Major tech firms join ranks of health IT squad

"The race to streamline online access to medical records turned into a stampede this week as leading high-tech vendors trumpeted new initiatives at the Health Information and Management Systems Society" (HIMSS) trade show in Atlanta," InternetNews.com/Datamation reports, adding that Dell, Google, IBM, Microsoft and others are touting "new and pending deals designed to help consumers, doctors and hospital move to more easily accessible, but also secure, medical histories and information online" (Needle, 3/1).

The Wall Street Journal reports Microsoft just hired Donna-Bea Tillman, a senior medical-device regulator and FDA official to beef up its Washington health group. "Microsoft, Google and other technology companies are trying to get in on the medical information-technology bonanza, which was given a boost with $20 billion in last year's economic stimulus package" (Mundy, 3/1).

Los Angeles Times: "Dell Inc. hopes to expand a key part of its business through a deal to sell computer hardware and technology consulting to medical practices that want to use new electronic medical records and related services from the American Medical Association" (Mintz, 3/1).

Computerworld/BusinessWeek: "Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse today made the case for using wireless technology, including Sprint's expanding Wimax network, to transform health care." Hesse said, "Too many health care facilities have to rely on aging telecom systems that hinder collaboration." He also argued that wireless technology could be used to monitor chronically ill patients at home and save the health system up to $21 billion in nursing home costs (Hamblen, 3/1).