Cambridge, England-based Digital Healthcare (DH), a supplier ofsoftware for diabetic retinal imaging programmes and ophthalmology,appointed Jeff Gordon as chairman and managing director.

Dwight W. Reynolds, MD, FHRS, president of the Heart Rhythm Societyreleased a statement regarding the organization’s “mixed feelings”regarding President Bush’s fiscal year 2008 budget proposal.

The Medipattern Corporation has appointed Bill Atkinson as manager of Commercial Operations.

President Bush has faced some criticism over his recently proposedbudget which targets Medicare spending cuts that have the potential tohit hospitals and physicians with cuts.

Acusphere has hired Dennis Bucceri as senior vice president ofRegulatory Affairs. The company is currently preparing for theregulatory evaluation stage of its lead product candidate, Imagify, acardiovascular drug for screening of coronary artery disease.

At HIMSS, vendors that have powerful advanced visualization tools will put as much or more emphasis on how the dynamic images can be shared throughout an enterprise rather than just how to process them. The advanced visualization tools already include features that greatly simplify the processing of images, but new features are making it even simpler to do such work remotely. Other systems are placing an emphasis on easing communication between doctors throughout the process, from image acquisition all the way to treatment. Also, various systems provide a number of ways to simplify very sophisticated imaging processes to speed workflow and improve image review.

Vendors are rolling out a diverse array of PACS and relatedessential solutions such as RIS, workflow managers and dashboards atHIMSS ’07. The reality of budget constraints is apparent with morevendors launching ASP (application service provider) solutions. Vendorsalso are focusing on second- and third-generation buyers and toutingtheir ability to transfer legacy data. Workflow of course remains a hotissue, and new systems are rolling out to streamline workflow andenhance communication with and service to referring physicians. Buyerscan expect to see an assortment of standalone RIS and PACS/RISsolutions on the show floor, too. Several vendors are launching newsolutions designed to connect and streamline the assortment oftechnologies and systems that comprise the 21st century digitalenterprise. Expect to see tighter integration among various systems.Other essential solutions on the show floor include peripherals likefurniture optimized for the digital environment and speech recognitionsolutions. It should be a great show. See you there.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report whichevaluates the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS)efforts towards protecting the privacy of health information.