conhIT 2013: Healthcare IT Industry Demonstrates its Innovative Drive in Berlin

15 April 2013 - As Europe’s leading industry event for healthcare IT, conhIT – Connecting Healthcare IT fulfilled all the high expectations placed in it. 5,980 trade visitors from more than 40 countries attended conhIT in Berlin, 500 more than last year. From 9 to 11 April, 320 exhibitors from 14 countries displayed their healthcare IT products and services on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds.

“Exhibitor and trade visitor numbers rose significantly, impressively confirming conhIT’s wide appeal for the entire healthcare IT sector,” said Dr. Christian Göke, COO Messe Berlin, summarising the event. “Over three days packed with events trade visitors were able to gain a broad impression of innovative healthcare IT solutions and find out about the latest topics at events specially organised for professionals. Looking back, what defined conhIT 2013 was its comprehensive market overview and that it offered outstanding opportunities for advanced training and networking,” he added.

Event organisers bvitg e. V. draw positive conclusion “True to the slogan of the conhIT Congress, ‘Good IT – better medical care’, there is now an increasing focus on healthcare IT. In recent years significant progress has been made in a number of fields,” said Bernhard Calmer, chairman of the German Association of the Healthcare IT Industry (bvitg). “That was also evident at conhIT. Never before were there so many events as this year. With every relevant industry institution involved, conhIT made sure the programme featured fascinating topics that addressed every target audience.”

The positive mood within the industry could be felt everywhere at conhIT. Visitors and exhibitors inside the well-attended display halls and two adjacent conference halls exchanged experiences and found out about the latest aspects of healthcare IT. On the afternoons at conhIT, over a period of three days, there were 13 Congress sessions, four seminars and some 100 Networking Events, more than in any previous year.

Partnership with Belgium a success
Belgium, this year’s partner country which was represented by Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, featured prominently at the Industrial Fair and other events. Trade visitors made use of this opportunity to meet Belgian exhibitors and find out more about their products.

“For the 24 companies from Belgium that attended conhIT this was a specialist industry event where experts could exchange views and meet with German and international customers and partners”, was how Jürgen Maerschand, the Flemish trade attaché, commented the results of cooperation with Messe Berlin and bvitg at conhIT. “We look forward to cooperating in the future and to working on other joint projects,” said Maerschand.

Strong partners, an outstanding congress
For the first time, Congress delegates at conhIT 2013 were able to use voting tools to respond directly to moderators’ questions, rate lectures and take an interactive part in the Congress. This feature made it possible for an award honouring the best Congress session to be presented on Thursday already, at the conhIT closing event. Dr. Carl Dujat, president of the BVMI, presented the award to Dr. Pierre-Michael Meier of the Initiative for Management and IT Service Management in the Healthcare Industry (IuiG), who together with Helmut Schlegel of KH-IT had sponsored and moderated the session entitled “Maximising efficiency through IT process support.”

“We are very satisfied with the way conhIT went this year. The fact that most of the Congress sessions and Academy seminars were so well-attended was proof that we clearly made the right choice of topics and speakers,” said Dr. Dujat commenting on the quality of the specialist programme.

Healthcare IT industry offers prospects for young people too
The keen interest expressed by students and graduates proved that healthcare IT companies offer good prospects as employers. A total of nine universities had organised excursions for their students to conhIT. Numerous exhibitors made use of the opportunity to post their vacancies at the job exchange or introduce themselves on the pages of the Career Guide.

“On Wednesday at the Career Workshop 300 people thronged the Congress hall,” said Prof. Dr. Paul Schmücker of GMDS, the organiser and moderator of the event. “The aim of GMDS, BVMI, KH-IT and bvitg, the associations involved in career activities, is to bring students and young professionals into contact with healthcare IT companies and institutions and to further an exchange of information. That aim was achieved,” said Schmücker.

Directly following the workshop an award presentation took place honouring students’ diploma work focusing on practical healthcare IT issues. The winner was Iris Schmücker of the University of Duisburg-Essen whose diploma was entitled “The concept and implementation of a serious game for shaping individual training.”

Highlights of the first day in words and pictures
Besides those present at the event, thousands more were able to follow the keynote speeches held by speakers at the conhIT opening event by tuning into live videos on their computers. Anyone who missed the opening event on 9 April can still watch video clips online. Videos of the opening event, the session hosted by the partner country Belgium, as well as the international session can be watched at http://141.64.64.107/presentations/conhit/.

Comments by exhibitors on conhIT 2013
Gerd Friss, Marketing Supervisor, 3M Health Information Systems: “conhIT has finally made its mark as the meeting place of the industry. From our point of view the event was another success. bvitg and Messe Berlin organised conhIT in a very professional manner yet again. We will be back.”

Winfried Post, General Manager, Agfa HealthCare DACH: “After scheduling a larger number of appointments with customers and visitors prior to conhIT it was clear we would be inundated with visitors at the fair, and that was indeed the case. More and more visitors are very well informed, enabling us to offer them detailed information about our products. Their focus is mainly on our interactive mobile solutions and our new, fully integrated voice recognition system. Overall, I can say that conhIT has established itself as an event for IT heads and company executives keen to find out more in this field.”

Michaela Bicker, CompuGroup Medical Deutschland: “conhIT 2013 exceeded all the expectations. We are highly satisfied with the results we have achieved at conhIT 2013 so far. Outstanding Congress events, fascinating panel discussions and workshops and a very well attended Industrial Fair rounded off our overall impression of this leading eHealth event and demonstrated that conhIT is attracting growing industry attention.”

Andreas Rehermann, Head of Marketing and Hospital Sales, Medizinische Medien Informations GmbH: “There was keen interest in ‘our’ topic, the action plan for safe drug treatment (AMTS). The number of delegates who attended the lectures at the Congress and Networking Events and who took part in relevant guided tours at the fair was much higher than last year. The number and quality of the meetings we had also reflected the growing interest in AMTS.”

Uwe Lehmann, Head of Business Management and Marketing Health Services Deutschland, Siemens AG Healthcare Sector: “The fact that Siemens has been a partner of conhIT since it was first launched shows how important this event is for us. Once again our expectations were fulfilled in every respect. The halls were booked up, the discussions were informative and in particular we had successful meetings with our customers and partners.”

Andrea Röwekamp, Marketing, T-Systems SFPH GmbH: “conhIT has fully established itself as the platform for the hospital IT sector. Both the large number of visitors and the well-informed discussions we had were a reflection of this. For us the fair was a success.”

More comments by exhibitors can be found at www.conhit.com.

About conhIT – Connecting Healthcare IT
conhIT targets decision-makers in IT departments, management, in the medical profession, nursing, doctors, doctors’ networks and medical care centres who need to find out about the latest developments in IT and healthcare, meet members of the industry and make use of opportunities for high-level advanced training. As an integrated event, over a period of three days conhIT combines an Industrial Fair, a Congress and Networking Events that are of particular interest to this sector. Launched in 2008 by the German Association of Healthcare IT Vendors (bvitg) as the meeting place for the healthcare IT industry and organised by Messe Berlin, this event recently recorded 320 exhibitors and 5,980 visitors in 2013 and has now become Europe’s leading event for the healthcare IT sector.

conhIT is organised in cooperation with the following industry associations: the German Association of Healthcare IT Vendors (bvitg), the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS), the German Association of Medical Computer Scientists (BVMI). The National Association of Hospital IT Managers (KH-IT) and the Working Group of Directors of Medical Computing Centres at German University Clinics (ALKRZ) have provided contributions to the subject matter.

Resource Management in Hospitals: Still a Largely Untapped Potential

9 – 11 April 2011, Berlin, Germany.
For years hospitals have been forced by cost-saving pressures to improve their internal processes to ensure they remain competitive. Not all options have been exploited yet. Multidimensional resource management can not only improve efficiency, but can also benefit the patient. At conhIT 2013 providers and users will be discussing the IT demands on modern hospital resource management as well as the obstacles that still stand in the way of solutions for the entire hospital sector.

A glance at the operating schedules is the easiest way to find out what modern hospital resource management can achieve. “A lot has been accomplished in recent years,” says Angelika Händel of Universitätsklinikum Erlangen. “In many hospitals nowadays, the employees involved can find out at any time about the operating schedule, operation details and when to bring in the next patient.” Even ordering operating materials and work schedules are unimaginable without using IT.

The fact that operating theatres are at the forefront of IT-assisted resource management hardly comes as a surprise: “An empty operating theatre costs several thousand euros every hour. At a time when economically speaking many hospitals are barely viable that is something they do not want to afford,” says Dr. Christoph Seidel, CIO, Klinikum Braunschweig. Together with Angelika Händel, a board member of Deutscher Verband Medizinischer Dokumentare (DVMD), Seidel, who is also director of the Competence Center for the Electronic Signature in Healthcare (CCESigG), will be chairing a Congress session on resource management at conhIT 2013.

Multidimensional resource management maximises benefits
Proper planning of resources has the potential to improve efficiency outside of the operating theatre as well. To date, however, hardly any steps have been taken in this direction. “Generally speaking, one can say that IT-assisted resource management works well in cases in which a hospital information system’s task is to assign a job, for example an X-ray examination.” Extra medical information is then provided for this job and combined with an order for transporting a patient. In many hospitals that is an efficient and automated process.

However, when the necessity arises to organise complex, IT-assisted planning processes many hospitals quickly reach their limits. “As soon as several planning factors have to be considered at the same time, which may also involve different departments, things become difficult. Most IT systems are incapable of handling such a multi-layered approach,” says Händel.

There are many examples that bear this out. At the top of the wishlist of many CIOs is a hospital-wide appointments management system. That would require drawing on data from completely different systems, inconceivable in a normal work situation, especially if the relevant systems are not from the same company. “HL7 represents an excellent communication standard for the hospital sector. What we do not have are cross-sectoral standards for resource management,” says Seidel.

Efficiency is in the patient’s interest too
The industry is aware of these deficits, as Andreas Kassner of the German Association of Healthcare IT Vendors (bvitg) points out: “The complex nature of day-to-day work in hospitals means that in many cases human beings still act as an interface. That is why there is definitely a need for standardisation. Hospitals should enter into a dialogue with manufacturers and offer concrete suggestions for improvements.”

What is clear is that efficient hospital resource management not only saves money but eases nerves as well. “Good resource planning should mean that patients do not have to wait all day for an operation or to stand around for ever in the emergency waiting room,” says Händel. A hospital might not be a car factory. “But with the help of IT and within certain limits it should be feasible to organise what would otherwise be impossible.”

More on this subject at conhIT 2013
On Thursday, 10 April 2013 at conhIT, experts taking part in the Congress Session no. 7 (Resource management) will be holding several lectures on their latest experiences of how hospitals work in practice. Resident practitioners and patients can also benefit from instruments that optimise day-to-day processes, for example online appointments systems. Also on 10 April 2013, the conhIT Forum “Focus on online services – from doctors for patients” will also be examining this topic. Anyone wishing to find out more ahead of conhIT about the products and services relevant to this subject can find the exhibitors in question in the conhIT Virtual Market Place and can already book an appointment at the Industrial Fair.

For further information, please visit:
http://www.conhit.de

About conhIT – Connecting Healthcare IT
conhIT targets decision-makers in IT departments, management, in the medical profession, nursing, doctors, doctors’ networks and medical care centres who need to find out about the latest developments in IT and healthcare, meet members of the industry and make use of opportunities for high-level advanced training. As an integrated event, over a period of three days conhIT combines an Industrial Fair, a Congress and Networking Events which are of particular interest to this sector. Launched in 2008 by the German Association of Healthcare IT Vendors (bvitg) as the meeting place for the healthcare IT industry and organised by Messe Berlin, this event recently recorded 270 exhibitors and 5,300 visitors and has now become Europe’s leading event for the healthcare IT sector.

conhIT 2013 is organised in cooperation with the following industry associations: the German Association of Healthcare IT Vendors (bvitg), the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS), the German Association of Medical Computer Scientists (BVMI). The National Association of Hospital IT Managers (KH-IT) and the Working Group of Directors of Medical Computing Centres at German University Clinics (ALKRZ) have provided contributions to the subject matter.

Source: conhIT Pressemitteilungen

Speech recognition booms as EHR adoption grows

The market for speech recognition software has been growing tremendously over the past few years, partly because of the spread of electronic health records, KLAS Research analyst Ben Brown told InformationWeek Healthcare.

Brown also noted that some physicians don’t want to document in EHRs by pointing and clicking or typing, so they use speech recognition or some combination of methods. Brown made this observation during a discussion of his report on how healthcare providers perceive the leading speech recognition solutions. In the past, these solutions have cut time and costs for transcription and imaging documentation. Now, the report noted, “the hottest steam” in the market is around EMRs/EHRs.

KLAS’ survey measured the popularity of applications in three categories: speech EMR, front-end speech imaging and back-end speech. Front-end refers to applications that require clinicians to edit the transcribed text after they dictate, while back-end applications are those in which transcriptions or editors fix the text generated by speech recognition.

In the speech EMR category, Nuance Dragon Medical, the only reviewed product, received a relatively high rating. Nuance has the most live clients at this point, with Dolbey a distant second and M*Modal third. “The ability to improve documentation efficiency across thousands of hospitals appears real,” the report said.

Nuance has the broadest technology portfolio of any of the speech recognition vendors, but Dolbey’s front/back-end solution is gaining market share. M*Modal, formerly known as Medquist, is also gaining momentum on the back of the speech engine Medquist garnered when it acquired M*Modal and took its name.

In the area of front-end speech imaging, used for imaging documentation, Afga and Dolbey are improving their performance while Nuance and M*Modal struggle, the report said. It attributes Nuance’s problem to “delayed implementations and poor training.” M*Modal lags because it is using an older SpeechQ engine created by Philips and later acquired by Nuance.

However, M*Modal is picking up momentum in back-end speech with its Fluency for Transcription product, which uses the M*Modal speech engine. The leader in that category is Nuance, followed by Dolbey, M*Modal and 3M.

Overall, Brown said, speech recognition has improved incrementally in recent years. But the real determinant of accuracy is the proper training of applications to recognize users’ voices. “Most people who have the right training and applications tend to see better results,” he noted.

While the survey didn’t ask about natural language processing or computer-assisted coding, the speech recognition vendors are among the leaders in those categories. Nuance recently announced that at the IHE North America Connectathon 2013 event in Chicago, it successfully completed testing for extracting discrete data from paper records and automatically populating appropriate fields in medical documents, using its clinical language understanding solution. And M*Modal has just reached an agreement with 3M to turn transcribed text into structured documentation for purposes of computer-assisted coding (CAC), clinical documentation improvement (CDI), quality metrics and analytics.
[Read more...]

By Ken Terry, InformationWeek Healthcare
News > Speech Recognition Booms as EHR Adoption Grows, 27/02/2013

Personal QR codes could help first responders get vital patient information

A first-responder team responds to a 911 call to find an unresponsive victim. They scan the QR code on the person’s phone or card and get information volunteered by the patient when they registered such as underlying conditions, medications he or she is taking and allergies. That was the winning idea for the second Startup Weekend Health held in Philadelphia.

The idea behind the QR code scan is that it would be a personalized system to reduce the risk of medical errors by avoiding medication or treatment that could conflict with medication the patient is taking, preexisting conditions or allergies. It would also simultaneously alert emergency contacts through a text message

The QR code is part of an enterprise solution that will be offered to health plans. David Bendell, the team leader of In Case of Emergency (mICE), pitched the idea Friday night. Forty-eight hours later, a seven-member team that included bioengineers, software developers, and a pharmacy and a nursing school student put the technology and business plan together, condensed the information into the kind of pitch that leaves listeners wondering how we’ve managed so long without it. The group also developed an app that allows users to send an SOS message to various contacts.

The team’s prize is securing an interview with DreamIt Health for its four-month accelerator to be housed at Venturef0rth, which hosted the Startup Weekend. Runners-up got an extension on the application deadline.

Bendell and lead developer Tanvir Aslam, both international students, said it could be a bittersweet victory if they can’t secure full-time jobs before their visas expire in May.

The concept of an emergency QR code for individuals is one that’s been evolving in the healthcare industry. Code Amber Alertag has a similar idea but markets directly to consumers. Lifesquare also has been developing a QR code system.

An idea for a radiology platform that provides a multilingual service for second opinions came in second. Radiologist Jose Morey’s US Med Experts is building a group of radiologists through medical societies like the American Board of Radiology to provide personalized interpretations of X-rays and scans. In a short demo, a radiologist discusses an X-ray, circling areas of concern and detailing his assessment.

Read more…

By Stephanie Baum

MSc in Global eHealth: Under Development

06/02/2013 - A new online programme in Global eHealth is currently being developed under the auspices of the Centre for Population Health Sciences (CPHS) and the Global Health Academy. This modular and interdisciplinary programme will allow students to acquire in depth knowledge of eHealth from an international perspective and with reference to issues for global development. Foundational courses will cover key concepts and methods in health informatics, global health challenges, eHealth policies and international health systems. These will be complemented by a programme of interdisciplinary options covering digital health innovations with reference to effectiveness, sociological and cultural aspects of implementation, ethical and governance issues and business processes. While evidence-based eHealth will be a pervasive theme through the programme, completion of the module in Research Methods for eHealth will be a core requirement for progression to the MSc project. The course is expected to appeal to clinicians, eHealth implementation personnel, allied health practitioners, NGOs, eHealth policymakers, innovators and technologists, and academic researchers. All modules will be credit bearing and may be used towards a certificate, diploma or masters qualification, depending on the duration of study (one, two or three years).

The announce reads,”We have set up a short survey and would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in online postgraduate study in Global eHealth. Your feedback will help shape the content and structure of this new programme, and there is an opportunity to leave your contact details so we can keep you up to date on any developments.”

For further information, please visit:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DQQH92L

About the Centre for Population Health Sciences
The Centre for Population Health Sciences (CPHS) draws on a long history of public health and general practice at the University of Edinburgh. The Centre brings together researchers with expertise in epidemiology, statistics and modelling, sociology, social policy, psychology, economics, geography, health promotion, nursing and medicine. Thus CPHS research projects can take advantage of a multi-disciplinary approach when needed, which is often the case in population health research. The mission of CPHS encompasses four inter-linked activities.

Source: ehealthserver.com

Telehealth to Reach 1.8 Million Patients by 2017

Monday, 28 January 2013 - In 2012 there was estimated to be 308,000 patients remotely monitored by their healthcare provider for congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, hypertension and mental health conditions worldwide. The majority of these were post-acute patients who have been hospitalised and discharged. As healthcare providers seek to reduce readmission rates and track disease progression, telehealth is projected to reach 1.8 million patients worldwide by 2017, according to The World Market for Telehealth – An Analysis of Demand Dynamics – 2012, a new report from InMedica, part of IHS (NYSE: IHS).

In addition to post-acute patients, telehealth is also used to monitor ambulatory patients – those who have been diagnosed with a disease at an ambulatory care facility but have not been hospitalised. However, telehealth has a much larger penetration in post-acute care as compared to ambulatory care patients as the majority of patients are only considered for home monitoring following hospital discharge to prevent readmission. In the U.S., for example, 140,000 post-acute patients were estimated to have been monitored by telehealth in 2012, as compared to 80,000 ambulatory patients.

“A major challenge for telehealth, is for it to reach the wider population of ambulatory care patients. However, the clinical and economic outcomes for telehealth are more established for post-acute care patients. Indeed, even for post-acute care patients, telehealth is usually prescribed only in the most severe cases, and where patients have been hospitalised more than once in a year,” commented Theo Ahadome, senior analyst at InMedica.

CHF currently accounts for the majority of telehealth patients; in addition to being one of the largest cost-burdens for hospitalisation, the clinical outcomes of telehealth for CHF patients are most established. The number of telehealth patients with COPD is also projected to grow strongly as telehealth focus continues to expand to respiratory diseases. The successful results of the Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) program in the U.K. are serving as strong evidence-base for the benefits of telehealth for COPD patients. However, by 2017, Diabetes is forecast to account for the second largest share of telehealth patients, overtaking COPD. Home monitoring of glucose levels for diabetes patients is more established through personal glucose monitors. There is an increasing drive to integrate these monitors with telehealth systems, allowing care givers access to patient glucose data.

Over the next five years, InMedica identifies four main drivers of telehealth demand:

• Federal-driven demand: Readmission penalties introduced by the U.S. Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are driving providers to adopt telehealth as a means of reducing readmission penalties. Faced with increasing healthcare expenditure, other governments, including the U.K., France and China are also promoting telehealth as a long-term cost-saving measure.
• Provider-driven demand: Healthcare providers want to use telehealth to increase ties to patients and improve quality of care. In many cases this is being done irrespective of the lack of a clear financial return on investment.
• Payer-driven demand: Telehealth is also being increasingly used by insurance providers to increase their competitiveness and reduce in-patient pay-outs, by working directly with telehealth suppliers to monitor their patient base.
• Patient-driven demand: There is currently very little demand from patients actively seeking out and requesting telehealth services from their payer or provider. Patient-driven demand is mostly limited to rural/non-metropolitan areas where there is a poor availability of clinics and physicians. As fitness awareness increases and consumers adopt personal devices to track their fitness, they will also increasingly seek professional devices to remotely track disease state.

About IHS
IHS (NYSE: IHS) is the leading source of information, insight and analytics in critical areas that shape today’s business landscape. Businesses and governments in more than 165 countries around the globe rely on the comprehensive content, expert independent analysis and flexible delivery methods of IHS to make high-impact decisions and develop strategies with speed and confidence. IHS has been in business since 1959 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, USA, IHS is committed to long-term, sustainable growth and employs more than 6,000 people in 31 countries around the world.

About InMedica
InMedica is the medical technology research division of IMS Research, the leading provider of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry. InMedica publish high quality, in-depth market research on key medical markets including Medical Imaging (such as ultrasound and x-ray equipment), Clinical Care Devices (such as patient monitors and infusion pumps), Consumer Medical Devices (such as blood-pressure monitors and heart-rate monitors), Healthcare IT (such as PACS and EMR) and Telehealth. We offer our clients global coverage of the medical electronics industry, as well as dedicated reports on high growth regions, such as China, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

About IMS Research
IMS Research, recently acquired by IHS (NYSE: IHS), is a leading supplier of market research and consultancy to over 2500 clients worldwide, including most of the world’s largest technology companies. Established in the UK in 1989, IMS Research now has dedicated analyst teams focused on the factory automation, automotive, communications, computer, consumer, display, financial & ID, LED & lighting, medical, power & energy, solar PV, smart grid and security markets. Currently publishing over 350 different syndicated report titles each year, these in-depth publications are used by major electronics and industrial companies to assess market trends, solve marketing problems, and improve the efficiency of their businesses.

Surgeons May Use Hand Gestures to Manipulate MRI Images in OR

“Doctors may soon be using a system in the operating room that recognizes hand gestures as commands to tell a computer to browse and display medical images of the patient during a surgery.

Surgeons routinely need to review medical images and records during surgery, but stepping away from the operating table and touching a keyboard and mouse can delay the procedure and increase the risk of spreading infection-causing bacteria, said Juan Pablo Wachs, an assistant professor of industrial engineering at Purdue University.

“One of the most ubiquitous pieces of equipment in U.S. surgical units is the computer workstation, which allows access to medical images before and during surgery,” he said. “However, computers and their peripherals are difficult to sterilize, and keyboards and mice have been found to be a source of contamination. Also, when nurses or assistants operate the keyboard for the surgeon, the process of conveying information accurately has proven cumbersome and inefficient since spoken dialogue can be time-consuming and leads to frustration and delays in the surgery.”

Researchers are creating a system that uses depth-sensing cameras and specialized algorithms to recognize hand gestures as commands to manipulate MRI images on a large display. Recent research to develop the algorithms has been led by doctoral student Mithun George Jacob”… Read more

Source: ehealthserver.com
Read the full article

eHealth Week 2013

13 – 15 May 2013, Dublin, Ireland.
With the success of eHealth Week 2012, the planning for next year’s event is already underway. eHealth Week 2013 will bring industry partners and providers, important government and regional decision makers from across Europe.
“Ireland is engaging in a major health reform process over the next number of years and ehealth and ICT will play a critical role. This will be a great opportunity to learn and share experiences from those leading in the field,” mentioned Kevin Conlon, Head of ICT, Irish Department of Health.

Exhibitors and attendees will have the opportunity to connect and discuss their health information technology solutions in an environment that provides access to buyers while remaining cost effective. Be at eHealth Week 2013 to showcase your product offerings to a key audience or your competitors will.

Exhibition
The WoHIT 2013 Exhibition floor is the place to be this year. Witness the many world class exhibitors, new product launches, educational sessions, vendor exhibitions, interoperability demonstrations and so much more.

Industry Programme Sessions
The Industry Programme Sessions will provide key learning and best case examples from across Europe, of how IT has been used to deliver better Healthcare. These 45 minute sessions will examine where the challenges lie for our future healthcare systems and how to overcome those challenges.

HIMSS Europe Corporate Member Focus Groups
eHealth Week 2013 will offer the opportunity for HIMSS Europe Corporate Members to host a key stakeholder focus group during the conference for healthcare professions to explore the critical issues facing the industry, to gain access to industry lessons learned and best practices, and to showcase how technology can improve healthcare.

HIMSS Health IT Venture Fair
NEW at eHealth week, the Health IT Venture Fair brings together investors and pre-qualified companies looking for investment. Networking built into the agenda to help you find new business partners and meet health IT investors.

For further information, please visit:
www.ehealthweek.org

MEDXPO 2013 – International Medical Exhibition and Congress

7 – 9 March 2012, London, UK.
MEDXPO 2013 is the international medical and hospital equipment exhibition and congress comprised of plenary, conference, workshop and round table sessions that serve and connect the broad disciplines of the healthcare spectrum.

MEDXPO 2013 is the ideal opportunity to showcase your innovative products and services and offers a platform to exchange views on the current global challenges in the converging world of healthcare.

The UK medical industry is renowned for its creativity, exceptional research base and outstanding talent, with a history of discovery and a reputation for turning innovative ideas into trusted healthcare solutions.

It’s fitting then, that MEDXPO 2013 should be hosted in the UK.

Taking place at London’s Alexandra Palace the event will provide a focus of collaboration for medical and healthcare professionals, specialists and academia.

MEDXPO 2013 offers a dynamic meeting place that will attract all of those across the medical and healthcare industries, academia, the NHS and Government who are invested in maintaining and growing R&D in the life sciences industry, and delivering benefits for patients in the UK and around the world.

Notable specialists and globally recognised speakers will address a programme of conferences and workshops, providing an opportunity for open discussion and debate about advances in healthcare, medicine and surgical procedures.

The programme of speakers and workshops offers a platform to exchange views on the very latest global challenges in a converging world.

For healthcare industry suppliers, MEDXPO 2013 provides the ultimate in showcase exhibition space for the best of their products and services, positioning themselves at the forefront of their field. Exhibitors are also invited to sponsor MEDXPO 2013 through a number of promotional packages.

For further information, please visit:
http://www.medxpo.co.uk

Windows 8 Physician Rounds app video

Learn how healthcare apps could look in the near future with this demonstration app called Rounds, allowing doctors and nurses to use tablets to connect with each other and access medical records from wherever they’re working.

Rounds application is an example of how Windows 8 can combine the functionality of a full PC within the interface of a tablet. It could help multidisciplinary teams improve the quality, safety, speed and outcomes of care. Rounds incorporates the touch-screen capabilities of Windows 8 tablets such as Microsoft Surface to allow doctors to locate patients and initiate instant-messaging sessions with nurses.

About Microsoft in Health
Microsoft is committed to improving health around the world through software innovation. For over 16 years, Microsoft has been providing a broad portfolio of technologies and collaborating with partners worldwide to deliver solutions that address the challenges of healthcare providers, public health and social services, payers, life sciences organizations, and consumers. Today, Microsoft invests in technology innovation and works with health organizations, communities and over 20,000 partners around the world to make a real impact on the quality of healthcare.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

http://www.ehealthserver.com/microsoft