We always look forward to attending HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) conference and to contributing to the exciting things that are happening in the healthcare industry. This year’s conference, held in New Orleans, focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of IT and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. More than just an event, HIMSS is a not-for-profit organization representing nearly 50,000 individual members as well as 570 corporate members.

BlackBerry technology has a legacy in the healthcare industry, and we’re very excited about the potential that BlackBerry 10 has to transform patient care and access to data. With Machine to Machine (or M2M) as a hot topic at this year’s conference, we fit right in with our new QNX-based mobile computing platform. At the BlackBerry Booth attendees were able to get hands-on with BlackBerry 10 as well as to explore what we have to offer the nursing industry including secure messaging, Voice over IP (VOIP), barcode scanning, multi-user capabilities, and a strong mobile ecosystem.

We’re looking forward to further developing our healthcare solutions and to seeing the BlackBerry 10 platform reach its full potential in the industry. With BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 providing multi-platform management and the upcoming Secure Work Space solution for iOS and Android devices, BlackBerry is in a solid position to remain a trusted partner of healthcare service providers worldwide.

Apps are all the rage in the consumer space, but people often forget about the thousands of mission critical applications that never hit an app store like the BlackBerry® App World™ storefront. These enterprise applications can increase productivity, improve communications, or in the case of Claron Technology’s Nil Medical application for BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet, potentially help save lives.

Recently, Claron Technology introduced a new extension to their Nil family of medical imaging viewers to support anytime, anywhere web-based viewing of a full range of medical images. The Claron Nil application for BlackBerry PlayBook, which is available in BlackBerry App World (but more likely to be deployed through tools such as BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion and the ‘work channel’ of BlackBerry App World), includes both NilRead for diagnostic applications and NilShare for referring to a physician.

The Nil app for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet provides one-click, ultra-fast access to the innovative image viewer running either on Claron’s NilCloud or a medical facility’s dedicated Nil server. There is a clear need for mobile access to medical information, as physicians and other medical staff are constantly on the move – even within their own facility. Moreover, with home-based and Web viewing of PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications Systems) having increased 3 to 4 times between 2005-2008 with no signs of stopping, mobility is an increasingly critical requirement for successful PACS deployments.

The information within these apps needs to be not only secure, but easily updated, automatically pushed out, monitored, and archived, which is facilitated via the BlackBerry platform. In an environment where the transfer of vital information is managed through technology, BlackBerry technology provides a secure communication infrastructure for health-care providers. As Claudio Gatti, co-founder and co-CEO of Claron put it, “BlackBerry smartphones are widely used in the medical environment, and we anticipate that the new Nil app for the BlackBerry PlayBook will be very popular among IT managers and physicians in today’s fast-paced, HIPAA-conscious world.”

With this launch, Claron joins a number of other major healthcare technology vendors like Epocrates, Horizon (McKesson) and Allscripts who are all leveraging the BlackBerry platform to mobilize their offerings. In fact, BlackBerry solutions for Healthcare have been a strong part of our overall enterprise offering for many years, and as Peter Ng, Sr. Director, Alliances Strategy & Business Development at Research In Motion® (RIM®) stated: “We’re pleased that Claron is expanding support for the BlackBerry platform with their new Nil app for the BlackBerry PlayBook which offers Nil customers an ultra-portable design, a high resolution display for sharp viewing, and delivers the responsive performance needed for handling medical images”

What mission critical applications does your organization run on BlackBerry technology? What applications do you see becoming increasingly portable? Are there different application requirements for tablets vs. smartphones? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

The BlackBerry World™ conference is coming up fast (May 3-5 in Orlando, Florida), and resident “Nursing Expert” Sara and I have been busy working away at our sessions for the healthcare professionals attending this year!

I’m looking forward to presenting using the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet in Clinical Environments on Tuesday May 3 at 2:15 pm – here’s a description of the session:

The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is changing how clinicians access Electronic Health Records, view diagnostic images and earn their continuing medical education credits. When coupled with Clinical Collaboration tools on a BlackBerry® smartphones, such as receiving alerts and unified communication solutions, the change in workflow is compelling. In this session you will learn how mobile solutions are making a difference in today’s healthcare organizations and you will hear first-hand experiences of customers with successful deployments for clinical teams.

• See the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet at work in a clinical scenario
• Understand how it helps increase the speed of responses, helps decision-making and improves the quality of care
• Hear about the full range of BlackBerry solutions for healthcare

Directly following that session, Sara and a few of our partners will be sharing “Clinical Collaboration on the BlackBerry platform – Nursing and Hospital Workflow” at 3:30 pm:

‘Clinical Collaboration’ on the BlackBerry platform means enabling nurses to access patient data, receive alerts and notifications, access reference tools, and collaborate with team members with voice or secure text. Hospital efficiencies can be improved including better communication, more efficient use of hospital equipment/space and improved patient care. In this session, learn how Wi-Fi® and SIM Optional/Dual-Mode BlackBerry smartphones are impacting healthcare organizations. You will have the opportunity to hear first-hand customer success stories of BlackBerry solutions for Nursing and Hospital Workflow and discuss healthcare application vendors.

• See the latest mobile applications leading healthcare customers have deployed on BlackBerry smartphones
• Discover best-practices for device consolidation on the BlackBerry smartphone
• Take the opportunity to talk to healthcare technology innovation leaders and discover opportunities to make positive communication changes in your healthcare environment
• Further your knowledge of Nursing and Hospital Workflow application vendors

So, the countdown is on! We’re really looking forward to connecting with healthcare innovators at BlackBerry World and discussing options for improving patient care through mobilization. Only four days until BlackBerry World begins, so be sure to register today!

What are you most interested in checking out at this year’s event? Is there anything in particular you’re looking to learn about? Let us know in the comments section of this post!

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

We’ve been having a great time at HIMSS (Healthcare Information Management Systems Society)! HIMSS is the annual Healthcare Industry show, where we go to meet with current and future customers, demo our new products and applications, and see what’s new in the healthcare industry.

This year, we’re exhibiting with a few of our solution partners: Vocera, Connexall®, and AmCom. We’re also happy to be showing off the upcoming BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet and its many uses within Healthcare.

We are also joined by some outstanding customers sharing their BlackBerry® solution success stories: Stony Brook University Medical Center, UPMC Mercy Hospital, Integris Health and CSC. Additionally, we’re excited to be premiering the above video that we’ve created featuring our customer, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, showcasing the BlackBerry solution for Nursing.

If you’re at HIMSS, come check us out at our booth #2519. If you’re following the show from your office, check us out @BlackBerry4Biz, where we’re live-tweeting! You can also follow the hashtag #HIMSS11 for complete show updates.

Are you a healthcare professional? Are you attending HIMSS 2011? What do you think of the show so far?