Patient Placement Systems Unveils Referral Automation Vision Center

Patient Placement Systems Unveils Referral Automation Vision Center

Innovative facility lets continuing care providers and hospitals observe and explore Web-based technologies that accelerate discharge planning for hospitals and referral and admissions processes for long-term care

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) March 2, 2009 -- Patient Placement Systems announced the opening of its high-tech simulated hospital and long-term care facility, the Vision Center. Located at its company headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga., the Vision Center provides an innovative real-world environment to showcase the newest Web-based software technologies for automating hospital discharge referrals (http://www.patientplacement.com/healthcare-software/discharge-planning.aspx), as well as admissions and intake for continuing care providers.

"We are pleased to establish the Vision Center to help hospitals and continuing care providers see the benefits of automated referrals and admissions (http://www.patientplacement.com/rms-free-trial.aspx)in a real-life environment," said Eric Christ, president of Patient Placement Systems. "Seeing our software in a live setting is a unique way for healthcare professionals to better understand the technologies that improve their efficiency, productivity and performance."

The 1,828-square-foot Vision Center replicates a hospital and post-acute care facility. Built in the northwest wing of parent company Jackson Healthcare's corporate headquarters, the center allows visitors and healthcare leaders to observe innovative healthcare systems and experience a live display of efficient, paperless patient discharge and intake. The center showcases everything from waiting room areas, a nursing unit space, a bed management hub, an emergency department, and an operating room suite. Ten plasma screens provide clear visibility into the complete functionality of the systems in use.

The Patient Placement Systems Vision Center depicts a typical day for hospital case managers and continuing care provider admissions teams. Recent visitors to the Vision Center watched live demonstrations of Patient Placement Web-based software technologies automating and enabling:

* Patient discharge planning, referral communications and placements

* Receipt, status tracking, and approval of inbound continuing care referrals

* Conversion from paper referral documents to complete electronic document management

* Alerts, task management and referral creation using mobile devices

* Marketing activity and campaign tracking

* Instant insurance verification

* Creation of standard forms and admissions documents

* Comprehensive live reports of outbound and inbound referral activity

About Patient Placement Systems: Patient Placement Systems Web-based solutions automate and accelerate discharge planning and admissions management for hospitals and continuing healthcare providers (http://www.patientplacement.com/). Hospitals eliminate delayed discharges, and continuing care providers respond immediately to referral inquiries while accepting more qualified patients. Discharge planners and admissions managers securely send, track and archive referrals live online, with full reporting for better business decisions. For more information, visit www.PatientPlacement.com or to schedule a tour of the Vision Center, call 877-748-6656.

About Jackson Healthcare: Founded by healthcare pioneer Richard L. Jackson, Jackson Healthcare addresses the two biggest challenges facing healthcare today: finding the right people and delivering the right information at the right time. The JH family of companies provides clinician staffing, anesthesia management and healthcare information technology solutions proven to improve clinical and financial outcomes and increase operational efficiency.

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Contact Information Doug Walker

Patient Placement Systems

http://www.patientplacement.com

7706435692

NOTION Music Unveils Enhanced NOTION Conducting Curriculum

NOTION Music Unveils Enhanced NOTION Conducting Curriculum

Interactive software, instructional videos, and workbook offer new way to teach conducting in the classroom

Greensboro, NC (Vocus) March 2, 2009 -- Music schools have a common dilemma: how to teach students the art of conducting without an orchestra. Now there's a solution. NOTION Music (http://www.notionmusic.com) recently began shipments of their NOTION Conducting 2nd Edition (http://products.notionmusic.com/conducting/) to music education centers around the world. Based on NOTION's award-winning software with built-in music sampling technology, the 2nd Edition features instructive videos, an enhanced user interface based on instructor feedback and testing with actual students, and a full-sized workbook built around standard symphonic literature.

The software's realistic playback uses digital samples from the entire London Symphony Orchestra, recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London. Students in the classroom "play" specific instruments or instrument groupings on their computers - following a student conductor's gestures by tapping keys on a computer or MIDI keyboard.

"Finally, every class can have an entire ensemble available for their students to conduct and hear immediate, continuous feedback on how well they communicate," explains the author of NOTION Conducting and co-founder of NOTION Music, Dr. Jack Jarrett. "Teacher and students alike experience firsthand the challenges and rewards of conducting an entire orchestra of musicians."

With NOTION Conducting, not only is the instructor free to fully concentrate on each conducting student's technique, but also students have the ability to practice conducting a full ensemble as homework or self-study, anywhere and anytime. New with the 2nd Edition, students can watch full-motion video lessons of conducting basics and conducted performances of scores and exercises in the workbook. The curriculum includes over a dozen standard scores ranging from a simple chorale up through an operatic aria - complete with a real recorded soprano. Additional works are also available for download from the NOTION website.

"NOTION Conducting has been getting great response. Several leading music schools are already using it in their classrooms including Berklee College of Music," explains Jim Boitnott, President of NOTION Music. "We have also had interest coming from music instructors around the world, so we've now expanded printings of the workbook to French, German, Italian, and Spanish."

About NOTION Music

NOTION Music (http://www.notionmusic.com) is dedicated to the advancement of music of all genres through innovative software solutions. NOTION's award-winning music creation and performance software products bring performance-quality sounds and the artistry of world-class musicians to your fingertips. NOTION Music is headquartered in the United States and has an office in the United Kingdom. More at www.notionmusic.com.

Media Contact:

Jake Van Wyk

NOTION Music, Inc.

phone: (336) 275-2994 x322

web: www.notionmusic.com

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Contact Information Jake Van Wyk

NOTION Music, Inc.

http://www.notionmusic.com

336-275-2994

University of California - Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Selects the OnCore(r) Platform to Support their Clinical Informatics Needs

University of California - Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Selects the OnCore(r) Platform to Support their Clinical Informatics Needs

With the signing of their contract for the OnCore(r) clinical research management system in January, the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (CFCCC) of the University of California-Irvine became the 22nd cancer center to adopt the OnCore platform in support of its clinical research informatics needs.

Madison, Wis. (PRWEB) March 2, 2009 -- With the signing of their contract for the OnCore(r) clinical research management system in January, the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (CFCCC) of the University of California-Irvine became the 22nd cancer center to adopt the OnCore platform in support of its clinical research informatics needs. Center director, Frank L. Meyskens, Jr., M.D., announced earlier this month that the CFCCC has purchased both the OnCore Clinical Research Management system (OnCore CRM) as well as the OnCore Biospecimen Management system (OnCore-BSM).

Nearly two years ago, the CFCCC, under the direction of Dr. Meyskens, initiated a wide-ranging assessment of the center's clinical and translational research needs. The initial evaluation clearly identified that, in order to improve and expedite performance of the center's clinical and translational research infrastructure, it was critical that they implement a comprehensive clinical trials management system (http://www.percipenz.com/clinical.php).

Informatics Manager, Andrea Hwang, led this CFCCC initiative with a group of Cancer Center members and Research Administration managers. With an eye to wider institutional use, the review team was subsequently expanded to include multiple UC Irvine stakeholders.

"The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center has been an active participant in caBIG deployment. One of our immediate goals is to acquire a caBIG-compatible clinical trial management system (http://www.percipenz.com/news-oncore). Through the OnCore implementation, we wish to realize the potential benefit in increasing the research efficiency, translational efficiency, and operation efficiency from fostering the collaborative research within UC Irvine, as well as between our center and the wider caBIG community," says Hwang.

The OnCore system is the flagship product of PercipEnz Technologies, Inc., a software development company specializing in clinical and translational research informatics for midsized to large organizations. The most widely adopted informatics platform among cancer centers (http://www.percipenz.com/community.php) nationwide, OnCore is used by one out of every four NCI-designated cancer centers to administer their portfolios of clinical trials.

Work to implement the system at CFCCC began immediately. Already, the CFCCC and PercipEnz are in the process of migrating existing data into OnCore and are on track to go live with the system in the second quarter of this year.

"The people at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center have invested a lot of thought and preparation into their implementation of OnCore," says Srini Kalluri, president and CEO of PercipEnz. "It's clear that they will realize significant benefits because they're taking advantage of not only the full functionality of the system but also the propensity of a centralized data repository to unify a large organization."

The center is already pursuing the goal of fully integrated clinical data management and study administration capability by integrating OnCore with the local hospital electronic medical records system. Other plans for the near future include making the Paperless Committee Management, Subject Safety Management, Study Information Portal, Protocol and Subject Life Cycle Management, and Custom Reporting modules of OnCore available by this Summer. Additional functional modules of OnCore will be rolled-out through the end of the year.

In the long term, Dr. Meyskens sees even more possibilities. Since OnCore can also be used for multi-disciplinary and non-cancer research, Dr. Meyskens looks forward to collaborating with other UC Irvine research centers and departments who may want to make OnCore their clinical trials management system.

"OnCore is highly functional and will allow the CFCCC to be competitive in clinical trials at the national and international level. Other clinical units are welcome to work with us in the implementation of their clinical research goals as well," says Dr. Meyskens.

The OnCore Clinical Research Management system (OnCore-CRM) offers a comprehensive set of modules for managing all aspects of clinical research:

* Protocol & Subject Life Cycle Management

* Subject Safety Management

* Protocol & Subject Calendar Management

* Study Financials Management

* Electronic Data Capture and Data Management

* Paperless Committee Management with ePRMS

* Study Information Portal

* Custom Reporting Technology

The OnCore Biospecimen Management system supports all aspects of biospecimen and biorepository management:

* Inventory Management

* Annotation Management

* Requisition & Distribution Management

* Correlative Study Sample Management

* Flexible Reporting Capabilities

For information about the OnCore research informatics platform, contact PercipEnz Technologies at (608) 826-6000 or visit the company online at www.PercipEnz.com.

Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, PercipEnz Technologies, Inc. develops enterprise-class clinical and translational research management software. The company's flagship product, the OnCore(r) informatics system, is the nation's most widely adopted clinical research platform among academic research organizations and cancer centers.

The OnCore platform is the result of nearly a decade of experience working closely with large research organizations, including cancer centers and institutes funded by the National Institute of Health's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program. By actively engaging users throughout the development process, PercipEnz delivers solutions that address the underlying operational challenges facing organizations and their staff. The OnCore system is a proven, effective, and sustainable informatics infrastructure that supports streamlined clinical research operations. The platform is powerful and secure while providing the flexibility required by individual institutions to support their unique organizational structures and workflows.

For more information, please contact:

Kerri Phillips, Customer Experience Services Manager, PercipEnz Technologies, Inc.,

708 Heartland Trail, Suite 1800 Madison, WI. Telephone: (608) 826-6000 or email: kphillips (at) percipenz (dot) com.

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Contact Information Kerri Phillips

PercipEnz Technologies, Inc.

http://www.percipenz.com

(608) 826-6000

Vocus to Host Its Eighth Annual Users Conference for Public Relations, Government Relations and PAC Professionals

Vocus to Host Its Eighth Annual Users Conference for Public Relations, Government Relations and PAC Professionals

Leading Industry Experts to Gather in Washington D.C. for One-of-a-Kind Conference Exploring Techniques and Best Practices for Communications

Lanaham, MD (Vocus) March 2, 2009 -- Vocus, Inc., (NASDAQ: VOCS) a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management, today announced that it will hold its eighth annual Users Conference from June 3-5, 2009 at The Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C. The 2009 Vocus Users Conference (http://www.vocus.com/UC2009/), "The Time is Now. Lead," will feature leading PR, GR and PAC experts offering techniques and best practices to help Vocus customers communicate effectively and emerge as a leader in today's world.

The 2009 Users Conference will offer customers new ways to leverage Vocus' software (http://www.vocus.com/) to improve results and demonstrate their contribution to the bottom-line. Professionals will

* Hear from industry leaders who will discuss how organizations can emerge as leaders in a tough economy.

* Gain a better understanding of how technology and social media are accelerating the convergence of PR and Marketing.

* Choose from Basic and Advanced PR, GR and PAC training sessions to help maximize the success of campaigns.

* Build relationships and share best practices with hundreds of other professionals to help grow business networks.

* Learn how to maximize the value of their investment in Vocus to meet the organization's needs.

"Today's tight budgets mean doing more with less without sacrificing results," said Bill Wagner, chief marketing officer at Vocus, Inc. "The Vocus Users Conference is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for our customers to learn new ways to leverage our software to not only increase the momentum of communications campaigns in today's economic climate but also demonstrate their impact on company success."

Register by April 3, 2009, and take advantage of a $100 early bird discount on normal conference registration rates. For more information, please visit the Vocus Users Conference page (http://www.vocus.com/uc2009/details.html).

About Vocus, Inc.

Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management. Our web-based software suite helps organizations of all sizes to fundamentally change the way they communicate with both the media and the public, optimizing their public relations and increasing their ability to measure its impact. Our on-demand software addresses the critical functions of public relations including media relations, news distribution and news monitoring. We deliver our solutions over the Internet using a secure, scalable application and system architecture, which allows our customers to eliminate expensive up-front hardware and software costs and to quickly deploy and adopt our on-demand software. Vocus is used by more than 3,300 organizations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in Lanham, MD with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information please visit www.vocus.com or call 800.345.5572.

This release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "may," "will," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Vocus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Contact Information Robin Lane

Vocus, Inc.

http://www.vocus.com

301-683-6022