Analysis of report by Tim Gee at DeviceLink says that the changing trend of the IT market is creating pressure on medical device manufacturers. Here’s a summary:
“Pressure on medical device manufacturers is increasing as healthcare IT converges on the point of care. In conjunction with the American College of Clinical Engineers, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, a multiyear initiative to create a framework for passing vital health information seamlessly among systems, applications, and settings, has started the patient care device work group in an effort to define interoperability for medical devices. Other organizations, including Massachusetts General Hospital and the Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, are driving plug-and-play interoperability through projects like the Operating Room of the Future and the Medical Device Plug-and-Play interoperability standardization program. The organizations’ goal is to create error-resistant medical device systems to improve patient safety and healthcare efficiency…
In the radiology sector, PACS adoption is at the late-majority adoption phase, with most hospitals having already adopted PACS. Now PACS and RIS, historically separate entities, are starting to merge into one market and product category…
Tablet computers appeared to have lost favor at this year’s HIMSS exhibition. Rather than being highlighted as a key computing platform, tablets were more often seen as an option for bedside computing cart manufacturers. The size and weight of current tablets have relegated them to more-narrow applications or as a potential substitute for laptops…
While healthcare waits for industry to adopt standards, some vendors are already fielding systems that integrate medical devices, nurse-call systems, and wireless phones. For years this point-of-care work flow automation has been facilitated by integration solution provider Emergin. The company was present in more than a dozen vendors’ booths at this year’s HIMSS conference. Its vendor partners range from some of medtech’s biggest players, such as GE and Philips, to smart-pump providers such as Cardinal Alaris. Other vendors partnered with Emergin included wireless phone providers Vocera and SpectraLink, nurse-call systems suppliers Rauland Borg and GE Dukane, and healthcare IT vendor Cerner. Emergin has stepped beyond point-integration products to offer enterprise integration middleware that includes work flow support for nurse-to-patient assignments and retrospective event review…
More at DeviceLink.com…
More at Medical Connectivity…
