Agreement brings cost and quality improvement solutions to over 65,000 healthcare organizations.
Phoenix, AZ Oct 1, 2013 – Intralign, a specialty healthcare services provider, today announced it has been awarded a supplier contract with Novation, the industry’s largest health care supply chain expertise, analytics and contracting company for the more than 65,000 members of VHA Inc., UHC, Children’s Hospital Association and Provista, LLC. Intralign will offer intra-operative clinical support services backed by data-driven efficiency tools and care-centered design processes, enabling the members served by Novation to better control the economics and quality of major joint replacement as well as other surgical categories.
“We partner with suppliers that deliver excellent savings and value to the members we serve,” said Pete Allen, area senior vice president, sourcing operations, Novation. “Intralign is an organization that offers members care efficiency with a particular specialty in total joint replacement procedures, which are growing rapidly. Gaining control of the cost drivers in the intra-operative space is critically important to our members as they shift to emerging care delivery models and seek ways to improve the cost and quality of care.”
Intralign’s integrated suite of services includes intra-operative clinical support, which makes Surgical First Assistants (SFAs) available to the hospital, saving resources while ensuring the best quality support in the intra-operative process. SFAs are clinicians who have specialized training in surgery as well as appropriate license and certification to help with the procedure. Staffing models that increase involvement of mid-level qualified talent help optimize physician involvement, increase efficiency of care and can ultimately increase throughput. The benefit of intra-operative support is enhanced by Intralign’s analytics services, which monitor and collect data on key metrics in the operating room – such as implant utilization and cost to surgical and anesthesia time – to identify opportunities for improvement in care delivery. Finally, the company also offers intelligent care design support to help providers optimize the flow of people and activities in the operating room, so that ideal efficiencies and quality goals are realized.
“To be awarded a supplier contract with Novation is a significant confirmation of Intralign’s value proposition,” said Rick Ferreira, president and CEO of Intralign. “Our services are really resonating with providers because we offer a unique approach to achieving sustainable care efficiencies for the delivery of orthopedic and other types of surgery. Intralign can help them better understand how and where resources are being used, how to optimize those resources and, finally, how to enhance the management of specialized clinical labor to increase throughput.”
Category: news
Sparta Systems and Veeva Systems to Deliver End-to-End Quality Solution
Integration of TrackWise® and Veeva Vault QualityDocs to Streamline Quality Management Processes and Documentation
Pleasanton, CA and Hamilton, NJ Oct 1, 2013 – Sparta Systems and Veeva Systems today announced plans to deliver a complete, fully integrated quality solution. The two companies will integrate Sparta’s market-leading enterprise quality management solution, TrackWise, with Veeva Vault QualityDocs, a cloud-based document management solution to manage controlled documents across the enterprise. Bringing together quality process and document management in a single, end-to-end solution will enable life sciences companies to strengthen compliance, improve efficiency, and lower costs.
“Sparta’s strategic relationship with Veeva is a significant milestone as quality-conscious organizations move to streamline mission-critical work processes,” said Eileen Martinson, CEO of Sparta Systems. “Product safety incidents are growing as a result of supplier quality issues. The integration of these products, complemented by our soon-to-be-released cloud-based supplier quality solution, will help ensure safety and efficiency across the enterprise and supplier network.”
“Partnering with Sparta, the market leader in enterprise quality management systems, we have the opportunity to deliver greater strategic value for our joint customers,” said Peter Gassner, CEO of Veeva Systems. “Through the integration of TrackWise and Veeva’s cloud-based regulated content management solution, life sciences companies and their suppliers can now manage quality processes and quality documents together, eliminating the limitations and compliance risks of traditional, disconnected systems.”
The integration between TrackWise and QualityDocs is currently planned for release to customers in the first half of 2014.
Precyse University Partners with Contexo Media to Offer ICD-10 Coding Books
The most comprehensiveICD-10 education solution will now offer ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS books
Wayne, PA and Alpharetta, GA Sep 30, 2013 — Precyse, the leading provider of ICD-10 education in the country, recently announced Precyse University is partnering with Contexo Media to provide a variety of ICD-10 products to help healthcare professionals prepare for the significant code set change to ICD-10 taking place October 1, 2014. These products, including ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS books, were designed with input from medical professionals from across the nation.
Thousands of healthcare professionals rely on Contexo Media’s coding books to stay on top of critical updates across the fast-changing medical landscape. And now, Precyse is pleased to offer official ICD-10-CM: 2014 and ICD-10-PCS: 2014 books directly, at a significant savings.
“Through our agreement with Contexo, we are able to private-label the official ICD-10 code books and offer a significant discount because of the amount of clients utilizing Precyse University,” said Thomas Ormondroyd, BS, MBA, vice president, general manager, Precyse Learning Solutions. “Precyse reaches thousands of healthcare organizations nationwide, including 14 of the 18 healthcare facilities listed in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Hospitals Honor Roll.” The Precyse University ICD-10-CM: 2014 book is for facilities interested in getting ahead of the 2014 ICD-10-CM mandatory implementation date for this new complex set of codes. It presents the data the way healthcare professional are accustomed to seeing diagnostic codes.
The ICD-10-PCS: 2014 books are a perfect complement for professionals currently using ICD-9-CM Volume 3, as it contains the latest draft of the ICD-10-PCS code set. The user-friendly format enables users to become familiar with valid code construction through the use of tables rather than code lists.
Precyse University has revolutionized healthcare education through innovation, creativity and the use of advanced technology to help healthcare professionals to prepare for the challenges of today and tomorrow. To place an order for a new ICD-10 coding book or to explore other helpful education tools, visit the Precyse University store at http://precyseuniversity.com/books.
Contexo Media
Contexo Media, a part of the DecisionHealth information network, is an independent provider of revenue-enhancing solutions for medical practices and healthcare providers to maximize their coding, reimbursement and compliance efforts. Thousands of healthcare professionals rely on Contexo Media’s coding books, software, eLearning and educational workshops to stay on top of critical updates across the fast-changing medical landscape. In addition to publishing the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS Draft code sets, Contexo Media has developed a series of ICD-10-focused training tools to help prepare for the upcoming code change: advanced anatomy and physiology, documentation, a practical y-specific ICD-9 to ICD-10 code mapper quick reference guides. For more information go to www.contexomedia.com.
Sparta Systems Appoints Steven Ford as Chief Financial Officer
Veteran Financial Executive Has Extensive Experience with High Growth Technology Companies
Hamilton, NJ Sep 23, 2013 – Sparta Systems, Inc., an industry pioneer and global leader in enterprise quality management software (EQMS) solutions, announced today that it has appointed Steven Ford as Chief Financial Officer. He has more than 20 years of global financial management experience as CFO of both publicly listed and privately held software, technology, and professional service companies.
In addition to his Finance responsibilities, Mr. Ford will also manage Legal, Human Resources, Customer Support and Operations.
Prior to his role at Sparta Systems, Ford was CFO at TradeCard, a global cloud computing SAAS firm, with a presence in more than 90 countries. TradeCard enables complex, multi-enterprise sourcing transactions across multiple layers of the supply chain, and services two of Sparta Systems’ strategic verticals—Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Products. During his tenure there, Ford’s efforts led to significant growth in revenue, profitability and cash flow. In addition, Ford’s corporate development activity culminated in a successful merger.
Previous to TradeCard, Ford was the Executive Vice President and CFO for Innodata Isogen, a public company, where he helped to drive operational efficiencies leading to increased revenue and greater market capitalization. Throughout his career he has been instrumental in driving significant gains in company valuations by achieving revenue growth, productivity, efficiency, cash flow and strategic mergers and acquisitions. Ford also has held leadership positions at Kroll and Equifax.
“Steven’s customer focus and success with driving top and bottom line results, with a laser focus on growth and profit makes him a tremendous asset to the Sparta Systems’ team,” said Eileen Martinson, Chief Executive Officer at Sparta Systems. “His strong financial and operational capability with global companies coupled with his SAAS and cloud experience will be instrumental in launching our new cloud based supplier solutions in the coming months.”
A noted industry spokesperson and author, Steve received his BBA from Cleveland State University and his MBA from the University of Southern California. He is also a Certified Public Accountant. Recently, he served as the Chairman of the Financial Executives International (FEI) Technology Sub-Committee, which specializes in the use of software in business. FEI is the leading global organization for senior financial executives.
Sparta Systems’ CEO Eileen Martinson to Moderate “CEOs Unplugged” Panel Discussion at AdvaMed 2013
Hamilton, NJ Sep 23, 2013 – Sparta Systems, Inc., an industry pioneer and global leader in enterprise quality management software (EQMS) solutions, today announced that CEO Eileen Martinson will moderate a “CEOs Unplugged” panel discussion at AdvaMed 2013 in Washington, DC, on September 24.
AdvaMed 2013 is the leading MedTech Conference in North America, bringing more than 1,000 companies together in a uniquely multifaceted environment for business development, capital formation, innovative technology showcasing, world-class educational opportunities, and networking.For the discussion “Current Legislative and Policy Issues Facing the MedTech Industry,” Martinson, a recent recipient of the 2013 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the New Jersey region, will be joined by the following:
José (Joe) Almeida, Chairman, President & CEO, Covidien
David Dvorak, President & CEO, Zimmer
Stephen J. Ubl, President & Chief Executive Officer, AdvaMed
These executives will tackle a variety of topics during the panel discussion including, but not limited to: repeal of the medical device tax; Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions to improve quality and efficiency of health care delivery; ACA impact on how employers are doing business; effectiveness of the medical device user fee reauthorization agreement; and challenges associated with gaining access to new markets such as China, India and Brazil, as well as best practices for managing global resources.
Sparta Systems Announces Release of New Software Solution to Help Medical Device Companies Comply with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Ruling Regarding Unique Device Identification (UDI) System
Hamilton, NJ Sep 23, 2013 – Sparta Systems, Inc., an industry pioneer and global leader in enterprise quality management software (EQMS) solutions, announced today the release of TrackWise® UDI eSubmission Manager. TrackWise is the company’s award winning EQMS that is used by leading medical device companies for complaint handling, adverse event reporting, non-conformance investigation, Corrective Action/Preventive Action (CAPA), registration tracking, and other quality and regulatory processes. The release marks Sparta’s fifth supported electronic reporting standard which includes support for eMDR and eMDV electronic submission processes.
The new FDA ruling calls for labelers to submit product information concerning medical devices to FDA’s Global Unique Device Identification Database (GUDID), unless they are subject to an exception. Specifically, it requires that product registration data is packaged and submitted to GUDID using XML transport and delivery. The TrackWise UDI eSubmission Manager performs this packaging and transmission to the GUDID gateway. Once the GUDID gateway receives the information, it sends back an acknowledgement which is tracked as an integrated part of the workflow. This provides the traceability for the initial UDI registration. Any subsequent product change, initiated through TrackWise Change Control process is handled the same way, effectively maintaining the history of UDI updates as required by regulation.
In addition to handling UDI product information submission, Sparta Systems recognizes the wide range of impact the newly required standard will have, and is already working consultatively with medical device and combination products companies to understand and make the required changes to their quality processes and systems.
“Our close, strategic relationship with many of the leading medical device companies allowed us to proactively build this product in advance of the final ruling from the FDA,” said Mike Jovanis, Sparta Systems’ Vice President of Product Management and Strategy. “We are proud to deliver an immediate solution to our customers that will not only help them comply with the new ruling, but also allow them to quickly begin implementation given the narrow window mandated by the FDA.”
The full FDA ruling can be found at https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2013-23059.pdf.
Penlon Launches New Anaesthesia Systems: UK Design and Build for Hospitals and Surgery Centres Worldwide
Abingdon, UK Sep 23, 2013 — The Penlon Prima 450 and Penlon Prima 460 are both fully featured anaesthesia systems with clinician-focused choices and benefits to suit both large theatres and induction rooms.
The Prima 450 and Prima 460 are a unique fusion of customer feedback and Penlon´s experience, skills and renowned quality. The new generation of anaesthesia systems have been designed, engineered and manufactured in our own UK facility to the latest ISO standard for anaesthetic workstations (80601-2-13). Our research shows that set up time is an important factor when preparing for a clinical procedure so both systems are extremely intuitive, reducing training to a minimum.
In developing these systems Penlon have also addressed the issue of restricted floor space in small theatres and induction rooms. The Prima 450 packs maximum features into a compact footprint making it ideally suited to areas where space is at a premium.
The Prima 460 has all the features of the Prima 450 including a functional top shelf module and GCX-compatible monitor mount, plus generous work space and a Selectatec® compatible backbar with two or three stations providing maximum flexibility, ease of use and comfort.
Both systems feature:
• Electronic flow display and conventional flowmeter options
• Fully integrated ventilator and absorber
• Engineered and built in the UK
• HIS connectivity
• Low life costs
• ISO 80601-2-13 compliant
Prima 450 and Prima 460 mark the start of an exciting new era for Penlon and the development team are already completing new additions to the range for 2014. All Penlon products are covered by comprehensive warranties and fully supported with a worldwide training program. Penlon leads the field with bespoke training packages that truly empower and enable customers to maintain equipment to the maximum standard. Service options offer excellent value for money and can include parts and tools.
Penlon is a long established medical device company, with headquarters and manufacturing based in Abingdon, UK. The key areas of business are Anaesthesia, Intubation, Suction and Oxygen Therapy and these are supported by our experienced Technical Service team. Penlon has a presence in over 90 countries worldwide.
Oasis Outsourcing Creates White Paper on Healthcare Reform
West Palm Beach, FL Sep 19, 2013 – Oasis Outsourcing, one of the nation’s leading Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs), has prepared a comprehensive white paper on the intricacies of Healthcare Reform, covering key aspects of the provisions and what they mean to businesses across the country.
“The 3 “Rs” of Managing Healthcare Reform” details the Requirements, Responses and Resources that businesses need to consider. As an expert in this area, Oasis is at the forefront of Healthcare Reform. This white paper is intended to provide strategic direction to businesses navigating through the various pieces of legislation.
“Small- and medium-sized employers typically do not have the resources or infrastructure to remain current on the laws and regulations imposed by Healthcare Reform,” said Ruth Cyrus, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Oasis Outsourcing. “This easy-to-read white paper is intended to be a resource for businesses in determining how to respond to the new changes.”
To access the white paper, please visit www.oasisadvantage.com/aca .
Oasis Outsourcing Welcomes Robert Hsu as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer
West Palm Beach, FL Sep 17, 2013 – Oasis Outsourcing, one of the nation’s leading Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs), is pleased to announce that Robert Hsu has joined the company as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. He will work out of the firm’s West Palm Beach headquarters.
At Oasis, Hsu will lead all aspects of the company’s technology strategy and implementation, including sales and operating systems, document imaging, architecture, dashboards, utilization of cloud-based options, and client interfaces and functionality.
Prior to joining Oasis, Hsu served as Chief Technology Officer for Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (PAAMCO). Before joining PAAMCO, he served as Senior Vice President of Operations and Technology for the Annuities and Mutual Funds Division at Pacific Life Insurance Company.
“I am excited to welcome Robert to the Oasis team,” said Mark Perlberg, President and CEO of Oasis Outsourcing. “His strength in planning and implementing IT strategies and roadmaps will certainly be a benefit as we look to further enhance our infrastructure.”
Hsu earned his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and MBA in General Management and Finance from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Precyse Awarded HIM Strategic Sourcing Contract from Meritus Health
Specialized expertise will optimize HIM department operations, productivity and workflow
Wayne, PA and Alpharetta, GA Sep 11, 2013 — Precyse, a leader in Health Information Management (HIM) technology and services, has been awarded a five-year contract for its Health Information Management Strategic Sourcing Services by Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, Md.
As part of the agreement, Precyse will provide services in the areas of transcription, clinical documentation improvement (CDI) and coding, using both precyseCode™ and precyseCDI™, Precyse’s exclusive single, integrated platform enabling both inpatient and outpatient computer assisted coding and CDI. The Cloud-based platform incorporates state-of-the-art Natural Language Processing (NLP) for embedded intelligence and supports multiple HIM roles across an organization. The precyseCode platform also contains embedded encoder integration.
“I am confident that with Precyse’s specialized expertise, we will experience marked improvements in quality, workflow, efficiency and cash flow,” said Dale Bushey, Vice President, Finance, Meritus Health. “Their in-depth knowledge and experience in meeting healthcare regulatory and compliance requirements coupled with their background in health information systems are the reasons we selected Precyse as the ideal HIM partner.”
Precyse will also provide HIM administration, staffing support and education; processing of all patient records, reports and reconciliation; and regulatory and compliance review and adherence. Precyse strategic sourcing provides the best practices, processes and technology needed to facilitate the capture of data, the content and record management and finally, the information use, analysis and exchange required to produce consistent and quality outcomes.
“Providers are facing numerous challenges in meeting regulatory and compliance healthcare requirements, but Precyse has the people, processes and technology to support clients today while moving them step-by-step into the future,” said Chris Powell, President of Precyse. “Our HIM strategic sourcing solutions implement changes without compromise. We help strengthen health data integrity, drive EHR adoption, improve productivity and processes and prepare for a successful ICD-10 transition. We pride ourselves in taking care of the health information that is taking care of patient lives.”
Precyse currently provides HIM support to hundreds of hospitals and health systems nationwide and is the only company able to assume full responsibility for the entire HIM function for a hospital or health system on a short- or long-term basis.