A Medical Device Daily

Welch Allyn (Skaneateles Falls, New York), a manufacturer of a broad range of medical products and solutions, said it has entered into a software integration agreement with Greenway Medical Technologies (Carrollton, Georgia), a provider of integrated electronic health record (EHR) and practice management solutions for physicians' practices.

The agreement allows the Welch Allyn family of connected devices to integrate with Greenway's PrimeSuite solution, the company's ambulatory software suite that includes integrated EHR, Practice Management and Managed Care solutions.

“Providers are under constant pressure to save time; screen and diagnose accurately; and treat patients quickly without compromising care,“ said Steve Meyer, executive vice president, ambulatory care and the Americas at Welch Allyn. “Hand-written vitals, scanned ECG test reports with file association and transcription errors complicate matters further. By teaming with leading healthcare technology companies like Greenway, we are able to provide more EHR connectible devices than any other medical device manufacturer in the ambulatory care space. And by offering more connectivity options, we help reduce these pressures so practitioners can be more productive and focus on their most important task - enhancing patient care.“

The integration of Welch Allyn devices with Greenway's software will allow providers to transmit patient data directly into electronic files that can be transferred to an existing EHR. Data that can be collected and transmitted automatically includes multiple vitals parameters, as well as more complex cardiopulmonary diagnostic testing images, data measurements and clinician test interpretation.

In other grants/contracts news:

• Imaging Diagnostic Systems (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) reported a collaboration with Florida International University 's (FIU; Boca Raton, Florida) Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) to support portions of the company's Computed Tomography Laser Mammography (CTLM) advanced technology development.

“Our Optical Imaging Laboratory at FIU is excited to collaborate with IDSI, as our common goal is breast cancer diagnostic imaging using optical tools. Having an industry collaborator is vital toward the translation of the technology from academic research,“ said lead investigator Anuradha Godavarty, PhD, assistant professor at the BME and the director of the Optical Imaging Laboratory.

The company's CTLM system recently entered U.S. clinical trials to gather data for submission of a pre-market approval application. The company said the CTLM is the first patented breast imaging system that uses laser technology and algorithms to create 3-D images of the breast. It is a noninvasive, painless examination that does not expose the patient to radiation or require breast compression.

• Smiths Medical (Carlsbad, California), part of the global engineering business Smiths Group, reported that it has been awarded participation in a multimillion dollar contract with Premier Purchasing Partners (San Diego), a group purchasing organization (GPO).

The three-year contract represents Premier's renewed commitment to purchase devices from Smiths Medical's Temperature Management product portfolio. This award positions Smiths Medical as a full-line provider of patient warming products for the roughly 1,500 acute-care facilities that encompass this GPO's membership, the company said.

“Premier members will benefit from access to Smiths Medical's fluid and convective warming products. Smiths Medical's quality temperature management product portfolio is designed to enhance patient outcomes while advancing the quality of care provided,“ said Steve Glover, vice president of corporate accounts at Smiths.