IBM (NYSE: IBM) has announced the findings of a major healthcare study that underscores the critical need for a new model of care called the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH). The new study, "Patient Centered Medical Home: What, Why and How?", identifies the PCMH as a viable foundation for the reform of today's unsustainable healthcare system because it is committed to primary-care based, coordinated, proactive, preventive, acute, chronic, long-term and end-of-life care.

The Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia will roll out a new electronic health insurance card system based on IBM (NYSE: IBM) technology across the country. The new system enables healthcare providers to instantly and accurately check a patient's health insurance status and allows for health claims to be processed online.

Carestream Health has won three contracts for Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) to view, manage and store digital mammography images for healthcare initiatives in the French-speaking region of Belgium. The PACS will meet the needs of a regional programme for mammography screening, an extended provincial programme for mammography screening within a mobile environment and a private radiology clinic.

In the first three months of the business year 2009, CompuGROUP Holding AG, one of the leading e-Health providers worldwide, has increased its group-wide sales by 36 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The operating profit decreased from EUR 12.8 million in 2008 down to EUR 11.9 million, mainly because of acquisition related restructuring processes and regulatory implications.

A new survey released by Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) shows that the average manager is sleeping 19% less than the recommended amount of eight hours a night. The survey, conducted in five countries around the globe, showed that 40% of those questioned blame the state of the world economy as the major reason for their lack of sleep.

SCM Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCMM; Prime Standard, SMY), a leading provider of solutions that open the Digital World, today announced that its eHeatlh500 mobile terminal is one of the first upgradeable mobile devices to receive the required certification for use with the new eHealth cards in stage 2 of the introduction of the electronic health card in Germany.

At the Future of the Internet conference in Prague, Gemalto, Microsoft, Nokia and Philips announced a new initiative that will address the fundamental societal issue of trust in new and emerging digital services. The initiative aims to bring European public and private stakeholders together to advance 'Trust in Digital Life' through the development of a common vision.