Microsoft Launches New BizTalk Accelerator for HL7
(Orlando, FL) - At the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society 2004 Conference & Exhibition, Microsoft Corp. launched the BizTalk Accelerator for HL7, a software solution that supports comprehensive HL7 messaging and leverages the foundational technology of Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004.

BizTalk Accelerator for HL7 provides a complete, reliable, and economically viable messaging solution that enables sharing of patient information within and between healthcare systems and organizations, according to Microsoft.

According to Wes Rishel, vice president and research area director at Gartner, "HL7 is one of several American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited standards-developing organizations operating in the healthcare arena, and its global standard is in use in more than 95% of U.S. hospitals."

By implementing the BizTalk Accelerator for HL7, healthcare organizations can take advantage of the open HL7 standard to enable disparate line-of-business applications to exchange key sets of clinical and administrative data in real time. Early adopter customers - Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Washington state and Scripps Health in California - are already benefiting from implementing the accelerator.

"We expect to increase messaging efficiency by a minimum of 25 percent across the organization with the full implementation of Microsoft's BizTalk Accelerator for HL7," said Clark Kegley, director of information services operations at Scripps Health. "This intuitive solution encourages greater use and productivity within our organization, and it integrates well with our existing architecture."
www.microsoft.com

iWay Announces Custom Adapters for BizTalk Server
(New York) - iWay Software, an Information Builders company that accelerates business integration, continues to expand its support of Microsoft Corp.'s integration initiatives by providing a custom line of adapters for BizTalk Server 2004.

These adapters, which provide complete, code-free access to a variety of applications and data within the enterprise, have been developed on Microsoft .NET architecture.

Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, part of the Microsoft Windows Server System, provides foundational technologies - including business-process orchestration, single sign-on capability, and human-based workflow and Web services support - that enable customers to build tailored e-business solutions to connect people with information and processes. Built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and integrated into the Microsoft Office System and Visual Studio .NET 2003, BizTalk Server 2004 addresses the unique needs of information technology professionals, information workers, and developers to help increase efficiency and productivity.
www.iwaysoftware.com

You Can Fool Some of the People...
A recent Slashdot posting ( http://slashdot.org/articles/04/03/16/1419252.shtml?tid=133&tid=186 ) reported how officials in a California city were considering banning foam cups because of concern over the use of dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) in their manufacture. Apparently a city employee came across a Web site (www.dhmo.org) that warned of the dangers associated with dihydrogen monoxide, including:

• Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
• Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
• DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
• Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.

ASP.NET Resource Kit and Migration Guides Available
(Redmond, WA) - Microsoft has announced the availability of additional tools and resources for developers building Web applications. The Microsoft ASP.NET Resource Kit provides a wealth of resources that include tools, tutorials, and samples to help new developers learn ASP.NET. For developers who currently use ASP.NET or other existing Web technologies, the resource kit provides new controls and components, discounts on ASP.NET training, and great deals on ASP.NET Web hosting. The ASP.NET Migration Center on MSDN includes the newly released ASP to ASP.NET and PHP to ASP.NET Migration Guides, which will help developers by providing documentation, samples, and utilities to help them use existing technology investments while upgrading to ASP.NET.

Microsoft also launched the MSDN ASP.NET Migration Center, providing information and tools developers need to move skills and technology investments to the Microsoft .NET Framework and ASP.NET. The center includes the previously announced JSP to ASP.NET Migration Guide and the new ASP to ASP.NET and PHP to ASP.NET Migration Guides jointly developed with ArtinSoft.

These Migration Guides include free utilities to help migrate ASP code and PHP code to ASP.NET and speed the migration project by automatically converting portions of code. A migration guide, white papers, and code samples are also provided to assist in project conversion.

The ASP.NET Resource Kit is available for download free of charge from www.msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/asprk. Developers can also order a copy of the Resource Kit on CD for a small shipping and handling fee.

The MSDN ASP.NET Migration Center and the ASP to ASP.NET and PHP to ASP.NET Migration Guides are located at www.msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/using/migrating.