Health Industry Today articles from July 2001

Health Industry Today archives from July 2001

CONFEROS is building c-Medica; will manufacturers come to it?(medical device collaborative web site)
July 1, 2001... A Web site introduced last month that was designed as a collaborative work space to increase the speed to market of medical devices is also said to reduce expenses and enhance revenues for device manufacturers and their suppliers--if they'll...

Selling the package: GPOs bundle contracts by disease, not vendor.(group purchasing organizations)(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2001... There's a new buying strategy out there, and it calls for some new selling strategies for suppliers hoping to win business from group purchasing organizations and many integrated delivery networks. It's called the disease management...

VHA assesses the hospital environment.(VHA Inc.)(Industry Overview)
July 1, 2001... Hospitals face a number of changes in their business environment that may change the ways they evaluate medical devices and capital spending decisions. Many medical device companies already are feeling the effects of these changes and...

FDA regulation of single-use device reprocessing amounts to fiscal irrationality, contend advocates.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Free enterprise is not a term that accurately describes our health care system, and because many entities--both individual and institutional--regulate the sales and marketing of medical devices and med-surg supply products, it is impossible to...

LaserSight Inc., Winter Park, Fla., and VISX Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., entered into a Settlement.(excimer laser agreement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... LaserSight Inc., Winter Park, Fla., and VISX Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., entered into a Settlement and License Agreement related to refractive excimer lasers. Under terms of the agreement, LaserSight received a license to patents held by...

Eastman Kodak.(produces 15,000th dry laser imager)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Eastman Kodak, Rochester, N.Y., announced it has produced and shipped its 15,000th dry laser imager. "The Kodak DryView[TM] Laser Imager portfolio continues to hold the leading position in the industry for both technology and market...

ChromaVision Medical Systems Inc.(resolves problems with Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... ChromaVision Medical Systems Inc., San Juan Capistrano, Calif., a provider of automated cell-imaging systems and manufacturer of the ACIS[TM] system, said it has resolved issues with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following the...

Masimo Corp.(receives award)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Masimo Corp., Irvine, Calif., the developer of signal extraction pulse oximetry, was honored by the American Electronics Assn. (AEA) at its eighth annual High Tech awards ceremony. Masimo said the AEA gave the company's Radical Signal...

Memry Corp.(moves east coast operations)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Memry Corp., Brookfield, Conn., relocated its East Coast operations to Bethel, Conn. The move took place over the Memorial Day weekend. Memry's new facility now houses the company's corporate headquarters and manufacturing and assembly...

Boston Scientific Corp.(sues Johnson and Johnson for patent infringement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Boston Scientific Corp., Natick, Mass., said a German court ruled that Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) BX Velocity[TM] stent infringes patented technology that is registered as a utility model in Germany and exclusively licensed to Boston Scientific....

CardioNow[TM] Inc.(receives funding)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... CardioNow[TM] Inc., Daly City, Calif., closed a third round of venture funding led by Versant Ventures and Fremont Ventures that will allow it to offer a "cost-effective, scalable means to streamline the distribution and archiving of cardiac...

HemaSure Inc., Marlborough, Mass., completed the sale of its assets.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... HemaSure Inc., Marlborough, Mass., completed the sale of its assets, except for cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, to Whatman Bioscience Inc., a Massachusetts corporation and a subsidiary of Whatman plc, an English corporation....

STS Biopolymers.(receives award)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... STS Biopolymers, Henrietta, N.Y., received the Medical Design Excellence Award in the category of Radiological and Electromechanical Devices at the Medical Design and Manufacturing East (MDME) Expo in New York in June. MDME recognized the...

QRS Diagnostic LLC.(agreement with TeleVital Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... QRS Diagnostic LLC, Plymouth, Minn., and TeleVital Inc. announced the collaborative development of Web-enabled QRS PC Card medical devices the companies said will result in the real-time monitoring, assessment, analysis, retrieval and storage...

Integral Nuclear Associates LLC (INA).(acquires Nuclear Imaging Systems, Cardiovascular Concepts)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Integral Nuclear Associates LLC (INA), New York, purchased the assets of Nuclear Imaging Systems (NIS) and Cardiovascular Concepts PC, firms that had operated 14 fixed-site nuclear cardiology imaging centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey,...

New software helps pinpoint radiation therapy.(from ADAC Laboratories)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... ADAC Laboratories, Milpitas, Calif., has released a new software package that regulates delivery of radiation therapy. It is called [P.sup.3]IMRT for intensity modulated radiation therapy used with the company's [Pinnacle.sup.3] radiation...

W.L. Gore & Associates Inc.(HELEX septal occluder device marketed outside United States)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... W.L. Gore & Associates Inc., Flagstaff, Ariz., announced the market launch of its HELEX septal occluder device outside the United States during the fifth Pediatric Interventional Cardiac Symposium held in Toronto, Canada. The device is...

Kensey Nash Corp.(testing new heart intervention)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Kensey Nash Corp., Exton, Pa., announced it has begun clinical trials of its TriActiv[TM] Balloon Protect Flush Extraction System in both the U.S. and Europe in support of regulatory approvals. The TriActiv device is designed to prevent...

Heartlab Inc.(contracts with 2 hospitals)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Heartlab Inc., Westerly, R.I., announced that the 410-bed New England Medical Center, Boston, and the Valley Children's Hospital, Madera, Calif., have ordered or installed the company's Encompass[R] Cardiac Network. Encompass is a filmless...

Aspect Medical Systems.(introduces consciousness monitoring device for use on children)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Aspect Medical Systems, Newton, Mass., shipped the first Bispectral Index[R] (BIS) pediatric sensor to customers following development programs and clinical evaluation of the technology at children's hospitals. Aspect said BIS is the first and...

RenalTech Intl.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... RenalTech Intl., New York, said the second human clinical study of its BetaSorb[TM] device is underway at San Bortolo Hospital in Vicenza, Italy. BetaSorb is used to treat chronic renal disease patients in combination with high-flux...

Micro Motors Inc.(cranial screwdriver)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Micro Motors Inc., Santa Ana, Calif., said it launched a proprietary battery-powered cranial screwdriver in conjunction with a three-year agreement it entered into with an unnamed manufacturer and marketer of cranial-maxillofacial screws and...

Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp.(seeking approval for device)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., San Diego, announced it submitted a 510(k) application to the FDA for its RODA[TM] patient monitoring system, a device intended to provide on-line measurements of the cardiovascular and oxygenation status of...

Medwave Inc.(monitor being tested)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Medwave Inc., St. Paul, Minn., announced that Children's Hospital of Boston will perform a clinical study of the company's Vasotrac AMP205A non-invasive blood pressure monitor on children with cardiovascular concerns. Earlier, the company...

Misonix Inc.(ultrasound equipment)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Misonix Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y., announced that 66 patients at five sites in the U.S. have been treated in a Phase III clinical study utilizing the company's Sonablate highly focused ultrasound as a minimally invasive procedure for the...

Endoscopy marketers counting on relationships, bells & whistles to rebuild slow-growth segment.(Industry Overview)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2001... Within the endoscopy market, what buyers see is probably not the only thing they'll get in the future. "Future market success is dependent upon the use of superior marketing and management strategies that build customer relationships,"...

European cardiac market will grow healthy course.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2001... Despite procedure numbers that have remained mostly static, healthy revenue increases will bring the European cardiac rhythm procedure market to well over a billion dollars in the next couple of years. So said a report titled European...

Large Health System joins Global HC Exchange.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Virtua Health, a four-hospital system in Southern New Jersey with 7,000 employees and 1,600 physicians, signed up to participate in the Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX), based in Westminster, Colo. Virtua now contracts directly with...

Marconi Medical Systems.(will distribute Huestis Medical imaging equipment)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Marconi Medical Systems, Cleveland, entered into a two-year agreement with Huestis Medical to distribute its remanufactured imaging equipment to hospitals and imaging centers in the U.S. and Canada. Under the agreement, Marconi's Health...

Masimo Corp.(agreement with HealthTrust Purchasing Group)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Masimo Corp., Irvine, Calif., entered into a two-year agreement with HealthTrust Purchasing Group (HPG), Nashville, Tenn., to provide Masimo SET pulse oximetry to its hospital group. The largest proprietary GPO in the U.S., HealthTrust's...

AmeriNet Inc.(news multiple supplier agreements)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... AmeriNet Inc., St. Louis, renewed supplier agreements for clinical laboratory services and medical screening devices and entered a three-year contract for interventional products. The nation's largest membership-based health care group...

Premier Inc.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Premier Inc., San Diego, awarded Tri-anim, Sylmar, Calif., a dual-source, three-year agreement that will give Premier members access to more than 20,000 respiratory and anesthesia products. Tri-anim, the nation's largest specialty products...

Owens & Minor.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Owens & Minor, Richmond, Va., signed a five-year distribution agreement with Methodist Health System, Houston, with an estimated sales volume potential of more than $100 million over the life of the contract. Methodist said Owens & Minor...

Medline Industries Inc.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Medline Industries Inc., Mundelein, Ill., and Ascension Health signed a $650 million cost management, supply-distribution agreement under which Medline will become the health system's primary supplier and distributor of medical and surgical...

Aerogen Inc. Sunnyvale, Calif., entered into an agreement.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Aerogen Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., entered into an agreement with Allegiance Health Care Corp., McGaw Park, Ill., under which Allegiance will distribute Aerogen's first two nebulizer products in the U.S. Aerogen's Aeroneb Portable Neublizer...

Siemens Medical Systems Inc. Iselin, N.J., and the University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, Colo., entered into a multiple-year strategic alliance.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Siemens Medical Systems Inc., Iselin, N.J., and the University of Colorado Hospital, Aurora, Colo., entered into a multiple-year strategic alliance under which Siemens will provide the hospital with imaging equipment and maintenance, facility...

Integral PET Associates LLC.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Integral PET Associates LLC, New York, extended its long-term relationship with ADAC Laboratories, Milpitas, Calif., by placed an order for seven ADAC C-PET Plus position emission tomography scanners for delivery in 2001. The scanners will...

Medtronic looks to boost annualized sales growth with MiniMed, MRG, new market segment deal.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Medtronic Inc. moved to offset slowing sales growth in one of its core medical device divisions by plunging into a brand new market segment with the late-May acquisition of a pair of companies. The Minneapolis firm, never shy about adding...

Tyco's second billion-dollar med-surg supply deal adds C.R. Bard as `another good building block'.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Health care conglomerate Tyco Intl. Inc. agreed to its second multi-billion dollar acquisition of medical products businesses in less than a year by buying C.R. Bard Inc., Murray Hill, N.J., for about $3.1 billion last month. The purchase...

Industry vets create single-source advisory firm.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Organizers of The SWISH Group Ltd., Radnor, Pa., said they founded the company to fill a need created by the rapidly increasing number of transactions and merger and acquisition deals within the health care industry. Specifically, the firm...

Physicians buying each other's medical practices at greater rate than hospitals or medical groups.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Device and med-surg supply marketers should be aware that physicians are purchasing each other's medical practices faster than practices are being bought by the hospitals they serve. According to the 2001 edition of The Goodwill Registry, a...

IDNs lead way in adopting wireless technology.(integrated delivery networks)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Integrated delivery networks (IDNs) are on the leading edge of adopting wireless computing technology used in both e-commerce and the accessing, updating and transmission of critical patient information without hardwire systems or paper-based...

BCG claims health care consumer Internet sites need approaches different from other industries.(Boston Consulting Group)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Manufacturers, med-surg suppliers and distributors hoping to attract medical patients on the Internet should be aware that research conducted by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has determined strategies borrowed from other consumer sites are...

HCEA offers online exhibit prospectus.(Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Assn. )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... A tool designed to help health care associations evaluate their exhibition prospectus as well as help companies determine their exhibition schedule is available over the Internet through the Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Assn. (HCEA),...

NANN exhibitors to display products to nurses in a number of specialties.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... National Assn. of Neonatal Nurses (NANN) will hold its 17th National Meeting October 3-6, 2001 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, and the organization said exhibitors will be presented with the opportunity to market to...

Executive, training venues added to HIDA meeting.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... Health Industry Distributors Assn. (HIDA) has added a pair of features to the program of the HIDA 2001 health Distribution Conference & Expo[TM] to be held Oct. 4-6 in San Diego. Expo co-chair Cindy Juhas said the Executive Strategic Forum...

AHA exhibitors can show products, support fight against heart disease.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... The American Heart Assn.'s (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2001 will be held November 11-14 in Anaheim, Calif., and the organization maintains exhibitors can benefit doubly by attending. In addition to putting their products before more than...