RelayHealth, a provider of healthcare connectivity services, has made available Connected Orders, a front-end workflow tool that connects ambulatory care physicians with hospital and freestanding reference laboratories, imaging centers and patients to automate the test ordering process.

The Smart Patient Room pilot at Bassett Medical Center, a 180-bed, acute care inpatient teaching facility in Cooperstown, N.Y., has been approved by the sites Institutional Review Board to begin data collection, according to GE Healthcare. 

Greater gray matter volume in the anterior prefrontal cortex of the human brain is a strong indicator of introspective ability and interindividual variation in the process of introspection can be correlated to white matter microstructure connected with this area of the brain, found a study published in the Sept. 17 issue of Science.

Emergency departments (EDs) are bursting at the seams. Between 1997 and 2007, rates increased from 352.8 ED visits per 1,000 persons to 390.5 per 1,000 persons, wrote Ning Tang, MD, from the general internal medicine division at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues in an article published Aug. 11 online in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In this feature, several experts speak to how EDs can alleviate some volume burden with various IT solutions.

Outpatient diagnostic imaging center provider RadNet has created a new business model with the acquisition of PACS provider eRad. RadNet CEO Howard Berger, MD, discussed the rationale for the companys entry into the radiology software business and hinted at future directions during a Sept. 14 shareholder update.

Communication software provider Amcom Software has been selected by Emory University for its smartphone messaging and pager replacement offering, Amcom Mobile Connect, to improve communication between university staff members.

Healthcare software company Medical Insight has signed a reseller agreement with Milwaukee-based image management company TeraMedica for the distribution of its EasyViz Enterprise System.

Healthcare supply contracting company Novation will distribute Hitachi Medical Systems America's ultrasound systems under an Ultrasound Group Buy opportunity, which began Sept. 1 and will continue until Dec. 31.