Journalist: Let’s imagine a hospital where life support systems are running Vista. Would you trust it with your life?

Bill Gates: Security has been the top priority for Microsoft for quite some time and that’s why I put out a key call for us to focus on that in a very big way over three years ago, and that’s why we’ve made investments like having people from Gecad ( Romanian company ) join on the security action from Microsoft. The answer to your question is that, absolutely, Vista is the most secure operating system we’ve ever done, and if it’s administred properly, absolutely, it can be used to run a hospital or any kind of mission crytical thing. But it’s not as simple as saying “If you use Vista, that happens automatically”. The issues about patient records and who should be able to see them, the issue about setting up a network, so that authorized people can connect up to that hospital network, the issue about having backup power, so that the computer systems can run even if the generators go down. There are a lot of issues to properly set up that system, so that you have the redundancy and the security walls to make sure it fullfils that very crytical function. So we are working with partners to raise their skills to make sure that when get involved in an installation like that they can make it secure. So I feel better about Vista than any other operating system, but there’s a lot of things that need to be done well, and we’re certaintly committed to step up and make sure these security issues are ieasier and better understood.

Source: Our-Picks.com

The finalists for the 2007 22nd Annual SIIA Codie Awards have been announced:

Best Healthcare Management Solution (Vertical)
• AdvancedMD, AdvancedMD Software, Inc.
• CodeRyte.com, CodeRyte, Inc.
• MediCompass Pro, iMetrikus, Inc.
• Kronos for Healthcare, Kronos

Best Medical and Health Information Product
• The AHA Core Instructor Course, Enspire Learning
• Quicken Medical Expense Manager, Intuit, Inc.
• VisualDx, Logical Images
• NetCompetency, NetLearning – a division of Thomson Learning
• Skyscape MedAlert(tm), Skyscape
• Anatomy of Care, WILL Interactive, Inc.

Electronic Medical Records systems could help reduce the more than 7000 people a year who are killed by doctor’s poor handwriting according to a July 2006 report from the National Academies of Science’s Insititute of Medicine.

A coalition of health care companies and technology firms has launched a program that allows doctors in the US to write electronic prescriptions for free.

The National e-prescribing Patient Safety Initiative (NEPSI) will offer doctors access to eRx Now, a Web-based tool that physicians can use to write prescriptions electronically, check for potentially harmful drug interactions and ensure that pharmacies provide appropriate medications and dosages.

Source: Time

HiMSS 06 is taking place on 12-16th Feb in San Diego. Keynote speakers include:

Tom Ridge
Feb 15 1:00 - 2:30 pm.

The first Secretary of Homeland Security.

Craig R. Barrett
Feb 16 8:00 - 8:45 am

Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel, willl be talking about “Transformations in the Healthcare Industry”.

Governor Mark R Warner
Feb 16 8:45 - 9:30 am

Governor of Virginia

Dana Carvery
Feb 16 1:00 - 2:30pm

Comedian shares personal experience of relevance to the audience.

In his State of the Union Address, George W Bush has called for an increase in the uptake of electronic medical records systems:

We will make wider use of electronic records and other health information technology, to help control costs and reduce dangerous medical errors.

High tech companies are promoting the use of technology at local hospitals and medical groups that serve their employees.

Intel, Cisco Systems Oracle are leading a group of companies that will pay hospitals based on how effectively they use the technology and how many patients are involved. Financial rewards of up to $150,000 are available to doctors and practice groups that adopt electronic medical records, online chats between physicians and patients and automatic health reminder registries for patients with chronic diseases.

“Ultimately, it is about employers and physicians working together to improve the quality and safety of care,” said Dr. Jeffrey Rideout, MD, Cisco’s Vice President of Healthcare, Internet Business Solutions Group and Corporate Medical Director. “Creating a system that provides patient information and data as well as the results of medications and treatments will help physicians make the best medical decisions.”

Canadian EMR has posted about the release of the Canadian version of Epocrates. There’s also some interesting commentary on whether PDA applications are still useful in the world of high speed internet access and EMR.

I think that PDA apps are still very useful but don’t come anywhere near to the usefulness of a connected system. Not all hospitals and clinics are connected yet though, far from it, so until the hospital IT systems are implemented, individual doctors can take it upon themselves to use technology in the form of stand alone PDA apps like Epocrates.

Keith Hagen talks about the difference between Compucare and QuadraMed, poor sales of Affinity and more.

Check out the interview on HISTalk.

Fox News has been reporting about UCLAs latest medical technology. Check out the bedside robot and integrated wireless network.

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There’s also an extended report about the wireless system here (source: MedGadget)

If you are interested in using Handheld Computers in your hospital, make sure you attend our Handheld Computers Workshops at the Royal Society of Medicine in London on April 6th.

Shahid N. Shah has been telling healthcare IT vendors that they should be considering open sourcing their products. Amoung the benefits he describes are:

• More product visibility
• Eliminate long sales cycles
• Improve customer relations
• Build your market quicker

Read the article on Shahid’s Weblog.

Lance Weber has also posted some responses to the article.