With more than 4,700 members and 29 corporate supporters, MS-HUG is the leading health industry forum for exchanging ideas, promoting learning and sharing technology solutions using Microsoft technologies. Each year, MS-HUG and Microsoft collaborate to produce the MS-HUG awards, which recognize healthcare organizations and individuals who exhibit the best use of Microsoft-based products, as well as independent software vendors and systems integrators that develop solutions on Microsoft technology for the healthcare industry.

Award contestants were judged by a prestigious panel of industry experts and luminaries and were evaluated on the extent to which they provide significant business benefits to healthcare organizations and improve patient care. Winners and finalists were recognized at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2008 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 25 in the Microsoft booth. The following are the 2008 winners for the MS-HUG

Healthcare Innovation Awards 2008:

Winner for Best Use of Clinical Records - Inpatient

• Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Anesthesiology with Acuitec

Winner for Best Use of Clinical Records - Ambulatory

• Primrose OB-GYN with digiChart Inc. for OB-GYN solutions

Winner for Best Use of Delivery Transformation

• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre with Neoteric Technology Ltd. for the LacTrack SafeLx solution

Winner for Best Use of Disease Surveillance

• St. Joseph Family Medicine Residency - Medical College of Wisconsin with NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc. for the NextGen EMR

Winner for Best Use of Interoperability

• Vancouver Coastal Health for the CareConnect Electronic Health Record

Winner for Best Use of Outcomes Reporting

• Office of the Air Force Surgeon General, Data Modeling & Analysis Office with IMS Government Solutions for the Surgeon General's Medical Analysis Platform (SG MAP)

"These award winners truly represent the best of the best in their innovative approaches toward solving problems plaguing the industry," said Chris Sullivan, industry solutions director, Microsoft U.S. Health and Life Sciences Group. "We're honored at Microsoft to participate in recognizing these worthy winners, many of whom are saving lives every day and, in the process, transforming the industry through the use of technology."

Related news articles:

• Microsoft's Profile

About MS-HUG
Microsoft Healthcare Users Group is a membership community within the HIMSS Users Group Alliance Program, providing technology leadership and knowledge for improving healthcare delivery and efficiency. The alliance provides HIMSS with targeted industry expertise to help broaden its professional and industry contributions, and provides MS-HUG members with the opportunity to reach new markets with educational and professional development programs.

MS-HUG is the leading healthcare industry forum for exchanging ideas, promoting learning and sharing solutions for information systems using Microsoft technologies. MS-HUG works to provide industry leadership, drive appropriate standards and develop associated requirements in support of healthcare solutions. The diverse membership of MS-HUG is united by a shared interest in implementing vendor- and user-developed software based on Microsoft technology to improve quality and efficiency in healthcare. More information can be found on MS-HUG's Web site at http://www.mshug.org.

About Microsoft in Health and Life Sciences
Microsoft provides standards-based products and technology to help the healthcare and life sciences industries break down information barriers between the disparate IT environments across pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, physicians and healthcare professionals, provider organizations, government and private-sector employers, health insurers, and consumers. Microsoft's vision for knowledge-driven health utilizes the company's market-leading technology to help people in the healthcare provider, payer and life sciences organizations integrate their systems, dramatically enhance collaboration, and increase information sharing and learning - ultimately resulting in the ability to deliver high-quality products and services to patients and consumers worldwide. More information about Microsoft in the Health Industry can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/healthcare.