Healthcare IT

Optum has moved to grow its multichannel digital platform by purchasing a majority interest in Audax Health Solutions. Audax Founder and CEO Grant Verstandig and President and Chief Operating Officer David Ko will lead the company in serving various independent market channels, Optum said Wednesday. Verstandig said his company aims for the acquisition to further […] More

Information Builders has provided Avatar Solutions a set of business intelligence and data integrity tools in an effort to help Avatar organize customer satisfaction surveys for healthcare organizations. Avatar deployed Information Builders’ technologies to help clients measure employee performance or patient perception of medical services, Information Builders said Tuesday. Gerald Cohen, Information Builders president and […] More

SRI International has introduced a new platform made for identifying and analyzing circulating tumor cells from blood samples. The FASTcell technology is built as a testing service for cancer researchers and clinicians to detect and capture tumor cells from normal blood cells in order to perform molecular and genetic analysis, SRI said Tuesday. Lidia Sambucetti, […] More

Philips has been chosen to support Partners HealthCare At Home in providing telemonitoring services for patients with chronic illnesses and those who are newly discharged, the companies said Wednesday. The telemonitoring program is intended to remotely track a patient’s health status and alert nursing staff when preemptive medical intervention is needed to avoid hospital readmission for the […] More

A new study from RNCOS predicts the healthcare information technology segment in the U.S. will see a 20-percent compounded annual growth rate between 2014 and 2018. The “US Healthcare IT Market Outlook 2018” study cites increased support from government and new products as main reasons for the market’s growth, Reportlinker said Thursday. RNCOS analysts also […] More

Dell and Kallo have forged an alliance to design and develop an information technology infrastructure at Kallo’s global support center for healthcare clients. Kallos delivers customized healthcare delivery platforms designed to support mobile care, clinical training, pharmacy informatics, diagnostics and disaster management programs in developing nations, Dell said Tuesday. Dell will help Kallo create a […] More

Accenture has updated its software program that is intended to help state health and human service agencies in the U.S. comply with federal healthcare requirements. The Public Health Platform version 3.1 is built for state agencies to administer health assistance and manage services for Medicaid, Accenture said Monday. David McCurley, managing director for health and public […] More

Robert Michalsky, a cybersecurity principal at NJVC, has proposed a holistic approach to dealing with account takeovers, medical device intrusions, application break-ins, insurance fraud and other health information breaches. Along with HIPAA compliance, healthcare providers must also practice good information security hygiene and address policy gaps, Michalsky said Friday at the annual HIPAA summit in Washington. […] More

Five major pharmacy chains and three pharmacy associations have agreed to support the Blue Button initiative as the federal government aims to spur development of new healthcare data applications in the private sector, Fedscoop reported Friday. Scott Maucione writes the Department of Health and Human Service has worked with more than 70 pharmacy organizations to publish a guideline for […] More

The Government Employees Health Association and DPS Health have moved to extend their online weight management program partnership through 2014. GEHA and DPS Health aim to have an additional 5,000 health plan members through the program’s continuation, DPS Health said Thursday. Kathy Ross, director of clinical quality for GEHA, said VLM is intended to help address members’ […] More

Xerox researchers have designed a medical technology that uses a video camera and analytics software to track a patient’s vital signs. The Xerox Innovation Group is testing the wireless patient monitoring system at the Manipal University Hospital in India and University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, the company said Thursday. “This research can […] More

IBM Corp. wants to invest $100 million in a 10-year initiative to roll out its artificial intelligence and cognitive systems in Africa in an effort to seek business opportunities in the region. IBM will deploy the Watson technology from its Africa research laboratory, where researchers can develop new services in healthcare, education, water and sanitation, […] More