Ville Marie Medical and Women’s Health Center of Montreal to implement VisualONCOLOG
VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp. announced the acquisition of VisualONCOL-OGY, its interactive electronic medical record by the Ville Marie Medical and Women’s Health Center of Montreal. The site will use VisualONCOLOGY for documentation of clinical care and tracking of patient examinations in its multidisciplinary Breast Center, a member of the National Consortium of Breast Centers. The integrated system will replace several first-generation stand-alone clinical applications. The Center will take advantage of VisualONCOLOGY’s fully electronic documentation to free additional space for patient care, while VisualONCOLOGY’s cohort-identification capabilities will contribute directly to clinical investigation.
3M acquires Les Entreprises Solumed Inc.
3M Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 3M, has acquired Les Entreprises Solumed Inc., a Quebec-based developer and marketer of leading-edge medical products designed to prevent infections in operating rooms and hospitals. Solumed brings a chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) and alcohol-based line of products to 3M’s already robust core offering for infection prevention. “The addition of Solumed positions 3M for growth in the fast-growing segment of intravenous (IV) site care and in preoperative care and hand hygiene, where CHG-based products are gaining momentum,” said Chuck Kummeth, vice president and general manager, 3M Medical Division. Solumed’s products such as antiseptic wipes and swabsticks, along with surgical scrub brush-sponges and antiseptic gels, complement 3M’s existing line of health care products intended to improve patient skin health and help reduce the risk of infection in patients and health care workers.
CLINICARE and Barrie FHT sign largest EMR contract in Canadian history
CLINICARE Corporation of Calgary has been selected by the Barrie and Community Family Health Team to implement their OntarioMD approved Clinical Management Solution. CLINICARE will implement its Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Practice Management Applications solution to 60 physicians and numerous additional healthcare providers at 35 different locations within the Barrie area.
Each practice will maintain their individual billing environments but share all other common elements such as patient scheduling, patient recalls, EMR, lab and medication data. Almost 350 workstations will connect securely through Ontario’s Smart Systems for Health Agency.
Canadian company ships new environmentally friendly technology for the treatment of bio-hazardous waste
Ozonator Industries Ltd. has shipped its first OZONA-TOR NG-1000 unit to Union Hospital in Terre Haute, Indiana, in the United States for immediate installation.
In making the announcement, Ozonator Industries Ltd. president and CEO Peter Klaptchuk stated “We at Ozonator Industries are very proud to be a part of this environmentally responsible initiative at Union Hospital. Not only will the installation of our OZONATOR technology cut the costs associated with the processing of Union Hospitals bio-hazardous waste by over 50 percent, but it will also ensure that no untreated bio-hazardous waste leaves their facility and that the processing of their waste does not emit any harmful dioxins into the atmosphere.”
Mr. Klaptchuk went on to say, “In that the incineration of one ton of medical waste is capable of producing one ton of greenhouse gases, Union Hospital will also be drastically reducing their carbon footprint. And, the energy efficient design of our OZONATOR technology, along with the fact that it eliminates the need for special boxes and liners, refrigerated storage, specialized transportation etc, further reduces their environmental footprint.” “Union Hospital is very excited about being the first to use this green technology to process our medical waste in an environmentally healthy way,” said Kym Pfrank, Union Hospital Vice President.
Spin-off of procurement operation serves the rapidly growing alternate site surgical and diagnostic market
Mobile Anesthesiologists Holdings, LLC announces the spin-off of its procurement operation into an independently operating company to be known as Pro Cure, LLC. The new company will provide a full spectrum of procurement services to the rapidly growing “alternate-site” market comprised of office-based practices as well as smaller chain and independent ASCs that have been traditionally overlooked by the large group purchasing organizations (GPOs).
The alternate site market is the fastest growing segment in healthcare as an increasing number of surgical and diagnostic procedures are being migrated from hospitals. According to the SMG Group, in 2007 25 percent of all surgical/ diagnostic procedures were performed in the office-based setting and it is projected that over 50 percent of all procedures will be migrated by 2010. Fueling this exponential growth is the fact that the delivery of medical care at alternate sites, specifically ambulatory surgery centres and physicians offices is as safe or safer than the hospital setting but significantly less expensive.
Historically, most independent practitioners and facilities have not had access to GPOs like their large hospital and medical organization counterparts and so have been unable to leverage their combined buying power to obtain discounted pricing from distributors. Instead, they are forced to pay significantly higher prices because they lack the purchasing volume as well as the resources to dedicate to the purchasing function.
Health Centre of Excellence planned for Regina
Kawacatoose First Nation, in partnership with Siemens Canada Limited, announced the planned development of a Health Centre of Excellence, located in east Regina. The Health Centre will be constructed on land owned by Kawacatoose and will incorporate medical, dental and optical centres, all supported by state-of-the-art laboratory and pharmacy services.
One of Kawacatoose First Nation’s primary concerns is providing specialized health services to First Nations of Saskatchewan. “This Health Centre will provide First Nations people with the dedicated health services they require, including preventative and nutritional programs,” said Chief Dennis Dustyhorn of the Kawacatoose First Nation. Chief Dusty-horn added, the Health Centre will offer trained professionals and specialized services like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to all Saskatchewan residents, helping shorten waiting lists and reducing the need to seek out-of-province solutions.
