Healthcare IT Infrastructure News for IT pros in the Healthcare Industry

AWS Gives $12M to Fight COVID Through Cloud-Powered Diagnostics

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Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently announced that it will distribute $12 million to fight COVID-19 through cloud-powered diagnostics research and development.  Starting in mid-April, AWS will expand its focus to early disease detection to identify outbreaks at the individual and community level. The company will also focus on prognosis to...

Google Cloud Expands Vaccine Equity with Contact Center AI

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Google Cloud recently announced that it is expanding its Intelligent Vaccine Impact (IVIs) solutions platform to support vaccine equity at scale.  As part of the IVI effort, Google launched the Contact Center AI (CCAI), which scales call center human operations with intelligent virtual agents that understand, interact, and talk with...

BIDMC Next to Pilot Google’s Healthcare Search Tool

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) will participate in an early access program to pilot a healthcare-specific search tool from Google designed to offer clinicians a quick and easy view of patients’ medical records.  Nearly 50 physicians and nurses working in inpatient settings will assess the tool, called Care Studio, to ensure...

DOJ Takes Closer Look at UnitedHealth-Change Healthcare Deal

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In an official filing, the Antitrust Division of the Department and Justice (DOJ) asked officials from both UnitedHealth Group and Change Healthcare for additional information on their proposed acquisition deal.   The waiting period, under the HSR Act will now go beyond the 30-day period after substantial compliance by both...

Enterprise Imaging Vendors Poised for Broad Market Adoption

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In a new report, KLAS estimated that just over 200 organizations in the US are live with enterprise imaging (EI) technology, but researchers question whether EI technology is ready for broad adoption by the market at large.  The 2021 KLAS Enterprise Imaging report interviewed leaders from 138 of the deepest adopting organizations to examine...

Walmart Increases Access to Digital Health Records for Vaccinations

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Walmart will now make digital health records available for those vaccinated at Walmart or its subsidiary, Sam’s Club, so they can easily access their vaccination status as needed, according to a recent press release.  Walmart will tap the open, interoperable SMART Health Cards standard, which is currently being developed under the...

Change Healthcare, AWS Launch Data Science as Service Offering

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Change Healthcare and Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently announced a new Data Science-as-a-Service (DSaaS) offering to help life science organizations.  The DSaas offering provides de-identified claims data, enhanced with social determinants of health information. This allows for enhanced health IT security and care tailored for customers...

IBM May Be Selling IBM Watson Health to Focus on Cloud Computing

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IBM is looking at a potential sale of its IBM Watson Health Business to streamline the company and become more competitive in cloud computing, according to a national news report.  The unit leverages artificial intelligence to help hospitals, insurers, and drug makers manage their data. Overall, the unit generated annual revenue of nearly $1.5...

Kroger Health, Gauss Offer First Smartphone-Enabled COVID-19 Test

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Kroger Health recently partnered with Gauss to offer the first smartphone-enabled, at-home rapid COVID-19 antigen test kit. The test kit will be the first rapid COVID-19 test that can be fully performed using only a smartphone and a lateral flow assay. It can also be used without laboratory tools, a telemedicine visit, or any specialized...

Humana Taps IBM Watson’s AI Solution to Improve Member Care

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Humana recently tapped IBM Watson’s artificial intelligence (AI) solution to provide its members with an improved member experience and greater transparency around overall benefits. Under the agreement, Humana will deploy IBM Watson Assistant for Health Benefits, an AI-enabled virtual assistant built in the IBM Watson Health cloud.  The...

FDA Approves CLEW Medical’s Artificial Intelligence ICU Solution

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CLEW Medical recently announced that FDA granted clearance and authorization for the use of its artificial intelligence-based ICU solution, used to predict hemodynamic instability in adult patients.  The solution, CLEWICU, continuously monitors and categorizes patient risk levels. This information provides clinicians with physiological insight...

Best in KLAS Ranks Top Imaging System Vendors of 2021

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TeraRecon, GE Healthcare, IBM Watson Health, Ambra, Epic, Sectra, and Philips were just some of the imaging system vendors who have topped the charts in 2021, according to the latest KLAS rankings.  The Best in KLAS 2021 Software & Services report named Epic the top overall software suite for the eleventh year in a row, just beating out...

AI Drives Improvement in Healthcare, But Gaps Curb Full Adoption

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A recent Change Healthcare study found that artificial intelligence (AI) is driving a wide range of improvements in healthcare, but the approach is tactical and not end-to-end.  In the study, Poised to Transform: AI in the Revenue Cycle, researchers measured healthcare executives’ familiarity with AI, discovered areas for improvement,...

Microsoft, MIT, Verily Partner to Advance Biomedical Innovation

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Microsoft, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Verily, an Alphabet company recently announced a strategic partnership to accelerate biomedical innovations through the Terra platform. Terra is a secure, scalable, open-source platform for biomedical researchers to access data, run analysis tools, and collaborate. Using the Tera platform,...

CA Offers Residents Digital Record Storage for COVID-19 Vaccination

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Los Angeles County recently partnered with health startup, Healthvana, to roll out a new digital record offering that allows residents to store records of their COVID-19 vaccination in Apple Wallet or on a Google platform. The offering will ensure individuals receive both doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which were both approved...

IBM Taps AWS to Enhance Security of Hybrid Cloud Environments

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IBM Security recently announced new technology initiatives leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help clients simplify and extend their security visibility across AWS and hybrid cloud environments.  The initiatives include integrations with AWS security services, quick start deployment for key IBM Security technologies, and consulting and...

Addenbrooke’s Hospital Taps Microsoft for AI Technology

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Microsoft recently announced that Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, England will become the first hospital in the world to use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve cancer treatments. Microsoft’s InnerEye project aims to develop AI models that use the hospital’s personal data to uncover tumors and healthy organs on...

UC San Diego Helps Expand COVID-19 Contract Tracing App in CA

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The California governor’s office recently announced a statewide expansion to make COVID-19 contact tracing app, CA Notify, available to all Californians by the end of the week through a partnership with UC San Diego Health.  The technology, released by Google and Apple at the start of the pandemic, notifies individuals who opt into the...

InterSystems Updates Health IT Suite to Boost FHIR Capabilities

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InterSystems recently updated the availability of a suite of connected health solutions to improve Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) capabilities, as well as application program interfaces (APIs) and data accessibility.  The technology provider launched the system, HealthShare 2020.2, to improve the overall value and...

Robotic Surgery Tool Guides Neurosurgeons at UH Cleveland

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Medtronic recently selected University of Hospitals (UH) Cleveland Medical Center as the second site for its Stealth Autoguide cranial robotic surgery guidance platform for neurosurgery. The system aids the spatial positioning and orientation of instrument holders used in neurosurgical procedures. The surgical tool can be used on adult and...