to the researchers. They said the scanner might enable surgeries to be performed without surgeons, a capability that could prove valuable in space stations or other remote locations.

Hologic has announced that it will introduce at RSNA 2006 a new dedicated extremity MRI scanner, Opera, which targets orthopedic specialists as the company increasingly emphasizes bone densitometry systems and skeletal health.
Developed out of Hologic’s partnership with Italian company Esaote, Opera is a redesign of Esaote’s 0.2-tesla E-Scan XQ platform, which now enables complete imaging of all extremities, including hip and shoulder applications. “Real-time positioning” reportedly speeds patient setup and reduces exam times.

Frost & Sullivan selected Aurora Imaging Technology, Inc. as the winner of the 2006 for Niche Player of the Year award for its role as a technology leader in dedicated breast MRI, signaling that MRI is having a significant impact in breast imaging.
Aurora has the only FDA-approved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner solely for use in breast imaging, and the system can perform breast exams for early detection and long-term monitoring of patients.

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