Elissa Laskey

Hospital-associated infections are a growing concern for hospitals. Some 1.7 million people pick up infections each year while in hospitals. More than 99,000 die. While these infections may come from several sources, studies have shown that computer keyboards are a leading contributor. With the introduction of their first product, a self-sanitizing keyboard, Seattle-based Vioguard hopes to eliminate the keyboard as a vector of infection in hospitals.

The ability to generate quality information is the one factor in an IT system that can improve medical care, tackle supplier integration, and convince physicians to buy into the use of IT, according to a triumvirate of experts presenting at HIMSS09. But while quality information is the obvious goal of healthcare IT, the means for achieving it is anything but.