A Medical Device Daily

Phase Forward (Boston), a provider of data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, reported it has formed an alliance with AG Mednet (also Boston), a clinical trials imaging network, to integrate Phase Forward's InForm integrated trial management (ITM) system and AG Mednet's imaging transport network.

The integrated offering will enable clinical trial patient images to be tracked and managed from within the InForm ITM system. The joint solution will help streamline the process of transporting images between clinical sites and central reviewers, and will enable trial sponsors to access the status of patient images in real-time.

Clinical trial images including radiographs, MRI, computed tomography scans and ultrasounds frequently are burned onto a compact disc after patient visits, and physically mailed to a central reviewer typically a core laboratory for analysis. This often-costly, time-consuming and inefficient process burdens clinical trial productivity.

The reported alliance is intended to provide an integrated offering for sponsors that will enable clinical trial investigators to send images electronically in a more expeditious and secure manner to core laboratories. The joint offering will also give core laboratories the ability to enter patient imaging data directly into the InForm system, eliminating a costly and time-consuming reconciliation step.

In addition to reducing the high costs associated with physically shipping CDs, with the joint Phase Forward-AG Mednet offering the imaging review process will benefit from more efficient, less manual image management workflows. The goal is to provide earlier insights into patient imaging data as well as enhanced tracking and audit capabilities. Furthermore, this integrated electronic image transport solution presents a comprehensive, detailed method for ensuring compliance with regulatory and security requirements, reducing the many iterative and manual steps required today.

AG Mednet is a diagnostic imaging network.

Phase Forward is a provider of integrated data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety.

In other agreements, Hill-Rom (Batesville, Indiana) reported two new agreements to enhance and add integrated functions and value for the company's NaviCare WatchChild solution.

The agreement with AirStrip Technologies (San Antonio) is for the AirStrip product. This software application allows obstetricians to use their own PDAs and Smartphones to remotely access virtual real-time waveform data for both the mother and fetus, increasing the physician's ability to closely monitor their patients. The interface between Hill-Rom's WatchChild solution and AirStrip OB will be configured to function with Hill-Rom's original WatchChild solution as well as the enhanced version introduced this past April.

In addition, Hill-Rom's relationship with ExitCare (Lake Elmo, Minnesota) will integrate an educational component, the ExitCare Labor & Delivery product, consisting of hundreds of Labor & Delivery patient education topics augmented with color illustrations. ExitCare Labor & Delivery provides an important tool to facilitate communication between clinicians with patients and family members.

The newly introduced, enhanced WatchChild solution evolved from a recognized need to provide an integrated and intuitive way to manage obstetrical operations, including reporting, communication, care plan development, skin and fall assessment screening and operating room record/pre-anesthesia checklists. The NaviCare WatchChild solution also offers state-of-the-art data archiving capability to help manage long-and-short-term liability risks for hospitals and caregivers. Both relationships announced will extend and expand ease of use for caregivers, in turn, enhancing outcomes for their patients.

The NaviCare WatchChild solution is part of the NaviCare Clinical Operations Platform. In February, Hill-Rom introduced an enhanced NaviCare Clinical Operations Platform designed to support hospital efforts to provide improved patient safety, quality of care and operational efficiency.

ExitCare is a privately held company formed in 1996 to create patient education content and software.

Hill-Rom is a manufacturer of medical technologies and related services for healthcare, including patient support systems, non-invasive therapeutic products for a variety of acute and chronic medical conditions, medical equipment rentals and information technology solutions.