MS-HUG Awards

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Microsoft Healthcare Users Group (MS-HUG) and Microsoft Corp. today announced winners for the ninth annual MS-HUG awards. The honors are awarded by MS-HUG, a membership community of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), in recognition of the breakthrough contributions being made by healthcare organizations and individuals to drive efficiencies across the healthcare system — ultimately containing costs and improving the quality of patient care.

“As healthcare continues to lead as a topic of national concern and debate, Microsoft is committed to working with individuals, organizations and government drivers to leverage the role that technology can play in achieving healthcare transformation,” said Steve Shihadeh, general manager of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Microsoft. “With so much truly innovative work being done with our technology throughout the healthcare system, these awards are a way for us to showcase some of the leaders driving remarkable results in efficiency and patient care — results that we think are capable of inspiring broader change across the industry.”

Awards are given to customers and partners (independent software vendors and systems integrators) that have demonstrated the best use of Microsoft®-based products in the patient care arena. Customer and industry partner award winners will be formally introduced during the annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition in San Diego, in the theater at the Microsoft booth, No. 4533, at 11:30 a.m. PST Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Customer Awards

The 2006 category winners for the MS-HUG customer awards are as follows:

Microsoft Clinician of the Year

• Robert J. Schwartz, M.D., M.P.H., University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Pittsburgh, Pa. Dr. Schwartz, medical director of Physician Relations, provided leadership in deployment of new operational processes supported by technology that ensures high-quality healthcare delivery with world-class service to both care providers and consumers, using Microsoft technologies in an innovative fashion to communicate effectively within a complex healthcare community.


Microsoft Hospital of the Year

• St. Luke’s Health System, Boise, Idaho. St. Luke’s Health System is Idaho’s largest healthcare provider, with three full-service hospitals in Boise, Meridian and Sun Valley; 25 outpatient facilities; 600 physicians; and 4,200 total employees. St. Luke’s treats more than 325,000 patients per year from Idaho and six adjoining states. A leader in the Idaho and Southwest Idaho Community Network, St. Luke’s has a partner relationship with nine rural hospitals and a management agreement with four.


As of December 2005, St. Luke’s has rolled out the Web-based physician portal to more than 1,300 users, including over 350 physicians representing over 100 practices and 604 hospital users. Using Microsoft Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows Mobile® 2003 for Pocket PCs, St. Luke’s is extending portal access through mobile devices. Physicians are no longer tied to paper charts as their single source of information, which increases the availability of results and gives them anywhere, anytime access to patient data.

Microsoft Clinic of the Year

• Center for Assisted Reproduction, Bedford, Texas. The Center for Assisted Reproduction (CAR), established in 1989, provides comprehensive medical care for the treatment of infertile couples. CAR sees more than 100 new patients monthly. CAR includes an ambulatory surgery center, in vitro fertilization laboratory, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis laboratory, and andrology and endocrine laboratory. The medical staff provides direct patient care, while the laboratory staff performs semen analysis, hormone testing, embryo culturing and cryogenics. Each department uses computer technology to execute tasks and record and track these activities. An offsite billing location uses wireless technology to access patient accounts, while a satellite office is linked to the main office database using Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 merge replication.


Finalists in each of the customer categories were as follows:

Microsoft Clinician of the Year

• Ryan G. Bosch, M.D., FACP, George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Washington, D.C.

• Kevin Carr, M.D., Waterbury Hospital, Waterbury, Conn.

• Michael Spain, M.D., MBA, Cardiology of Tulsa, Tulsa, Okla.


Microsoft Hospital of the Year

• Norton Healthcare, Louisville, Ky.

• Saint Luke’s Health System, Kansas City, Mo.


Microsoft Clinic of the Year

• Cardiology of Tulsa, Tulsa, Okla.

• East Texas Family Medicine, P.A., Palestine, Texas


Partner Awards

The MS-HUG awards also include recognition for independent software vendor (ISV) solutions and systems integrators that demonstrate the best use of Microsoft technology to drive results in the healthcare industry. New this year is an award showcasing Microsoft partners that have developed the best solutions for a local or regional health information organization (RHIO), in recognition of the industry’s need for innovation in this arena, to achieve the federal government’s goal initiated in 2004 to provide every American with an electronic medical record within 10 years.

“Technology is enabling unprecedented change across the healthcare industry, as evidenced by the remarkable work being honored by the MS-HUG awards program,” said Michael Paquin, chairman of the MS-HUG Advisory Committee. “The achievements of these individuals and organizations offer up a high benchmark to which we as an industry can aspire, if we are to drive significant and wide-reaching results in the overall quality and effectiveness of patient care.”

Three best-in-class partner winners were honored in each of the following ISV categories:

Acute Care — Clinical/Patient Information Systems

• Digital Healthcare Ltd. — OptoMizeiP. OptoMize iP manages clinical disease control programs, information, digital images and complex patient care pathways across health enterprises.

• MediServe Information Systems Inc. — MediLinks. MediServe’s MediLinks solution for Respiratory Care and Rehabilitation is proven to increase clinical and business efficiency of healthcare organizations while fitting the unique workflow of ancillary caregivers.

• Philips Medical Systems — iSite PACS. Philips iSite PACS is an innovative image and information management system that delivers on-demand diagnostic-quality images over existing hospital networks, advanced radiology reading stations for radiologists, and “always online” long-term storage.


Administrative/Financial Services

• NextGen Healthcare Information Systems — NextGen EPM. NextGen EPM (enterprise practice management) automates office administration and streamlines scheduling, registration and billing, including electronic data interchange. NextGen EPM is integrated with NextGen EMR for complete clinical and administrative management.

• PatientKeeper Inc. — PatientKeeper Charge Capture. PatientKeeper is a leader in wireless applications. The Charge Capture billing solution helps physicians save time and increase revenue, enhance patient safety and care, improve staff satisfaction, and remain competitive.

• QCSI — QNXT. Transforming healthcare payer information technology since 1994, QCSI is recognized as a leader in claims processing, medical management and Consumer-Directed Healthcare. QNXT enterprise application systems deliver real-time health claims processing and integrated Care Management to healthcare administration.


Ambulatory Care — Clinical/Patient Information Systems

• Allscripts — TouchWorks Electronic Health Record. Allscripts is a leading provider of clinical software, connectivity and information solutions that inform, connect and transform healthcare. Its award-winning clinical software applications include electronic health record (EHR), e-prescribing and document imaging solutions.

• Digital MD Systems — Digital MD Systems Doc. Digital MD Systems’ award-winning Doc empowers physicians with a comprehensive and intuitive point-of-care EMR suite. Designed in collaboration with leading specialty physicians, Doc’s customizability makes it relevant for any clinical environment.

• NextGen Healthcare Information Systems — NextGen EMR. NextGen EMR creates high-quality electronic medical records, facilitating clinical workflow and data management. NextGen EMR is ideal for small practices or large enterprises and incorporates content for all specialties.


Enabling Technologies

• Epocrates Inc. — Epocrates Essentials. The Epocrates Essentials premium mobile solution includes all the key decision support applications — drugs, diseases and diagnostics — required for today’s healthcare professional. Users have immediate access to continually updated, critical clinical information proved to improve patient safety and care.

• Galvanon Inc. — MediKiosk. Galvanon, a subsidiary of NCR, helps healthcare organizations enhance the patient experience at home, in the hospital and in the physician’s office, through self-service solutions and Web applications that streamline everyday patient interactions and improve patient flow throughout the healthcare process.

• Unlimited Innovations Inc. — CERECONS. CERECONS, a Web-based solution, enables electronic healthcare transactions by bringing together medical groups, hospitals, physicians and patients. Its interface extends the value of legacy applications by increasing operational business efficiency.


Interoperability/RHIO

• dbMotion — The dbMotion Solution. The dbMotion Solution shares medical information in a security-enhanced environment, creating a Virtual Patient Record by logically connecting a group of care providers and organizations without data centralization, thereby enabling RHIO and National Health Information Network (NHIN) formation.

• NextGen Healthcare Information Systems — NextGen CHS. NextGen CHS (Community Health Solution) is a central data repository enabling the exchange of patient data between providers, specialists, hospitals, payers, labs and pharmacies and the anticipated NHIN.

• Wellogic — Wellogic Consult. Wellogic Consult is an award-winning clinical provider solution for RHIOs, portals and EHRs that unifies patient information and clinical workflows across the healthcare continuum, creating a comprehensive patient record with decision support at the point of care.


All best-in-class partner winners will be on hand to demonstrate their solutions in the Microsoft booth at the HIMSS 2006 Conference & Exhibition, Feb. 13–16, in San Diego. Customer and partner winners will be highlighted on the HIMSS and MS-HUG Web sites at http://www.himss.org and http://www.mshug.org/awards.