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New EHR has slowness issues and workflow delays that are causing longer patient wait times, a Banner spokesperson said.

Engagement and documentation key to the medical center’s success, group says.

Brigham and Women’s asked 26 patients discharged from ER to participate in pain study.

Doctors interested in telehealth practice will be able to view and apply to open position listings from several telehealth service providers.

Hospitals and health systems want to consolidate their various cardiology IT solutions, according to a new report from KLAS, but challenges related to clinician workflow and the ability to consolidate structured reporting with a single vendor have hindered such initiatives. Posing a particular challenge is invasive treatment such as cardiac catheterization, and the new study  from examines how various vendors are supporting cath physician workflow and structured reporting. [Also: Intermountain debuts heart mapping technology to treat arrhythmia] Thanks to the complexity of cath procedures, "adoption of structured reporting is low for cath compared to other cardiology areas," according to the report. "Customization and training are two factors that can impact adoption of cath structured reporting." KLAS found that customers of Change Healthcare and Merge report doing best with structured reporting, but also seek more streamlined workflow improvements. Change's clients like its physician training and willingness to customize the technology. Merge customers say the workflow has improved, but some shared concerns about the manual entry necessitated for cath templates Limited feedback from other customers, meanwhile, suggested that "Epic system provides very limited functionality for cath templates, and customers feel what success they have achieved has been due mostly to their own efforts." And a small sample of INFINITT are doing cath structured reporting and enjoy efficient physician workflows. But "many vendors struggle to provide frontline support with the knowledge level needed to help customers succeed with structured reporting," said KLAS researchers. "Merge and INFINITT customers report having access to responsive personnel who can help them adjust the structured reporting. Merge customers have reported some transition challenges following the acquisition by IBM. Philips customers also receive responsive support but must jump through hoops to access the right expertise." Support from Siemens, meanwhile, "varies from customer to customer, and improvements to the structured reporting take longer than hoped. Epic customers feel Epic is a partner but acknowledge that Epic has struggled to bring strong cardiology expertise to structured reporting." Change Healthcare clients "also note gaps in their vendor’s knowledge base," according to the report. "Both Fujifilm and LUMEDX customers report problems getting to the people with expertise to make changes. This is a recent development for LUMEDX customers, who previously received more responsive support." KLAS says that integration between the hemodynamics and cardiology solutions is essential to getting the correct data gets into structured reporting and ensuring that clinician workflow is as smooth as possible. Strong integration is a major selling point for Merge’s hemodynamics customers, who also tout the company's development of more customizable and automated reports, according to the report, which also notes that GE Healthcare and Philips "both offer stable, long-standing hemodynamics solutions; however, lack of development has been a recurring concern for customers looking for improved flexibility." Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

Ambra Health announced that Atrius Health and Envision Radiology both picked its imaging management service. The cloud-based tools will enable Atrius and Envision to exchange radiology images within their health systems. Ambra said its platform offers vendor neutral archive (VNA) capabilities and a diagnostic viewer user experience. “The cloud is increasingly seen as the best path forward for advancing technology-driven business strategies, efficiently bringing new applications and infrastructure on board, developing new innovation, reducing costs, and improving business and IT agility,” according to research published by the Business Performance and Innovation Network. While the BPI Network’s report involves a broad spectrum of industries, that is proving true in healthcare as well and that includes enterprise imaging. A new report from Reaction Data, meanwhile, suggests that hospitals purchasing practices when it comes to imaging technologies are starting to shift toward a best-of-breed approach, rather than opting for a single vendor for all their radiology needs. The report found that in 2016, for instance, 92 percent of the 269 imaging professionals Reaction Data queried indicated a preference for working with just one vendor but that fell to 77 percent in 2017. “Almost two-thirds of Directors of Radiology and Imaging prefer the simplicity of working with a single vendor, while over half of Radiologists instead prefer the functionality and possibilities of using multiple vendors for their PACS and VNA,” according to the report. Atrius Health’s Administrative Director of Radiology Ray Wilburn said the Ambra service enables clinicians to access imaging done within the region ahead of appointments. “The scheduling staff is able to provide the prior even before the patient walks in the door, saving valuable staff time and reducing redundancies,” Wilburn said. Jeff Emery, CIO of Envision Radiology, added that the cloud-based VNA and image exchange has helped the diagnostic practice “phase out the need for costly and time-consuming image transfer via CDs,” when exchanging images with surgeons and specialists. Twitter: SullyHIT Email the writer: tom.sullivan@himssmedia.com

The University of California at Davis Health System has received a $2 million grant over five years to test a telemedicine program for children with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, spinal cord injuries, and other disabilities.

Goal is to boost early-stage healthcare technologies and startups that have a link to Houston and the medical center.

System appoints Huntington F. Willard appointed to lead program’s expansion across the U.S.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is part of today’s zeitgeist: whether it be parallels with 'I, Robot' dystopias or predictions about its impact on society.