Canada must refocus health tech
The Canadian government should push technology money to the frontline of the healthcare system so taxpayers can see the immediate benefits, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) says, according to The Toronto Sun.
Despite having poured hundreds of millions of dollars into converting to electronic health records, patients still aren't seeing the benefits, the CMA says in a report. The money's mostly gone to systems and IT architecture and should be going to the doctors' offices, labs, pharmacies and hospitals where patients interact with the system, it says.
“We want to see a significant part of that directed down and make their way to communities rather than large databases that have been collected centrally,” says Jeffrey Turnbull, head of the CMA.
GE to build Philippine health IT HQ
GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric, and Philippine real estate developer Century Properties will build a $100 million outpatient medical-information technology building in the business and financial district of Makati City, says GMA News.
“The project will rise in a one-hectare IT park accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority at the 3.4-hectare Century City, [Century Properties'] flagship mixed-use development on Kalayaan Avenue," the developer said in a statement Wednesday.
“The project is expected to generate 3 000 jobs during its construction and 5 000 jobs upon the start of operations, which is estimated to be in the latter part of 2013 or early 2014," the real estate developer added.
MS, Continua Health partner
US software giant Microsoft has joined the Continua Health Alliance, the open industry coalition of healthcare and technology companies developing standards for connected personal health systems, reports e-Health Insider.
Microsoft has until now remained separate from the Continua Health Alliance, developing its own network of partners around its HealthVault personal health platform.
HealthVault is a Web-based platform that helps users collect, store and share health information with family members and participating health and wellness services.
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