GBA HealthNetwork Systems has integrated its practice managementsoftware with an EHR system from Wellogic, a Cambridge, Mass.-basedclinical software provider.

Integrating PACS and EHR systems saves time and money, eliminates the dreaded multiple system sign in, and can even help retain and attract key radiologists. Several facilities share how they went from disparate systems to direct links.

CPOE requires a fairly technologically sophisticated facility and an exhaustive implementation process. But the benefits it brings are clear and compelling. Two facilities share their experiences in implementing the technology.

Health IT vendors are helping to answer the call that healthcarefacilities must work smarter. At RSNA 2007, vendors are showingincreased functionality in their software, tools that improve workflowefficiency and offerings that assist with everything from scheduling tobilling to electronic signature and reporting. Scalable solutions,improved networking capability, tighter integration and workstationsthat offer “one-stop shopping” are sharing the showtime limelight.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched anew five-year demonstration program to financially reward physicianswho use EHR systems in their practices.

The state of Minnesota has awarded 16 grants totaling $3.5 million tohelp rural or small-town provider organizations implement EHRs.

Microsoft has agreed to acquire software, intellectual property andother assets from Global Care Solutions, a Bangkok,Thailand-based developer of health information systems.

If public officials work to make technology more widely available, theworld’s population will be able to reap the benefits of healthcare IT,according to Hussein Gezairy, the World Health Organization (WHO)director for the Eastern Mediterranean region, at the World of HealthIT conference last week in Vienna, Austria.