Health Industry Today articles from June 1999

Health Industry Today archives from June 1999

Group purchasing AmeriNet launches new cardiovascular program; equipment, supplies included in dual-source pact.
June 1, 1999... AmeriNet Inc., St. Louis, has rolled out what it calls an unprecedented group purchasing program for the equipment, supplies and pharmaceuticals used in the care of cardiovascular patients. The organization's Clinical Service Program (CSP) for...

HSCA plans dedicated IDN services department.
June 1, 1999... Health Services Corp. of American (HSCA), Cape Girardeau, Mo., announced at the Federation of American Health Systems annual conference in Orlando, Fla., that it has created a new department to support its integrated delivery network (IDN)...

Group purchasing Separating surgeons, materials managers may be good selling strategy, reps report.
June 1, 1999... By Paula DeJohn Is it good selling strategy to try to keep surgeons and other clinicians away from their colleagues in materials management? Some medical-surgical supplier representatives apparently think so, based on remarks at a recent...

A license to play.
June 1, 1999... Out on the exhibit floor, the talk was less about who to approach on the initial call, and more about a fait accompli for some of those present: the committed buying and private label programs. "Its a license to play," said one rep whose...

Paula DeJohn is the managing editor of Hospital Materials Management, a publication of The Business Word, Inc., Englewood, Colo.
June 1, 1999... contract notes Sisters of Mercy Health System, St. Louis, has extended its relationship with Health Services Corp. of America (HSCA), by signing a four-year contract with the Cape Girardeau, Mo. group purchasing organization. Sisters of Mercy's...

Capital equipment workshop attendees told to make changes to reach GPOs.
June 1, 1999... At the "Managing Expectations in Corporate Accounts" capital equipment workshop presented during the FAHS conference and exposition in Orlando, the manufacturer/distributor reps in attendance were given a GPO view of the future. "Move from...

Medicare fund debate reversing party lines.
June 1, 1999... Politics make strange bedfellows, and, apparently, so does Medicare spending. In an odd departure from partisan stances that looks suspiciously like role-reversal, congressional Republicans are the most strident element in a move to infuse...

statistical notes Figuring the odds.
June 1, 1999... Statistics may be of little comfort when facing the cold facts of reality, but at least they can help let you know what's coming, says Lakewood, Colo.-based Healthcare Report Cards, Inc. It's information, says the firm, that can help both...

Solid state laser market heating up.
June 1, 1999... Solid state lasers used in medicine, research and remote sensing produced revenues of $570 million in 1998 and will grow at an average annual growth rate (AGR) of 12.1% to reach more than $1 billion in 2003, according to a report released by...

Hospital radiology units on the rise.
June 1, 1999... A 1998 census of the diagnostic ultrasound market indicates that per site volume in hospital radiology units grew 5% in 1998 over 1997 figures. A total of 14.7 million procedures were conducted by 1,875 radiology departments at hospital sites...

Japanese orthopedics market bucks trend.
June 1, 1999... Unlike some Asian countries, the $873 million orthopedics market in Japan remains strong and is projected to grow at increasing rates over the next five years, reports London-based market analysis firm Datamonitor. The market for hip...

Hospital operating margins continue decline.
June 1, 1999... Fourth-quarter 1998 hospital operating margins dropped by 45% compared to the same period in 1997, according to data generated by HBS International, Bellevue, Wash. Figures used for the analysis by the healthcare outcomes management...

Health care stocks drop.
June 1, 1999... HealthCare Markets Group, Hilton Head, S.C., says its analysis of 1,000 public healthcare companies indicates share prices declined by 4.7% in the first quarter of 1999. By comparison, share prices increased by 1.9% in calendar year 1998...

advocacy group news - HIMA lauds U.S.-Japan technology agreements.
June 1, 1999... Health Industry Manufacturers Association (HIMA) has announced its support of a new package of deregulation and reform measures reached at the U.S.-Japan summit in Washington, D.C., saying the agreement offers great potential for improved...

MDMA opens campaign against FDA user fees.
June 1, 1999... An internet-based campaign to defeat the Clinton Administration proposal to levy FDA product-review "user fees" on the medical device industry has been launched by the Medical Device Manufacturers Association. Through its web site at...

Feds urged to enforce single-use device regs.
June 1, 1999... Co-sponsors Association of Disposable Device Manufacturers (ADDM) and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) have urged FDA officials to announce policy enforcing premarket submission requirements on reprocessors...

database notes - Addition of marketing, investment databases revving up Northern Light's research engine.
June 1, 1999... Northern Light Technology of Cambridge, Mass., a firm that among its other accomplishments claims to have developed the world's first research engine, has added a pair of databases to its online business library. The firm now offers market...

Skila adds another heavyweight to customer list.
June 1, 1999... Skila, Inc., a Mahwah, N.J. provider of internet-based business intelligence solutions, says its "integration engine" is used by half of the 20 largest companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries, and that it just signed up...

Gambro AB, Baxter Healthcare agree to dialyzer joint venture.
June 1, 1999... Gambro AB, Stockholm, Sweden, and Baxter Healthcare Corp., Deerfield, Ill., have established a U.S.-based manufacturing joint venture for dialyzers, the devices used to purify the blood of patients suffering from kidney disease and receiving...

Medline expands surgical tray facility.
June 1, 1999... Citing major contracts with hospital groups and a surge in demand for its surgical procedure trays (SPT), Medline Industries, Inc., Mundelein, Ill, has expanded its SPT assembly and warehouse facility in Waukegan, Ill. The expansion will double...

Lumisys offers Agfa imaging plates to ACR-2000 resellers, end-users.
June 1, 1999... Lumisys, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., has announced a distribution agreement through which it will offer Agfa Phosphor Imaging plates directly to resellers and end-users of its ACR-2000 DesktopCR[ordinal indicator, feminine] (computed radiography)...

Siemens to distribute TransScan imaging system.
June 1, 1999... Siemens Medical Systems, Inc., Iselin, N.J., will be the distributor of the TransScan, Ramsey, N.J., T-Scan 200 breast imaging system now commercially available in the U.S. following FDA review of the premarket approval application and its...

Medtronic receives FDA exemption for stent-graft system.
June 1, 1999... Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an investigational device exemption for U.S. human clinical studies of the second-generation Medtronic Talent LPS[ordinal indicator,...

Guidant Corp. plans expansion of Puerto Rican manufacturing facilities.
June 1, 1999... Guidant Corp., Indianapolis, has announced an expansion of its medical device manufacturing facilities in Dorado, Puerto Rico. The company will invest $20 million in capital over the next two years and an additional $2 million each year...

trade show notes Show biz E.
June 1, 1999... Editor's Note: If a trade show or expo you are or were involved with increased (or decreased) the number of participants, exhibitors or floor space, let HIT know. We're also interested in your reactions to today's trade shows. Contact John...

Bringing start-ups into the marketplace.
June 1, 1999... During a time of general pessimism about device and biotech start-ups in the public markets, the 1st Annual Start-Up Symposium, Nov. 8-12 in Carlsbad, Calif. will gather entrepreneurial and financial minds to help re-invent models used to set...

European seminars scheduled.
June 1, 1999... Technomic Publishing AG, Programme Division, will sponsor a series of meetings in Zurich, Switzerland of interest to the medical device and biomaterials industry. The seminars are designed for marketers involved in European Union sales as well...

Marketing opportunities in nephrology.
June 1, 1999... More than 10,000 professionals are expected to attend the American Society of Nephrology's 32nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition Nov. 1-8, 1999 in Miami Beach. Device, product and service providers are invited to explore exhibition,...

HIGPA opens with debate.
June 1, 1999... A debate between comedian Al Franken and political commentator Arianna Huffington will headline the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association (HIGPA) 1999 International EXPO Oct. 20-22 at the Marriott Desert Springs Resort in Palm Desert,...

Drug Discovery Technology '99.
June 1, 1999... The 4th Annual International Exposition and Symposium - Drug Discovery Technology '99 will be held Aug. 16-19, 1999 in Boston. The theme of the meeting will be Integrating Research and Technology for Faster Drug Discovery, called particularly...

trade show calendar Trading places.
June 1, 1999... Here's Health Industry Today's listing of key health care trade shows for the coming months. To add one, contact John Dalton at 303-967-0170, fax 303-290-9025, or e-mail to HIT@businessword.com >TB Dates Meeting Location Exhibitor...

Market Memo Diagnostic imaging remarketers seeing the future in www.com.
June 1, 1999... By John Dalton The picture for reconditioned or refurbished diagnostic imaging equipment has taken on considerable lustre recently. A world of big-buck, high-tech equipment that upgrades itself out of state-of-the-art existence with...

Just the facts.
June 1, 1999... At a recent capital equipment workshop, Mike Louviere, vice president of resources for Baptist Memorial Healthcare, Huntingdon, Tenn., cautioned attending sales reps that hospital systems are taking more frequent looks at refurbished equipment....

It had to come from somewhere.
June 1, 1999... "A lot of hospitals are upgrading, some are cutting back, some have too much equipment or are carrying too much money on their books," says Bobby Serros, president of Amber Diagnostics, a reconditioner/refurbisher in Orlando, Fla. "Some comes...

FAHS conference sends message: When you're in a hole, stop digging.
June 1, 1999... At the Federation of American Health Systems (FAHS) 1999 Conference and Exposition in Orlando, Fla., in April, former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz opened the general session with a series of one-liners and cautionary tales. "Money is no...

fast forward to the new millenium.
June 1, 1999... Survey finds device makers expect to be ready; stockpiling could create shortages as Y2K nears A survey conducted by the American Heart Association finds that the vast majority of the nation's medical device manufacturers and the hospitals that...

Around the industry.(meshed briefs)
June 1, 1999... * Tucson Medical Corp. Tucson, Ariz., after acquiring five independent surgical distributors across the country, has renamed itself PrimeSource Surgical, says president John Rooney. The new company consists of the former Tucson Medical Corp.,...