GE Healthcare’s FREEdom Edition Receives FDA Clearance, Introducing the World’s First Cardiac Spectral CT

Press release:

19 July 2012

GE Healthcare’s FREEdom Edition Receives FDA Clearance, Introducing the World’s First Cardiac Spectral CT

 

WAUKESHA, WI – JULY 19, 2012 – As the 2012 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) Annual Scientific Meeting opens today in Baltimore, Maryland, GE Healthcare announced FDA 510(k) clearance of its new cardiac imaging platform, the Discovery CT750 HD FREEdom Edition*. Addressing the main challenges of cardiac imaging – coronary motion, calcium blooming, plaque composition and accurate myocardial perfusion – the FREEdom Edition is designed to provide a new level of cardiac CT performance and to help physicians better serve patients.

Discovery CT750 HD FREEdom Edition offers physicians capabilities that could change the rules of cardiac CT. Based on exclusive FREEdom technologies (Fast Registered Energies & ECG), this innovative system represents a three-prong solution to the challenges in traditional cardiac CT: (1) Motion FREEdom, with intelligent motion correction via SnapShot Freeze*; (2) Calcium FREEdom, with enhanced coronary visualization using Gemstone Spectral Imaging (GSI) Cardiac*; and (3) Horizon FREE opportunities, going beyond today's clinical information with plaque material composition assessment and accurate perfusion calculations. Click on the link here to learn more about the FREEdom Edition.

“SnapShot Freeze will be a game changer by improving the effective temporal resolution; and from the initial images, I see significantly reduced motion artifacts and significantly improved image clarity” said Dr. James Min, Director of Cardiac Imaging Research and Co-Director of Cardiac Imaging at Cedars Sinai Hospital and current President of SCCT.

SnapShot Freeze, one of FREEdom’s innovative technologies, can help significantly reduce coronary motion and overcome the inherent limitation of all hardware-only solutions. By precisely detecting vessel motion and velocity, SnapShot Freeze can determine actual vessel position and intelligently correct the effects of motion during cardiac CT exams. Bench-top evaluation of SnapShot Freeze intelligent motion correction has demonstrated that SnapShot Freeze can achieve a 58msec Equivalent Gantry Rotation Speed, which is 4 to 6 times faster than hardware-only gantry rotation speed alone. This translates to a 29msec Effective Temporal Resolution which achieves for the first time a Cardiac CT temporal sampling similar to the frame rate of a cath lab.

“FREEdom Edition has the potential to significantly improve coronary artery imaging with CT,” said Dr. Jonathon Leipsic, Head of Radiology, Providence Health, St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. “By intelligently reducing motion artifact in CT images, SnapShot Freeze improves visualization, which may allow for reduction in the number of non-interpretable segments and increases reader confidence of CCTA.”

The HD FREEdom Edition’s first U.S. installation was at the University of Washington, Seattle. According to Dr. William Shuman, Vice Chair and Medical Director of the Department of Radiology at University of Washington Medical Center at Seattle: “Our physicians have already been using GSI routinely in body and vascular imaging, and we are excited to extend those benefits with FREEdom Edition to cardiovascular Spectral CT.”

HD FREEdom’s installation at UW follows around two dozen installations in Europe and Japan where physicians are currently using SnapShot Freeze and GSI Cardiac in routine practice for coronary evaluation, and pushing the horizons of Cardiac CT in plaque composition and myocardial perfusion assessment.

The Discovery CT750 HD FREEdom Edition is also the first Cardiac Spectral CT scanner that merges GE’s pioneering SnapShot Pulse technology with GSI’s fast kV switching allowing for a registered spectral CT dataset. Spectral CT takes CT beyond anatomy to create images of quantitative material density, which can then be synthesized into monochromatic energies. Monochromatic images have key advantages in virtually beam-hardening artifact free images, and improved contrast-to-noise at a given dose. And “Calcium FREEdom” means that for the first time, coronary images with calcium suppression are possible for challenging patients with high calcium burden. Additionally, GSI Cardiac enables investigations into new horizons of CT coronary plaque assessment and quantitative myocardial perfusion.

GE’s Discovery CT750 HD leads the industry in cardiac CT spatial resolution at 18.2 lp/cm^. This level of resolution helps physicians make a confident diagnosis and accurately quantify stenoses in coronary vessels by displaying reduction in calcium blooming compared to standard resolution.

GE Healthcare’s continued leadership in cardiac imaging was recently highlighted when the Discovery CT750 HD was included in the first ever fully positive recommendation from the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Diagnostic Assessment Programme, which aims to ensure the National Health Service can rapidly and consistently adopt clinically and cost effective technologies. NICE recommended the Discovery CT750 HD scanner as an option for first line cardiac imaging of the coronary arteries in people with suspected coronary artery disease.

“We believe the traditional challenges of cardiac CT are in large part beatable with a smarter software and electronic approach,” said Steve Gray, Vice President and General Manager for CT and Advantage Workstation at GE Healthcare. “FREEdom Edition offers physicians a new tool to help overcome coronary motion, and various artifacts that may stand in the way of a highly accurate, confident cardiac diagnosis in a variety of clinical settings.”

FREEdom Edition is built on the robust and proven Discovery CT750 HD platform. Installed in hundreds of medical institutions around the globe, this system is powered by GE's exclusive HD and low dose technologies, including GSI for lesion characterization and proven Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction (ASiR) dose-optimizing technology already used on over 12 million scans at 1,200 sites worldwide+.

* Trademark of General Electric Company.

^ Based upon internal test data comparing Discovery CT750 HD cardiac half-scan spatial resolution to data from Advanced CT Scanners for Coronary Angiography, ImPACT Report CEP10043, March, 2010 available athttp://impactscan.org.

+ In clinical practice, the use of ASiR may reduce CT patient dose depending on the clinical task, patient size, anatomical location and clinical practice. A consultation with a radiologist and a physicist should be made to determine the appropriate dose to obtain diagnostic image quality for the particular clinical task


About GE Healthcare:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com. 

Final Phase 3 Results for GE Healthcare Investigational Imaging Agent Flutemetamol Presented at Alzheimer’s Association International Conference®

Press release:

17 July 2012

Final Phase 3 Results for GE Healthcare Investigational Imaging Agent Flutemetamol Presented at Alzheimer’s Association International Conference®

 

Results Show Agreement Between PET Image Reads and Amyloid Levels in Autopsy Studies

Vancouver, BC, CANADA – July 17, 2012 – GE Healthcare today announced the final results from a phase 3 study of the investigational PET amyloid imaging agent, [¹⁸F]flutemetamol in terminally ill patients who had agreed to undergo postmortem brain autopsy.[i] The data showed strong concordance (sensitivity and specificity) between [¹⁸F]flutemetamol PET images and beta amyloid brain histopathology. These data confirm the potential of [¹⁸F]flutemetamol as an imaging agent to detect beta amyloid plaque, a pathology associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), in living patients.

The data were presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference^® 2012 (AAIC^® 2012) in Vancouver and support an application for regulatory approval of [¹⁸F]flutemetamol, which is intended to be filed later this year. [¹⁸F]Flutemetamol is a GE Healthcare PET imaging agent in development for the detection of beta amyloid deposits in the brain.

“Currently, definite AD diagnosis requires postmortem examination of the brain for pathology such as neuritic beta amyloid plaques,” said Milos Ikonomovic, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, presenter of the study. “Because the ability to detect brain amyloid deposits in vivo may allow physicians to make a more accurate clinical diagnosis and potentially could enhance patient management, we were pleased to see that flutemetamol PET images accurately and consistently reflected fibrillar beta amyloid levels as detected later using postmortem histopathology analyses.”

The study presented at AAIC^® 2012 examined the autopsied brains of 68 subjects who had received [¹⁸F]flutemetamol imaging in life to detect the presence of brain beta amyloid pathology. The images were then evaluated visually by independent trained readers, and the flutemetamol retention in the brain was quantified using a standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR). The brains of subjects who subsequently died were evaluated histopathologically and compared to interpretations of flutemetamol PET scans.

[¹⁸F]Flutemetamol showed the ability to detect beta amyloid with a majority read sensitivity of 86 percent and specificity of 92 percent. Sensitivity is the percentage of amyloid-positive brains that are correctly identified by [¹⁸F]]flutemetamol image readers as abnormal, corresponding to positive amyloid pathology. Comparison within and between image readers documented strong consistency of interpretation.

The accumulation of beta amyloid in the brain is believed to play a role in the degeneration of neurons in AD and is one of several pathological characteristics implicated in its development. Currently, AD is confirmed by histopathological identification of core features, including beta amyloid plaques, in postmortem brain samples.[ii] Targeted amyloid imaging agents are being studied to determine their ability to help physicians detect amyloid deposition in living humans.

“The detection of beta amyloid plaque in vivo may enable physicians to clinically diagnose AD earlier, potentially improving patient care,” said Jonathan Allis, General Manager, PET, GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics. “Flutemetamol imaging has the potential to be part of a larger diagnostic workup that may help doctors rule out AD by reliably showing the absence of amyloid deposits in patients with unexplained loss of cognitive function. We are pleased to report that flutemetamol acted as anticipated in this study and look forward to filing with the FDA.”

[¹⁸F]Flutemetamol is one component of a broad portfolio of diagnostic solutions that GE Healthcare is currently developing in the Alzheimer’s field. GE Healthcare is taking a comprehensive approach to understanding AD through its ongoing research to uncover the causes, risks, and physical effects of the disease. For example, the company is partnering with the pharmaceutical industry to identify a biosignature, or biological indicator, that may help physicians diagnose AD before the onset of clinical symptoms.

GE Healthcare offers a broad portfolio of imaging resources that support accurate visualization of the signs of neurodegenerative diseases via state-of-the-art scanners – including MRI, PET, and CT – that deliver clear visualization of the brain. In addition, an expanding portfolio of imaging agents is being developed to enhance visual evidence of disease and innovative software applications to aid physicians in image interpretation and determination of disease management. More specifically, our portfolio today includes cyclotrons and chemistry systems to manufacture PET imaging agents, PET and MR scanners to scan patients, and image analysis software to interpret the results.

GE Healthcare has been a key contributor to the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) since its inception. GE Healthcare also plays a key role in PredictAD, an EU-funded research project to develop solutions to enable earlier diagnosis of AD, and in the Coalition Against Major Diseases (CAMD).

Additionally, the combination of our different business offerings positions us well to offer an integrated global diagnostics solution to assist the pharmaceutical industry in its development of the next generation of therapies. To that end, we are working with potential partners in the industry to understand their strategic needs and design solutions, and help provide imaging support for pivotal therapy trials.

About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries.  For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

For our latest news, please visithttp://newsroom.gehealthcare.com/http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

] Ikonomovich M, Buckley C, Smith A et al. [¹⁸F]Flutemetamol injection PET images reflect brain amyloid levels. Data presented at Alzheimer's Association^® International Conference 2012 (AAIC 2012), Vancouver, BC, Canada.

[ii] Dementia: Hope Through Research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website.http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/dementias/detail_dementia.htm. Accessed July 13, 2011.

GE Healthcare and Virtua to Host Radiology Technology Exposition at Virtua Health Education Center

Press release:

09 July 2012

GE Healthcare and Virtua to Host Radiology Technology Exposition at Virtua Health Education Center

 

• Tech expo and facility tour to showcase diagnostic imaging solutions, women’s health technologies
• Speaker sessions to discuss innovative technologies and emerging trends for hospital leaders

Voorhees, New Jersey – July 9, 2012 – GE Healthcare today joined Virtua, a New Jersey-based healthcare system, in jointly announcing a technology exposition and facility tour to be held at Virtua’s Barry D. Brown Health Education Center and its new hospital in Voorhees, New Jersey this week Thursday, July 12. Open to New Jersey and Philadelphia-area health care professionals and the media, the technology expo will showcase some of the most advanced diagnostic imaging solutions in clinical use today – including women’s health, Computed Tomography (CT) and other innovative health care technologies. Keynote speakers at the technology expo will also address trending developments and best practices for hospital leaders in today’s challenging health care landscape.

“In today’s dynamic healthcare environment, it is essential that industry leaders collaborate closely with clinicians and hospital leadership to innovate and deliver solutions that address the most pressing needs in patient care,” said GE Healthcare’s Marcelo Mosci, president and CEO, US and Canada Region. “GE Healthcare is pleased to join Virtua, already a leader in diagnostic imaging, to provide further educational opportunities and highlight the latest advances in radiology through this special event.”

The exposition will highlight the latest technologies for meeting clinical diagnostic needs, from high-resolution mammograms and low dose CT exams and advanced ultrasound solutions.

“Virtua is pleased to host this event as we share both clinical and product expertise with fellow health care professionals to help promote excellence in diagnostic imaging and optimized patient care,” said Rich Miller, Virtua President and CEO.

Facility tours and speaker sessions for hospital leaders will also discuss equipment management and integration, reimbursement information, clinical workflow, and two increasingly top-of-mind discussions in the health care environment: U.S. health care reform, and low radiation dose, high performance CT imaging.

Specifically showcased at Virtua will be GE Healthcare technologies that help physicians lower patient CT radiation dose, including: ASiR*^ image reconstruction technology, available across the GE Healthcare CT portfolio and used on over 1,200 systems for more than 12 million patient exams to date; and Veo*^, a leading image reconstruction technology now in use at Virtua that has already enabled doctors elsewhere to achieve profoundly clear chest CT images in some cases with less than 1 millisievert (mSv) of dose. For perspective, traditional chest CT scans can expose patients to anywhere from 5-10 mSv of radiation dose, and natural background radiation exposes the average American to around 3 mSv per year. †

As part of its leadership in providing high quality care, Virtua plans to open a new Ambulatory Diagnostic Imaging Center at its Health and Wellness Center in Voorhees featuring the latest technologies in radiology for optimizing patient care. The Center is scheduled for opening in December 2012. The Pediatric Imaging portion of the center will be done in partnership with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

* Trademark of General Electric Company

^ In clinical practice, the use of ASiR or Veo may reduce CT patient dose depending on the clinical task, patient size, anatomical location and clinical practice. A consultation with a radiologist and a physicist should be made to determine the appropriate dose to obtain diagnostic image quality for the particular clinical task.

† Statistics from RadiologyInfo.org.


ABOUT VIRTUA
Virtua is a comprehensive healthcare system headquartered in Marlton, NJ. Its mission is to deliver a world-class experience through its wide range of services delivered through primary care and specialty physician practices, health and wellness centers, hospitals, home care, outpatient and rehab services. Virtua provides advanced prevention, wellness and treatment in the areas of women’s health, pediatrics, oncology, cardiology, orthopedics and neuroscience. Virtua is chosen by more people than any other healthcare provider in South Jersey. Virtua’s maternal/child programs at Virtua Voorhees and Virtua Memorial in Mt. Holly deliver more than 8,000 babies a year. Virtua also treats more people in its emergency departments than any other hospital in the region. A non-profit organization, Virtua employs over eight thousand clinical and administrative personnel, and approximately 1,800 physicians serve as medical staff members.

Virtua has distinguished itself as one of the first Six Sigma organizations in healthcare, as an early adopter of clinical and digital technologies, and for its innovative partnerships with nationally renowned organizations such as GE Healthcare, Fox Chase Cancer Center and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). It has been honored twice with the New Jersey Governor's award for Clinical Excellence and recognized with the Leadership Award for Outstanding Achievement by Voluntary Hospitals of America. Virtua has been honored as the #1 Best Employer in the Delaware Valley for six consecutive years by the Philadelphia Business Journal and is the recipient of the Consumer Choice Awards by National Research Corporation. For more information, visit our website at www.virtua.org or call 1-888-VIRTUA-3 (1-888-847-8823).

ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.For our latest news, please visithttp://newsroom.gehealthcare.com.

University Physicians, Inc. of Colorado Expands GE Healthcare Investment with Centricity Business

Press release:

09 July 2012

University Physicians, Inc. of Colorado Expands GE Healthcare Investment with Centricity Business

 

Revenue Cycle Management Solution Selected for Interoperability and Proven Revenue Cycle Efficiencies Across the Continuum of Care

BARRINGTON, Ill. – July 9, 2012 – GE Healthcare today announced that University Physicians, Inc. (UPI) has expanded its investment in Centricity* Business, GE’s enterprise-wide revenue cycle management solution that helps healthcare providers achieve greater profitability, efficiency and enhanced quality of care. The expanded investment, which includes adding core capabilities like payer contracting, document scanning, and deep integration with the hospital’s EMR environment, will allow UPI to improve staff productivity and efficiency, manage emerging reimbursement models, and achieve strong interoperability with third party applications. UPI joins a growing number of healthcare organizations using GE Healthcare’s financial solutions to improve revenue cycle performance and efficiency while enhancing patient care.


“After a careful, intensive evaluation of several revenue cycle options, we elected to move forward quickly with Centricity Business including Enterprise Task Manager to drive improved revenue cycle efficiencies across our hospitals and physician practices, its Managed Care Application to support emerging reimbursement models, and its payer contract module to strengthen interoperable capabilities with payers,” said Jane Schumaker, CEO and executive director of UPI. “UPI is energized by its expanded strategic relationship with GE Healthcare and we look forward to building on the strong revenue cycle foundation already in place as we grow in the future.”


University Physicians, Inc. is a not-for-profit management services organization dedicated to providing business operations and administrative support to the University of Colorado School Of Medicine’s multispecialty group practice which includes 1,800 providers. The University of Colorado School Of Medicine offers cutting-edge research and technologies and high quality medical treatment to patients at the University of Colorado Hospital, Children's Hospital Colorado, and at sites throughout Denver and the surrounding region.


“We’re pleased that UPI continues to invest in GE Healthcare to tackle healthcare reform challenges and provide support for future business line growth.” said Jim Corrigan, vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare IT. “As the industry moves towards integrated care, we are pleased to see UPI and other leading healthcare organizations recognize the benefits of an interoperable approach allowing both clinical and financial data to move freely across inpatient and ambulatory care settings. We are proud to support UPI with the latest Centricity Business solutions and services to help them reduce cost and complexity while enhancing quality and access to care.”


Centricity Business is currently used by hundreds of leading healthcare organizations across the United States including 75% of those in the July 18, 2011 US News & World Report “2011-12 Best Hospitals Honor Roll.”


RESOURCES:
To learn more about Centricity Business, visit:www.gehealthcare/centricitybusiness.
Tweet using #GECB (Centricity Business) to discuss the solution and join the conversation.
To learn how St Vincents and Orlando Health have used Centricity Business to achieve high ROI, visit http://bit.ly/w4ei12

NOTES TO EDITORS

ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

For our latest news, please visit http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com

*Centricity is a registered trademark of General Electric Company.

Accenture Implements Madrid Healthcare Information Exchange With 15 Million Medical Records

Press release:

July 04, 2012

Accenture Implements Madrid Healthcare Information Exchange With 15 Million Medical Records

 

MADRID, Spain; July 4, 2012  – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Madrid Health Service have fully implemented the Madrid Electronic Health Record (HORUS) system that captures all patient information into a single, integrated record for 26,000 clinicians to access across all parts of the regional healthcare system. The system, with 15 million health records, was completed in 12 months.

 

“Madrid’s health system is enabling a single network for providers and citizens to access real-time clinical information,” said Baltasar Lobato, managing director for Accenture's health industry in Spain.  “The HORUS system is an effective response to recent public health changes that have enabled patients to select providers, as it consolidates health information, reduces duplication and coordinates patient care across multiple institutions.”

 

Using the Madrid Electronic Health Record system, medical professionals can instantly view a patient’s consolidated medical record from all parts of the healthcare system, including demographic information, clinical history, physician interactions, diagnostic assessments, medications, procedures and other health system interactions.

 

“It’s vital that health systems are collaboratively improving technology with their physician users,” said Zaida Sampedro Préstamo, directora general de Sistemas de Información Sanitaria, Servicio Madrileño de Salud. “More than 100 doctors serve on HORUS work groups to ensure new features complement clinical protocols and are enabling the most impact to patient care.”

 

The system enables patients to securely access and exchange their own healthcare information from remote locations.  While patient information is stored in local data databases across the region, citizens are given unique patient identifiers for accessing their own medical records in near-real time and managing privacy settings. The patient record includes clinical history (i.e. diagnosis, medication, vaccination, allergies), demographics and administrative summaries.

 

The Madrid Health Service (Servicio Madrileño de Salud - Sermas) provides healthcare services for the Madrid region, which is the third largest city in the European Union. The Madrid Health Service is a network of integrated and organized care services including more than 250 primary care centers, 35 hospitals and over 80,000 professionals across both primary and specialized care.

 

Learn more about Accenture’s work for Madrid Healthcare Information Exchange. 

Learn more about Accenture’s Insight Driven Health.

 

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 249,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

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Microsoft and GE Complete Joint Venture Agreement

News release:

06 June 2012

Microsoft and GE Complete Joint Venture Agreement

 

Companies Receive Regulatory Approvals to Form New Company, Caradigm

REDMOND, Wash., and BARRINGTON, Ill. — June 6, 2012 — General Electric Co. (NYSE “GE”), through its healthcare IT business, and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) today announced they have completed the formation of Caradigm™, a 50-50 joint venture aimed at enabling health systems and professionals to use real-time, organization-wide intelligence to improve healthcare quality and the patient experience.

Caradigm will develop and market an open healthcare intelligence platform and collaborative clinical applications focused on enabling better population health management to improve outcomes and the economics of health and wellness. Plans for the joint venture were first announced on Dec. 7, 2011, and the final agreement was completed on June 1, 2012.

The Caradigm board of directors and leadership team, announced in February, is composed of executives from both parent companies. Caradigm will be led by CEO Michael Simpson, who joins the company from GE Healthcare. In addition, the companies today announced the appointment of Lauren Salata as chief financial officer and Michael Willingham as quality assurance and regulatory affairs executive for Caradigm. Salata previously served as the chief financial officer (CFO) and compliance officer of Care Innovations, an Intel and GE company based in Roseville, Calif. Willingham joins Caradigm from Philips Healthcare in Bothell, Wash., where he served as senior director of quality and regulatory affairs.

“The combination of people and technology from GE Healthcare and Microsoft will allow us to drive the dramatic change that is needed in healthcare,” Simpson said. “By forming Caradigm, we can offer innovative healthcare solutions, including an open platform and tools that enable software developers around the world to address the complexities of population health today.”
Caradigm will be located at City Center Bellevue in Bellevue, Wash., with significant presence in Salt Lake City, Utah; Andover, Mass.; Chevy Chase, Md.; and other cities around the world.

Additional information and news about Caradigm can be found athttp://www.caradigm.com.

About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

About Microsoft in Health
Microsoft is committed to improving health around the world through software innovation. For over 16 years, Microsoft has been providing a broad portfolio of technologies and collaborating with partners worldwide to deliver solutions that address the challenges of healthcare providers, public health and social services, payers, life sciences organizations, and consumers. Today, Microsoft invests in technology innovation and works with health organizations, communities and over 20,000 partners around the world to make a real impact on the quality of healthcare.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

ACCENTURE QUALIFIES FOR NIH IT SERVICES IDIQ CIO-SP3

News release:

June 06, 2012

ACCENTURE QUALIFIES FOR NIH IT SERVICES IDIQ CIO-SP3

 

ARLINGTON, Va.; June 6, 2012 – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected Accenture Federal Services as one of the prime contractors to provide technology services under a 10-year, $20 billion indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. The Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3) is a government-wide contract vehicle that supports federal healthcare IT needs and agencies across the U.S. federal government. Task orders to be awarded under CIO-SP3 include operational support, program management, integration services, infrastructure protection, digital government and enterprise management systems.

 

Accenture’s global work in the healthcare industry includes payer, provider and public health clients. Accenture brings innovation, federal experience and commercial best practices to help government agencies envision, design and deliver new capabilities.

 

“Accenture brings knowledge of the broader health community to our work across the federal health community. This contract vehicle enables us to continue to provide critical services to federal healthcare agencies,” said Ed Meehan, who leads Accenture’s U.S. civilian agency portfolio.

 

Learn more about Accenture’s work with federal agencies andAccenture's Insight Driven Health 

                                               

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 246,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US $25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31. 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

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Press Release : May 30, 2012

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Oklahoma Agency Signs Contract Renewal with HP

HP to help improve healthcare claims processing, administrative services for state workers

Topics:Strategic Focus: Cloud, Converged Infrastructure

PALO ALTO, Calif., -- HP Enterprise Services today announced the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board (OSEEGIB) has signed a contract for HP to continue providing claims processing and other services.

The agreement, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2014, is for one year with four one-year renewals. If all five years are executed, the contract is valued at $90 million.

OSEEGIB is a state agency that provides insurance benefits to Oklahoma’s employees and educators. Under the terms of the contract, HP will help OSEEGIB to continue delivering a range of healthcare administration services while helping it prepare for program changes in a cost-effective manner.

As OSEEGIB’s third-party insurance administrator, HP manages the agency’s Health Risk Assessment program, providing online coaching and preventive care suggestions to help plan members better understand their health and how to improve it.

“In today’s economy, both healthcare providers and members have choices, making it critical for us to deliver on our vision to efficiently and effectively process claims and help our citizens improve their overall health,” said Frank Wilson, program administrator, Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board. “HP has already proven its effectiveness by dramatically speeding up our claims processing and using its knowledge of our culture to help Oklahomans achieve healthier outcomes.”

HP will continue to maintain and enhance the HP MetaVance health solution, which automates a number of administrative processes for OSEEGIB. In addition, HP will continue to update the member and provider portals that enable healthcare organizations to administer many program benefits online and provide business process outsourcing services to support ongoing operations and new claims administration.

Recently, HP helped OSEEGIB comply with federal HIPAA 5010 requirements and is currently assisting the agency in meeting the national ICD-10 standards ahead of the deadline.

Under HP’s management, claims processing is more efficient, accurate and faster, with most claims processed in one business day. From its facilities in Oklahoma City, HP processes approximately 3 million claims a year for more than 160,000 members and dependents, which includes state employees, teachers and retirees.

“Insurance providers must focus on everything from regulatory compliance to cost containment and improving people’s health, making service, efficiency and value top priorities,” said Susan Arthur, vice president, U.S. Healthcare Industry, HP Enterprise Services. “The HP team brings a proven solution as well as deep expertise and a passion for helping the agency improve efficiencies and the health of its members.”

HP’s premier client event, HP Discover, takes place June 4-7 in Las Vegas.

Hospitals in Russia’s Regions Turn to IBM to Transform Healthcare

Healthcare sector growth fuels IBM’s geographic expansion program

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Moscow - 10 May 2012: IBM (NYSE:IBM) announced that several hospitals and clinics from Russia’s rapidly evolving regions outside of Moscow and St Petersburg are partnering with IBM to modernize infrastructure and improve patient care. A number of healthcare providers such as the Hospital of Murom Railway Station, the Clinic of Novosibirsk Institute of Blood Circulation Pathology in Siberia and the Emergency Hospital of Petrozavodsk have turned to IBM to provide new information management systems giving doctors and medical staff rapid access to medical data and reducing waiting time for patients.

According to research from VCIOM (Russia Public Opinion Research Center), 33 percent of Russians prefer to use self-treatment instead of turning to professional medical care due to insufficient healthcare services especially in some of Russia’s more remote regions where often curable and manageable diseases often go unchecked and untreated. For that reason, the Russian government is running a special program for healthcare modernization across the country.

As part of its geographic expansion initiative, IBM is actively expanding its business operations in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and healthcare is emerging as one of the sectors driving IT growth across the region.

"Technology has a significant role to play in the transformation of healthcare services across Russia especially in Russia’s rapidly evolving regions,” said Kirill Korniliev, Country General Manager, IBM Russia/CIS. “Not only does it improve access to critical medical information and improve decision making, it also helps to increase the efficiency of services and reduce patient waiting time. The digitization of core infrastructure is the first step towards intelligent medicine in Russia. The next step is the use of analytics to better understand information helping to mitigate the risk of medical errors.”

Improving patient care in Siberia

As the largest cardiology hospital in Siberia, the Clinic of Novosibirsk Institute of Blood Circulation Pathology Meshalkina has turned to IT systems from to transform patient care. According to Russian Federal law, medical organizations should store medical records for at least 25 years. Furthermore, with over 15,000 operations performed each year, the clinic needed to effectively manage ever increasing volumes of data

The system based on IBM storage technologies will allow the clinic to store and retrieve up to one petabyte (the equivalent of 2,000 encyclopedias) of valuable medical information including medical history and images.

"The effective management and high availability of medical information are critical requirements of modern healthcare,” said Timur Korovkin, Director of Information Technology of Clinic of Novosibirsk Institute of Blood Circulation Pathology Meshalkina. “The next phase will be to look at analytics technologies to better understand data and possible therapies.”

Digitizing patient data of railway workers in Murom

Located in the Vladimir region of the Russian Federation to the East of Moscow, the Hospital of Murom Railway provides healthcare services to over 30,000 railway workers and their families, the government-owned Russian Railways (RZD).

The hospital previously relied on largely paper-based systems for recoding, storing and accessing medical information. Patient information from different hospital departments was not integrated making it nearly impossible for doctors to gain a complete medical picture of their patients.

The hospital implemented an automated information management solution from Russian business partner KMIS running on IBM social software and IBM System x servers. The new integrated system provides doctors and healthcare professionals with a single view of a patient’s medical history enabling them to better assess and treat disease more effectively.  The system includes test results, such as those for tuberculosis, which are automatically screened for anomalies. Should any be found, the system immediately alerts physicians and schedules a priority appointment, enabling doctors to take proactive measures to treat the disease. By consolidating family medical histories, the system allows doctors to identify any propensities for disease such as diabetes, and take preventive measures to reduce future health risks within the family.

Thanks to the new system, the Hospital of Murom Railway has experienced increased process efficiency by 40 percent, decreased patient waiting time by more than 200 percent and reduced diagnosis and treatment errors by 260 percent.

“We now have the ability to provide swift, high-quality healthcare using an analytics-enabled information system that consolidates patient information onto a single record - said Andrey Galkin, Head of the Control System Department at Murom Railway Station Hospital.

Automating healthcare systems in the Republic of Karelia

IBM is also working with KMIS and the Emergency Hospital of Petrozavodsk in the Republic of Karelia in North Western Russia to implement electronic medical records and an automated hospital information management system for its eight therapy and three diagnostic departments.

The new system which is based on IBM Notes and Domino software provides unified access to many types of medical data, allowing doctors and medical staff to share and record information and access tests and lab results instantly to improve decision making.

The new system also helps automate many administrative processes throughout the hospital such as appointment booking, work scheduling for doctors, nurses and staff as well as helping to better manage the hospital’s financial processes and reporting requirements

“Our doctors now have real-time access a complete archive of a patient’s medical data. As a result we have improved our ability to diagnose medical conditions and make optimum decisions for patients,” said Andrey Myachin, Head of the Control System Department at the Emergency Hospital of Petrozavodsk.

IBM is engaged on similar projects at other public hospitals throughout Russia including those in the regions of Volgograd, Leningrad, Kirov, Pskov, Perm and Vladimir as well as the Republics of Khakassia and Udmurtia.

IBM has 14 offices across the region including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Perm, Ekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, Ufa, Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

About IBM

For more information on IBM visit:http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/healthcare_solutions/ideas/

GE Healthcare Introduces a New Version of Vscan

Press release:

10 May 2012

GE Healthcare Introduces a New Version of Vscan

 

The 1.2 version of the pocket-sized visualization tool includes features that help improve ease-of-use, reporting, and clinical workflow

WAUWATOSA, WI. – Thursday, May 10, 2012 – Today, GE Healthcare introduced a new version of its Vscan* pocket-sized visualization tool, developed to deliver imaging capabilities at the point-of-care. Based on feedback from current Vscan users, the new version features extended battery life, a more intuitive user interface, and enhanced reporting capabilities. This intuitive device provides a non-invasive look inside the body to help immediately visually validate what clinicians feel and hear during the physical exam. At the point of care, clinicians are able to gather information to help efficiently triage patients, reduce wait times, and develop personalized care plans. Vscan is currently used in the fields of cardiology, primary care, women’s health and emergency medicine, and is also used as a training tool in medical schools.

New product enhancements for the Vscan include:

DEVICE

• Up to 50 percent more scan time compared with the Vscan Version 1.1 release
• New intuitive user interface, enabling fingertip control and faster workflow
• Enhanced contrast resolution allowing for crisper images of abdominal and OB presets

GATEWAY SOFTWARE
Link images to patient data with the new PDF export option.[i] This allows for more convenient and improved documentation to aid in your evaluation and management of the patient

PORTAL & SUPPORT

• New three-year warranty is now standard
• Vscan customers have access to GE Healthcare’s award-winning service
• New web portal with enhanced activation process enables users to start scanning faster
• Expanded online educational resources and image libraries

“GE Healthcare has a long history and strong expertise in ultrasound, and our goal with Vscan has always been to bring our technological capabilities in ultrasound to physicians at the point-of-care,” said Agnes Berzsenyi, General Manager, Global Primary Care – Ultrasound, GE Healthcare. “The features of this release will allow Vscan to be used more efficiently in daily practice, helping physicians make timely decisions that ultimately impact patient care.”

Vscan is a prescription device for ultrasound imaging, measurement and analysis in the clinical applications of abdominal; cardiac (adult and pediatric); urology, fetal/OB; pediatric; selected peripheral vessels, and thoracic/pleural motion and fluid detection. Vscan’s compact size, high degree of portability and simplified user interface make it well suited for adjunctive use during patient examinations in primary care and special care areas.

Vscan became commercially available in February 2010, and is currently available in Europe, United States, Canada, China, India and various other countries around the world. Version 1.2 is currently available in the United States, Canada and Europe.

*Trademark of General Electric Company

[i] The new gateway version with the PDF export feature is not available in China.

About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries.  For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

GE Healthcare Life Sciences completes acquisition of Xcellerex, Inc.

Press release:

10 May 2012

GE Healthcare Life Sciences completes acquisition of Xcellerex, Inc.

 

Chalfont St Giles, UK – 10 May 2012 – GE Healthcare, the healthcare business of GE (NYSE: GE) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Xcellerex, Inc., a supplier of innovative manufacturing technologies for the fast-growing biopharmaceutical industry.

The acquisition expands GE Healthcare’s offering of technologies and services for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals such as recombinant proteins, antibodies and vaccines, a key area of growth for the company. The strong strategic fit between the two companies, combined with expanded capabilities in product development and marketing, will offer significant customer benefits through complementary product and service offerings.

Commenting on the close, Dr. Nigel Darby, Vice President of BioTechnologies, and Chief Technology Officer, GE Healthcare Life Sciences said, "Xcellerex’s expertise and reputation in technologies for biopharmaceutical manufacturing is a great fit with our business. GE and Xcellerex share a vision that an integrated approach, where we can help customers optimize every stage of their manufacturing process - from start to finish - has the potential to increase production flexibility and to deliver higher yields of finished product while reducing time to market. We believe that combining the skills of the two companies will bring great benefits for our customers in the industry."

For more information about GE Healthcare Life Sciences’ technologies and services please visit www.gelifesciences.com

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems. Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

About Xcellerex, Inc.

Xcellerex is commercializing turnkey biomanufacturing solutions that transform the speed and economics of producing therapeutic proteins, including biosimilars and vaccines. The company’s FlexFactory® is a complete modular and portable production train based on single-use technologies, advanced process automation, and compact clean room architecture.

FlexFactory allows deployment of GMP manufacturing capacity more rapidly and at greatly reduced costs compared with traditional facilities. Through its BridgeSourcing™ services, Xcellerex manufactures a partner’s biomolecules while the partner prepares for commissioning of its own new FlexFactory. When the partner’s facility is ready, Xcellerex deploys its TransPlant™ process to install, validate and train partner personnel in their own FlexFactory. This parallel-path model both accelerates time to clinical and commercial manufacturing and allows partners to manage the development and market risks associated with adding manufacturing capacity.

Xcellerex also leverages its proprietary single use technologies through the sale of XDR bioreactors, XDM Quad Mixers, and related single-use assemblies. To date, more than 20 therapeutic proteins and vaccines have been manufactured for clinical trials using Xcellerex technology. The company employs approximately 135 people and had revenues of approximately $50 million in 2011. For more information, please visitwww.xcellerex.com