GE Healthcare has announced that it will acquire Applied Precision, Inc., an Issaquah, Wash.-based supplier of innovative cellular imaging technologies for the cell biology and biomedical research sectors. The acquisition of Applied Precision will allow GE Healthcare to expand its offering of products and services for pharmaceutical and life science research.

Pegasystems has unveiled new capabilities for its care management solution, which enables healthcare insurers, hospitals and pharmacy benefit managers to reduce utilization costs and deliver higher quality care. Built on Pegasystems' Build for Change technology, the care management solution significantly reduces the cost of care management program development. The latest version, which features program design accelerators and more tightly embedded workflow integration with industry-leading clinical guideline systems, builds upon broad protocol and disease management strengths to enable interactive, intent-led personalized care planning that allows mass-customization for care plans tailored to each person's needs.

SRS announced that Orthopaedic Surgery Associates of Marquette, P.C. has selected the SRS EHR and SRS CareTracker PM for its 13 providers. Orthopaedic Surgery Associates of Marquette is located in the Upper Peninsula Medical Center in Marquette, Michigan, and has been providing orthopaedic care for more than 40 years.

Portico Systems announced the launch of Portico 9.0, the newest version of its IPM platform. The platform enables health plans to simplify the design, maintenance, reimbursement, and performance management of provider networks while facilitating provider-patient collaboration.
 
Carestream Health announced that the Government of the Northwest Territories in Canada has purchased and implemented one of its digital imaging solutions to improve healthcare in its remote communities. The project involved installation of a DIRECTVIEW Classic CR system and a CARESTREAM workstation at 18 community health centers located throughout the vast region, which covers 1.3 million square kilometers (519,731 square miles) and contains communities both above and below the Arctic Circle. Images are forwarded from the workstation to a server that transmits exams to a PACS installed at Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife.

Summit Healthcare announced an alliance with Salina Regional Health Center (SRHC), the leading acute care hospital of north-central Kansas, to address business continuity and ensure system access during planned and unplanned downtime of its MEDITECH health care information system (HCIS) or network. SRHC will be implementing the Summit Healthcare Downtime Reporting System (DRS) as part of its overall disaster recovery strategy.

Accent on Integration (AOI), a provider of integration software and medical device connectivity solutions, announced that Stillwater Medical Center, in Stillwater, Okla., has leveraged AOI’s Accelero Connect interface to automate how vital signs data is captured and recorded in its ICU. By using Accelero Connect to enable data sharing between its patient monitoring equipment and the Hospital Information System (HIS), Stillwater significantly improved patient care and safety by reducing the risk of possible documentation errors, such as transposing vital sign numbers, while also streamlining nurse workflow. 

Mosby's eLearning, a pioneer in providing eLearning solutions to more than 1,300 healthcare organizations, and the American Safety & Health Institute (ASHI) have introduced the Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) Blended Learning Solution, a training certification solution aimed at effectively educating healthcare professionals about adult advanced cardiac life support. Based on the 2005 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Emergency Cardiovascular Care (ECC) Science with Treatment Recommendation, the ACLS Blended Learning Solution provides users with extensive ACLS information through nine online lessons covering all areas of ACLS, from the foundation of emergency cardiac care to stroke and special resuscitation situations. The online lessons can be completed at the learner's convenience, followed by a face-to-face skills verification session with an ASHI-authorized instructor. Upon successful course completion and skills verification, learners become ACLS certified or recertified.

CareTech Solutions announced today that the company’s document imaging and management solution, iDoc version 5.5, is 2011/2012 compliant and was tested and certified as an electronic health record (EHR) Module on March 28, 2011 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ATCB testing organization, in accordance with the applicable hospital certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
 
athenahealth has announced that CaroMont Health, a regional, independent, not-for-profit health care system in North Carolina, has selected athenahealth’s full suite of cloud-based services to help approximately 200 of its medical providers improve operational efficiency and enhance patient communications to enable a more synchronized level of care.

Viztek has announced IT independence for its Opal-RAD and ORTHO PACS solutions. Changes include support for virtual PACS deployments, unlimited concurrent viewers, and data replication to a data center. With the increased demand for more viewing workstations throughout any given facility’s exam rooms and the notable growth in the use of tablets and iPads, the need for unlimited access to the PACS has grown significantly.  Additionally, the emphasis on any time anywhere reading has led to an influx of off-site reading furthering the benefits of unlimited web licenses.

Voalté has announced that St. Joseph, Mo.-based Heartland Regional Medical Center recently implemented its iPhone solution, which leverages the hospital’s disparate systems onto a single communication platform. Voalté enables caregivers at the medical center to make high-definition VoIP calls, receive critical alarms and send and receive presence-based text messages on the iPhone. This unique deployment includes integrations to the hospital’s Siemens PBX, GE Dukane nurse call system, and Cerner ADT alarms through Philips’ Emergin Enterprise Service Bus over its Cisco wireless network.

Amerinet Inc. has announced a new agreement with LodgeNet Healthcare for interactive patient television services. The contract offers significant savings to Amerinet members on eSUITE, a patient engagement solution that follows patients throughout the entire continuum of care. eSUITE provides entertainment along with engaging educational content that empowers patients to become active participants in managing their health. The solution's robust clinical integrations and bi-directional communications improve patient satisfaction while complying with Meaningful Use and health reform provisions.

4medica announced today that PAML has selected its web-based solution to enable laboratories and physician practices to automate clinical-pathology laboratory ordering processes and exchange results and patient demographic data seamlessly. Spokane, Wash.-based PAML is a medical reference laboratory serving physicians, hospitals, members of the community, employers, and other allied health professionals across the country.