Viz.ai, a leader in AI-powered disease detection and care coordination, announced a multi-year agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb, a global biopharmaceutical company, to deploy an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm and provider workflow software (Viz HCM) intended to identify and triage patients who may require further evaluation for the detection of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Viz.ai has submitted a de novo request to the U.S. FDA for the algorithm as a Software-as-a-Medical-Device (SaMD), and the filing has been accepted by the agency for review.

“HCM is the most common inherited heart disease with an estimated prevalence between 1 in 200 and 1 in 500, and one of the leading causes of sudden cardiac death in people under age 35,” said David Huneycutt, M.D., F.A.C.C., a cardiologist at HCA Healthcare’s TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. and an enterprise-wide cardiovascular physician director. “Since a high percentage of patients remain undiagnosed, it is critical that we find solutions to identify patients with suspected HCM sooner.”

HCM is defined by thickened heart muscle, which can make it harder for the heart to pump blood. It is associated with increased risks of atrial fibrillation, mitral valve disease, and heart failure. HCM is estimated to impact an estimated 750,000 people in the United States and 20 million worldwide.(1)

“At BMS, we believe that the use of AI to detect key, subtle characteristics in bio signals to aid physicians in the screening, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of diseases will have a critical and positive impact on patients’ lives,” said Suhas Krishna, Vice President, Head of Digital Health Product Management, Bristol Myers Squibb. “We are excited to continue building momentum in our support of Viz.ai’s research and development program. The speed and quality in which this novel AI algorithm & workflow sequencing product was designed, verified, validated, and submitted by Viz.ai for agency review is testament to the ability to drive rapid and meaningful innovation in healthcare.”

Viz HCM is intended to automatically review routine electrocardiograms (ECGs) from across a health system, identify suspected cases of HCM, and notify the appropriate cardiologist. The physician can then review the ECG in a timely manner and take the appropriate clinical action, including recommending follow-up diagnostic testing in parallel to the standard of care. Viz HCM will be integrated into the Viz.ai Cardio Suite for U.S. hospitals, which is expected to advance cardiac care coordination through a mobile-based electrocardiogram viewer, built with timely AI-powered alerts and communication tools. The Viz.ai Intelligent Care Coordination Platform, which includes Viz.ai Cardio Suite, is adopted by nearly 1,300 hospitals in the U.S. Viz.ai has placed Viz HCM at several hospitals, including select HCA Healthcare facilities, under research agreements to further evaluate the product in clinical practice. The company plans to launch Viz HCM broadly upon FDA clearance.

“Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be a devastating disease. The agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb gives us the opportunity to enable underdiagnosed and underserved HCM patients to get the care they need from appropriate providers at the right time,” said Dr. Chris Mansi, CEO at Viz.ai. “Incorporating the new HCM module into the Viz Cardio Suite is expected to enhance detection, expedite care, and empower clinicians and patients.”

Health Catalyst, Inc., a leading provider of data and analytics technology and services to health care organizations, announced   that INTEGRIS Health, Oklahoma’s largest not-for-profit health system, will use the Health Catalyst Data Operating System across its network to drive data-informed clinical, operational, and financial performance improvements.

The effort will centralize data from INTEGRIS’s Epic electronic health record (EHR) system, and from financial, operational and patient satisfaction systems to DOS, a health care-specific, cloud-based, open, flexible, and scalable platform, providing a single comprehensive environment to integrate and organize data from disparate software systems. DOS is deeply embedded with health care domain knowledge, enabling a broad range of analytics pinpointing opportunities for measurable improvements across the enterprise.

“A key strategy for INTEGRIS is to provide our caregivers with great clinical and business intelligence to help them continuously improve the care we provide,” said Timothy Pehrson, president and CEO of INTEGRIS. “Health care is so complex that physicians and business leaders need robust tools to turn data into information, and information into action. Health Catalyst provides the perfect blend of data science and tools that INTEGRIS caregivers need to improve care and value to the people we serve. We are excited about this partnership.”

INTEGRIS-affiliated hospitals contain more than 1,800 licensed beds and approximately 1,400 physicians and 10,500 employees. INTEGRIS has 11 Centers of Excellence, along with research, staff education, support groups for patients and their families and educational programs for the community. With more than 300 access points across the state, approximately 60 percent of Oklahomans live within 30 miles of a facility or physician included in the INTEGRIS organization.

Health Catalyst analytics applications built on the DOS platform address the most pressing concerns of health care organizations, including managing population health; gaining a comprehensive view of the true cost of care; empowering executive decision support with a dashboard view of enterprise-wide performance; benchmarking and prioritizing improvement opportunities; and monitoring, detecting, predicting and preventing threats to patient safety, before harm can occur.

“Equipping our talented providers with robust and accurate analytics will fuel exponential improvement in clinical outcomes that drive value for our patients and communities,” said Tommy Ibrahim, M.D., executive vice president and chief physician executive of INTEGRIS. “After an extensive review of multiple vendors, we are pleased to partner with Health Catalyst to execute on this important strategy to deliver clinical, operational and financial excellence at INTEGRIS.”

In combination with Health Catalyst’s world-class outcome-improvement services, DOS fuels improvements across enterprises by integrating and analyzing critical data from over 200 of the most widely-used data sources, and delivering real-time decision support for clinicians, administrators and other healthcare professionals.

“We believe that Health Catalyst offers the most mature analytics toolset in the health care market today,” said Benjamin Mansalis, M.D., vice president of clinical and business intelligence at INTEGRIS. “Our partnership with Health Catalyst will empower caregivers with key insights to deliver the highest quality and value of care to the patients of INTEGRIS.”

INTEGRIS will have access to Health Catalyst’s full library of technology solutions and content culled from the company’s outcomes-improvement work with health systems across the country.

“INTEGRIS is an innovative, forward-thinking, care-quality leader whom we are proud to support in continued excellence across all areas of healthcare delivery,” said Dan Burton, CEO of Health Catalyst. “It is no surprise INTEGRIS recognized that a holistic perspective combined with granular insight is necessary to drive significant and sustainable improvements as more value-based care arrangements take hold. We are committed to driving value-based, enterprise-wide data-informed decisions which result in measurable outcomes that ensure INTEGRIS maintains its upward trajectory and fulfills its patient-centric mission across the region.”

Ukraine continues to need humanitarian aid as a result of the ongoing war. As a manufacturer of laboratory and medical products, Greiner Bio-One is following a request for assistance from the European Commission and is again making product donations worth a total of €26,000.

Kremsmünster, March 2023 – The ongoing war in Ukraine continues to require humanitarian aid. The Ukrainian civil protection authorities contacted the European Commission for the first time at the beginning of 2022 and asked for urgently needed aid supplies. This need has since been continually updated and transmitted to the participating countries of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. In response, the international manufacturer of laboratory and medical products is donating Greiner Bio-One products worth a total of €26,000 to Ukraine.

Donations for medical care

The donation includes products for laboratory and analytical needs and comes from two plants in Kremsmünster (Upper Austria) and Frickenhausen (Germany). Greiner Bio-One is thus contributing to medical care in Ukraine.

“Together with the people affected, we hope that the war will end soon. For the sake of our social responsibility, supporting the people of Ukraine and their health is important to us”.

Rainer Perneker, CEO of Greiner Bio-One International GmbH

Joint resolution with the Republic of Austria

The organisational handling of the donation of goods takes place together with the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. It is responsible for international disaster-related aid and state crisis management and coordinates the overall request for assistance from the European Commission for Austria. In permanent coordination with the federal states, other authorities as well as aid and rescue organisations, various aid supplies are continually being made available to Ukraine. The Federal Ministry organises the transport of goods. This is co-financed by the civil protection mechanism of the European Commission. The goods are handed over to the Ukrainian civil protection authority. From there, they are distributed to the areas as required.

First product donation made in the previous year

As early as 2022, Greiner Bio-One donated blood collection products worth €30,000 via a local dealer in Ukraine, Simesta Vaal LLC. The goods benefited several hospitals.