.gen Technologies Inc.

Oracle, which already markets its product Oracle Clinical to
pharmaceutical companies, announces acquisition of Waltham MA based
Phase Forward to add to its suite. Phase Forward uses a Software as a Service product to help pharmaceutical companies move from paper-based management and submission of clinical trials data to an electronic form. Friends working in clinical trials data management and competitors like Microsoft Amalga LS will watch this closely.

http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2010/04/16/oracle-scoops-up-phase-forward-for-685-million/

A thoughtful analysis of why Microsoft should acquire a partner in the Electronic Health Record space, as well as a brief analysis of the top ten contender firms.  I particularly enjoyed the retelling of the Great Plains/Navision CRM success story as background.

http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/medical/microsoft-emr-its-not-just-a-matter-of-when-its-a-matter-of-who-1040510/

In a brilliant piece of co-marketing, Glenn Close and sequencing giant Illumina announce the full coverage DNA sequencing of her genome. How many more people do you think there are this morning asking if they should have their full genome sequenced? And do you think our Health IT systems are ready for this?

http://investor.illumina.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=121127&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1401402

Looks like I missed this announcement when it initially came out, but in a major score for Microsoft HealthVault, the team has announced a business partnership with German industrial giant Seimens. This will make Germany the third country to use HealthVault, after the US and Canada.

http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2010/01/28/siemens-licenses-microsoft-healthvault/

David Cerino of Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group – the HealthVault and the Amalga lineup – announces HealthVault Community Connect at the HIMSS10 conference in Atlanta, and clarifies the group’s strategy of moving consumers to Personal Health Records (PHRs) by selling hospitals on the value proposition first. The new product will be based on the SharePoint platform, and is scheduled for wide availability in the third quarter of this year.

http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2010/03/01/microsoft-healthvault-makes-pitch-to-hospitals-tries-to-crack-tough-nut-of-health-it-adoption/

You know, today I took my Harley to the dealership and realized – to my huge dismay – that my Harley has a better electronic health record than I do.

•  I can walk into any Harley dealership in the world, and techs will have access to the full service and repair record of my motorcycle. My health records are moldering in insecure paper files in at least eight different institutions worldwide, where I am lucky to get and grant any access whatsoever.
• Every Harley dealership in the world knows that my motorcycle has never used synthetic motor oil, and switching to it now might cause engine problems. If I’m incapacitated, how will a doctor know about my allergy to penicillin.
• Harley-Davidson is able to track recurring problems in their motorcycles, and it performs free upgrades to fix serious issues. Without comprehensive electronic records, how can pharma companies and surgeons track the long-term effects of their therapies? No question, this contributes to the risks of developing new therapies that could benefit many.

For an extended discussion of the upsides and risks of building a learning, Internet-enabled healthcare system, I strongly recommend the Institute of Medicine’s Learning Healthcare System Concepts v. 2008 – linked below. It’s a real eye-opener on just what we are losing by relying on mouldering paper pulp as our health storage system.

http://www.iom.edu/CMS/28312/RT-EBM/56903/57305.aspx

Here’s a company to keep an eye on. Carlsbad-based Medsphere is commercializing an open-source version of VistA, an electronic health record service developed for the VA.
 
http://www.xconomy.com/san-diego/2009/05/28/medsphere-raising-15m/

From New England Journal of Meducine, actual use of Electronic Health Record systems (EHR) in US hospitals, as reported by David Blumenthal, now Barack Obama’s National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
 
Particularly noteworthy are that only 3% of respondent hospitals had a fully functional EHR system, and that the VA EHR system – in place for over a decade – is a big success story the administration is trying to emulate.
 
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/16/1628

A new consortium from a group of companies positioned to benefit from ARRA Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) investments, including Allscripts, Cisco, Intuit and Microsoft. Scroll down for a soundbyte from each on how they plan to contribute.
 
http://hitconsultant.blogspot.com/2009/05/leading-healthcare-technology-companies.html

• dbMotion spun off of Ness Technologies in 2004, and lists Vertex Venture Capital and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center among its investors.
• Orion Health is a privately held organization based in Auckland, New Zealand with approximately 250 employees.