Health Industry Today articles from August 1996

Health Industry Today archives from August 1996

Big Three producers still dominate I.V. solutions market. (Abbott Laboratories, Baxter Healthcare Corp. I.V. Systems Div., McGaw Inc.; intravenous)(Industry Overview)
August 1, 1996... According to Wall Street analysts, three producers continue to hold a firm grasp on a mature I.V. solutions market that isn't showing much change in terms of either dollars or market share. Abbott Laboratories, Abbot Park, Ill., and Baxter I.V....

Manufacturers and today's IDNs: the young and the restless. (medical products manufacturers; integrated delivery networks)
August 1, 1996... The medical products supply chain is getting more complex as integrated delivery networks (IDNs) continue to mature. Corporate materials managers in these IDNs are feeling incredible pressure to cut their systems' costs, and they're expecting...

Metro Chicago affiliates with AmeriNet. (Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council)
August 1, 1996... The latest chapter of consolidation in the group purchasing arena and the strengthening of a national supergroup was written early this month when the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council (MCHC) embarked on the first year of a five-year...

Nycomed grants VHA "unprecedented" price cuts; two other GPOs also benefit. (Nycomed Inc.; VHA Inc.; group purchasing organizations)
August 1, 1996... Nycomed Inc., Princeton, N.J., slashed its prices for nonionic contrast media by an additional 24% to customers belonging to Irving, Texas-based VHA Inc. The reductions, termed "unprecedented" by VHA officials, result in discounts of 58% to 60%...

For $250 million, Genzyme buys Deknatel, gets sales force, M.D. access. (Genzyme Corp.; Deknatel Snowden Pencer Inc.)
August 1, 1996... In need of quick access to the nation's surgeons and desiring an immediate, ready-made sales force, Genzyme Corp., took a big step toward satisfying both this spring when the Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology concern said it would purchase...

Bracco enters Canadian imaging market. (Bracco Diagnostics Inc.)
August 1, 1996... Building on its two-year-old agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, Bracco Diagnostics Inc., Princeton, N.J., has begun marketing its contrast media product line in the Canadian market. The Toronto-based marketing effort, which was formally...

Telectronics resumes pacer shipments. (Telectronics Pacing Systems Inc.)
August 1, 1996... Wrapping up a year-long struggle to meet the FDA's Good Manufacturing Practice requirements, Telectronics Pacing Systems has been given approval by the agency to resume manufacture and shipment of its cardiac pacemakers and pacemaker leads. The...

Integrated system numbers jump 97%. (integrated health care networks)
August 1, 1996... It's no longer simply a widely held opinion that integrated health care networks are among the fastest growing market segments in the industry. Figures just reported by Chicago-based SMG Marketing Group Inc. confirm it. SMG counts 504 integrated...

Abbott, Berlex sign co-marketing alliance for contrast media products. (Abbott Laboratories, Berlex Laboratories Inc.)
August 1, 1996... An agreement calculated to increase market penetration in U.S. hospitals and integrated delivery networks was behind a recently signed "strategic business alliance" for contrast media products between Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill., and...

Enterprise beams up Continental. (Enterprise Systems Inc.; Continental Healthcare Systems Inc.)
August 1, 1996... Information management software provider Enterprise Systems Inc. (ESi), Wheeling, Ill., will spend approximately $13.9 million to buy the materials management division of Continental Healthcare Systems Inc., Overland Park, Kan. The deal, which...

IVAC seeks room in a crowded market for new needleless I.V. system. (IVAC Medical Systems Inc.; intravenous)
August 1, 1996... A newly launched needleless infusion system is being promoted by IVAC Medical Systems Inc. for its simplicity of use, attention to safety and its ability to reduce latex exposure for patients and health care workers. San Diego-based IVAC received...

Medtronic gains clearance for small, effective MicroJewel ICD. (implantable cardiac defibrillator)
August 1, 1996... To reach a cutting-edge market that is extremely sensitive to new technologies, Medtronic Inc. will rely heavily on the work of its far-flung staff of direct sales personnel, a formula that has worked for the Minneapolis-based manufacturer in the...

Picker's Viewpoint focuses on burgeoning spinal surgery market. (Picker International's computer-assisted surgery workstation)
August 1, 1996... With a newly issued 510(k) clearance in hand, Picker International is ready to capitalize on a booming market for intracranial surgery devices with its Viewpoint[TM] computer-assisted surgery workstation. The Cleveland-based manufacturer received...

Elbit's Diasonics Israel begins U.S. sales of color ultrasound system.
August 1, 1996... Elbit Ultrasound, an Israel-based manufacturer that holds an estimated 10% share of the worldwide ultrasound market, received clearance from the FDA in June to market the Synergy system, an advanced diagnostic color ultrasound system, in this...

Intermedics limbers up Marathon pacer for the long haul.
August 1, 1996... On the heels of an FDA clearance fortunately timed to coincide with a major industry event, Intermedics Orthopedics is marketing its newest pacemaker for its ability to lower costs associated with heart therapy treatment. The Angleton,...

MD Buyline in midst of corporate transformation.
August 1, 1996... MDB Information Network, known to most in the industry by its former identity as MD Buyline, is readying a financing plan that could pump millions into its operation through venture capital funds or even propel it into the Wall Street maelstrom...

Specialty distributors facing new challenges. (medical equipment)(Industry Overview)
August 1, 1996... Like most companies in the medical device industry, the plucky cadre that makes up the nation's specialty distributors are having to contend with forces that are changing the industry almost on a daily basis. To succeed, these mostly small...

Savvy medical marketers turning to broadcast faxing.
August 1, 1996... Medical supply vendors are making increasing use of high-tech communications tools by establishing fax links with office-based physicians and hospitals nationwide. Facsimile marketing is becoming an extremely cost-effective and fast way for...

Century-old AMSCO completes two-year odyssey. (AMSCO International Inc.)
August 1, 1996... Editor's Note: The following is the latest in a more or less regular feature of Health Industry Today, HIT Then & Now, designed to take you back for a review of some of the stories that made past headlines...and how those events turned out today....

Bergen Rx programs said to "raise stockless distribution to new level." (Bergen Brunswick Corp.)
August 1, 1996... Drug wholesaler Bergen Brunswig Corp. took an unusual step by launching a pair of programs last month in which Bergen assumes responsibility for the procurement of pharmaceuticals for its customers and relieves them from the ownership of...

Micro Bio-Medics picks up two N.Y. contracts. (Micro Bio-Medics Inc. signs contract with Shared Services Healthcare Inc. and New York University Medical Center)
August 1, 1996... Micro Bio-Medics Inc., Pelham Manor, N.Y., reached agreement on a three-year contract covering medical-surgical supply distribution with Nassau-Suffolk Shared Services Inc. (NSHSS), Hauppauge, N.Y., a group purchasing organization that represents...

Schein in deals for two dental suppliers. (Henry Schein Inc. acquires SF Dental Co. and Pattison McGrath)
August 1, 1996... Henry Schein Inc. increased its exposure in the dental supply market with the acquisition of SF Dental Co., a national direct marketer of dental products and equipment based in Green Bay, Wis. SF Dental had 1995 revenues of approximately $30...

Compressed gas distributors merge. (Mid-South Oxygen Co. and Standard Welders Supply)
August 1, 1996... Seeking to position themselves for expansion, Mid-South Oxygen Co. and Standard Welders Supply, both based in Memphis, Tenn., have merged and are now operating under the name nexAir. The two companies, which are privately held, have combined...

Shared Services Healthcare Inc. (Sandra W. Green named CEO)
August 1, 1996... Sandra W. Green was named CEO of this Atlanta-based group purchasing organization, succeeding Howard Mulcay, who resigned. Green has been with SSH for more than 10 years, most recently as senior vice president of sales and services. She had been...

Lasermedics Inc. (Michael J. Houska named vice-president of sales)
August 1, 1996... Michael J. Houska was named vice president of sales for this Sugar Land, Texas-based device manufacturer's newly acquired Henley Healthcare Division. Houska will be located in the Akron, Ohio office of Henley Healthcare. Houska has 13 years in...