Embedding clinical decision support (CDS) into PACS significantly increases the likelihood that radiologists will use the software, but integration must occur at the time of implementation, otherwise physicians may become loath to change their workflows, concluded a study published in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

Ascom Wireless Solutions, supplier of onsite mobile mission-critical communications, and Enterasys Networks, provider of wired and wireless network infrastructure and security tools, have certified interoperability between the Ascom i62 Voice-over-WiFi handset and the Enterasys 3600 series wireless access points.

Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center in Bangor, Maine, has implemented Wolters Kluwer Health's VeriForm for its audit inspections.

SAN ANTONIOIn an Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) survey, clinical engineers and biomedical engineering technicians named interfacing devices and information systems the top challenge at their hospitals. Also ranked highly as challenging were maintaining computerized IT systems and managing alarm systems.

Philips Healthcare will launch its RightFit Service Agreement portfolio in North America on July 5, according to the company, which said the service allows users to increase system uptime and optimize in-house technical expertise.

Collaborative filtering can be a valuable tool for reconciling medication lists, but context and consequences should be included in the process, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, according to research in the July edition of the Journal of the American Informatics Association.

There may be a shortage of well-rounded, jack-of-all-trade type clinical engineers in coming years, according to speakers at a roundtable discussion held at the 2011 Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference & expo on June 26.

SAN ANTONIOClinical engineers (CE) often get too bogged down in the break/fix activities on a daily basis. If this consumes the life of the CE, then there will not be an opportunity to grow. We need to take control of what our profession will become 10 to 15 years down the line because its already in a state of evolution, said Alan Gresch, who made a presentation at the 2011 Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation annual meeting on June 25.