Stryker launches partial knee resurfacing system
Stryker Orthopaedics (Mahwah, N.J.) has announced the addition of Triathlon PKR, a partial knee resurfacing system, to the Triathlon Knee System family. The new product uses Stryker’s X3 advanced bearing technology, which the company claims has demonstrated up to a 96 percent decrease in wear in laboratory testing compared to competitive premium bearing surfaces in total knee replacements.

Stryker also unveiled its Triathlon TS Revision System, which is designed to provide Triathlon performance in a streamlined revision procedure. The design is based on the Triathlon Primary System and is designed to provide improved motion, better fit, and the potential for greater implant longevity, according to the company.

The Triathlon TS Revision System also uses X3 bearing technology and incorporates “post preservation features” to help alleviate the stresses typically exerted on a stabilizing post in a revision setting.

For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.stryker.com

Mizuho OSI introduces hinged surgical table
Mizuho OSI (Union City, Calif.) demonstrated its new Axis Jackson™ System at the 2008 AAOS Annual Meeting. Mizuho OSI, a Mizuho Ikakogyo Company, offers a wide range of highly specialized surgical tables for spinal, joint replacement, and orthopaedic trauma surgery as well as tables for comprehensive imaging required by today’s minimally invasive procedures.

The system features a proprietary hinge controlled by a powered hand pendant to enable the surgeon to manipulate the patient’s position intraoperatively. One of five modular surgical table tops that fit onto a single table base, the Axis Jackson System consists of a hinged Axis Jackson frame and a two-piece supine top. The Advanced Control Base of the modular table system can also host other table tops in addition to the Axis Jackson for specific surgical procedures.

For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.mizuhosi.com

Syndicom Web platform facilitates clinical trial
Syndicom (Durango, Colo.) has announced that the company is providing its online collaboration platform to facilitate a clinical study for a new lumbar disk product from Aesculap Implant Systems, a subsidiary of Aesculap, Inc., focusing on spine and orthopaedic devices. Syndicom is providing a private, HIPAA-secure Web community to support and facilitate communications among Aesculap Implant Systems, its principal investigators, and other participants during the clinical trial.

The platform provides a private, secure online environment that allows investigating surgeons to proactively identify and include only cases that strictly adhere to the protocols, post comments to those cases, receive immediate replies, and identify any problems. To learn more, visit www.syndicom.com

MediNotes unveils latest release of MediNotes Clinician
MediNotes Corporation (West Des Moines, Iowa) has released the latest version of its Internet-based integrated electronic medical record/practice management (PM) solution MediNotes Clinician™ Spring R2. New upgrades include a payments link that permits users to view the patient’s current collection status while in the payment screen; an electronic secondary that enables electronic billing of secondary claims to commercial plans as well as to Medicare; an inventory module that allows users to add the quantity on hand and the cost per each product from the total inventory products screen; an activity detail report that enables users to group details according to insurers; guarantor options that allow practices to associate multiple guarantors with a patient and to indicate which of them should be billed; rules that sort laboratory orders by whether they were ordered internally or externally; and the ability to interface with claims clearinghouse RealMed.

In addition to MediNotes Clinician, the company also offers MediNotes e, an interoperable electronic health records (EHR) system. The two product offerings provide physicians the choice of either a stand-alone EHR or an integrated, single-database solution for EHR/PM.

To learn more visit www.medinotes.com or call (877) 633-6683.

Studer Group launches study on issues facing women in health care
Studer Group (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) has launched a new study regarding work/life balance |among women employed within the healthcare industry. The study is being conducted to better understand the unique and delicate issues of professional/personal balance facing the 10.7 million women who work in health care and, in turn, to recommend solutions to their employers that are relevant to this complex industry.

Studer Group is confident that the study results will help organizations modify ways they conduct business so their systems can be adapted with practical solutions to accommodate their female workforce. Additionally, these strategies will assist women employed in health care to achieve a stronger balance between home and work, to relieve their stress load and to enhance their quality of life. Ultimately, improved patient care will be a direct outcome.

Survey questions address issues that women in health care face. A sampling of survey questions include issues pertaining to the combined effect of home and work on employees’ emotional health; the role a supervisor plays in maintaining a positive work environment; and the relevance of personal time to job satisfaction.

To participate in the study, visit www.studergroup.com/womensstudy

Survey finds most ASCs don’t use EHRs
According to an independent national survey of 175 administrators for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), 82 percent of ASCs do not use an electronic health record (EHR), 85 percent use paper perioperative notes, and 74 percent use dictation and transcription to generate physician procedure notes. The study was commissioned by Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students.

Respondents cited the following obstacles to electronically streamlining documentation:

• Lack of interface with scheduling software and other existing systems
• Lack of capital investment
• Lack of software that will capture their patient mix
• Lack of personnel to implement a new system

In addition, 49 percent are concerned about revenue losses in the implementation process. Nearly one-fourth of the ASC administrators do not know their current per chart document management costs. Among those who are aware, 69 percent place this cost between $3.00 and $8.99.

Renaissance Research, of Edwardsville, Ill., conducted the national telephone survey between Feb. 29, 2008, and March 12, 2008.