Vendor Notebook - Agfa to deliver imaging IT to Ochsner Health System

Agfa Healthcare, with American headquarters in Greenville, S.C., has announced that the Ochsner Health System of New Orleans has deployed the company's IMPAX Data Center to manage diagnostic image access and distribution.

The Informatics Corporation of America, based in Nashville, Tenn., has announced that Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, Ky., has deployed the ICA solution.

The Medsphere Systems Corporation has announced that its Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA) system has been implemented successfully at all eight facilities of West Virginia's network of acute, psychiatric and long-term care hospitals.

Purkinje, based in St. Louis, has announced that it will offer free training and implementation services to all new EMR customers during the month of February in an effort to accelerate electronic medical records adoption and support the Obama Administration's healthcare transformation initiatives.

DocuSys, Inc., an Atlanta-based provider of anesthesia management, medication management and presurgical care management software, has announced that the VA San Diego Healthcare System has successfully upgraded its DocuSys software to version 7.0 in seven ORs and installed the company's second generation DocuJet point-of-care safety device for monitoring drug deliveries in the OR.

Pharmacy OneSource, Inc., of Bellevue, Wash., has announced that nine Pennsylvania hospitals - Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, Easton Hospital, Phoenixville Hospital, Brandywine Hospital, the Chestnut Hill Health System, Jennersville Regional Hospital, the Berwick Hospital Center, Lock Haven Hospital and Sunbury Community Hospital - have chosen to adopt the Sentri7 infection control and prevention software system.

The Eclipsys Corporation of Atlanta has announced that Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Neb., plans to adopt a wide range of the company's clinical solutions.

Unibased Systems Architecture of Chesterfield, Mo., has signed an enterprise-wide agreement with Norton healthcare for pre-visit access management, scheduling, physician portal, healthcare consumer portal and business intelligence software systems and services for Norton's five hospitals in Kentucky.

The Panasonic Computer Solutions Company of Secaucus, N.J., has launched the Toughbook H1 Healthcare Tour, hosted in partnership with Intel's Digital Healthcare Group. The multi-city tour will feature educational seminars on Panasonic's Toughbook H1.

The MedCurrent Corporation, a Los Angeles-based provider of physician practice management solutions, has announced that Pueblo Radiology Medical Group, with 22 radiologists in four centers in Santa Barbara and Ventura, Calif., is among the first imaging centers to use Verify, the company's Web-based insurance eligibility verification tool.

Epocrates, Inc., has introduced the Epocrates Essentials suite for the iPhone and iPod Touch operating systems. The expanded content features disease and diagnostic resources.

Quadrant4 Systems to acquire empowHR

ROLLING MEADOWS, IL – Quadrant4 Systems Corporation, which makes enterprise resource planning and business intelligence software, will acquire Atlanta-based empowHR, a developer of SaaS platform technology for health insurance and employee benefits administration.

Officials say the deal will see Quadrant4 integrating empowHR technology into its cloud-based Health Exchange platform. Quadrant4 will also expand the empowHR platform into a full-scale portal that will include:

Integration of employer sponsored insurance and benefits, as well as work-site benefit products for enrollment, communication and administration;Agency portal for management and administration of multiple client types incorporating insurance, employee benefits and financial services into a single platform;Employer portal for managing insurance, employee benefits, human resources, financial services and integration with third-party product providers such as payroll systems, human resource systems, and others;An employee portal for managing benefit programs; andAnalytics aimed at providing insight into employee behavior and benefit expense trends.

empowHR technology has been in deployment for more than a decade and has been used by more than 2 million members for various benefits administration between licensing, OEM and recurring subscription based models. Its key user groups and customers include insurance companies, agencies, third party administrators, health plans and large employers.

Dhru Desai, Quadrant4's chairman, said the two companies together "will accelerate the development of empowHR technology beyond its current capabilities to the next generation market requirements.”

"Our ability to deliver the most complete benefits administration, communication and enrollment tool in the industry … coupled with the ability to capitalize on Quadrant4’s significant development capability, will allow us to close bigger deals, provide custom development, and deploy significant enhancements quicker," said Robert Steele, founder and CEO of empowHR.