Health IT Vendors Announce Interoperability Advancements at HIMSS22

MEDITECH

EHR vendor MEDITECH and Google Health announced their intent to partner on an integrated solution within MEDITECH's Expanse EHR platform.

The solution will leverage Google Health's search and summarization capabilities which are set to enhance clinical decision support by providing clinicians with easy access to a longitudinal view of a patient's health history.

Google Health's intelligent summarization extracts data from different parts of the patient record to produce a patient health summary. Providers can then explore a deep-dive view of critical information including lab results, vitals, and medications.

To enable this search and summary functionality, the EHR vendor will utilize Google Health's tools to create a longitudinal health data layer, which unites data from different sources into a standard FHIR format.

"This is the first step in a long-term collaboration between MEDITECH and Google Health," Helen Waters, MEDITECH executive vice president and COO, noted in a public statement. "MEDITECH has long focused on helping our customers achieve true integration across the care continuum. But we're also well aware that too much data can overburden clinicians, which is why we design our own solutions with personalized views of the most important information clinicians want to see."

"Our partnership with Google Health builds upon this mission, providing us with a unique opportunity to combine our expertise to better solve the information burden our customers face," she added. "By augmenting the power of Expanse with Google's search and summarization abilities, we're advancing interoperable healthcare data exchange, building an EHR platform for the future, and continuing our mission to propel data liquidity and support the future of digital health ecosystems."

Royal Phillips

Royal Philips announced several advancements in its analytics and interoperability offerings.

The vendor launched Philips HealthSuite Interoperability, a fully integrated, cloud-enabled platform that aims to support diverse medical imaging workflows.

Additionally, the vendor announced that Philips Enterprise Performance Analytics (Performance Bridge) now provides operational insights and deep analytics beyond radiology to the cardiology department. This advancement is set to enhance efficiencies and improve effectiveness at the point of care.

Both innovations are part of Philips' Data Management and Interoperability Solutions portfolio, an integrated, scalable suite of technology, analytics, and professional services that aims to support healthcare providers in continuous performance improvement.

"Building on our deep expertise in medical imaging and insights in enterprise informatics, this latest expansion of our Data Management and Interoperability Solutions portfolio will help drive sustainable change across imaging departments with enhanced efficiency and improved outcomes for patients and staff," Kees Wesdorp, chief business leader of precision diagnosis at Philips, said in a press release.

Philips also announced that the latest Philips Capsule Surveillance solution has received 510(k) market clearance from the FDA. The tool aggregates patient data and generates actionable insights to notify caregivers so that they can intervene before deterioration progresses further.

The latest release of Philips Capsule Surveillance includes expanded interoperability into hospitals' existing mobile clinical communication and collaboration tools and electronic intensive care units (eICUs), providing more visibility on live streaming data, device alarms, and contextual alerts.

Microsoft

Microsoft announced cloud advancements for healthcare and life sciences with the general availability of Azure Health Data Services and updates to Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare.

Azure Health Data Services brings together diverse datasets in the cloud using global interoperability standards such as FHIR and Digital Imaging Communications in Medicine (DICOM).

“There are several areas where cloud technology like Azure Health Data Services can help enhance healthcare,” Matthew Kull, chief information officer of Cleveland Clinic, said in a press release. “I believe it will play a critical role between various systems, allowing us to take data from health records and other data sources and combine it together in a centralized place where it can be used to inform and deliver patient-centric care.”

Updates to Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare include new Teams features for virtual appointments and enhanced clinical workflow integrations.

Intelerad

Intelerad Medical Systems launched its Enterprise Imaging and Informatics Suite at HIMSS22. The offering facilitates improved interoperability, greater efficiency, and enhanced clinical communication, according to Intelerad officials.

"Intelerad's Enterprise Imaging and Informatics Suite provides hospitals and health systems with an industry-leading enterprise imaging solution," Mike Lipps, Intelerad chief executive officer, said in a press release.

"As demand for managing, sharing, and analyzing patient data and images continues to grow, healthcare customers need a powerful, scalable, vendor-neutral imaging system that improves overall performance," Lipps continued.

Consensus Cloud Solutions

Consensus Cloud Solutions announced the launch of Consensus Clarity. The tool leverages natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI) to help healthcare organizations transform unstructured patient documents into structured, consumable data.

"When documents are unstructured, they appear within workflows without any insightful data, which means that healthcare staff must manually review and sort them before action can be taken," said Scott Turicchi, Consensus Cloud Solutions CEO. "This results in delayed tests, treatments, and often, poorer health outcomes."

"Consensus Clarity helps solve these problems by unveiling actionable, insightful information that can enable better care coordination," he added. "The launch of this solution supports our mission to transform and enhance the secure exchange of digital information."

Masimo

The health IT vendor announced that it has added telehealth capabilities to Masimo Patient SafetyNet, its remote patient monitoring and clinician notification platform.  

Telehealth for Patient SafetyNet offers additional features designed to improve workflow efficiency. The platform supports multiple simultaneous audio and visual streams, allowing clinicians and specialists to communicate and collaborate in real-time. Users can also securely chat via text, transfer files, share their screens, and use collaborative digital whiteboards.