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Konica Minolta is stepping in a new direction. When the imaging vendor acquired Viztek in October 2015, it sought to provide enhanced value through its healthcare IT solutions centered on digital radiography, integrated X-ray devices, point-of-care ultrasound, integrated PACS, radiology information systems and electronic health records. “We’re entering the EHR space so we want to be able to go to a group of clinics, multispecialty groups, and say, ‘Hey, we can provide RIS and PACS and do practice management and charting and billing for OB-GYN, orthopedics and others in your groups,’” said Steve Deaton, vice president of healthcare IT sales, Konica Minolta Medical Imaging. See all of our HIMSS16 previews At HIMSS16, Viztek executives will join Konica Minolta executives to showcase the Konica Minolta Exa Healthcare IT enterprise imaging platform. Calling the combined offering “a full provider-based EHR,” Deaton explained that Exa is different from competitors electronic health records systems in that it includes not only RIS and PACS in an enterprise imaging platform but also those EHR and practice management capabilities.” Exa uses a standards-based interface to import data from existing EHRs to give radiologists a more complete picture of a patient than systems that don’t integrate with an EHR, Deaton said. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Konica Minolta said that its experience replacing imaging and radiology information systems at provider organizations will help it in its quest to expand farther into the EHR space. “What we’ve learned from the radiology space is how to become experienced in the replacement market,” Deaton said. “In radiology, every time we replace a system we are interacting with radiologists who can be some of the hardest users because they are looking at the exact same things all day long. If we can make them happy, we can make other clinicians happy.” For calendar year 2016, Deaton said, the company will target imaging providers, such as orthopedics, urgent care, cardiology, and so on. Then in 2017 it hopes to carry the platform outside of that, to non-imaging practices. Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

Open-source technology will offer flexibility and cost-efficiencies, officials say.

The hospital was also the first pediatric facility to achieve Stage 7 for its EHR use, the pinnacle on HIMSS Analytics Scale.

Other new contributor members include lifeIMAGE, a medical image sharing network, and MediPortal, a developer of patient engagement tools.

The software vendor intends to showcase two apps it is working on as part of the massive modernization contract.

Dignity exec to talk at HIMSS16 about how its helped create the specialist suite Optum360.

With more than 300 educational sessions and over 1,300 exhibiting companies, the annual HIMSS conference presents an extreme challenge even for the most physically fit attendees. It pays to know your way around the Sands Expo Center before you get off the shuttle bus in the morning. The HIMSS16 mobile app is the perfect solution for navigating the event. It provides a complete list of exhibitors with the locations of their booths, and provides a scalable version of the show floor map. You’ll find exhibitors listed with their booth numbers, a description of their services and contact information. See all of our HIMSS16 previews To help you manage your schedule while you’re at the conference, the app provides a personal agenda feature. You can quickly scroll through the schedule of educational sessions and save any that look interesting. You’ll find locations, descriptions of the sessions and bios for the speakers. The app can also help you network with other attendees. When you open the app, you’ll see an activity feed with updates posted by other attendees. Join in and participate or just scan the list to see what other people are doing now and planning to do later. To use other features, like the Agenda and Exhibitor list, tap the menu in the upper left corner. You’ll find plenty of helpful housekeeping features, including a directory of food services in the conference center, the shuttle schedule, locations of recharge cafes and even locations to get a massage. The app is free and available in Apple iOS and Andriod formats. You can download it directly from their app stores; just search for HIMSS16.  Or follow links from the HIMSS16 Conference Mobile App page. When you open the app, you need to login with your HIMSS membership email and password. If you’ve forgotten your member or conference registration account credentials, just reset them.  Twitter: @GusVenditto

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