M.L. Baker

Women unlikely to carry certain cancer mutations may be able to get the information they need from a computer interface, but the flesh-and-blood type are more effective at helping women understand their risk of getting cancer. Such are the conclusions by researchers from the Penn State College of Medicine, whose study is being published in […]

Mark McClellan, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said CMS will likely require “an initial set of well-established standards” by January 2006, when Medicare begins covering prescription drugs. Although physicians would not be required to use the standards until 2009, McClellan said the move would encourage adoption by making electronic prescribing more […]

In an effort that should let FDA experts spend more time analyzing data and less time reformatting it, the FDA on Wednesday announced a new standard that drug sponsors can use to submit data from clinical trials to the agency. The Food and Drug Administration is exploring making the standard a requirement for data submission. […]

For all of the fanfare that came with late Julys Secretarial Summit on Health IT in Washington, D.C., we are unlikely to see vast improvements in our nations health care system anytime soon. Dont get me wrong, Im a fan of electronic medical records, computerized order entry and, in general, the whole shebang. But while […]

The nonprofit group that evaluates and accredits nearly 16,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States has dropped its proposal to require the use of bar codes on drugs to prevent medication errors. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations announced its national patient safety goals and associated requirements on Tuesday, after […]

Hospitals would like to peer into the future, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is making these glimpses possible, in a sense. It has developed software programs that help hospitals and other health care agencies predict how many staff, beds and supplies a hospital will need during a flu pandemic. Though the programs […]

WebMD Corp., which eases transactions between health care providers and payers, announced Monday that it plans to expand its empire by acquiring IT consultant and developer ViPS Inc. for $160 million. Privately held ViPS, based in Baltimore, provides health care consulting and data management services. Its clients include government, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and […]

Physicians resistance to computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems is impeding their adoption more than the cost of such systems, according to a new study by the Harvard Medical School. Researchers conducted extended interviews with 52 senior managers at 26 hospitals and identified physician resistance, high cost of systems and immature products as the top […]

More and more health care professionals are helping patients via computers and phones. IntelliCare, Health Dialog, and Health Dialog have set up call centers in Portland staffed by nurses and registered dieticians who answer medical and wellness questions. Some nurses also work from home offices, calling older people as part of a federal disease management […]

Radianse Inc., a startup that helps health care organizations track people and equipment, has raised $9 million in private venture financing. The Lawrence, Mass.-based company combines radio-frequency identification technology with what it calls an indoor version of the Global Positioning System. Traditional GPS does not work indoors. HLM Venture Partners of Boston and Partech International […]