Health Industry Today articles from January 1992

Health Industry Today archives from January 1992

Pulse oximeters move out of intensive care, operating room.
January 1, 1992... Pulse oximeters, which have traditionally been purchased for intensive care units and operating rooms, will continue to be moved into new areas in the hospital, such as intermediate care step-down units, general floors and post-anesthesia...

Baxter gets private-label line. (Baxter Healthcare Corp. lands contract to distribute VHA Supply Co.'s medical products)
January 1, 1992... Baxter Healthcare Corp., Deerfield, Ill., has become the exclusive distributor of VHA Supply Co.'s private-label medical/surgical products. Private-label products represented $35 million of VHA's $750 million in distributed sales for all...

Baxter adds 20th stockless agreement, signs Marian. (Baxter Healthcare Corp.; Marian Health Center)
January 1, 1992... Baxter Healthcare Corp., Deerfield, Ill., signed and implemented a new five-year stockless distribution contract valued at about $350,000 with Marian Health Center, Sioux City, Iowa. Marian projects savings of about $1 million over the life...

Siemens forms company just for ultrasound. (Siemens Ultrasound Inc. merges with Quantum Medical Systems to form Siemens Quantum Inc.)
January 1, 1992... Siemens Ultrasound Inc., San Ramon, Calif., merged with Quantum Medical Systems, a company acquired by Siemens Medical Systems in 1990. The new company, called Siemens Quantum Inc., is located in Issaquah, Wash., the home of the former Quantum....

Invacare expands line of home respiratory goods. (Invacare Corp.)
January 1, 1992... Invacare Corp., Elyria, Ohio, expanded its line of home respiratory products, a move that it expects will double the company's revenues from respiratory products within three years. About 15 additional products will be marketed under the...

ChemTrak promotes test through Bristol-Myers, PSS. (ChemTrak Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.; Physician Sales and Service Inc.)
January 1, 1992... ChemTrak, Sunnyvale, Calif., signed a supply agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and a distribution agreement with Physician Sales and Service Inc. for its AccuMeter total cholesterol test. Bristol-Myers, as part of its promotion for...

Fischer touts cost savings of Mammotest system. (Fischer Imaging Corp.)(Mammotest Stereotactic Needle Biopsy System)
January 1, 1992... Fischer Imaging Corp., Denver, says that detecting and diagnosing breast disease using its Mammotest Stereotactic Needle Biopsy System is about half the cost of a conventional surgical biopsy. "If we are able to replace two-thirds of the...

Distributors get first look at new device reporting rules. (medical instruments distributors)
January 1, 1992... Distributors got an indication of what the new device reporting and postmarket tracking requirements will entail when the Food and Drug Administration published its proposed regulations in the Nov. 26 issue of the Federal Register. As of...

Owens & Minor. (Owens and Minor Inc. sign agreement with Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida)
January 1, 1992... Owens & Minor, Richmond, Va., signed a distributor service agreement for medical/surgical products with Jackson Memorial, a 1,567-bed teaching institution in Miami. The five-year contract includes a five-year renewal option. Purchases of...

Abbott Laboratories. (signs agreement to acquire Sequoia-Turner Corp.)
January 1, 1992... Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill., signed an agreement to acquire Sequoia-Turner Corp., a supplier of a broad line of hematology instruments and reagents for hospital and alternate site laboratories. The acquisition of the Mountain...

THE BOC Group of BOC Health Care. (acquires Delta Biotechnology)
January 1, 1992... The BOC Group of BOC Health Care, Murray Hill, N.J., acquired Delta Biotechnology from Bass PLC and Stroh Brewery Co. Delta has exclusive technology in recombinant albumin and its products will begin clinical trials soon. Albumin is a key...

Pfizer unloads Deknatel to group of investors. (Pfizer Inc. Deknatel)
January 1, 1992... Pfizer Inc., New York, sold its Deknatel subsidiary to a group of investors lead by existing Deknatel management in late November. "There are no planned changes in manufacturing, distribution or marketing as a result of the buy-out because...

Baxter tissue heart valves cleared by FDA, hit market. (Baxter Healthcare Corp.; Food and Drug Administration)
January 1, 1992... Baxter Healthcare's Edwards CVS Division, Irvine, Calif., has begun marketing to cardiovascular surgeons two artificial tissue heart valves that were recently cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. The Carpentier-Edwards Pericardial...

GE to expand program for tax-exempt financing. (General Electric Medical Systems Inc.)
January 1, 1992... General Electric Medical Systems, Milwaukee, Wis., says it's preparing to roll out lease-financing programs for tax-exempt medical facilities across the country based on a pilot program that has been used to fund purchases of GE equipment by...

Siemens establishes new Patient Care Systems unit. (Siemens Medical Systems Inc.)
January 1, 1992... Siemens Medical Systems Inc., Iselin, N.J., has formed a Patient Care Systems Division to serve the non-imaging needs of the hospital community. The division is made up of four product groups: Operating Room Systems, Critical Care Systems,...

Sharpoint purchased by management-led group.
January 1, 1992... Sharpoint, Reading, Pa., has been purchased in a management-led group for an undisclosed sum. The new company is known as Surgical Specialities Corp. and will remain at the same location. Surgical Specialties has informed all its vendors...

DuPont joins Fuji to market computed radiography. (E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company Inc.; Fuji Photo Film Co.)
January 1, 1992... Fuji Photo Film Co., Stamford, Conn., has signed an original equipment manufacturer vendor agreement with E.I. DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington, Del., for its computed radiography equipment. Fuji has similar relationships with Philips, Toshiba...

Suture giants battle in endosurgery market.
January 1, 1992... Ethicon Inc., Somerville, N.J., and United States Surgical Co., Norwalk, Conn., are again going head to head for a share of the minimally invasive surgery market, this time with products for endoscopic hernia repairs. About 500,000...

Stockless program momentum slows in 1991. (usage of quick response inventory systems in hospitals)
January 1, 1992... The growth of stockless purchasing programs at hospitals has slowed considerably since 1988, according to a Hospital Materials Management stockless vendor survey. The number of stockless programs increased 5.3% in 1991 to 86 total...

RSNA features upgrades, new applications. (Radiological Society of North America)
January 1, 1992... The almost 600 companies exhibiting at the Radiological Society of North America convention Dec. 1-5 in Chicago did not show any major technological innovations, reflecting the increasingly cautious purchasing practices of hospitals and...

Take a look at direct response marketing.
January 1, 1992... Direct response marketing techniques were first employed in the world of consumer marketing, but we are seeing a virtual explosion in the use of direct response marketing techniques in business-to-business marketing. While the medical...

Manufacturers can take a role in stockless. (quick response inventory systems)
January 1, 1992... Manufacturers have a significant impact on the ability of a stockless system to perform at the required customer service levels. As a result, they must work closely with the stockless distributor and hospital in planning and implementing a...

Fuji promotes RACS as alternative to PACS. (Fuji Medical Systems U.S.A. Inc. Electronic Imaging and Equipment Group)(radiology acquisition and communication systems, picture archiving communication systems)
January 1, 1992... The Electronic Imaging & Equipment Group of Fuji Medical Systems U.S.A. Inc., Stamford, Conn., is marketing a new approach to electronic image acquisition called RACS--radiology acquisition and communication systems. The company claims this is...

Hologic bone densitometer has lateral scanning. (Hologic Inc.)
January 1, 1992... Hologic Inc., Waltham, Mass., unveiled its proprietary X-ray bone density measurement system that provides lateral scanning at the Radiological Society of North American meeting. The system recently received premarket clearance from the Food...

Abbott aims diabetes test at physicians' offices. (Abbott Laboratories)
January 1, 1992... Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill., is marketing to physicians' offices the first fully automated diagnostic test for glycated hemoglobin, an assay used for controlling diabetes. Patients with diabetes are monitored regularly for...

Portable test device screens patients at home. (CNS Inc.'s new sleep testing device)
January 1, 1992... CNS Inc., Chanhassen, Minn., has begun marketing Sleep Integrated/Technology-8, its portable sleep testing device, following clearance from the Food and Drug Administration in July. It is designed to screen potential sleep disorder patients...

Droege computerizes pacemaker product guide. (Droege Computing Services markets updated reference manual for pacemakers and other related products)
January 1, 1992... Droege Computing Services, Durham, N.C., recently began marketing "A Guide to Cardiac Pacemakers, Defibrillators and Related Products," a reference manual listing information on more than 1,000 pacemakers, 700 leads and other products. The...

PB expects new CPAP unit to improve market share. (Puritan-Bennett Corp.)(continuous positive airway pressure system)
January 1, 1992... Puritan-Bennett, Lenexa, Kan., is marketing its Companion 318 nasal continuous positive airway pressure system to home medical equipment dealers and sleep labs. The new unit replaces the older 515A model, which garnered a very small share...

Quest markets alternative to power wheelchairs. (Quest Technologies Corp.)
January 1, 1992... Quest Technologies Corp., Sunnyvale, Calif., is going up against manufacturers of power wheelchairs with its Access Mobility System, a vehicle that allows physically disabled people to climb stairs, curbs and steep hills. The company is...

Water-dispersible tape replaces clips for drapes. (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. Tape Manufacturing Div.)
January 1, 1992... 3M, St. Paul, Minn., is marketing a patent-pending water-dispersible adhesive tape for use with reusable surgical drapes. The tape was recently cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. The tape, which is totally dispersed during a...

Producer Price Index holds steady in November. (Illustration)
January 1, 1992... Analysis: The finished goods component of the Producer Price Index remained steady at 122.3 in November. The index is 0.5% lower than one year earlier. Blood transfusion and I.V. equipment led all categories in terms of monthly...

Healthdyne expands nebulizer product line. (Healthdyne Technologies Division)
January 1, 1992... Healthdyne Technologies, Marietta, Ga., recently exhibited a prototype of the Inspiration, a nebulizer compressor that the company says it will begin distributing by March. It has been cleared for marketing by the Food and Drug Administration....

Intelligent Medical Systems Inc. (signs contract with AmeriNet Inc.'s ValuHealth Div., along with Critikon Inc.)
January 1, 1992... Intelligent Medical Systems Inc., Carlsbad, Calif., and Critikon Inc., Tampa, Fla. (a division of Johnson & Johnson Co.) signed new contracts with AmeriNet Inc.'s ValuHealth Division for tympanic ear thermometers and I.V. catheters...

Vitek Systems. (signs contract with AmeriNet Inc. ValuLab Div.)
January 1, 1992... Vitek Systems, St. Louis, formerly a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas, signed a new three-year contract with AmeriNet's ValuLab division for automated microbiology systems. AmeriNet estimates potential purchases at a minimum of $4 million...

Infection control market growing 6% per year.
January 1, 1992... The market for infection control equipment and supplies totaled $1.04 billion in 1990 worldwide and will increase 6.1% annually to $1.57 billion by 1997, according to a report from Market Intelligence Research Corp., Mountain View, Calif. ...

Compound factors drive up health care costs.
January 1, 1992... Four major factors helped to increase personal health expenditures in the U.S. by 10%--from $434 to $478 billion--between 1987 and 1988, a period during which economy-wide inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index rose only 4.4%....