Newsbytes, 2/14

Create PDF

Raymond D. Aller, MD, and Hal Weiner

Orchard Software collaborates with Memorial Sloan-Kettering

Orchard Software has entered into a long-term agreement with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center under which Orchard will supply the cancer center with its Orchard Harvest lab information system while working with Memorial Sloan-Kettering to enhance and further develop its lab informatics products.

“Cancer care is getting more and more personalized and customized, and we believe this laboratory information system … will allow us to increase the personalization of the laboratory testing even further,” says Melissa Pessin, MD, PhD, chair of Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s Department of Laboratory Medicine.

Key to that personalization is Orchard’s rules-based system, Dr. Pessin continues. “This will allow us to reflex the appropriate testing that a patient needs based on their own situation, without requiring a tech or someone to remember, ‘Oh, yeah, this is the patient with this particular situation.’”

About 65 percent of Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s lab testing is performed for outpatients, according to Dr. Pessin. “This technology allows us to complete the testing without bringing that patient back in. Often, we have patients coming in from a distance and this allows us to get those answers back faster,” she explains. “The real key is to get the patients the test results they need as quickly as possible, without doing a zillion tests.”

Orchard’s chief operating officer, Curt Johnson, says the collaboration “will enhance and broaden the development of our LIS products and simultaneously support MSK’s objective to provide superior individualized diagnostic treatments for patients based on the most current evidence.”
Memorial Sloan-Kettering, says Dr. Pessin, plans to implement the Orchard system by mid-July.

Orchard Software, 800-856-1948

Sunquest releases new versions of products

Sunquest Information Systems has introduced the latest versions of its Sunquest Laboratory and Sunquest Molecular products.

Sunquest Laboratory version 7.2 offers numerous enhancements, including a single graphical user interface for manual and online resulting; reflex orders across modules; and abnormal and critical microbiology, allowing users to flag results manually or by rules.

Sunquest Molecular is designed to reduce the administrative duties related to molecular and genetic testing. It builds on capabilities in Sunquest Laboratory, including the lab system’s specimen-routing and tracking functionality and flexible billing definitions, as well as bar-coding, interfacing, and enhanced security features.

Sunquest Information Systems, 520-570-2000

Public and private entities partner to assist with ICD-10

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange is partnering with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other public and private organizations on an initiative to offer guidance on ICD-10 implementation. The project is aimed at a variety of industry stakeholders, including health care providers, payers, clearinghouses, and vendors.

The initiative will comprise several elements, including a searchable public database of ICD-10 issues, as well as webinars and articles that highlight ICD-10 conversion issues and trends.

“The consortium developed by the new ICD-10 Implementation Success Initiative will help ensure the successful implementation of ICD-10 by serving as a hub to field questions regarding ICD-10 and to develop a coordinated education effort regarding ICD-10 implementation,” says Devin Jopp, WEDI president and CEO. “By collaborating with CMS and other industry partners, we can work effectively together to … provide the most comprehensive support and resources industrywide.”

Among the numerous organizations contributing information and other resources to the initiative are the American Health Information Management Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, American Osteopathic Association, Healthcare Billing Management Association, and Medical Group Management Association.