Interoperabilitymaking disparate information systems communicate with each otherrepresents a tremendous undertaking for every 21st century healthcare provider. At the same time, it is a business essential. Whos got the right strategy? Check out some options

Theyre everywhere. Mobile computers are on the move in the ER and OR, atop carts as physicians make rounds, and in the hands of nurses logging vital signs at the bedside or dispensing meds. With the growing adoption of EMRs, mobile computing use among hospital-based clinicians has moved beyond standalone, knowledge-based applications such as drug reference databases and medical calculators to systems that can increase clinician productivity, reduce errors and eliminate inefficient processes.

The idea of meaningful use, mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has been whittled down into defining the enigmatic term meaningful. In this search, discussions within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) have focused on the practice of medicine, not the implementation of IT. If the meaningful use of information systems does not have an obvious and profound impact on the safety and quality of healthcare, then it ceases to have meaning.

Amidst the excitement of the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting in San Francisco this week comes the news that its co-founder, Martin B. Leon, MD, is once again being investigated for potential conflicts of interest and unreported income from medical device makers.

The use of iodinated- and gadolinium-based contrast agents, which are frequently used during CT and MRI scans, has a low rate of adverse effects on patients, according to a study in the October issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

There is increasing acceptance of e-prescribing in Europe and system sales should more than triple in the next six years, according to a report on the technology by market research firm Frost & Sullivan.

A survey by the research firm KLAS on customer satisfaction with staff scheduling software solutions has found significant differences of opinion among stakeholders, including finance, IT and nursing departments.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Illinois have found that a one-minute eye exam performed at bedside works better than an MRI exam in distinguishing new strokes from other less serious disorders in patients complaining of dizziness, nausea and spinning sensations, according to findings published online ahead of print in the journal Stroke.