Alongside our longtime partner ESRI, Infonaut attended the 2009 HIMSS conference in Chicago (April 4th-8th). Both CEO Niall Wallace and our new Director of Business Development Sandra Linklater were at HIMSS to launch our Hospital Watch Live application — discussed in detail in our January newsletter — to the US hospital IT market.

We were excited to have the opportunity to present an application so targeted and timely given the hot button issue of hospital superbugs. People are becoming aware that more lives are lost to Hospital Acquired Infections than car accidents, breast cancer and HIV combined. Over 2 million patients are affected and 100,000 people a year die from HAIs such as MRSA, at a combined medical cost far exceeding $50 billion (CDC.gov).

Hospital Watch Live (HWL) is a globally relevant solution that provides real-time information sharing and outbreak management so crucial in a hospital setting where staff needs the most relevant information possible to make important decisions to protect patients and save lives.

An animated overview of how Hospital Watch Live works can now be viewed on our website .

Sandra comes to us from our partners at the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) and has been working with Niall Wallace to advance the commercialization of our Infonaut Live suite of solutions. As Infonaut’s Director of Business Development, Sandra is responsible for driving our sales and market development initiatives and building successful channel partnerships. She is experienced and accomplished in business development, with a results-driven attitude, and a proven track record in sales strategy and the successful marketing of technical solutions: building strong client relationships and consistently exceeding sales goals.

Sandra has been an integral part of several successful start-up initiatives throughout her career, as well as leading teams at heavy-hitters like Bell Canada. Her strong leadership capabilities spearheaded the sale, development and implementation of many “first-off” large and complex business solutions.

If there’s an opportunity for collaboration you’d like to discuss with Infonaut, please contact Sandra directly at 705-987-3816, or by email at slinklater@infonaut.ca .

Niall Wallace’s “Using RFID to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Infections” is a lead story in this month’s issue of ITAC Online .

“New strains of MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), of VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci), C.difficile, even TB are becoming drug-resistant. Some are now classified as XDR: extensively drug-resistant. Many of these “superbugs” spread fastest in what should be the most hygienic and safe environments — hospitals.

Yet one of the most effective strategies in combating hospital-acquired infections (HAI) is simple contact management, tracing and understanding interactions: between patients and staff, patients and equipment, staff and equipment.

RFID technology lets us get back to these basics, only better.”

Find the full article here .