Health Industry Today articles from September 1997

Health Industry Today archives from September 1997

Financial woes a distant memory to med-surg distributors.
September 1, 1997... By practically any measure, the distribution of medical-surgical supplies to U.S. hospitals and integrated delivery networks is big business. The numbers bear that out. Estimates are that the hospital market alone accounts for more than $11...

Columbia/HCA, the humbled giant, eyed warily by vendor community.
September 1, 1997... Members of the medical supply community were surprised, but not shocked at the recent developments surrounding the embattled hospital chain, Nashville, Tenn.-based Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. Of particular note: The sudden resignation of...

Medtronic benefits from huge exposure for new tremor control therapy product.
September 1, 1997... Thanks to a new product that has broad and deep appeal to Americans, Medtronic Inc. was the beneficiary of more publicity than even the deep-pocketed corporation could buy. Word of the FDA clearance and product release of the Minneapolis-based...

Varian brings proven cancer treatment product to new market: the U.S.A. (Varian Associates Inc.'s CadPlan 3-Dimensional Treatment Planning System)
September 1, 1997... It isn't uncommon for a U.S.-based manufacturer to bring a product to the U.S. after selling in overseas markets. But for Varian Associates Inc., the product that recently earned 51000 clearance had been sold for 10 years in other countries...

UPS strike fails to dry supply channel. (United Parcel Service; medical devices)
September 1, 1997... Using a variety of creative methods, most medical device manufacturers and distributors managed to keep the critical supply chain full during the 16 days of the United Parcel Service strike. The work stoppage ended in the early morning hours of...

Sensing market change, Siemens boosts remanufactured camera sales. (Siemens Medical)
September 1, 1997... For years, hospital customers have been trading in their cardiac and general purpose medical cameras on purchases of new devices. At the same time, cash-strapped customers, mostly smaller acute care facilities and physician's offices, were asking...

BMS' Linvatec/Hall on the block: could mighty Zimmer be next? (Bristol-Myers Squibb)
September 1, 1997... Will Bristol-Myers Squibb, the huge, diversified health care conglomerate, follow the trend set by its cousins in other corporate endeavors and "refocus" on its core pharmaceutical business? If the answer is yes, as it appears from some of the...

ASHMM '97: ubiquitous jobs issue stymies potential savings. (American Society for Healthcare Materials Management)
September 1, 1997... It was a meeting abuzz with talk about the difficulties of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. But the 35th edition of the American Society for Healthcare Materials Management in Atlanta last month was punctuated by one lamentable fact about the state...

McFaul scuttles stubborn sale buzz. (Bill McFaul, co-owner of McFaul & Lyons Inc.)
September 1, 1997... Bill McFaul, co-owner of the ofttimes controversial, Trenton, N.J.-based hospital consulting group that bears his name, scotched persistent rumors that swirled in Atlanta recently that his McFaul & Lyons Inc. is about to be sold. The latest...