Wisconsin Technology News

Business intelligence coming to the healthcare space
If it's true that higher performing companies are more analytical than lower performing businesses, the healthcare industry is poised for a golden era. The large amounts of data being generated by recently deployed healthcare information technology can be captured by business intelligence tools to produce data that results in a competitive advantage.

E-discovery nightmare: Does your company know how to respond?
Businesses face several legal challenges today, but the most daunting might be electronic discovery requests. Even though they have been place for more than a year, companies are paying a heavy price for their failure to prepare for and comply with the e-component of the federal rules of civil procedure. As is the case with most legal issues, however, there are preventive steps that can be taken.

Rural hospitals get technology funding boost
The final piece in financing is in place for an initiative designed to improve information technology in Wisconsin's rural hospitals. Forward Community Investments made the $400,000 loan to the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative Information Technology Network as part of a $5 million project.

The Innovation Zone: iTunes shows innovation is about imagination, not dollars
There is no need to panic about America's declining investment, as a percentage of global spending, in innovation, according to columnist Tom Koulopoulos. In this edition of the Innovation Zone, Koulopoulos cites a much deeper set of values that are emerging around innovation, and he touts Apple's iTunes business model as an example of this new innovation ethic.

Healthcare 2015: Without change, it's not a pretty picture
IBM's Jim Adams is blunt in mapping out the need for change in the U.S healthcare system, but he warns the status quo could still survive even with the benefits of healthcare information technology. Adams, executive director of the IBM Center for Healthcare Management, talked about the benefits of value-based healthcare at WTN's recent Digital Healthcare Conference.

NIH biomedical arm renews funding for Medical College of Wisconsin
The National Institutes of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, an arm of the National Institutes of Health, has extended funding for the Medical College of Wisconsin's biomedical center. The Medical College facility will receive $5.6 million over the next five years to continue its work to develop new biomedical research tools.

DHC 2008: In healthcare, commercializing technology can be enticing, risky
Before rushing to market an internally developed technology that works well within their environments, healthcare providers and other organizations are well advised to consider how it will play in Peoria. There are examples, including Marshfield Clinic's electronic medical record, where internally developed IP has demonstrated commercial appeal, but the same piece of intellectual property that serves your organization well may not meet the needs of others.

CIO Leadership: Mercy's Fred Terry fights digital data explosion
Medical imaging equipment is not only producing tangible operational benefits, but they also are generating massive amounts of data that is taxing storage and could someday result in system failure. Fred Terry, director of information systems for Mercy Health system in Janesville, expects his picture archiving and communication system to add significantly to storage requirements, and he's developing a strategy to head off trouble.

WARF enters licensing agreements with vaccine, life-science firms
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation has entered into licensing agreements involving new flu technology and human embryonic stem cell technology. WARF has licensed vaccine technology to FluGen, a local start-up founded by UW-Madison professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka, and it has licensed stem cell technology to the California-based Invitrogen Corp. for the development of drug discovery and research tools.

DHC 2008: EMRs stimulate interest in personal health records
Personal health records have their champions and critics alike, and they were not bashful about sharing their views on PMRs during WTN's 2008 Digital Healthcare Conference. Growing consumer interest in PMRs will require technology companies to develop better tools, and Microsoft and Googleare already on the case, but will consumers trust them to safeguard privacy?

DHC 2008: Electronic data management a top CIO concern
The 2008 Digital Healthcare Conference kicked off with a presentation on personal health records, but it's the management of data arising from the implementation of electronic medical records and other healthcare IT that has Wisconsin CIOs looking for answers. The conference continues on Thursday with presentations on business intelligence, the commercialization of internally developed intellectual property, and a look at healthcare in the year 2015.

GWC Technologies chooses Indian distributor
GWC Technologies of Madison has chosen Biotron Healthcare of Mumbai, India as its exclusive distributor of products in India. The Madison company, which exports products to more than a dozen nations, manufactures label-free arrays used for life-science applications such as proteomics analysis, drug discovery research, and diagnostics development.

Carlini's Comments: Where does your city stand in the broadband race?
If commercial or residential buildings lack broadband connectivity, they might start seeing a lack of tenants, observes columnist James Carlini. That's why broadband connectivity is a key economic driver, he asserts in this edition of Carlini's Comments. Just ask the leaders of those rare municipalities that have made high-speed broadband an economic development priority.

Inside Wisconsin: Should VC-owned small businesses receive government grants?
Whether or not proposed changes to the federal Small Business Innovation Research grant program would help Wisconsin is anyone's guess. But the merits of a provision to allow venture capital-owned entrepreneurial firms to apply for grants continues to generate a great deal of debate, according to Inside Wisconsin columnist Tom Still.

Neurognostics names Stafford as new president, CEO
William Stafford, who recently served as vice president and chief financial officer for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, has been named president and CEO of Neurognostics, a Milwaukee-based medical imaging company. Prior to joining the MSO, Stafford served in sales and business development capacities for Merge Healthcare and GE Medical Systems, now GE Healthcare.