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Multiple information technology vendors are making announcements of new products and initiatives during the AHIMA Annual Convention & Exhibit in Orlando, Fla. Here’s a sampling:

* Transactions processor VisionShare Inc. specializes in enabling providers to submit claims, eligibility, claim status and other transactions to Medicare and Medicaid payers, and report immunizations to public health agencies. Now, the Minneapolis-based vendor has launched a master patient index assessment service to identify duplicate records, using the IDMaster software of consulting firm Just Associates, Centennial, Colo. VisionShare also will recommend and resell records cleanup and verification services from Just Associates. The consultancy developed IDMaster and has used it internally for more than a year. Now, it is making the application commercially available to vendors, providers and others.

* Medical transcription services and speech recognition software vendor Nuance Communications has acquired two transcription firms: OSI Transcription of Jupiter, Fla., and Pewaukee, Wis.-based Encompass Medical Transcription Inc., for undisclosed sums. The deals build market share and open opportunities for Burlington, Mass.-based Nuance to cross-sell its suite of services. These include using natural language processing technology to extract discrete data from transcribed documents for various purposes, such as meeting a meaningful use measure for identifying and documenting a discrete problem for a patient.

* Pittsburgh-based M*Modal has announced two new vendor clients using its speech recognition and natural language processing software products. Transcription firm Transcend Services Inc. of Atlanta is using the technologies in a new application called BeyondAlerts. It flags predetermined keyword patterns in transcribed documents and triggers appropriate medical alerts to clinicians or quality care professionals. Wayne, Pa.-based Precyse Solutions has introduced an enhanced version of its PrecyseCode computer-assisted software that is ICD-10 compatible and includes M*Modal’s speech and NLP software.

* Transcription service vendor Webmedx also is adding natural language processing software to its portfolio to enhance the data mining and search capabilities of its QualityAnalytics product line. The Atlanta-based company will fully integrate technology from NLP International Corp., enabling customers to mine discrete, structured data from physicians’ transcribed narrative reports, to enable the creation of discrete data for core measures reporting, RAC audits and other purposes, according to Webmedx. The vendor also will resell NLP International’s technology as a standalone product.

* Reston, Va.-based QuadraMed Corp. has launched an ICD-10 compliant version of its Quantim coding software that also includes a computer-assisted coding module.

--Joseph Goedert