As a core component of myriad health IT initiatives, interoperability will be a large part of the HIMSS 2010 in Atlanta. The 2010 HIMSS Interoperability Showcase, which will operate March 1-3, will offer educational sessions on Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) and health information exchange (HIE) activities, federal agency interoperability initiatives and global standards development initiatives, says JoAnn Klinedinst, CPHIMS, vice president of education at HIMSS.

CardioNet, a wireless medical technology company focused on cardiac arrhythmias, has appointed Heather C. Getz to the position of senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO), effective Jan. 15.

Biotronik, a manufacturer of implantable cardiac devices and wireless remote monitoring technologies, and Endosense, a Geneva-based medical technology company, have entered into an exclusive distribution agreement for Endosenses force-sensing ablation catheter, the TactiCath.

Bioniche Pharma, a developer of injectable pharmaceuticals, has launched ibutilide fumarate injection, the generic equivalent of Pfizer's antiarrhythmic drug Corvert .

The Joint Commission, in its fourth annual report, found continual improvement on 12 quality measures reflecting the best evidence-based treatments and practices leading to the best outcomes in American hospitals.

Asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF), compared with symptomatic patients, are more often older and at greater risk for thromboembolism and stroke, according to research presented by John Camm, MD, of the St. Georges University of London at the 15th annual Boston AF Symposium on Jan. 14.

The FDA, in collaboration with major implantable pacemaker and ICD manufacturers, demonstrated the effects of emissions from radiofrequency identification (RFID) readers on common implantable cardiac devices. Based on research in the January issue of the HeartRhythm Journal, the observed effects may cause increasing complications as RFID use expands in the medical device field.

The use of contrast-enhanced, dual-source CT angiography had diagnostic image quality at a lower radiation dose than digital subtraction CTA and high diagnostic accuracy compared with 3D digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in detecting intracranial aneurysms, according to a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.