Hospitals and Health Systems News

MUNDELEIN, IL–(Marketwire – October 28, 2010) –  ClearCount Medical Solutions and Medline Industries, Inc. today announced that Hunt Regional Medical Center has become the first Texas hospital to deploy the most comprehensive technology for the prevention retained surgical sponge incidents. Hunt Regional Medical Center (HRMC) has implemented the SmartWand-DTX, part of ClearCount’s radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based platform that uniquely identifies each sponge so that they can be easily counted and detected. Medline is the exclusive distributor for the SmartWand-DTX and the SmartSponge System, the first FDA-cleared systems using RFID.

“The deployment of the latest safety technology in our OR is consistent with our commitment to both our community and our employees,” said Richard Carter, chief executive officer at HRMC. “We are pleased to be on the cutting edge of technology in this area, and our deployment reinforces our commitment to bringing the best care to the community we serve.”

“The SmartWand-DTX provides a safety net for human error. Anything that we can do to improve patient safety is extremely crucial. This technology not only allows our staff to operate at an exceptional level of patient safety, but also provides staff with a safer and more efficient method for reconciling our surgical counts,” said Katherine Magee, RN, OR director at Hunt Regional Medical Center.

HRMC has implemented the SmartWand-DTX into its full suite of operating rooms. The hospital is part of Hunt Regional Healthcare which is affiliated with Baylor Health Care System.

“We’re pleased to add Hunt Regional Medical Center to our rapidly expanding customer base,” said David Palmer, chief executive officer of ClearCount. “Their selection of our safety technology demonstrates the trend that many hospitals are now taking action to make retained sponge incidents a true ‘Never Event’ through the use of RFID technology.”

Despite designation as a “never event,” retained items are estimated to occur in one of every 1,000 to 1,500 abdominal surgical procedures, which can lead to hospital inefficiencies, unnecessary costs, serious infections and even death. Hospital infections add an estimated $30.5 billion to the nation’s hospital costs each year. In one study using a retrospective review of medical malpractice claims data from a statewide insurer in Massachusetts, sponge counts had been falsely thought to be correct in 76 percent of non-vaginal surgical cases involving retained sponges. “Falsely correct” sponge counts were attributed to team fatigue, difficult or long operations, sponges “sticking together,” shift changes or procedures with a large number of sponges. In July 2010, new Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Recommended Practices for the Prevention of Retained Surgical Items highlighted that membership may consider use of adjunct technologies to enhance surgical count procedures in order to avoid retained incidents.

About ClearCount Medical Solutions
ClearCount Medical Solutions is a medical device company focused on patient safety solutions. ClearCount has assembled an extendable RFID-based platform that provides a comprehensive solution to improve efficiency while preventing medical errors, distributed exclusively by Medline. ClearCount Medical Solutions has been recognized with a Popular Science 2009 Best of What’s New Award, and has received additional recognition from TIME and WIRED magazines, the 2009 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award, the International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) and more. ClearCount’s SmartSponge and SmartWand-DTX systems are the first RFID enabled systems for counting and detecting surgical sponges, thereby improving patient and OR safety, enhancing productivity, and reducing cost. To learn more, visit www.clearcount.com.

About Medline Industries, Inc. 
Medline, the nation’s largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products, manufactures and distributes more than 100,000 products to hospitals, extended-care facilities, surgery centers, home care dealers and agencies. Headquartered in Mundelein, Ill., Medline has more than 900 dedicated sales representatives nationwide to support its broad product line and cost management services.

Over the past five years, Medline has been the fastest-growing distributor of medical and surgical supplies in the U.S., serving as the primary distributor to over 450 major hospitals and healthcare systems. As a leading distributor, Medline offers a comprehensive array of consulting and management services encompassing the supply chain and logistics, utilization and standardization, business tools and enhanced reporting capabilities and on-staff clinicians.

OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL–(Marketwire – October 28, 2010) –  The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare today announced the establishment of a Leadership Advisory Council to guide the progress of the Center as it addresses and develops solutions to improve health care quality and patient safety. The first meeting of the Center’s Leadership Advisory Council will be held October 29.

Meeting three times a year, members of the Leadership Advisory Council include executives from among the Center’s major sponsors and CEOs representing the participating hospitals. The CEOs will serve on a rotating basis to allow new membership each year. The Council will be chaired by Mark Chassin, M.D., M.P.P., M.P.H., president, The Joint Commission. Council members are:

• Jack E. Bailey, GlaxoSmithKline
• Paul Chaffin, Ecolab
• George Halvorson, Kaiser Permanente
• Donny C. Lambeth, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
• Alberto Mas, BD
• Rich Miller, Virtua
• Andy Mills, Medline Industries
• Ronald R. Peterson, The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System
• Thomas M. Priselac, Cedars-Sinai Health System
• Gary Pruden, Johnson & Johnson Company
• Michael J. Swinford, GE Healthcare
• Richard Umbdenstock, American Hospital Association
• Dan Wolterman, Memorial Hermann Healthcare System

“The response from accredited health care organizations to the Center has been extremely positive, a fact due in large part to the ongoing commitment of participating hospitals and health systems and sponsors to address the toughest and most persistent problems facing health care across the country,” says Dr. Chassin. “The perspectives of the Leadership Advisory Council members will help us to bring everyone interested in safe, reliable health care together to create lasting solutions.”

Established in 2009, the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare aims to solve health care’s most critical safety and quality problems. The Center’s participants — which include some of the nation’s leading hospitals and health systems — use a systematic approach to analyze specific breakdowns in care and discover their underlying causes to develop targeted solutions that solve these complex problems. Center projects include hand hygiene, wrong-site surgery, hand-off communications and the reduction of surgical site infections (SSI) following colorectal surgery. Future projects are expected to focus on preventable hospitalizations, medication errors, and other aspects of infection control.

All Joint Commission-accredited health care organizations can access the solutions on their secure Joint Commission Connect extranet through the Targeted Solutions Tool™ (TST). The TST provides a step-by-step process to measure performance, identify barriers to excellent performance, and implement the Center’s proven solutions that are customized to address an organization’s specific barriers.

The first set of targeted solutions, created by eight hospitals and health care systems working in collaboration with the Center, focuses on improving hand hygiene. The second set of solutions, announced last week, focuses on improving hand-off communications. The targeted solutions for hand-off communications will be pilot tested to prove their effectiveness in demographically diverse hospitals and will be added to the TST in the second half of 2011.

For more information about the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, visit www.centerfortransforminghealthcare.org.

Established in 2009, the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare aims to transform American health care into a high-reliability industry that ensures patients receive the safest, highest quality care they expect and deserve. The Center’s participants — the nation’s leading hospitals and health systems — use a proven, systematic approach to analyze specific breakdowns in care and discover their underlying causes to develop targeted solutions for health care’s most critical safety and quality problems. The Center is a not-for-profit affiliate of The Joint Commission, which shares the Center’s proven effective solutions with its more than 18,000 accredited health care organizations. Learn more about the Center at www.centerfortransforminghealthcare.org.

To view this release in a media-rich format, go to: http://www.pwrnewmedia.com/2010/jointcommission_01028_leadership_council/index.html

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TAMPA, FL–(Marketwire – October 28, 2010) –  The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT^®) today announced that Visionary HealthWare’s Alteer Office 8.0 is a pre-market CCHIT Certified^®  2011 Ambulatory EHR. Ambulatory EHRs are designed for physician offices and clinics where most Americans get their healthcare. Alteer Office is part of Visionary HealthWare’s offerings of practice management and electronic healthcare record solutions. Visionary HealthWare is a subsidiary of CompuGroup Medical U.S.

As a CCHIT Certified 2011 product, Visionary HealthWare’s Alteer Office demonstrated compliance with the advanced ePrescribing module requirements and has passed all required criteria in the CCHIT 2011 Ambulatory and Security test scripts for:

• Functionality (ability to create and manage electronic records for all patients, as well as automating workflow in a physician’s office),
• Interoperability (ability to receive and send electronic data to other entities such as laboratories), and
• Security (ability to keep patients’ information safe).

The CCHIT Certified program is an independently developed certification that includes a rigorous inspection of an EHR’s integrated functionality, interoperability, and security using criteria developed by CCHIT’s broadly representative, expert work groups. By looking to products with the CCHIT Certified seal, physicians and other providers can be assured they are making a reliable investment and insurers and other payers know the products meet expected industry standards. This program is intended to serve health care providers looking for greater assurance that a product will meet their complex needs.

“We believe that achieving CCHIT Certification confirms the quality and comprehensiveness of Visionary HealthWare’s Alteer Office as well as validates VHW’s commitment to providing our customers with the most up-to-date advancements in healthcare IT,” said Chris Grady, CIO of Visionary HealthWare. “Alteer Office provides the features, functionality, and ease of use necessary for physicians to adopt the EHR quickly while minimizing disruption to their current workflow.”

“Visionary HealthWare’s solution improves clinical outcomes by providing more comprehensive and timely information for clinical decision-making, and decreases time spent on administrative activities that can better be spent on direct patient care,” adds Jason Patchen, CEO of Visionary HealthWare. “All of these improvements contribute to a safer care environment for patients.”

About Visionary HealthWare
Visionary HealthWare (VHW) is a provider-based healthcare information technology company with operations in Florida, California and Maryland. VHW delivers innovative, effective, easy-to-use, services and software solutions designed to manage patient, clinical and financial information at all levels while helping practices prove “meaningful use”. Solutions include fully integrated Electronic Health Records, Practice Management, Laboratory Information Systems, Revenue Cycle Management, Document Management, e-Prescribing, and services for any size practice. VHW reaches over 60,000 providers nationwide and was ranked by Healthcare Informatics Magazine in the top 100 Healthcare Information Technology companies in America. VHW brands include Visionary Medical Systems, Antek HealthWare, Soft-Aid, USMD, and Alteer Corporation. Visionary HealthWare (www.visionaryhealthware.com). Visionary HealthWare is a subsidiary of CompuGroup Medical U.S.

About CompuGroup Medical

CompuGroup Medical is one of the leading e-health companies worldwide. Its software products, designed to support all medical and organizational activities in doctors’ offices and hospitals, its information services for all parties involved in the healthcare system and its web-based personal health records, contribute towards safer and more efficient healthcare.

The services of CompuGroup Medical are based on its unique customer base of around 370,000 doctors, dentists, hospitals and networks as well as other service providers. CompuGroup Medical is the e-Health company with one of the biggest coverage among e-health service providers worldwide. The company operates in 14 European countries as well as in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and in the USA and currently employs around 3,000 people.

ABOUT CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology. The Commission has been certifying electronic health record technology since 2006 and is recognized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB). More information on CCHIT, CCHIT Certified® products and HHS certified electronic health record technology is available at http://cchit.org and http://ehrdecisions.com. 

“CCHIT®” and “CCHIT Certified®” are registered trademarks of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.

MONTVALE, NJ–(Marketwire – October 27, 2010) –  SRS, the leading provider of productivity-enhancing technology and services for high-performance specialty practices, today announced that Advanced Pain Management has selected the SRS Hybrid EMR for its high-volume practice. Advanced Pain Management is headquartered in Annapolis, MD, with additional office locations throughout central and southern Maryland, and the eastern shore of Maryland.

“For over two years, we performed our due diligence and conducted site visits to find the EMR that would fulfill our practice needs,” says Dr. Paul W. Davies, managing partner & President, Advanced Pain Management. “The resulting reluctance to proceed was based on the reports of drastic productivity loss from virtually every physician we spoke with, even those at vendor-selected sites. The physicians also noted that using their EMR systems required so much attention that they could not give patients the time they needed. Even when vendor representatives were present, we were hard-pressed to find any physicians willing to make positive comments about the usability of their EMR. Our SRS site visit was dramatically different — it was the first time that we saw providers genuinely excited to share their experience. Physicians of all ages and levels of technological proficiency were uniformly delighted with the SRS Hybrid EMR, and the entire office staff was highly enthusiastic — they made these comments even when no one from SRS was present! Physicians reported no downtime during implementation and training, and no loss in productivity. Our own implementation went flawlessly and we are already enjoying the clinical and business benefits that we were anticipating.”

“Our hospital was offering its EMR product to practices whose members were on the medical staff, but we knew it would not meet our needs,” says Bill Hughes, Chief Operating Officer, Advanced Pain Management. “We know that we made the right choice — if we had any doubt at all, attending our first SRS User Summit has erased it completely. I have never seen so many satisfied and happy customers at any company-sponsored event.”

“We are seeing firsthand how, in an era of declining reimbursements and increased costs, physicians are using SRS to efficiently and cost-effectively manage their practices,” says Evan Steele, CEO of SRSsoft. “Advanced Pain Management adopted the SRS Hybrid EMR because they value both the clinical and business improvements for which SRS is recognized.”

About SRS
SRS is the leading provider of productivity-enhancing EMR technology and services for high-performance specialty practices — with a successful adoption rate unparalleled in the industry. Offered via the Unified Desktop™, the robust SRS Hybrid EMR, SRS CareTracker PM, and SRS PACS increase speed, free physicians’ time, boost revenue, and heighten patient care and satisfaction. For more information on SRS, visit www.srssoft.com, e-mail [email protected], fax 201.802.1301, or call 800.288.8369.

About Advanced Pain Management
Advanced Pain Management has assembled the top specialists in their region to offer the most advanced, minimally invasive treatments for spine pain. While they are experienced with all types of chronic pain, they specialize in neck and spine related conditions, the most common and often debilitating ailments affecting so many today. For more information, visit www.mypainspecialist.com.

MADISON, WI–(Marketwire – October 27, 2010) –  TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO), maker of advanced radiation therapy solutions for cancer care, announced today that University Radiotherapy Center of Antwerp, Belgium, has begun installation of the world’s first TomoTherapy^® TomoHD^™ treatment system, a comprehensive radiation therapy system that enables cancer centers to efficiently handle both common and complex tumors with a single device. University Radiotherapy Center Antwerp is a collaboration between the Antwerp University Hospital and the Antwerp Hospital Network (ZNA).

The TomoHD treatment system combines technologies previously only available as options to TomoTherapy’s flagship system, as well as beamline components redesigned for enhanced performance.

Specifically, the TomoHD system includes TomoHelical^™ and TomoDirect^™ delivery modes. The TomoHelical technique enables continuous 360-degree treatment delivery for targeting complex volumes, while TomoDirect offers a discrete-angle delivery option to support highly efficient intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and 3D conformal radiation therapy (3D CRT) for more routine cases. In addition, the TomoHD treatment system offers standard 1 cm beam commissioning for enhanced stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) capabilities.

The TomoHD system also includes the Tomo Quality Assurance (TQA™) application, which simplifies collection and analysis of system performance information and provides trending and reporting tools for monitoring machine performance.

“We were interested in adding a TomoTherapy system at our center, but waited for the TomoHD system because we recognize that this integrated solution will enable us to improve the efficiency with which we are able to treat patients with high quality radiation therapy. And the integration of the TomoDirect technique provides us a way to bring the benefits of IG-IMRT to a broader patient base with a single system,” said Prof. Dr. Danielle Van den Weyngaert, head of the department at University Radiotherapy Center. “More importantly, we believe that TomoHD will be the platform we need for supporting future advancements in radiation therapy.”

Patient treatments are expected to commence using the TomoHD treatment system in December. This is the third TomoTherapy system purchased by University Radiotherapy Center. The first two systems were installed in 2007 and have been used to treat patients with advanced image-guided IMRT, and to train TomoTherapy users from institutions across Europe.

With the TomoHD treatment system, University Radiotherapy Center will be able to advance its ability to treat patients with head and neck tumors, particularly those extending into the ocular region, as well as those in the abdominal and lung region where healthy tissue and organs are at risk to radiation exposure. Additionally, the TomoDirect technique will expand the center’s ability to address breast cancer with a fixed angle radiation delivery mode.

“We are pleased to announce that the first TomoHD treatment system installation has begun, less than a year after its commercial introduction to the market,” said TomoTherapy CEO Fred Robertson. “We are honored to work with University Radiotherapy Center of Antwerp to bring this advanced treatment solution to patients in Belgium and beyond.”

The TomoHD treatment system will be on display in the TomoTherapy booth (#3101) at the 52nd annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in San Diego, Calif., Oct. 31 – Nov. 4, 2010.

About University Radiotherapy Center of Antwerp
The University Radiotherapy Center Antwerp is a collaboration between the Antwerp University Hospital and the Antwerp Hospital Network (ZNA). Both hospitals offer comprehensive care for patients with complex disorders. Together, the hospitals treat in excess of 300,000 patients every year. The Radiotherapy Center treats patients in two major locations in Antwerp. TomoTherapy^® technology has mainly been used used to treat cancers of the head and neck. The radiotherapy center is also being used as the European TomoTherapy^® training center for physicists and engineers working with the system.

About TomoTherapy Incorporated
TomoTherapy Incorporated develops markets and sells advanced radiation therapy solutions that can be used to treat a wide variety of cancers, from the most common to the most complex. The ring gantry-based TomoTherapy® platform combines integrated CT imaging with conformal radiation therapy to deliver sophisticated radiation treatments with speed and precision while reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. TomoTherapy’s suite of solutions include its flagship Hi·Art® treatment system, which has been used to deliver more than three million CT-guided, helical intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment fractions; the TomoHD™ treatment system, designed to enable cancer centers to treat a broader patient population with a single device; and the TomoMobile™ relocatable radiation therapy solution, designed to improve access and availability of state-of-the-art cancer care. TomoTherapy’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol TOMO. To learn more about TomoTherapy, please visit TomoTherapy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this release regarding future products or product capabilities, events, expectations and other similar matters, including but not limited to statements using the terms “believe,” “may,” “should,” “suggests” or “expects” constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including but not limited to factors such as our ability to integrate acquired assets, ability to protect intellectual property, risks of interruption due to events beyond the company’s control, and the other risks listed from time to time in TomoTherapy’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which by this reference are incorporated herein. These forward-looking statements represent TomoTherapy’s judgments as of the date of this press release. TomoTherapy assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements in this release because of new information, future events or otherwise.

©2010 TomoTherapy Incorporated. All rights reserved. TomoTherapy, Tomo, TomoHD, Hi·Art, TomoHelical, TomoDirect, TQA, and the TomoTherapy logo are among trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of TomoTherapy Incorporated in the United States and other countries.

RIVERSIDE, CA–(Marketwire – October 27, 2010) – ONRAD, Inc., a leading radiology services provider, is now expanding the scope of its quality assurance program to include a complete Turnkey Radiology Peer Review Solution for hospitals. Radiology departments of any size could benefit from ONRAD’s Peer Review Program, including small hospitals that do not currently have an established program, or larger hospitals that want to utilize ONRAD’s independent third-party system. As a Joint Commission Accredited facility, customers can trust that ONRAD adheres to the strictest quality standards. 

“Delivering quality interpretations is extremely important to our physician group,” said Dr. Alix Vincent, CEO, ONRAD Medical Group, and member of ONRAD Quality Assurance Committee, a group chaired by Dr. Samuel Salen, CEO, ONRAD, Inc. To ensure a rich clinical knowledge base, the other five committee seats rotate on a yearly basis. 

“The goal for the Committee is to make sure that all of our radiologists continue to learn and expand their clinical expertise,” said Dr. Vincent of the group’s commitment to continuing education.

For Turnkey Solution customers, a random sample of reports will be reviewed by the Quality Assurance Committee on a quarterly basis. After an internal evaluation of the physician group performance and individual physician quality, the results will be reviewed by the hospital’s Quality Assurance Committee via physician-to-physician communication. Potential issues will be handled directly by ONRAD physicians in a proactive manner.

As a provider of services to such a large, diverse customer base, ONRAD is uniquely positioned to receive a wide variety of challenging cases. Difficult diagnoses, unusual findings, or potential teaching files are distributed to the physician group as a tool for learning. 

For more information on ONRAD Inc. visit www.onradinc.com. For more on this topic, visit: http://www.onradinc.com/?page_id=2220.

About ONRAD

ONRAD is a full service physician-owned radiology provider offering customized radiology services including teleradiology services and solutions, on-site radiology, subspecialty teleradiology interpretations, and quality assurance programs. As a partner, ONRAD helps its customers be more competitive in their local markets by complementing and expanding the radiology services already in place, or providing a comprehensive solution.

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IRVING, TX–(Marketwire – October 26, 2010) –  VHA Inc., the national health care network, has hired David J. Robertson as senior vice president and executive officer over its Oklahoma and Arkansas region. The VHA Oklahoma/Arkansas office coordinates and directs VHA efforts to serve 43 member hospitals and hundreds of non-acute care organizations in the two states. 

Robertson assumes his new duties at VHA on Feb. 1, 2011. He currently serves as president and chief executive officer of Monongalia Health System in Monogalia, W.V., a position he’s held since January 2003. Prior to that, for 18 years he served as CEO of Duncan Regional Hospital in Duncan, Okla., after spending five years as CEO of Shelby County Myrtue Hospital in Harlan, Iowa.

“Dave brings to this position more than 30 years of experience as a hospital leader, and his extensive knowledge of hospital priorities and challenges gives him a solid platform to direct VHA resources to have the maximum benefit for members in the region,” said Gary Ford, group senior vice president at VHA.

Robertson holds a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in health administration and a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing, obtaining both degrees from the University of Missouri in Columbia. He earned his bachelor’s degree in health care administration from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kan. He is the recipient of numerous awards in the health care industry, including being named the outstanding young health care administrator in Iowa and Oklahoma.

The VHA Oklahoma/Arkansas region, with offices in Little Rock and Oklahoma City, deploys staff to help members implement supply chain efficiency strategies, improve clinical performance and accelerate knowledge transfer to improve health care operations overall. The region also supports AROK, a regional supply network; and LifeCare Health Services, a regional business that provides employee benefit management services, a nurse advice line, a managed care consultancy and clinical and operational risk management support services. 

About VHA
VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. Formed in 1977, through its 16 regional offices, VHA serves 1,400 hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute care providers nationwide. VHA was ranked by Modern Healthcare as the 7th best place to work in health care in 2009.

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – October 26, 2010) –  MMRGlobal, Inc. (OTCBB: MMRF) (MMR) announced today it plans to offer U.S. Veterans the opportunity to maintain all their medical records and personal health information directly in a MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record (PHR) located at www.MyBlueButton.org. The service will be provided at no cost for the first year as a thank you for their service to our country. Each account will cover the Veteran and up to nine additional family members to securely store personal health information, medical records and medical images in addition to any important document needed in an emergency.

On August 2, President Obama announced the “Blue Button” initiative (http://www4.va.gov/bluebutton) that allows U.S. Veterans to download their personal health information from their My HealtheVet account. On April 30, 2011, at a special event at the Playboy Mansion honoring Veterans and Operation Mend at the UCLA Health System Medical Center, MMRGlobal will launch its www.MyBlueButton.org website linking to its MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record. The Company’s PHR can store the full range of medical records, from lab reports and doctor’s notes to immunizations and X-rays and other medical images, and also includes multiple special “lockbox” folders with secondary passwords for other important documents such as military discharge papers, gun permits, passports, birth and marriage certificates, insurance policies and deeds of trusts.

“We appreciate the sacrifices made for our safety and security by the brave men and women of our armed forces,” said Robert H. Lorsch, Chairman and CEO of MMRGlobal. “Although no commercial enterprise can fully repay them, we want to offer Vets the opportunity to use their ‘Blue Button’ to store their most important records with the safety and security of our advanced patented technologies on our www.MyBlueButton.org site. This way, Veterans can be assured that their records can be shared in any emergency with doctors in or out of the VA system from any Internet-connected computer anywhere in the world. At the same time, our system ensures the highest level of privacy because users maintain control over who has access to their records and the Company does not use third party intermediaries to retrieve data. And unlike any other product of its kind, users are protected by a one million dollar Cyber Liability policy protecting their important information.”

MMR’s MyBlueButton.org program rides on the back of the government’s “Blue Button” initiative and branding and augments the Administration’s national calling for all Americans to have a Personal Health Record by 2014. Delivering the most comprehensive PHR product in the marketplace today, the MyMedicalRecords system is built on an integrated telecommunications platform incorporating Internet, fax and phone to transmit and store personal health information and other important data in one central secure online account with a single sign-on. This provides for the ultimate flexibility in communicating and accessing information which the Company believes is necessary to accelerate widespread adoption of Personal Health Records by 2014.

The MyMedicalRecords PHR also offers other valuable tools to help Vets and their families have greater control over their health and better manage their lives overall. In addition to its ease-of-use and availability in both English and Spanish, the system includes a family health history, a drug database and drug interaction tool that can automatically check for interactions between over 20,000 medications and also food allergies, and a reference center containing information on 3,000 conditions and diseases. Importantly, there is a separate Emergency Login that medical personnel and authorized users can access to retrieve potentially life-saving information in a crisis situation; and each account also comes with its own inbound and outbound e-fax capability which further expands the options for quickly and easily sharing information.

According to Lorsch, “The service will be free for a year and then additional years’ subscriptions will be provided by our Company at prices well below the cost of the personalized voice fax telecommunications services embedded in every account. Our numbers show that 99 percent of all MyMedicalRecords users do not cancel the service after the initial period. I also plan to work through the Robert H. Lorsch Foundation Trust to identify non-profits that can underwrite services for Veterans and their families in subsequent years.”

About MMRGlobal, Inc.

MMRGlobal, Inc., through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, MyMedicalRecords, Inc. (MMR), provides secure and easy-to-use online Personal Health Records (PHRs) and electronic safe deposit box storage solutions, serving consumers, healthcare professionals, employers, insurance companies, financial institutions, and professional organizations and affinity groups. MyMedicalRecords enables individuals and families to access their medical records and other important documents, such as birth certificates, passports, insurance policies and wills, anytime from anywhere using the Internet. The MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record is built on proprietary, patented technologies to allow documents, images and voicemail messages to be transmitted and stored in the system using a variety of methods, including fax, phone, or file upload without relying on any specific electronic medical record platform to populate a user’s account. MMRGlobal’s professional offering, MMRPro, is designed to give physicians’ offices an easy and cost-effective solution to digitizing paper-based medical records and sharing them with patients in real time through an integrated patient portal. MMR is an Independent Software Vendor Partner with Kodak to deliver an integrated turnkey EMR solution for healthcare professionals. MMR is also an integrated service provider on Google Health. To learn more about MMRGlobal, Inc. and its products, visit www.mmrglobal.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical matters are forward-looking statements, and some can be identified by the use of words (and their derivations) such as “need,” “possibility,” “offer,” “development,” “if,” “negotiate,” “when,” “begun,” “believe,” “achieve,” “will,” “estimate,” “expect,” “maintain,” “plan,” “help” and “continue,” or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology. MMRGlobal, Inc. disclaims any intent or obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on MMRGlobal, Inc.’s reasonable expectations as of the date of this press release and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. The information discussed in this release is subject to various risks and uncertainties related but not limited to changes in MMRGlobal, Inc.’s business prospects, its results of operations or financial condition, government regulation and changes in healthcare initiatives, and such other risks and uncertainties as detailed from time to time in MMRGlobal, Inc.’s public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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DENVER, CO–(Marketwire – October 26, 2010) –  Eating Recovery Center (www.EatingRecoveryCenter.com), a national eating disorders recovery program providing comprehensive treatment for anorexia and bulimia, today announced that it will open a new behavioral hospital specifically designed to provide eating disorders care to children and adolescents. The hospital is slated to open in late November in Denver’s Lowry neighborhood. 

Eating Recovery Center’s newest treatment program will be led by a world-renowned expert in child and adolescent eating disorders, Ovidio Bermudez, MD, FAAP, FSAM, FAED, CEDS. Dr. Bermudez will serve as the hospital’s new medical director. It will operate under the direction of the treatment center’s CEO and co-founder, Kenneth L. Weiner, MD, CEDS, and its chief clinical officer, Craig Johnson, PhD, FAED, CEDS. 

“The child and adolescent hospital will offer comprehensive treatment for eating disorders for children and adolescents, males and females. Our comprehensive treatment model will blend traditional approaches like medical stabilization, psychiatric stabilization and nutritional rehabilitation with new approaches like Behavioral Family Therapy in the partial hospitalization phase of the treatment experience,” explains Dr. Bermudez. “We have carefully chosen an outstanding staff and, in addition, will use technologies to enhance patient care. Our goal is to be a center of excellence and to offer the best treatment to the patients and families we care for.”

The child and adolescent facility will offer a full spectrum of treatment options for children and adolescents ages 10 to 17, including inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient and outpatient services. In addition to treating eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, the treatment center will address “eating disturbances,” which include such behaviors as extreme pickiness, food fears and food avoidance.

Eating Recovery Center’s multidisciplinary treatment team will work closely with families and referring professionals to collaborate on traditional treatment experiences such as nutritional rehabilitation, medical care and psychotherapy. Eating Recovery Center will also introduce such innovative approaches as:

• Utilizing technology, such as heart monitoring, movement monitoring and biofeedback, to monitor for overactive behaviors and manage anxiety in children and adolescents.
• Introducing Behavioral Family Therapy at a later point in the treatment continuum — after a traditional phase of treatment in 24-hour care — to allow patients to manage nutritional deficiencies and medical issues prior to collaboration with family.

“Recent studies have shown that the involvement of family in the treatment process has a positive impact on recovery,” explains Dr. Weiner. “We will work closely with families to integrate recovery-focused behaviors and sustainable changes into family life, enabling family members and loved ones to become agents of change for our patients.”

Eating Recovery Center’s child and adolescent hospital will be located at 8140 E. 5th Ave., Denver, Colo., and is now accepting patients from across the country.

About Eating Recovery Center
Eating Recovery Center is a national center for eating disorders recovery providing comprehensive treatment for anorexia and bulimia. Denver-based facilities include a licensed behavioral hospital treating adults, an outpatient office and a facility treating children and adolescents scheduled to open in November 2010. Under the personal guidance and care of Drs. Weiner and Bishop, and the newest additions to our leadership team — Drs. Craig Johnson and Ovidio Bermudez, our collaborative programs provide a full spectrum of services for children, adolescents and adults. Our integrated program offers patients from across the country a continuum of care that includes inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient and outpatient services. Our compassionate team of professionals collaborates with treating professionals and loved ones to cultivate lasting behavioral change. For more information please contact us at 877-218-1344 or [email protected] or confidentially chat live on our website at www.EatingRecoveryCenter.com.

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HOUSTON, TX–(Marketwire – October 26, 2010) –  SHAPE, The Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication (http://www.shapesociety.org), a nonprofit organization that promotes the early detection and treatment of heart attack risk in apparently healthy people, today awarded SHAPE Provider Certification to 10 medical providers from around the world. The newly certified providers include nine physicians in Lebanon and one registered nurse in Arizona.

“SHAPE Provider Certification focuses on best practices for reducing the incidence of acute coronary events and deaths from coronary artery disease, and we are pleased that medical providers around the world are finding it to be a valuable resource,” said JoAnne Zawitoski, chair of the SHAPE Board of Directors. “Through a rigorous process of training and examination, the program teaches how to identify clinically appropriate patients for non-invasive screening for coronary artery disease, which advances our mission of promoting the early detection of CAD.”

The nine newly certified physicians in Lebanon participated in a course facilitated by Hussain Isma’eel, M.D.

SHAPE Provider Certification adheres to the First SHAPE Guideline for screening to identify hidden CAD in apparently healthy patients. The SHAPE II Task Force will convene at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2010 on November 13^th and is expected to recommend updates that incorporate what has been learned through research and medical practice during the four years since the First SHAPE Guideline was introduced.

In addition to SHAPE Provider Certification, SHAPE encourages best practices in heart attack screening through SHAPE Certified Centers of Excellence. Unlike traditional cardiovascular clinics that are primarily focused on preventing a second heart attack, SHAPE Certified Centers of Excellence focus on the prevention of a first heart attack.

SHAPE’s exhibit at the AHA Scientific Sessions 2010 (Booth #1708) will showcase updates to the SHAPE Guideline as well as the SHAPE Certified Centers of Excellence program and SHAPE Provider Certification initiative.

SHAPE Certified Providers

United States

Kelly Coracides, RN
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center
Gilbert, AZ

Lebanon

Mohammad Dghaili, MD
Alaeedine Hospital
Sarafand, Lebanon

Mohammad Sleiman, MD
Beirut, Lebanon

Samir Arnaout, MD
Beirut, Lebanon

Adel Dimassi, MD
Beirut, Lebanon

Ali Jaffal, MD
Nabatieh, Lebanon

Imad Marji, MD
Beirut, Lebanon

Jihad Chebbo, MD
Saida, Lebanon

Ali Mansour, MD
Beirut, Lebanon

Gilbert Abi Nader, MD
Beirut, Lebanon

About SHAPE
Based in Houston, the Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication (SHAPE) is a non-profit organization that promotes education and research related to prevention, detection, and treatment of heart attacks. SHAPE is committed to raising public awareness about revolutionary discoveries that are opening exciting avenues to prevent heart attacks. SHAPE’s mission is to eradicate heart attacks in the 21st century. Additional information is available on the organization’s Web site at www.shapesociety.org.

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LINCOLN, NE–(Marketwire – October 26, 2010) –  MacPractice, the leading Apple developer of practice management and clinical software on Macs and iPhones for medical, dental and chiropractic offices, today announced the release of MacPractice iPad Interface with ePrescribe. The solution was designed with Apple’s Web App development tools to provide remote and network communication from the iPad to a medical, dental or chiropractic office that uses MacPractice MD, MacPractice 20/20, MacPractice DDS or MacPractice DC.

“Doctors have overwhelmed us with requests to use an iPad with MacPractice and particularly to ePrescribe,” said Mark Hollis, President of MacPractice. “Today, we are announcing an iPad replacement for the index cards used by so many physicians to record hospital rounds, but this product can perform much more than that for physicians, dentists, and chiropractors.”

Among the capabilities that come along with the new MacPractice iPad Interface with ePrescribe: doctors can create new patient records in MacPractice from the iPad and post procedures and diagnosis from outside the office or in an exam room, daily practice activity reports can be reviewed easily from outside the office, reminders and notes may be sent between the office staff and the doctor, and email may be sent to patients and referring providers. MacPractice users can also see their office schedule as well as patient photos and demographic information. In addition, doctors and assistants may now review and record patient vital statistics and chronic diagnoses, and review prescription history and allergies when seeing a patient, all on an iPad.

With MacPractice ePrescribe for iPad, MacPractice users have all of the same capabilities of ePrescribe for MacPractice on the desktop in their office. When they write a prescription on the iPad, it is added automatically to their patient’s record in the office.

Additional content including automated allergy, drug information and review, herbals, managed care formularies, drug interactions, and leaflets for patient education in 18 languages are available. Managed care connectivity, as an option, provides an all-doctor drug history.

“We are pleased to contribute to the improvement of healthcare in America by offering doctors an ePrescribe solution on the iPad that improves efficiency and can increase Medicare reimbursement,” said Hollis. “Doctors who wish to meet the ONC’s definition of Meaningful Use must ePrescribe, and providing the ability to write a script on an iPad makes it just that much easier for them.”

MacPractice iPad Interface with ePrescribe and MacPractice Interface for iPhone may be purchased together for $800. Doctors will receive a $300 discount with a new purchase of MacPractice. The annual support and enhancements fee for either Interface is $200, and for the use of both is $400. ePrescribe is free to MacPractice clients already enrolled for ePrescribe.

Subsequent to ONC-ATCB certification of MacPractice 4, MacPractice will also release companion native iPad apps including EMR/EHR functionality.

MacPractice leverages Apple’s legendary ease of use, stability and low-cost maintenance to create affordable, intuitive and flexible Mac-native software for doctors.

MacPractice, which is currently used in some 3,500 medical, dental, and chiropractic practices, combines a state-of-the-art EHR/EMR solution with practice management tools in an easy-to-use, intuitive system that can improve patient care, efficiency and productivity. For more information about MacPractice solutions, visit www.macpractice.com.

About MacPractice, Inc.
MacPractice, Inc. is a client-centric practice management and clinical software development firm, comprised of highly experienced and caring individuals, dedicated to the development and support of best-of-class Macintosh software, hardware and associated services for physicians, dentists, chiropractors and eye doctors. For more information, visit www.macpractice.com.

ST PAUL, MN–(Marketwire – October 26, 2010) –  St. Paul Heart Clinic announced today that the first patients in Minnesota have been implanted with the world’s first known non-blood contacting mechanical heart assist system designed to help reverse the heart failure process for people with Class III/IV ambulatory heart failure. The C-Pulse Heart Assist System, developed by Eden Prairie-based Sunshine Heart, was implanted in two patients at the Nasseff Heart Hospital in St. Paul as part of an FDA-approved IDE feasibility study.

When patients are first diagnosed with (Class I & II) mild heart failure, the first lines of treatment include lifestyle changes and drug therapy. If the disease progresses to moderate (Class III) heart failure, cardiologists often recommend implantation of a biventricular pace maker, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), or both. Following these treatments, however, there are few, if any, FDA-approved therapies until the disease progresses to advanced Class IV (severe) heart failure. This stage requires more complicated interventions, such as left ventricular assist devices (LVAD), which take over the pumping function of the heart; or ultimately, heart transplants.

“A primary focus at St. Paul Heart Clinic is to address and stabilize heart failure at its earliest possible stages, before patients require later stage LVADs or heart transplants,” said Dr. Alan Bank, M.D., Cardiologist and Medical Director of the Research Division at St. Paul Heart Clinic.

The C-Pulse heart assist system is implanted during open heart surgery by placing a cuff around the aorta as it exits from the heart. This unique balloon counterpulsation technology is designed to assist the left ventricle by reducing the workload required to pump blood throughout the body. In addition, it increases blood flow to the coronary arteries. Combined, these potential benefits may help reverse the heart failure process or maintain the patient’s current condition, thereby preventing the need for later stage heart failure devices, such as LVADs or transplants. The C-Pulse System is one of just a few devices under investigation that may help alleviate heart failure symptoms and prevent the disease from advancing to a condition in which an LVAD or transplant is needed.

To date, Dr. Bank and Dr. John Grehan, Cardiovascular Surgeon at Nasseff Heart Hospital, have treated two Class III heart failure patients with the C-Pulse Heart Assist System: a 70-year-old male from Stillwater who was implanted with the device on September 24th, and a 64-year-old male patient from Faribault who was implanted on October 5th. The patients were just the 14th and 15th respectively in the United States implanted with C-Pulse, and the 20^th and 21^st in the world to receive this therapy. Both were discharged from the hospital within 8 days and have reported a reduction of shortness of breath and an increase in activity during their recovery. “I am impressed with the immediate effects provided by the C-Pulse and I look forward to seeing how patients improve over time,” added Dr. Bank.

St. Paul Heart Clinic is currently the only non-LVAD and transplant cardiology practice in the country with access to this technology that is participating in the C-Pulse IDE feasibility study. The study, which is expected to conclude later this fall, is available to men and women between the ages of 18 to 75 who suffer from moderate heart failure and for whom standard drug therapy has failed. The study will monitor each patient’s performance with the C-Pulse System at one-month, three-month and six-months following implantation.

“St. Paul Heart Clinic is an ideal cardiology practice to participate in the feasibility of the C-Pulse system,” said Dave Rosa, CEO of Sunshine Heart. “C-Pulse presents the opportunity for non-LVAD/transplant centers to potentially offer a therapy for Class III and Class IV ambulatory patients.”

If you or someone you know is interested in participating in the C-Pulse clinical trials, please contact Glenda Morris, APRN at [email protected] or (651) 726-6967. To learn more about Sunshine Heart’s FDA-approved IDE feasibility study, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

About St. Paul Heart Clinic
St. Paul Heart Clinic is one of the largest, most advanced heart clinics in the region, serving patients throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The clinic’s 31 cardiologists work in close partnership with primary care physicians to provide comprehensive cardiovascular care to their patients. The clinic’s subspecialties of heart care include noninvasive cardiology, interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, advanced imaging and research. For more information, please visit: www.stphc.com.

About United Hospital
United Hospital, part of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, is the largest hospital in the Twin Cities east metro area. It is a non-profit hospital providing a full range of health care services to more than 200,000 people each year. United offers a wide range of health services including a birth center, cardiac care in the Nasseff Heart Center, emergency care, oncology, orthopedics, neurosciences and epilepsy, a pain center, rehabilitation, medical imaging and surgery. More information about United Hospital can be found at www.unitedhospital.com.

About Sunshine Heart^®
Sunshine Heart^® (ASX: SHC), a global medical device company focused on innovative technologies for the treatment of moderate heart failure, is commercializing the C-Pulse^® Heart Assist System, a minimally invasive, implantable, non-blood contacting, heart assist therapy for the treatment of moderate heart failure. The Company has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a 20-patient U.S. clinical trial with the C-Pulse^® System and the study has achieved eighty percent enrollment as of October 2010. Sunshine Heart is a Delaware-based Corporation headquartered in Minneapolis with a subsidiary presence in Australia. The Company has been listed on the ASX since September 2004. For more information, please visit www.sunshineheart.com.

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LOUISVILLE, KY–(Marketwire – October 26, 2010) –  All radiology practices specialize in the art of seeing — but St. Paul Radiology (SPR) has demonstrated that its vision extends far beyond x-rays and CT scans. The large radiology practice was the first of its kind in St. Paul, Minnesota 85 years ago; it was also a regional leader in adopting the most advanced equipment, techniques and services.

SPR’s most far-sighted move, however came with its debut of Emergency Radiology Services, LLC (ERS). The new subsidiary serves hospitals and radiology practices around the country, delivering remote, on-demand teleradiology consultations on a 24/7 basis along with a full range of business support services including practice management, accounting/finance and billing.

The opening of ERS turned what was already a large practice — St. Paul Radiology has seven standalone imaging centers serving hundreds of thousands of patients — into an enterprise with clients in all 50 states. Forty SPR billing specialists, in fact, now process claims from over 350,000 new patients every year.

“Once ERS caught on, our business exploded,” said Karla Krey, Billing IT Supervisor for St. Paul Radiology. “We started looking for ways to improve the efficiency of our clearinghouse services which, at the time, couldn’t handle the growing workload.”

Krey noted that remittances were a particular problem. Some individual Medicaid remittances were as long as 500 pages and each had to be posted manually. SPR needed a more sophisticated, comprehensive revenue cycle management partner that could speed such labor-intensive processes while also reducing the inevitable errors that found their way into submitted claims. At an industry conference, the St. Paul Radiology billing team asked for clearinghouse recommendations during a luncheon for attendees. “Several people told us that they used ZirMed,” Krey remarked. “That got us to take a look.”

ZirMed, a Web-based revenue cycle management software provider, covers the entire payment process from eligibility to claims management, check processing and cash management. It also offers a spectrum of reporting and analytical tools that help billing managers optimize claims payment. “ZirMed’s ERA [Electronic Remittance Advice] capabilities were very attractive to us,” said Krey. “We knew that the ability to auto-post remittances from virtually any payer and post them automatically in the system would save us hundreds of man-hours every month.”

Within months of working with ZirMed’s software as a service solutions, the SPR billing staff experienced not only a decrease in remittance work, but also a reduction in rejected claims caused by submission errors. “ZirMed helped us increase out productivity tremendously,” said Krey. “With our new auto-posting capability we were able to take a several-day process and complete it in just a couple of hours.”

St. Paul Radiology’s billing efficiency took a further step forward when it signed on with healthcare IT support company Harmony Healthcare IT. “Harmony has given us a number of ideas to improve our billing workflow. They also helped us quickly resolve some hardware issues we had onsite,” Krey stated. “Their customer service, whether on the phone or in person, is exceptional.”

The combination of ZirMed and Harmony has helped St. Paul Radiology maintain, or even increase, its efficiency levels at every point along its dramatic growth curve. Initial studies showed the introduction of ZirMed resulted in a 35-40% decrease in Accounts Receivable days — an improvement that Krey credits to ZirMed’s claims management solution and robust edits.

“ZirMed is our ‘holding tank’ for claim scrubbing before claims are submitted,” she pointed out. “It makes a huge difference in how quickly we can get paid. With just one payer alone, our remittance cycle dropped from a month to two weeks.”

While claims management and auto-posting are the two biggest pieces for St. Paul Radiology, it has added other services from the ZirMed solution suite. By replacing three other vendors for credit card payments with ZirMed’s “Z-Pay” Web-based credit and debit card solution for patient payment, it has simplified its paperwork, reduced the number of dedicated phone lines, and allowed card payments to be made from any PC. Krey also points to ZirMed’s Physician’s Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) dashboard that allows physicians to track PQRI payments and deal with an otherwise extremely complex payment system.

“We’re currently considering other ZirMed revenue cycle additions such as eligibility verification and printing and mailing services,” she noted. “I can’t say enough about the efficiencies ZirMed provides. It removes the tedious work and allows us to use our staff for more productive purposes.”

Showcasing at MGMA Annual Conference:
ZirMed will be demonstrating its revenue cycle management solutions at the MGMA Annual Conference, October 24-27 in New Orleans, from its exhibit at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Booth #838. For more information about ZirMed, visit the company’s MGMA exhibit or visit www.zirmed.com.

About ZirMed:
Founded in 1999, ZirMed is a nationally recognized leader in delivering revenue cycle management solutions to healthcare providers. ZirMed enables healthcare providers to leverage the power of technology to cure administrative burdens and increase cash flow. ZirMed solutions include eligibility verification, credit/debit card processing, check processing, claims management, coding compliancy and reimbursement management, electronic remittance advice, patient statements, patient e-commerce solutions, provider credentialing, and lock box services. ZirMed solutions are designed to complement provider workflow and to provide innovative, creative and flexible solutions for healthcare’s most pressing administrative challenges. For more information about ZirMed, visit www.zirmed.com/pr.

About Harmony Healthcare IT:
Harmony Healthcare IT delivers strategic planning, tactical execution and day-to-day support for healthcare information technology. Services include technical software support for practice management and electronic health records, HL7 integration, legacy data management, electronic data interchange, reimbursement analysis, financial and clinical, analytics, telecommunications, and a variety of IT services. In ambulatory and acute care settings, Harmony helps to safeguard patient information, ensure cash flow, and increase productivity. For more information, visit www.harmonyhit.com.

IRVING, TX–(Marketwire – October 25, 2010) –  VHA Inc., the national health care network, anticipates hosting nearly 100 supply chain executives from health systems across the nation, representing VHA regional supply networks at its first ever VHA SupplyNetworks™ Executive Summit, Oct. 27-29, at the Hilton Dallas at Southlake Town Square, Southlake, Texas.

Designed to promote peer-to-peer information sharing, the member-focused event will examine the latest innovative strategies and best practices that accelerate network savings and showcase the specific successes of VHA SupplyNetworks. The highly participatory program will include panel discussions, round tables and case studies and will feature remarks from leaders at VHA, Novation and VHA member organizations. 

“We find that both the savings and operational efficiencies we have realized from belonging to the Upper Midwest Consolidated Service Center have made an enormous difference in helping us maintain a healthier bottom line, despite today’s difficult environment,” said Kris Peterson, director, Supply Chain and Support Service, CentraCare Health System, St. Cloud, Minn. “The Summit promises to provide additional ideas about how to improve our network’s performance.” 

VHA members are joining regional VHA SupplyNetworks to aggregate their spending, reduce their supply chain costs and increase their operational efficiencies beyond what they could achieve individually. On average, members annually save between 8% and 12% through network contracts. Participants in VHA’s 25+ regional supply networks act as single entities to gain control of their supply chain by leveraging the power of economies of scale.

Through VHA SupplyNetworks, members:

• Accelerate supply savings through commitment and aggregation
• Reduce costs through network participation, operational consolidation and shared resources
• Maintain control over the targeted areas for supply savings
• Take advantage of VHA’s expertise in the formation and facilitation of networks
• Establish peer-to-peer connections to rapidly apply best practices and drive innovation

While members retain the ability to make independent decisions about product purchases, they agree as a group to aggressively pursue product standardization whenever possible.

“Hospitals are being squeezed from every direction and at the same time they are being held accountable for doing more than ever before for their patients, so they have to look ways to reduce costs without reducing staff,” said Taylor White, senior vice president, VHA SupplyNetworks. “Not only do they offer members the opportunity to reduce costs through aggregated volume and identify and promote opportunities for standardization, VHA supply networks also promote operational efficiencies that are unique to the health care industry.”

In their most mature form, VHA SupplyNetworks enable members to pursue higher value activities, such as centralized ordering and centralized logistics. VHA Supply Networks also provide innovative platforms for product utilization discussions because the collective expertise of the network members enables the hospitals to reach a clinically supportable consensus about which medical products to buy.

About VHA
VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. In 2009, VHA delivered record savings and value of $1.47 billion to members. Formed in 1977, through its 16 regional offices, VHA serves 1,400 hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute care providers nationwide. VHA was ranked by Modern Healthcare as the 38^th best place to work in health care in 2010.

IRVINE, CA–(Marketwire – October 25, 2010) –  Medical offices owned by hospitals and health systems are the leaders in adopting electronic healthcare records (EHR) technology, according to the latest results of an ongoing survey released today by SK&A, A Cegedim Company, a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research.

Results from the biannual survey, “Physician Office Usage of Electronic Healthcare Records Software,” show the greatest jump in adoption rates between January and October 2010 was with medical offices owned by hospitals and health systems.

According to the report, EHR adoption at hospital-owned offices grew from 44.1 percent to 54.9 percent (10.8% increase), and adoption at heath-system-owned offices grew from 50.2 percent to 61.2 percent (11% increase). Overall, U.S. medical office EHR adoption has grown from 36.1 percent to 38.7 percent, a 3 percent increase.

“It’s not surprising healthcare-system and hospital-owned medical offices have the highest adoption rates across the board,” said Proteus Duxbury, a managing consultant with PA Consulting Group, an international management and systems technology consulting firm. “Recently added exceptions to Stark Safe Harbor laws have made it possible for primary care physicians to receive aid from healthcare systems, or use the same EMRs, so they become the early adopters who can take the leap of faith with EMR technology.”

As the 2011 incentive payments for the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” near, U.S. physicians are steadily beginning to purchase and implement healthcare information technology systems. According to business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, the rate of EHR adoption among physicians is expected to increase over the next two to five years due to a combination of changes caused by healthcare reform, doubling 2009 EHR market revenues of $1.3 billion to an estimated $2.6 billion in 2012.

SK&A assumed a leading role in measuring medical-office adoption rates of EHR in August 2008 when it officially started the survey targeting every medical office in the U.S. Today, through its comprehensive survey methodology, SK&A offers deep insight for understanding adoption trends, validating the EHR market size and opportunity, and supporting the execution of sales and marketing campaigns.

“The results of the latest survey indicate substantial opportunities for EHR solution providers. Most of the opportunity is associated with small, mid-size, and privately owned practices that have yet to purchase and install EHR systems,” said Dave Escalante, SK&A’s Vice President of Data and Information Solutions. “SK&A’s EHR database is able to identify all the medical offices and physicians in the U.S. that represent a business opportunity for our health IT clients, allowing them to develop sales and marketing strategies and target by geography, specialty, office size, ownership, affiliation and other variables.”

SK&A is actively measuring the EHR brands that have been deployed in medical offices and the types of EHR software functionality being used by physicians in the office. The most commonly used EHR functions are electronic patient notes (28.4%), electronic labs/x-rays (27.3%) and electronic prescribing (25.9%). In addition, SK&A’s survey identifies the medical offices that have not adopted an EHR and is recording their expected timeframes for adoption, the primary factors and decision makers for making EHR purchases, and the awareness of available government incentives.

Other findings of the current report include:

• Physician offices with more exam rooms, more physicians on staff and higher daily patient volumes have the highest EHR adoption rates.
• Physician specialties with the highest adoption rates are radiology (59.9%), pathology (59.8%), aerospace medicine (59.5%), dialysis (59.3%) and emergency medicine (57.6 %).
• Northern (40.9%) and Southern (40.1%) states have the highest rates of adoption.
• The top three leading states for adoption are Minnesota (62.6%), Utah (55.4%) and Wisconsin (52.3%).

SK&A’s report is an ongoing study of U.S. physician offices, featuring EHR adoption data and summarized market research from 213,500 medical offices representing 643,000 physicians. In addition, SK&A is able to identify the IT-purchasing decision makers at the practice- and group-headquarter level who would most likely be responsible for making the EHR-solution decisions.

Editor’s Note: For a copy of the summary findings for publication, please contact Jack Schember, SK&A Director of Marketing, at 800-752-5478, ext. 1259.

About SK&A, A Cegedim Company:
SK&A is a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research. SK&A, as part of Cegedim’s global OneKey® offering, researches and maintains contact and profiling information for over two million healthcare practitioners, including 800,000-plus prescribers. SK&A also offers the only 100-percent telephone-verified database of email addresses of U.S. prescribers and professionals working at active healthcare sites. SK&A’s customers include many of America’s most recognized healthcare, life sciences and pharmaceutical companies. Please visit www.skainfo.com for more information or www.skalivecounts.com for counts and ordering. 

About Cegedim:
Founded in 1969, Cegedim is a global technology and services company specializing in the healthcare field. Cegedim supplies services, technological tools, specialized software, data flow management services and databases. Its offerings are targeted notably at healthcare industries, life sciences companies, healthcare professionals and insurance companies. The world leader in life sciences CRM, Cegedim is also one of the leading suppliers of strategic healthcare industry data. Cegedim employs 8,600 people in more than 80 countries and generated revenue of EUR 874 million in 2009. Cegedim SA is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: CGM).
To learn more, please visit: www.cegedim.com

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IRVING, TX–(Marketwire – October 25, 2010) – VHA Inc., the national health care network, has been named the 38th best place to work in health care by Modern Healthcare magazine. VHA is one of only 16 companies that have been ranked within the top 100 for three consecutive years and one of only six Texas-based health care-related companies to be included in this list. 

The magazine compiled this year’s list using information collected from thousands of health care workers at more than 300 health care companies nationwide, including hospitals, suppliers and service companies. Modern Healthcare asked a series of detailed questions related to:

• Leadership and planning
• Culture and communications
• Quality of working environment
• Training and development
• Compensation and benefits

VHA has 852 employees in Irving and an additional 662 employees throughout its 16 regional offices nationwide. VHA’s employee base includes 160 nurses, pharmacists and doctors, as well as many others who have worked in various roles in hospitals and in the health care industry.

About VHA
VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. In 2009, VHA delivered record savings and value of $1.47 billion to members. Formed in 1977, through its 16 regional offices, VHA serves 1,400 hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute care providers nationwide. VHA was ranked by Modern Healthcare as the 38th best place to work in health care in 2010.

BRAMPTON, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Oct. 25, 2010) – Adding to its market-leading portfolio of innovative medical technology for endovascular aortic repair (EVAR), Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT), announced today the Canadian launch of the Captivia(TM) Delivery System for the Valiant(R) Thoracic Stent Graft, a minimally invasive treatment for aneurysms and other lesions of the thoracic aorta. The Captivia Delivery System has been available internationally since the fall of 2009 and was approved by Health Canada on August 3, 2010.

The Captivia Delivery System features tip capture for enhanced control of the Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft during deployment and a hydrophilic coating applied to the graft cover to facilitate iliac access and delivery through patients’ vasculature. The new Valiant Captivia system enables physicians to treat a wide range of anatomies with a highly conformable stent graft, with accuracy and ease of delivery to achieve optimal clinical results. Both the Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft and Captivia Delivery System are investigational in the United States, where their use is limited to clinical trials approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Francois Dagenais, cardiac surgeon at the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec in Quebec City, has performed 17 Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft implantations with the Captivia Delivery System. Dr. Dagenais is a global thought leader on thoracic endovascular repair and has pioneered this non-invasive treatment in Canada.

“The Captivia delivery system for the Valiant thoracic endograft allows for precise deployment, explained Dr. Dagenais,” Especially within the high cardiac output and angulated aortic arch the Captivia system minimizes the “windsock effect” and the asymmetric deployment occasionally encountered in this procedure. Such a controlled release mechanism may reduce embolic dislodgement by reducing arch manipulation and avoid inadvertent arch branch coverage. In addition, the Captivia Valiant endograft is covered with a hydrophilic coating facilitating insertion of the endograft in tight or tortuous iliac anatomy.”

Indicated for the treatment of a variety of thoracic aortic lesions, the Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft has emerged as the minimally invasive “system of choice” for thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) outside the United States. In four years of clinical experience, more than 15,000 patients worldwide have received the Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft. 

“Given the widespread acceptance and growing use of our Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft, the Captivia Delivery System represents an enhancement that provides physicians with outstanding ease of access and delivery, as well as deployment accuracy and control,” said Tony Semedo, vice president and general manager of Endovascular Innovations, part of the CardioVascular business at Medtronic. “Combined with the Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft, which retains its hallmark attribute of conformability, the new system will expand endovascular treatment to more patients with complex aortic disease.”

A pioneer of EVAR, Medtronic has been an innovator and leader in the stent graft industry since the 1990s, with more than 175,000 patients treated with its devices. The company offers the broadest portfolio of stent grafts. Among these are the Talent(R) Abdominal and Thoracic Stent Grafts in the United States, as well as the Endurant(R) Abdominal and the Valiant(R) Thoracic Stent Grafts outside the United States.

Medtronic is committed to advancing the treatment of cardiovascular disease through collaboration with leading clinicians, researchers and scientists worldwide.

About Medtronic

Medtronic, Inc. (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Minneapolis, is the global leader in medical technology – alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions of people around the world.

About Medtronic of Canada Ltd. 

Medtronic of Canada sells, services and distributes Medtronic products in Canada: medical devices used in cardiovascular medicine, diabetes, spinal and neurosurgery, and ear, nose and throat surgery. Medtronic of Canada employs over 420 Canadians, it is headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, has regional offices in Vancouver and Montreal and an atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation catheter manufacturing facility – Medtronic CryoCath – in the Montreal metropolitan area.

Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic’s periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM–(Marketwire – Oct. 22, 2010) – More than half of British adults are classed as overweight so it’s no surprise that there’s a large and growing market for slimming pills and supplements, but new research has revealed that many of them don’t work.

With many pills boasting attractive results that range from pills which can bind body fat to prevent the body from absorbing it or pills that claim to speed up the metabolism, it’s no surprise that those who want to lose weight are tempted by the large variety of pills on offer.

As concerns over the products mount, experts are warning consumers not to be taken in by the claims found on many of the products. With misleading buzz words such as ‘certified medical device’ or ‘clinically proven’ it’s not hard to see why so many overweight people purchase the pills.

For those who are worried about their weight The Hospital Group provide a top class service in state-of-the-art facilities.

The Hospital Group is the UK’s biggest provider of weight loss surgery, including gastric bands, gastric bypasses and gastric balloons which can give you a healthier lifestyle.

David Ross, Chief Executive of The Hospital Group said: “The majority of slimming pills do not give long lasting or dramatic results and leave those who are battling with their weight feeling down.

“Many people will have struggled with their weight for years and as a result feel self conscious and have low self esteem. At The Hospital Group we can offer specialist surgeons who have maximum experience in the field of bariatric surgery.

“Whilst it is by no means a quick fix or easy option it can give long lasting results which can dramatically change a person’s life and restore their confidence.

“Those who come to The Hospital Group, can be assured of a dedicated, professional service, with astounding success rates and a limited waiting time. This latest news is just another reason to seek an effective weight loss solution with The Hospital Group.”

BARRIE, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Oct. 21, 2010) – Ontario-based Barrie Physiotherapy was purchased by leading Canadian physiotherapy company PT Health in June 2009. Since the acquisition, Barrie Physiotherapy has completed extensive physical renovations, fee restructuring and managerial changes to make it more consistent with other PT Health physiotherapy clinics.

Barrie Physiotherapy has the distinction of being the area’s only Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) licensed physiotherapy clinic. Instead of waiting several weeks to receive care through the local hospital, individuals insured by OHIP can obtain medical attention at Barrie Physiotherapy within days. This allows the clinic to address patients’ needs much sooner—an important advantage, given the positive impact of early intervention. Ontario health insurance coverage is available primarily to individuals who are Canadian citizens, permanent residents, landed immigrants and valid work permit holders whose principle home is in Ontario and who meet certain physical presence requirements. 

While Barrie Physiotherapy caters to OHIP patients, people who do not have this publically-funded insurance can also take advantage of the clinic’s services at very reasonable costs. Barrie Physiotherapy provides assistance in a wide range of areas, including injuries from sports and automobile accidents; post fracture, stroke and surgical rehabilitation; and chronic pain from arthritis, fibromyalgia, sprains, strains, and back and neck ailments. The clinic also assists clients with Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claims, massage therapy, braces, lumbar supports, pillows, Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation (TNS) devices and compression stockings. In the future, it will be expanding its offerings to include the services of a naturopath. 

Barrie Physiotherapy operates under the direction of physiotherapist Paul Love. A graduate of Ben Gurion University of Negev, Israel, Love has practiced physiotherapy since 1992. While in Israel, he was head of the physiotherapy department at Poriyah Hospital. He became a registered physiotherapist in Ontario in 2002. His professional experience in Canada includes working in retirement homes and long term care facilities, as well as setting up and managing Midland Physiotherapy for six and a half years. Love’s experience also encompasses the management of Barrie Physiotherapy, stroke rehabilitation and pulmonary physiotherapy. In addition, he has completed numerous courses in evidence-based physiotherapy for various orthopaedic conditions. Love is a skilled professional who is dedicated to providing high-quality services to Barrie Physiotherapy’s clients. “I believe in client-centered care and practice with an open mind and ear to ensure that our clients are getting the best care and attention possible,” Love said.

The addition of Barrie Physiotherapy to PT Health’s extensive network of clinics represents a major benefit to the public. The development will enable individuals who previously found physiotherapy prohibitively expensive to avail themselves of these services. It will also help those who previously paid for private-only services to reduce their health care costs while still receiving quality care under the attention of registered and experienced physiotherapists, kinesiologists and massage therapists.

Barrie Physiotherapy is conveniently located at 125 Bell Farm Road in Barrie, Ontario. For more information about the area’s only OHIP-funded physiotherapy clinic or PT Health, please contact Paul Love at (705) 725-1980 or visit www.PTHealth.ca.

About PT Health

Established in 1995, Ontario-based PT Health is an extensive network of physiotherapist-owned clinics located all throughout Canada. It has distinguished itself as one of the fastest-growing health care physiotherapy companies in the country. PT Health operates more than 90 physical therapy clinics across Canada and provides services to nearly 200 Canadian nursing homes. PT Health’s clinics are grounded in the principles of integrity, accountability and trust while delivering services in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, chiropody, sports medicine, athletic therapy, massage therapy and other areas. PT Health is committed to providing high-quality, progressive therapy to benefit their patients.