Health Industry Today articles from August 1993

Health Industry Today archives from August 1993

Scalpel and blade market driven by product quality, price. (Market Memo) (Industry Overview)
August 1, 1993... Technology and increasing concern over infection control are forcing changes in one of the most mature markets in the surgical arena. New surgical technology is slowing sales of general surgery blades that fit on handles because of the shift...

Agfa changes film marketing strategy to focus on GPO/hospital executives. (AGFA Corp.; group purchasing organization)
August 1, 1993... Agfa, a division of Miles Inc., Ridgefield Park, N.J., is changing the company's marketing strategy following the results of a recent focus group showing that most film purchasing decisions are now being made more at the hospital executive level...

Kendall forcing higher hospital compliance. (Kendall Healthcare Products Inc.)
August 1, 1993... Kendall Healthcare Products Co., Mansfield, Mass., is forcing increased hospital compliance under a new five-year contract with Voluntary Hospitals of America, Irving, Tex., for wound care products, T.E.D.s (thrombosis embolic deterrents or...

Siemens plans to increase presence by building new R&D facility. (Siemens Medical Systems Inc.'s Ultrasound Group)
August 1, 1993... Although the threat of health care reforms has stalled sales of ultrasound imaging equipment for the past year, The Ultrasound Group of Siemens Medical Systems Inc., Issaquah, Wash., continues to bet on tremendous market growth in coming years...

Lawsuit fails to affect Medrad, Liebel Flarsheim marketing plans. (Medrad Inc.'s patent-infringement suit against Liebel-Flarsheim Co.)
August 1, 1993... A patent-infringement lawsuit filed by Medrad, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., against Liebel Flarsheim, Cincinnati, Ohio, has left both firms' marketing strategies unaltered. In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, Medrad claims...

Cryomedical signs $8.5 million deal with U.S. Medical for 36 Accuprobes. (Cryomedical Sciences Inc.'s surgical systems)
August 1, 1993... Cryomedical Sciences, Inc., Rockville, Md., received an $8.5 million purchase order in June for 36 CMS Accuprobe |R~ Systems and 10,000 disposable probes from U.S. Medical, Cincinnati, Ohio, a medical-surgical distributor. Cryomedical sells...

Augustine suing Progressive Medical for claiming product is safe to use. (Augustine Medical Inc.; Progressive Dynamics Inc.'s patient warming cover)
August 1, 1993... Augustine Medical, Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn., sued Progressive Dynamics, Inc., in June for unfair competition, false advertising and product disparagement. Augustine also sued Appleton Medical, a Missouri distributor, for selling the Progressive...

HIMA endorses approval reform; will consider user fees. (Health Industry Manufacturers Association's stance on Food and Drug Administration-imposed fees)
August 1, 1993... The Health Industry Manufacturers Assn. softened its stance on FDA user fees, saying it would drop its opposition to government-imposed fees in return for a streamlined approval process for medical devices. The decision was made following a...

Elscint creates new showcase facility with sale to Florida's Pal-Med. (Elscint Inc.'s magnetic resonance imaging and tomography systems; Pal-Med Health Services)
August 1, 1993... Elscint, Inc., Hackensack, N.J., inked a deal in June for two magnetic resonance imaging systems and one computed tomography system with Pal-Med Health Services, the outpatient service provider affiliated with the 360-bed AMI/Palmetto General...

Sales boom sparks expansion of Comdisco refurbishing facility. (Comdisco Inc.'s high-tech medical equipment business)
August 1, 1993... A 129% increase in its refurbished high-tech medical equipment business has moved Comdisco, Inc., Rosemont, Ill., to expand its refurbishing facility in Wood Dale, Ill. from 44,000 to nearly 100,000sf and to hire up to 20 more technicians, making...

HIDA to offer training programs for home care sales reps. (Health Industry Distributors Association)
August 1, 1993... The Health Industry Distributors Assn. is developing a home care sales training program late this year to help sales reps learn to sell to the rapidly growing home care market, including techniques for closing a sale, listening skills and using...

Product prices not responsible for health care cost increases.
August 1, 1993... The Health Care Technology Institute, Alexandria, Va., a public policy research organization, released a report in June demonstrating that the rising cost of health care was much higher than the minimal rise in the prices of surgical, medical and...

Philips changes service and warranty, offers customers lower-cost service. (Philips Medical Systems Inc.)
August 1, 1993... Philips Medical Systems, Shelton, Conn., dropped the price of magnetic resonance imaging service and warranty agreements under a Partnership Agreement that it began offering in January. For two years, Philips collected data and developed the...

IMTC sells blood typing, grouping reagent business; focuses on STDs. (International Murex Technologies Corp.; Murex Biologicals Ltd.; Murex Biologicals Inc.)
August 1, 1993... International Murex Technologies Corp., Norcross, Ga., sold its blood typing and grouping reagent business, Murex Biologicals Limited, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (formerly Dominion Biologicals Limited) and Murex Biologicals, Inc., of Conroe, Tex., to...

Sherwood's lower urological prices knocks Bard out of HPSCO. (Sherwood Medical Co.; C.R. Bard Inc. Bard Urological; Hospital Purchasing Service Corp.)
August 1, 1993... With a bid 15% to 20% below that of its major competitor, Sherwood Medical Co., St. Louis, landed a contract with Hospital Purchasing Service Corp., Blue Bell, Pa., as its supplier of urological supplies, knocking Bard Urological, Covington, Ga.,...

Bicore changes product's marketing strategy to focus on results from recent hospital study. (Bicore Monitoring Systems Inc.) (Marketing Strategies)
August 1, 1993... Bicore Monitoring Systems, Inc., Irvine, Calif., is re-focusing its marketing strategy for the CP-100 ventilator monitor around the results of a recent study at the 1,265-bed Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago. The company...

Yorty heavily marketing DeRoyal TraceCarts to increase presence in Philadelphia hospitals. (Yorty Medical; DeRoyal Industries Inc.'s operating room supply management system)
August 1, 1993... Yorty Medical, Bensalem, Pa., is looking to increase distribution to hospitals in the Philadelphia area by heavily marketing the TraceCart |TM~ System from DeRoyal Industries, Inc., Powell, Tenn. DeRoyal's three and one-half-year-old TraceCart...

PracSys revolutionizing PET market with lightweight, low-priced system. (PracSys Corp.; positron emission tomography)
August 1, 1993... PracSys Corp., Woburn, Mass., plans to revolutionize the positron emission tomography market with its lightweight PracSys PET System, priced at only $3 million, about half that of most PET systems. The product was released in June at the Society...

Heart Technology offers alternative to standard cardiac treatments. (Heart Technology Inc.)
August 1, 1993... Heart Technology, Inc., Bellevue, Wash., will market its Rotablator |TM~ that removes coronary artery blockages as a low-cost improvement over traditional methods of treating heart disease, especially balloon angioplasty and open-heart surgery....

Luther targets hospital, home care markets with Dual-Cath catheter. (Luther Medical Products Inc.)
August 1, 1993... Luther Medical Products, Inc., Tustin, Calif., is targeting hospitals and the growing home care market with the company's DuaL-Cath |TM~, a multilumen catheter released in June. Pharmacia Deltec Inc., St. Louis, Mo., is the exclusive distributor...

Ortho Diagnostic targets blood banks and hospitals with new hepatitis-C test. (Ortho Diagnostic Systems Inc.)
August 1, 1993... Ortho Diagnostic Systems, Inc., Raritan, N.J., a Johnson & Johnson Co., is targeting laboratory technicians at blood banks and hospital laboratories to purchase the company's new RIBA |TM~ HCV 2.0 Strip Immunoblot Assay, which tests blood for the...

Abbott targets lab managers to buy AxSYM immunoassay system. (Abbott Laboratories)
August 1, 1993... Abbott laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill., introduced two new products designed to improve workflow in clinical laboratories, including the AxSYM immunoassay system and the Abbott Maestro workstation, its latest entry in the steadily growing $2...

3M to promote new line of non-invasive skin closures. (3M Health Care Ltd.)
August 1, 1993... 3M Health Care, St. Paul., Minn., is heavily using direct mail promotions to plastic surgeon and orthopedic physicians to promote Steri-Strip Elastic Ski Closures, its new line of non-invasive skin closures. The direct mail promotions are part...

Zeiss introduces laser systems for orthopedic, hospital use. (Carl Zeiss Inc.)
August 1, 1993... Carl Zeiss, Inc., Thornwood, N.Y., introduced new surgical laser systems, the OPMILAS 144 and the OPMILAS 144 PLUS, as its latest attempt to compete in the $75 million to $100 million laser arthroscopy market. Each laser costs approximately...

Telectronics releases new pacemaker introduces "breakthrough technology." (Telectronics Pacing Systems Inc.)
August 1, 1993... Telectronics Pacing Systems, Englewood, Colo., is marketing what it calls "breakthrough technology" to sell its new META DDDR1254 dual-chamber, rate-responsive pacemaker. The company is pushing the pacemaker's ability to sense the metabolic needs...

Aslan product makes suturing faster and less painful. (Aslan Medical Technologies)
August 1, 1993... Aslan Medical Technologies, Kalamazoo, Mich., is negotiating with an as-yet-unnamed global distributor to sell the manufacturer's Aslan Needle Holder and McKernan-Potts Forceps, a kit of two reusable instruments that make intra-corporeal suturing...

Producer Price Index decreased 0.1% in June. (medical equipment) (Industry Overview)
August 1, 1993... TABULAR DATA OMITTED Analysis: The finished goods component of the Producer Price Index decreased 0.1% to 125.6 in June. The index is 1.4% higher than one year earlier. Patient monitoring equipment increased 2.1%, leading all categories...