If your college or university has started its pandemic planning efforts, you may be interested to know that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has recently launched a campaign called “Take the Lead”, aimed at raising awareness of the importance of pandemic planning. It provides a tool kit with talking points, factsheets and even posters to help you disseminate the information across your campus community. More help on getting a plan together can be found in this Nuesoft Xpress newsletter article on pandemic planning, featuring tips from Anita Barkin, chair of ACHA’s pandemic planning task force.

Late last year, HL-7’s Electronic Health Record Technical Committee moved the industry one step closer to a Personal Health Record System Functional Model  (PHR-S FM). The model became a draft ANSI standard in Dec. 2007, and the final standard is expected sometime this year. Read the press release from HL-7 about the draft standard here.

PHR-S FM is designed to be technology–neutral. It also promotes interoperability, and so will require best of breed collaboration between vendors. Nuesoft is a member of the American Health Information Management Association, which has been instrumental in moving the PHR functional model and standard forward. In addition, Nuesoft has been forging partnerships and integrations with EHR companies and other vendors that have embraced the future of health care and that are committed to the adoption of industry standards. Take a look at our news releases about our partnerships with electronic medical records vendors, and our news release about our industry-leading interface certification program.

Nuesoft Technologies Inc. today announced the spring 2008 winners of its 15-year Anniversary Scholarship program. Five schools each received an in-kind donation of up to $15,000 of Nuesoft Xpress™ health center management software.   

The spring 2008 grant recipients are: Agnes Scott College, Barry University, Folsom Lake College, St. Norbert College and Winthrop University.   

“We were extremely pleased with the number and quality of applications that we received this spring,” said Nuesoft Technologies President and CEO Massoud Alibakhsh. “The process was very competitive, but after careful deliberation, the review committee selected the schools that had the most demonstrable need for the grants. I think the choice accurately reflects Nuesoft’s commitment to improve resources for the college health community.”  

“This is huge for our health center,” said Eileen Egan-Hineline, director of student health services at Barry University, and one of this spring’s scholarship recipients. “We have tremendous budget constraints and have not been able to stay current with technology. With a product like Nuesoft Xpress, we will be able to electronically schedule appointments and more easily analyze our school’s health care trends.”   

 “We couldn’t be happier,” said Barbara Bloomer, director of health services at St. Norbert College, which also received a grant award. “We’ve been tracking our student immunizations and other services manually, and it has been an extremely arduous and time-consuming process. Nuesoft Xpress will make us so much more efficient.” 

 The spring winners complete the first round of scholarships given out by Nuesoft. Because university budget calendars vary, Nuesoft is awarding grants in two rounds. The next five winners will be announced in the fall, with all applications reviewed by a selection committee comprised of college health professionals. 

 The deadline for the second round of applications is September 5, 2008. Fall winners will be announced on October 3.  For more information and to download the fall 2008 application, visit the Nuesoft Xpress Web site at www.nuesoftxpress.com/scholarship.