Online health portal proves popular
Just one year after its inception, officials at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report that 57% of patients and 40% of referring community physicians are using its Web-based portal for personal health information, reports Healthcare IT News.
Patients are accessing their medical information an average of 3.3 times per week, while referring physicians are clicking on their patients' records 2.8 times per week, according to MD Anderson Clinical Information Services reports.
"With the information available on PHR, patients, MD Anderson physicians and community physicians can communicate more effectively because everyone is better informed and more actively engaged in care," says Thomas Feeley, MD, vice-president of medical operations.
Care facility gets wireless network
Milford Regional Medical Centre, a non-profit, acute care facility in Massachusetts, has deployed Aruba Networks' 802.11n WiFi networks for telemetry monitoring, voice communications, and guest access, writes Market Watch.
The new adaptive wireless network supports over 150 wireless Baxter Sigma infusion pumps, and includes a user-friendly secure guest access captive portal that is run by administrative personnel without IT assistance.
"Our legacy wireless network was cumbersome to manage, used MAC address filtering instead of the more secure WPA2, and offered limited wireless coverage in many parts of the hospital," says Darlene Rhodes, assistant director of MRMC.
US grants $2m for lab data exchange
The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) has received $2 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide technical assistance to advance electronic exchange of laboratory data, reports Market Wire.
The cooperative agreement will support technical assistance to state health departments, public health laboratories and hospitals to help them link disparate laboratory reporting systems.
"This $2 million grant brings us one step closer to the real goal of electronic exchange of lab data: healthier people," says Patrick Luedtke, MD, director of the Unified State Laboratories in Utah and APHL president.
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