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Vendor Notebook: Portico Systems launches MDM solution

By Eric Wicklund

Portico Systems, a Philadelphia-based developer of integrated provider management solutions, has announced the launch of its Master Data Management (MDM) solution.
Novation, an Irving, Texas-based supply contracting company serving the VHA, University HealthSystem Consortium and Provista healthcare alliances, has awarded agreements to Belmed of Charleston, S.C., Getinge USA, Inc., of Rochester, N.Y., the Steris Corporation of Mentor, Ohio, Future Health Concepts of Sanford, Fla., and Intellamed of Bryan, Texas, for steam sterilizers. In addition, the company has awarded an agreement to Alpharetta, Ga.-based Duracell for general batteries and flashlights. Also, the company has awarded agreements to Bio-Rad Laboratories of Benicia, Calif., and Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics of Raritan, N.J., for blood bank products.
Cardinal Health, based in Dublin, Ohio, has announced that its P4 Healthcare business has been selected by Pennsylvania-based health insurer Highmark to help physicians identify clinical protocols that improve the consistency, quality and cost-effectiveness of treatment regimens for breast, lung, colon and other common types of cancer.
VHA, Inc., an Irving, Texas-based national healthcare network, has launched its Door-to-Discharge program, designed to help hospitals improve high-cost cardiology, orthopedics and spine service line procedures through the application of Lean Management and Six Sigma methodologies. The program uses clinical integration tools to measure a patient’s case as a single episode of care and analyze such areas as supply acquisition costs and use, ancillary service use, patient throughput, operational productivity, clinical quality, documentation and coding and physician engagement. The company has also announced that Parkview Health, based in Fort Wayne, Ind., will use the VHA PriceLYNX price benchmarking service. Also, the company announced that its Upper Midwest Consolidated Supply Center, founded in July 2008 and comprised of 35 healthcare systems in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, has signed its 100th supply contract.
MedAssets, an Atlanta-based developer of spend management and revenue cycle management solutions for healthcare providers, has announced that Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters Health System, based in Norfolk, Va., will deploy the company’s Charge Integrity, Reimbursement Integrity and A/R Management solutions.
McKesson, based in San Francisco, has signed long-term contracts with two regional Recovery Audit Contractors, Diversified Collection Services, Inc., and HealthDataInsights, to use the company’s InterQual Criteria solution in the Medicare RAC program.  The company already has a contract with a third (of four) RAC contractors, Connolly Healthcare.
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems of Horsham, Pa., has announced partnerships with 25 federally designated regional extension centers around the country to leverage its NextGen Ambulatory EHR to small physician practices through purchased software licenses or a competitively priced SaaS subscription.
Agfa Healthcare, based in Mortsel, Belgium, has announced “significant worldwide price increases” on all imaging film products. Company officials say the increases are due to price increases for raw materials.
Accenture, a New York-based provider of global management consulting and technology services, has announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has selected the company as a prime contractor for its 10-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity CDC Information Management Services (CIMS) contract.
DSS, Inc., a Juno Beach, Fla.-based provider of software development, integration, project management, implementation and support of the VistA and vxVistA electronic health record modules, has announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded the company a contract to provide its Mental Health Suite product.
SUNRx, based in Bensalam, Pa., has announced a partnership with Twin Falls, Idaho-based Family Health Services to offer discounted prescription drugs to families in the Twin Falls area through the 340B Program.
Elsevier, a Philadelphia-based publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products, has announced that it will donate 10 percent of its revenue for all subscriptions to MD Consult, the company’s electronic clinical reference tool, purchased between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31, 2001 to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres. A similar “Great Giveback” campaign last year brought in more than 350 subscriptions worth more than $120,000.
SleepQuest, Inc., a San Carlos, Calif.-based provider of sleep medicine services, has announced that Humana has contracted with the company to expand access to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) screening, diagnostic, therapy and compliance services for the insurer’s PPO and Medicare members.
Aprima Medical Software, a Dallas-based developer of electronic health record, practice management and revenue cycle management solutions for medical practices, has announced that total sales bookings for the first half of FY11 increased 105 percent over the same period last year, while provider licenses at the end of the second quarter increased 65 percent and revenue backlog jumped 218 percent.
Practice Fusion, a San Francisco-based provider of free electronic medical records solutions, has announced that its platform now serves 50,000 medical professionals and 5 million patients after three years in operation.
Perceptive Software, a Shawnee, Kan.-based developer of enterprise content management solutions, has announced a partnership with Bridgehead Software to integrate its data and storage management solutions for hospitals with the company’s ImageNow document management, imaging and workflow solution.
The California HealthCare Foundation has launched a $10 million investment fund targeting non-profit organizations and for-profit companies with innovative services, devices and technologies that can significantly reduce costs and improve access to healthcare in California.
Shareable Ink, a Nashville, Tenn.-based provider of enterprise-grade digital pen and paper applications for healthcare, has closed on a $4.5 million Series A Preferred financing round with several healthcare investors, including the Heritage Group, The Martin Companies, the Nashville Capital Network, Founder Collective and Chip Linehan.
PHNS, a Dallas-based provider of healthcare IT and business services, has been acquired by The ConJoin Group, a Toronto-based IT and business services company, for $250 million.
DST Health Solutions of Birmingham, Ala., has launched new versions of all four of its core claims administration platforms – Amisys Advance, PowerMHC, PowerMHS and PowerSTEPP. Company officials say the platforms will support Version 5010 of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ electronic healthcare transaction standards as of Jan. 1, 2011.
Wolters Kluwer Health, based in Philadelphia, has announced that Exempla Healthcare, based in Denver, has selected the company’s ProVation MD software for gastroenterology and pulmonary procedure documentation and coding for three of the health system’s hospitals.
The TriZetto Group of Greenwood Village, Colo., has announced that it is broadening its business process outsourcing services to include front-end processing, enrollment, billing and claims administration. The expanded capabilities leverage new resources and proprietary technology from Tela Sourcing, which the company acquired in August.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc., based in Providence, R.I., has launched accessMOBILE, a mobile banking application designed to allow Citizens Bank and Charter One business customers to manage their cash and payments from mobile devices.
Avvo, Inc., based in Seattle, has announced the launch of a free doctor ratings directory, containing profiles of more than 800,000 U.S. doctors.
The University HealthSystem Consortium, an Oak Brook, Ill.-based alliance of 111 academic medical centers and 255 of their affiliated hospitals, has been awarded a Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Commerce as part of its National Export Initiative, which aims to increase the number of people coming to the United States from other parts of the world for medical care. The three-year, $500,000 award will be used to better quantify and grow the number of so-called medical exports.
RelayHealth, McKesson’s Atlanta-based connectivity business, has announced that the Medical Society of Delaware has chosen the company as a solution partner to enhance patients’ participation in managing their healthcare and to increase efficiency for physician practices throughout the state.
Companion Data Services, a Columbia, S.C.-based provider of data center services, has been selected by Highmark Medical Services, Inc., a provider of administrative services to the federal Medicare program, to provider IT and support for a national healthcare reimbursement system.

Press releases for the Healthcare Finance News Vendor’s Notebook should be sent to eric.wicklund@medtechmedia.com