A Medical Device Daily

Sparton's (Strongsville, Ohio) wholly-owned subsidiary, Sparton Medical Systems (SPM) and MPR Associates (Alexandria, Virginia) have combined their strengths for medical device customers to gain a competitive advantage.

The combination of MPR's team of 170 engineers and scientists, who have produced Class II and III devices in as few as six months using a fixed budget approach, and SPM's proven validation process for complex medical device build and test procedures, compresses the time required to transfer complex products into commercial manufacturing.

In addition, the combination of MPR and Sparton's knowledge assists in breaking through all the regulatory hurdles in order to distribute finished medical products quickly.

"Our strategic alliance with Sparton allows innovative medical device companies to outsource the complete development and manufacturing of new devices in a way that was never possible before. A lean virtual-company form of new product development is particularly appropriate for the current economic environment. Staffing up for new projects used to be a necessary evil. Now companies can hire project teams with over thirty years experience working together with absolute confidence," said Christian Haller, General Manager of MPR's Product Development Division, further adding that MPR's clients have received industry acclaim for the short development cycles and low costs.

In other agreements and contracts news, HMS (New York) reported that it had been awarded a contract for consulting and audit services for Medicaid overpayments from the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The contract is for one year, with two optional renewal years.

HMS will support the State Program Integrity unit in the expansion of South Carolina's Medicaid claims review and recovery audit process, performing post-payment review of Medicaid claims from hospitals and other medical providers in a range of areas, including DRG coding, duplication of services, medical necessity, and various other overpayment issues. HMS will identify the overpayments and provide information to the state to allow for the recovery of the overpayments.