CARESCIENCE: Two New Products Released From Santa Barbara Initiative

      CareScience Inc. announced today the release of two new products: CareStandard Select, an online source for health information technology products, and CareStandard Select Certified, a rating system for Web-enabled health information technology products. Developed through a California HealthCare Foundation project to promote industry standards and the use of online health information technologies, the products are the first of a series to spring from a Foundation-funded Santa Barbara County community effort. The purpose of the effort is to "test the concept of community-wide health information services by pooling together leading health care organizations to develop successful business practices for exchanging clinical information." California HealthCare Foundation CIO Sam Karp explained, "By offering a third party rating system that uses federally established criteria to distinguish health information technologies, we believe more health care organizations will adopt Internet-based applications designed to improve access, cost, quality and the safety of patient care." CareScience is also distributing its CareStandard Select products to community clinics across the state through the Community Clinics Initiative, a grant program of the Tides Foundation that is supported by the California Endowment (CareScience release, 9/28).