IBM Corp. said it will push the wireless portfolio of PatientKeeper, bringing added marketing muscle from the computer giant to the world of healthcare. IBM said it plans to market and resell PatientKeeper's mobile platform, which is designed to give physicians the ability to view and add to an electronic patient record and access clinical decision-support information wirelessly via PDA. The move will integrate PatientKeeper into Big Blue's Wires and Mobility Solutions initiative, and it strengthens an existing relationship between the two companies. PatientKeeper now runs on IBM's WebSphere.

Two U.K. hospitals have selected Cerner to build an electronic medical record solution. London-based Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust and Newham Healthcare NHS Trust will both install Cerner's Millennium electronic patient record in August. Cerner said the systems should be fully functional in two years. The multimillion-dollar deal will also include patient administration systems, electronic prescribing, and clinical decision support at 510-bed Homerton and 550-bed Newham.

One of the largest hospital groups in New York said it plans to install IDX Systems' Carecast at its largest facilities. Continuum Health Partners will bring the IDX technology to Beth Israel Medical Center, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, and Long Island College Hospital. The deal includes both electronic patient data and computerized physician order entry (CPOE), and the company said that once the technology is installed, the hospitals will have the capability to enter all clinical orders through the system. IDX already provides CPOE technology to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

In addition, IDX announced three new deals for the company's Imagecast radiology information/picture archiving system at Midland Memorial Hospital in Texas, PeaceHealth in Washington, and Premier Health Partners in Ohio.

Vantage Point Healthcare Information Systems said it has begun a data warehousing effort for the largest healthcare delivery system in the San Diego area. The company has started loading 2000-2001 claims data from Sharp Community Medical Group via the company's SmartCare system. Next, Vantage Point plans to add hospital, pharmacy, and eligibility data, allowing Sharp to better track patients.

Laboratory Corporation of America and the non-profit Patient Safety Institute said they will work together to bring clinical lab results to doctors via PSI's secure system. The effort will begin in Delaware, where PSI is leading an effort to build the first statewide clinical information sharing utility, and representatives from both the company and PSI said access to laboratory data would boost the utility of that system.