— The Microsoft Health Users Group (Microsoft HUG) and Microsoft Corp. today announced the winners of the 13th annual Microsoft Health Users Group Innovation Awards. For more than a decade, the honors have been awarded to organizations that demonstrate success using Microsoft technology to enhance and transform the quality of patient care, reduce costs, drive interoperability, improve productivity, streamline clinical and business processes, and enable informed decisions.
Microsoft HUG is made up of more than 5,000 members and 23 corporate supporters, and is the leading health industry forum for exchanging ideas, promoting learning and sharing solutions using Microsoft technologies. Each year, Microsoft HUG and Microsoft collaborate to produce the Microsoft Health Users Group Innovation Awards, which recognize healthcare organizations and individuals who exhibit the best use of Microsoft-based products, as well as independent software vendors and systems integrators that use Microsoft technologies to develop solutions for the healthcare industry.
A panel of industry experts evaluated contestants on criteria including advancements and innovation, as well as the extent to which they provide significant business benefits to healthcare organizations and improve patient care. Winners and finalists were recognized at the 2010 Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference & Exhibition in Atlanta, on March 2 in the Microsoft booth. The following are the 2010 winners for the Microsoft HUG 2010 Innovation Awards:
Winner for Best Use of Clinical Records — Inpatient
•Singapore General Hospital/Integrated Health Information Systems (SingHealth) selected Eclipsys Sunrise Patient Flow and CADI Scientific to couple its workflowâ€based patient flow platform with radio frequency identification and real-time location system, optimizing and automating patient flow from the point of admission to the point of discharge. After completing the installation in only five months, SingHealth has seen improved clinical workflow, enhanced clinician and staff utilization, and an increase in patient safety.
Winner for Best Use of Clinical Records — Ambulatory
•Partners HealthCare, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and it’s technology solution partner Claricode leveraged Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server and the Microsoft .NET Framework to develop ASTER, the adverse drug event (ADE) Spontaneous Triggered Reporting System that submits ADE reports directly from electronic health records to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Benefits include secondary use of data collected as part of clinical care, the integration of ADE reporting into clinicians’ workflow, the promptness and speed with which ADEs are reported, and the ability to know the denominator of drug prescriptions from which ADEs emerge.
Winner for Best Use of Health Information Exchange (HIE) and Interoperability
•In its quest toward genuine interoperability, Doylestown Hospital used the NextGen® Health Information Exchange, formerly NextGen Community Health Solution platform from NextGen Healthcare to launch the Doylestown Clinical Network. NextGen Health Information Exchange uses Microsoft’s Web Services, ASP.NET and other Microsoft technologies to enable the free flow of information among completely independent practices with disparate IT configurations, allowing for security-enhanced data exchange, efficient and error-free communication, streamlined workflow, better medication management, and more.
Winner for Best Use of Microsoft HealthVault Applications
•Premera Blue Cross partnered with Get Real Consulting to develop and implement a solution that enables Premera members to store their claims histories in their personal HealthVault accounts. Being able to store and view this information in one location enables members to make better decisions about their healthcare spending. Premera also created the Web application Vivacity Spending Scout™ to enable HealthVault users to view, organize and analyze their claims data stored in their account, helping them better understand their spending, plan for future expenses and track reimbursements.
“With millions of dollars allocated toward health information technology, such as incentives for meaningful use or facilitating a state-level HIE, the emphasis on health IT has never been greater than it is today,” said Steve Aylward, general manager of U.S. Health & Life Sciences at Microsoft. “The Microsoft 2010 HUG Innovation Awards winners represent some of the most innovative companies using technology to transform healthcare through improved quality and reduced costs, and Microsoft is proud to honor them today.”
Special thanks are due to the Microsoft 2010 HUG judges: Josh Fisher, founder and managing partner, PresPoint Capital; Ahmad Hashem, M.D., PhD, chairman and CEO, Rawasi Investing Group LLC; Matthew Holt, founder and author, The Healthcare Blog; Scott Lundstrom, research vice president, Health Industry Insights; Charlene Marietti, director, corporate editorial initiatives, The Vendome Group LLC; Bob Mitchell, managing editor, ADVANCE for Health Information Executives and Merion Publications Inc.; Doris Nessim, B.Sc.Phm., R.Ph., M.A., healthcare informatics consultant and director of pharmacy services, New York General Hospital; Charles Potter, CPHMIS, president, Seapotter Corp.; Benjamin Rooks, principal, ST Advisors LLC; Jay Srini, chief innovation officer, UPMC Health Plan; and Andrew Ury, M.D., chief medical officer, Aucolla.
About Microsoft HUG
Microsoft Healthcare Users Group is a membership community within the HIMSS Users Group Alliance Program, providing technology leadership and knowledge for improving healthcare delivery and efficiency. The alliance provides HIMSS with targeted industry expertise to help broaden its professional and industry contributions, and provides Microsoft HUG members with the opportunity to reach new markets with educational and professional development programs.
Microsoft HUG is the leading healthcare industry forum for exchanging ideas, promoting learning and sharing solutions for information systems using Microsoft technologies. Microsoft HUG works to provide industry leadership, drive appropriate standards and develop associated requirements in support of healthcare solutions. The diverse membership of Microsoft HUG is united by a shared interest in implementing vendor- and user-developed software based on Microsoft technology to improve quality and efficiency in healthcare. More information can be found on Microsoft HUG’s Web site at http://www.mshug.org.
About Microsoft in Health
Microsoft is committed to improving health around the world through software innovation. Over the past 13 years, Microsoft has steadily increased its investments in health, with a focus on addressing the challenges of health providers, health and social services organizations, payers, consumers and life sciences companies worldwide. Microsoft closely collaborates with a broad ecosystem of partners and develops its own powerful health solutions, such as Amalga and HealthVault. Together, Microsoft and its industry partners are working to advance a vision of unifying health information and making it more readily available, ensuring the best quality of life and affordable care for everyone.
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.
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