April 6, 2009 – At HIMSS 2009, GE Healthcare said today announced it will work with Providence Health & Services (Portland, OR) to develop a new connectivity platform to integrate electronic records from hospitals with GE Healthcare’s Centricity Electronic Medical Record (EMR), a widely used EMR designed for the ambulatory setting.

April 6, 2009 – According to The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), an unprecedented rush of applications to meet a March 31 deadline for applying for the 2008 cycle of certification testing brought to 64 the number of ambulatory electronic health record (EHR) products seeking to become CCHIT Certified.

April 6, 2009 - Evalve Inc. announced today the first enrollment in the ACCESS-Europe study, a post-market observational study of the MitraClip therapy in Europe. The MitraClip system is the first commercially available treatment option for nonsurgical mitral valve repair for patients suffering from the effects of functional and degenerative mitral regurgitation (MR).

April 6, 2009 - The 2009 Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Conference & Exhibition (HIMSS 2009) featured 25,672 total registrants, 13,677 exhibitor staff and 11,291 professional attendees, according to the organization.

April 6, 2009 — A new research survey released today at HIMSS 2009 by SK&A Information Services Inc. reveals 67 percent of medical offices with four or more physicians do not currently use EMR software. The survey results point to substantial sales and marketing opportunities for healthcare information technology vendors and service providers.

Microsoft Corp. is showcasing new solutions designed specifically for healthcare providers, caregivers and patients, as well as solutions-applied healthcare scenarios.