John D. Halamka, MD, CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, seems to be taking a bit of flak for a recent assertion dubbing DICOM a "non-standard standard."

IBM will acquire Worklight, a privately held Israeli-based provider of mobile software for smartphones and tablets, in a definitive agreement announced on Feb. 1. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Opening Keynote: As "meaningful use" continues to drive the increased utilization of EHRs, many observers believe the biggest impact will be felt from the use of EHR data for purposes other than direct patient care: what is often called "secondary use" of data. The promise is enormous to achieve what has been called a "learning health system" for the U.S. Where is this headed in the future and what are the emerging fields and uses?

The presentation will discuss the emerging role of chief nursing information officer (CNIO), both as a liaison between IT and nursing, especially optimizing the EMR for nursing, at a 14 hospital metropolitan healthcare system.

McKesson has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Drug Trading, an independent banner business of Katz Group Canada and Medicine Shoppe Canada, the franchise business of the Katz Group. The purchase price is approximately CAD$920 million (USD$1.21 billion), which McKesson expects to fund from its available cash.

Implementation of a vendor-neutral archive (VNA) solves most of the problems associated with PACS, can save money over the long term and can prepare an enterprise to participate in a health information exchange (HIE), according to Michael J. Gray of Gray Consulting who presented during a webinar on Jan. 26 hosted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and GNAX Health.

The benefits to productivity and efficiency provided by PACS are widely publicized, but a PACS implementation isnt without its challenges. In the February issue of Academic Radiology, radiologists and PACS managers from University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland offered their experiences implementing PACS to illustrate potential gains and problem areas.

Informatics innovations can boost productivity or market share; however, justifying the development and implementation of such systems can be challenging. An article in the February issue of Academic Radiology offered a wish list and a series of strategies for investing in specific PACS innovations.