Medtronic plc, the global leader in medical technology, announced the first procedures in the investigational device exemption (IDE) pivotal trial to evaluate the PulseSelect™ Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) System, a novel, breakthrough technology that uses pulsed electric fields to treat atrial fibrillation (AF). The first procedure in the PULSED AF pivotal trial was performed this week at Southcoast Health by Nitesh Sood, M.D., Fall River, Massachusetts; the second procedure was performed by Arnoldas Giedrimas, M.D., also at Southcoast Health. The PULSED AF Trial is the first global, pre-market, multi-center clinical study with IDE approval aimed to establish the safety and efficacy of the PulseSelect System.

Developed exclusively at Medtronic, the PulseSelect System delivers pulsed electric fields through an ablation catheter designed specifically to interrupt irregular electrical pathways in the heart that trigger atrial fibrillation. However, unlike traditional methods of ablation that heat (radio frequency ablation) or cool (cryoablation) the atrial tissue, the PulseSelect System uses a non-thermal approach and preferentially targets heart tissue with the goal of avoiding unwanted injury to surrounding structures, a risk of current ablation technologies.

“Based on the results we’ve experienced with the pilot trial, we are entering a new era for AF ablation techniques with this novel energy source,” said Atul Verma, M.D., electrophysiologist and head of arrhythmia services at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Canada and the principal investigator (PI) for the PULSED AF study. “We are excited to begin the pivotal stage of the PULSED AF study and generate a larger body of clinical evidence to support the safety and benefits of pulsed field ablation.”

Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common and undertreated heart rhythm disorders, affecting more than 37 million people worldwide.1 The disease involves an irregular quivering or rapid heart rhythm in the upper chambers of the heart. A heart in AF beats significantly faster than one in normal rhythm. AF is a progressive disease that gets worse over time and can increase the risk for stroke and related heart problems.2

The PULSED AF trial is a prospective, non-randomized, multi-center clinical trial that will enroll up to 500 patients who will be treated with the PulseSelect System across as many as 50 sites in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia. PULSED AF is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the PulseSelect System for the treatment of AF in adult patients with a history of drug refractory, recurrent and symptomatic paroxysmal or persistent AF. Patients will be assessed at six and 12 months.

“For years, Medtronic has been an active leader in the investigation of the safety and efficacy of pulsed field ablation,” said Rob Kowal, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of Cardiac Ablation Solutions, which is reported as part of the Cardiac and Vascular Group at Medtronic. “Developed internally at Medtronic, the PulseSelect System has the potential to create a paradigm shift in how cardiac ablations are performed for patients suffering from atrial fibrillation.”

Pre-clinical research on the PulseSelect technology has included extensive work to understand the physiology and mechanism of action for this novel energy source, resulting in its designation in 2018 as a Breakthrough Device from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of drug refractory recurrent symptomatic atrial fibrillation. PulseSelect was designated with Innovative Device Status, also known as Green Channel, in November 2020 by the Center for Medical Device Evaluation (CMDE), the arm of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) that sets medical device regulations for China.

Results of the PULSED AF pilot study were presented in a late-breaking session at Heart Rhythm Society 2020 Science and additional evidence was shared at the AF Symposium in January 2021, demonstrating 100 percent acute efficacy and no device or procedural-related events in the pilot cohort of patients. Worldwide, the PulseSelect system is investigational and not approved for sale or distribution.

In collaboration with leading clinicians, researchers and scientists worldwide, Medtronic offers the broadest range of innovative medical technology for the interventional and surgical treatment of cardiovascular disease and cardiac arrhythmias. The company strives to offer products and services of the highest quality that deliver clinical and economic value to healthcare consumers and providers around the world.

About Medtronic
Medtronic plc, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world’s largest medical technology, services and solutions companies – alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 90,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in more than 150 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together.

Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic’s periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

SSM Health, a nonprofit with $8 billion in revenue, provides its communities with high-quality care for vulnerable populations. One of the most vulnerable populations is made up of patients with kidney disease.

Kidney disease is complex because 90% of people with the disease do not know they have it until they need dialysis or a transplant. There is little disease education or preventive efforts in the initial stages, making chronic kidney disease expensive to treat. Patients typically wind up receiving lower outcomes and lower quality of life than physicians would like to see.

CKD and end-stage renal disease patients manage 15-20 medications daily and have multiple comorbid conditions, complicating treatment.

“Patients with kidney disease make up under 5% of our patient population, but account for more than 20% of our total costs,” said Carter Dredge, chief transformation officer at SSM Health. “We needed the focus and expertise that our partner Strive Health delivers through predictive analytics and the care team to better support our most at-risk population.

“Across the broad primary care base, providers are seeing patients with a range of health concerns, and CKD often involves just five to 10 patients in their panel,” he continued. “During each visit, PCPs have limited time to meet these complex needs, and CKD symptoms are subtle. Often, patients were under-diagnosed for advanced CKD.”

SSM Health needed a focused solution that helped predict the best time to engage patients to optimize the patient experience, improve outcomes and lower costs.

“At SSM Health, as our core clinical teams build the main programs that encompass all our patients and interventions across multiple populations, partnering with Strive Health has delivered focused care for a particularly complex condition that connects to the larger innovation pipeline, aiding the move to more risk-based contracts by helping build the required care coordination and analytics programs for more specific patient cohorts,” Dredge said.

Analytics can offer diagnostic assistance and guide treatment decisions. Combining data from several sources, including claims, clinical data, live feeds from health exchanges, dialysis machines and demographic information for social determinants of health, algorithms can predict adverse events, including kidney failure during a given time frame or a cardiology event.

“The program we developed with Strive Health delivers comprehensive clinical services for CKD and ESRD patients that significantly improve quality of care and outcomes while lowering the total cost of care for patients,” Dredge said. “Thirty-three algorithms assist with treating CKD, including one that can predict CKD progression to ESRD with 95% accuracy.”

Strive Health’s technology and full clinical model bring a focused approach to care, he added.

“We are intervening with the right patients at the right time,” he explained. “Our care team can see when a patient is progressing more rapidly toward kidney failure and can take the time to fully educate and coach the patient through making the best renal replacement therapy option for them, whether this is home dialysis, in-center dialysis, preemptive transplant or conservative care.”

There are various vendors of predictive analytics technology on the market today. Some of these vendors include Alteryx, Anodot, Domo, Gainsight, IBM, Infer, Microsoft, Qrvey, RapidMiner, SAP, SAS Institute, Sisense and Strive Health.

“Strive Health’s CareMultiplier platform, powered by proprietary machine learning algorithms, makes sense of massive amounts of data, cuts through the noise and allows our clinicians to focus on doing what only they can do, deliver high-touch patient care,” Dredge explained.

“Our clinical teams use predictive analytics in their day-to-day care,” he continued. “Each patient receives an overall risk score that serves as a starting point for treatment and flows through our clinical care systems. As we engage our members, our team then uses focused initiatives developed through the analytics to be more proactive in their care.”

As an example, SSM Health has a patient cohort called Planned Starts. Strive’s technology has identified them as progressing toward dialysis in the next six to 12 months. These analytics allow clinicians to deploy focused interventions and care plans to help prevent these patients from “crashing” into dialysis.

“Strive Health brings economies of scale, regionalization and nationalization to a fragmented kidney care process,” Dredge reported. “The program was launched in June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic impacted most in the country, the first four months of data are promising, showing a more than 20% reduction in acute utilization for both CKD and ESRD populations and a more than 25% reduction in emergency department utilization for both CKD and ESRD populations.”

Several patients have benefited from this approach, including one female patient who was predicted to have a 57% chance of kidney failure within two years. After more than a year of “watch and wait,” the patient avoided a crash into dialysis through a high-touch care team coordinating between her nephrologist and primary care physician. They addressed her concerns and engaged her in appropriate treatment.

“Separately, a 36-year-old patient had acquired 16 hospital stays in two years with frequent readmissions and declining health,” Dredge recalled. “This patient has since had only one emergency department visit and zero readmissions, reducing inpatient days by about 14 times her previous usage.”

“As health systems move into population health and value-based contracts, analytics are needed to identify patient populations and follow them through their care journey,” Dredge advised. “When selecting a partner, ensure there is alignment on goals and metrics.

“Understand what the healthcare organization should own versus accomplish with a partner,” he continued. “Controlling all aspects of care through internal resources can stifle innovation. SSM Health’s transformation team recognizes that a partner delivering an external, dedicated focus with tight integration and collaboration can speed innovation and raise all involved together for a better experience.”

This leads to a virtuous cycle of innovation where the more successful one is at making progress, the faster they can go, he added.

“SSM Health turned to a partner so it could dedicate its efforts to what the health system does well, which is providing quality care to its communities,” he concluded. “The partnership applied a dedicated focus to informing care that is innovating kidney care.”

Germany is the first country in the world to prescribe digital apps – DiGAs, as the Germans call them, and reimburse them through the statutory health system. To drive innovation and speed up the regulatory process around those digital health applications, Germany has introduced a ‘Fast Track’ for approval, testing, piloting and evaluation of these apps – which is open to all companies in the European Union.

As of today, 11 out of 56 applications have been successfully approved, with another 21 undergoing the approval process.

The DiGA directory includes digital health applications that can currently be prescribed and reimbursed. It not only provides information on the approval, but also on the proof of benefit and the diagnoses for which the corresponding DiGA can be prescribed – all essential information for DiGA users, doctors and psychotherapists.

The 11 approved digital health applications are:

• deprexis from GAIA AG treats depression.
• Selfapy targets depression.
• elevida is aimed at multiple sclerosis patients who suffer from chronic fatigue.
• Invirto and velibra are two DiGAs designed for patients with panic disorders, social phobias and anxiety disorders.
• Kalmeda from mynoise GmbH is the first approved app for behavioural tinnitus therapy.
• With M-Sense is an established headache and migraine app, which provides patients with a chronic pain diary with analysis tools and preventive recommendations.
• Rehappy is a tool developed for the aftercare of stroke patients.
• somnio is the DiGA which can be used for non-organically triggered sleep disorders and helps to optimise sleep rhythms and obstacles.
• The movement therapy app Vivira from Vivira Health Lab treats back, knee and hip pain caused, for example, by arthrosis, but also non-specific pain around the spine, hips, knees and back.
• The application zanado from aidhere GmbH is used for problems associated with being overweight.

Observing these first approvals, MobiHealthNews asked Julia Hagen, Director Regulatory & Politics at the Health Innovation Hub (hih), the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG)’s in-house think-tank on digitalisation – which specialises in the DiGA directory – about her thoughts on the promising progress in digitsation in Germany.

Hagen commented: “We currently see a focus on applications in the field of mental illness. This is because the mental health area is already very well developed with numerous applications, companies, studies and scientific findings.”

Furthermore she stressed that the entire DiGA spectrum would be relatively broad: “There are also applications from completely different areas. Looking at the ongoing discussion and applications that are in the pipeline, we will soon see many other DiGA for various indications.”

In order to speed up the approval process for digital health applications, the so-called ‘Fast Track’ process has been set up in Germany. “The core idea of the Fast Track is that there is a structured, rapid path to reimbursement”, Hagen said.

At this point, there have been various ways for digital products to enter the care system in Germany. However, many of these pathways were not well suited to them, as they were designed, among other things, for classic medical aids.

“The Fast Track is thus the record of a specific pathway for digital health applications into standard care. It allows manufacturers more clarity about the requirements and the process,” remarked Hagen.

“We (Health Innovation Hub) supported our colleagues from the BMG and BfArM in the conception and development of the procedure and the DiGA directory.

“We also help various stakeholders to educate their members, e.g. the medical societies. They now increasingly want to know which digital health applications exist in their field, which studies already exist and how the prescription works,” Hagen continued.

The regulatory work around the DiGA approval will most likely benefit further digitalisation in the care sector. Digital care applications, known as DiPA are already in discussion in Germany.

Those “siblings for the DiGA” are “still at the stage of a draft law”, states the hih and await a legal basis to become part of standard care as the Digital Care and Nursing Modernisation Act (DVPMG) is still on its way to the parliamentary procedure.

“The DiGAs will serve as orientation while the BfArM will also be responsible”, explained Hagen in more detail. Looking ahead she concluded: “Equally intensively discussed at present is the consideration from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to integrate DiGAs more strongly in rehabilitation.”

Navia Life Care recently launched Navia Smart EMR 2.0 with an aim to advance and digitise doctors’ practice with digital prescriptions. The product is an advanced version of Navia Smart EMR – an integrated platform that allows doctors to create digital prescriptions and provides real-time conversation with patients.

As per a press note, Navia Smart EMR 2.0 has advanced features that offer single-click access to a patient’s medical and family history to doctors. This results in providing up-to-date and complete health information about the patients for more coordinated and efficient care. Integrated with Artificial Intelligence, the product provides effective clinical decision support. Further, it provides faster Rx and also saves commonly used Rx as templates and repeat with a click.

The newly launched version of the product has Whatsapp integration reportedly also enables doctors to share educational videos and prescriptions with patients for effective care. Additionally, the product leverages new-age technologies and analytics to track the practice with readymade reports at fingertips like OPD Highlights, VC Highlights, Prescription insights, etc. With Smart EMR 2.0, doctors also get free 500 SMS for enhanced patient engagement.

Navia Smart EMR 2.0 is based on licensing models with an annual subscription fee chargeable from doctors, hospitals, institutions, and enterprises such as pharma and insurance. Moreover, it is available in 10 regional languages to acquire an expansive base of doctors across the country. With superior and rich features, Navia Life Care plans to onboard 25000+ new doctors and 3 million patients in the next 12 months, according to a press handout.

Simbo.ai recently launched SimboAlpha, its flagship cloud-based API (Application Programming Interface) technology platform. It allows Electronic Medical Record providers, health app providers and hospital chains to bring smart voice-based EMR to their doctors.

As per a company release, SimboAlpha is a voice-based doctor assistant that creates Electronic Medical Record (EMR) documentation using advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is a state-of-the-art solution based on proprietary Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) and medical Natural Language Understanding (NLU) using vast medical knowledge-base to understand doctor and/or patient conversation.

Simbo uses in-house Speech-to-Text engine and advanced clinical NLU trained from 10 million+ audio recordings. It is available as a cloud-based API so that it can plug-in into any existing Healthcare Information System (HIS) or Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software system.

Adoption of SimboAlpha’s API reportedly improves the usability of Electronic Health Records (EHR). It enables the doctors to pay undivided attention to their patients and their care, while SimboAlpha takes care of the documentation.

Talking about the launch, Baljit singh, CEO and co-founder, Simbo.ai said, “SimboAlpha is based on Artificial Neural Networks trained on 10 million+ recordings. It supports native and all Indian English accents and it is trained on International and Indian clinical terms”. He further added, “SimboAlpha is highly accurate even in noisy environments, with 2.58 per cent Word Error Rate (WER) and 3.16 per cent Sentence Error Rate, this makes SimboAlpha technology as one among the best in the world.”

Baljit further added, “SimboAlpha is the most transformative technology to be launched till date for Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and healthcare providers in India. This will enable the healthcare stakeholders to disrupt the way clinicians approach documentation.”

SimboAlpha operates in hands-free mode. It allows the doctors to create EMRs without touching keyboard and mouse. Doctors do not need to follow any sequence of items to be spoken. If required, doctors can dictate free notes.

Praveen Prakash, CTO and co-founder, Simbo.ai said, “Our proprietary Streaming NLU goes several steps ahead of mere NER (Named Entity Recognition) to provide a useful tool that is much more than a dictation tool. The result is the freedom in expression. Doctors can speak naturally, without following any particular format”.

He further added, “Using SimboAlpha API, the EMR and health-app providers can develop their own applications on mobile and desktop. They can also upgrade any existing software solution to add the voice-based capability.”
Over the coming months, Simbo.ai will continue to announce new technology based on its patent-pending Brain Inspired Spoken Language Understanding (BISLU) to its API platform. It will support various stakeholders in the consultation room using multi-modal explainable AI. BISLU’s human-like intelligence and NeuroSymbolic AI technology will also enable pre-screening and will function like a real-doctor in the room.

The largest healthcare network in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has partnered with the world’s first graduate-level and research-based artificial intelligence (AI) university, to integrate the use of AI in healthcare.

Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) with the aim of exploring and introducing “AI-driven solutions that solve prominent healthcare challenges and uplift the provision of patient-led services.”

Gareth Goodier, Group CEO of SEHA explained: “The integration of technology in the administrative and medical elements of healthcare is paving the way for a stronger healthcare ecosystem, introducing opportunities for streamlined processes, transformative research, elevated patient experience, and ultimately, a more cost-effective industry.”

He continued: “The potential for AI in healthcare is vast, and by partnering with MBZUAI, we are committed to exploring its limitless possibilities in medical research, early detection and diagnosis, decision making, and treatment, as we strive towards fostering the foundations of a robust healthcare sector that meets the UAE’s community’s every need with world class, unparalleled expertise.”

SEHA confirmed that the partnership is part of Abu Dhabi’s “rapid transformation of the healthcare and technology sectors, exploring the infinite opportunities the synergy of both elements can bring to patient care and the patient journey.”

It continued in its statement: “As the champion of the UAE’s healthcare agenda and with its rich legacy of delivering world-class care rooted in deep understanding of the local culture, SEHA is committed to harnessing the power of technology and innovation to deliver a truly robust, integrated healthcare system with patients at its core.”

Both parties have also agreed to work on additional research agreements and projects, including “exploring the development of AI-driven solutions to rapidly quantify COVID-19 infection by measuring an infection score on different lung lobes.”

It is hoped that this research would identify an accurate method of measuring the severity of infection, allowing physicians access to the correct tools that can quickly identify patients who are at increased risk of developing complications.

The institutes will also study the long-term impact of COVID-19 on UAE residents, focusing on patients with pre-existing health conditions, such as heart, liver, or kidney diseases. Here, results would be used to “facilitate the development of federated learning AI solutions” that can ensure data privacy when accessing anonymised patient records.

Further collaborations will examine diagnosis and treatment methods for acute kidney injury, coronary artery disease, fetal health, as well as AI-driven ultrasounds for breast cancer, lung infections and kidney cysts.

“AI is one of the most transformative tools available to us today. It has already driven innovation and breakthroughs within the medical field and has recently played a significant role in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, as well as in the development of vaccines,” said MBZUAI President, Eric Xing. “By working alongside SEHA’s clinicians and leveraging their world class expertise, MBZUAI intends to use its technology and talent resources to explore the full potential of AI’s role in the evolution of healthcare throughout the UAE, contributing towards a healthier, more sustainable future for the country and its people.”

Royal Philips a global leader in health technology, and The Walt Disney Company EMEA today announced they are teaming up to test the effects of custom-made animation , including specially-made Disney stories, within Philips Ambient Experience, a solution that integrates architecture, design and enabling technologies, such as dynamic lighting, video projections and sound, to allow patients and staff to personalize their environment to create a relaxing atmosphere. Philips’ clinical research project will commence this summer in six hospitals across Europe and the results of the pilot project will be completed later this year. It is the first time Disney has collaborated as part of a clinical research project of this kind.

Philips will investigate how Philips Ambient Experience – using a series of animated stories, including some of Disney’s most beloved characters, – can improve the patient and clinician experience during pediatric MRI procedures. Philips Ambient Experience will render six pieces of original, stylised Disney animation – created specially by Disney animators for use in hospitals with clinical guidance from Philips – intended to reduce fear and anxiety often felt by a child in the MRI process. The Disney animation features characters like Mickey Mouse, Ariel, Marvel’s Avengers, Star Wars’ Yoda and others, coming together in a diagnostic setting for the first time. The goal of the research pilot is to help alleviate children’s anxiety, create bonds and improve the staff’s ability to carry out their tasks in MRI scanning rooms across six leading European hospitals.

Philips clinical expertise meets Disney story-telling
Medical exams like MRI scans can be challenging for many patients, especially children, who are anxious or claustrophobic. Philips Ambient Experience – with 2,000 installations worldwide – helps manage these challenges by creating an engaging, multi-sensorial imaging environment that is welcoming and relaxing. Patients can personalize the room’s lighting, video, and sound by selecting a theme of their choice. This gives them a feeling of empowerment and control over the procedure and provides a positive focus on the ambient theme. Ambient Experience Patient In-bore Connect helps them relax, follow directions, and minimize motion once they are in the scanner using video content aligned with the MRI procedure to provide information and guidance to the patient during scanning as well as information about scan duration. This becomes increasingly important for younger pediatric patients undergoing MR scans who need to remain still to help reduce the need for repeat scans. Philips Ambient Experience is proven to help improve efficiency with higher patient throughput and predictability, significantly reducing the need for retakes and rescans.

The collaboration brings together Philips’ vast clinical knowledge and expertise combined with a deep understanding of patient needs with Disney’s masterful storytelling. It will allow children to select Disney content featuring their favourite character to help provide them with a sense of familiarity, control and comfort. From joining Aladdin and Jasmine on a magical carpet ride to gently swinging through city skyscrapers with Spiderman, each story is specially designed to calm and support the child through their experience.

“A visit to the hospital can be quite intimidating for people, and especially children, where a more patient-friendly, patient-centric environment could help improve the patient experience and help drive first-time-right imaging for improved outcomes,” said Kees Wesdorp, Chief Business Leader of Precision Diagnosis at Philips. “With this pilot study, we will investigate the impact of Philips Ambient Experience including Disney’s specially developed themes to empower children with a positive experience to help them throughout the medical procedure. Philips has always taken a human-centric approach to healthcare. Together, we can make a real difference for thousands of young patients going through medical procedures each day.”

“I have seen first-hand that MRI scans can be intimidating for children, and I like how focused Philips is on the patient experience,” said Jan Koeppen, President, the Walt Disney Company, EMEA. “At Disney, we look forward to complementing Philips’ MRI experience with our stories and characters. We are excited to see the results of the clinical research and to quantify the impact our characters can have in this environment.”

In a recent study carried out by the New Economics Foundation, it was identified that in addition to creating a positive experience, the well-known Disney characters help build trust for children in anxious circumstances. The research, also identifies that, through the power of Disney’s storytelling and characters, it can inspire and create positive feelings, experiences and memories helping children and young people to cope where and when they need it most.

Disney has a long history of bringing magic and storytelling to children’s hospitals and places of care across the world. In 2018, Disney announced a further commitment of $100 million to help reimagine the patient journey for children in hospitals around the world as part of their global Social Purpose program.

Philips Ambient Experience solution at ECR 2021
Philips will be showcasing its Ambient Experience solution at the European Congress of Radiology virtual event, March 3-7. For more information on Philips’ new portfolio of diagnostic and interventional solutions and AI-enabled applications to enhance radiology workflows at ECR 2021.

Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, announced the launch of its AI-enabled Precise Suite solution for the company’s Incisive CT platform. Precise Suite delivers smart workflows from image acquisition through reporting with AI-enabled image reconstruction, automated patient positioning, motion-free cardiac image capture, and real-time interventional guidance to drive precision in dose, speed, and image quality.

Despite rapid advances in Computed Tomography (CT) speed and performance, radiology departments continue to face challenges in terms of increasing patient volumes and ensuring consistency in image quality, while at the same time improving operational efficiency and lowering the cost-per-scan. Precise Suite aims to address these challenges through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) [2] to streamline and automate workflows and maximize image quality, thereby reducing the number of re-scans required and improving diagnostic confidence. For departments that use CT for interventional procedures, it also includes enhanced needle tracking capabilities.

“With CT representing one of the most ubiquitous imaging modalities in modern medicine, AI-enabled enhancements such as Precise Suite that focus on diagnostic confidence and workflow improvement have huge potential to make a positive impact on the delivery of value-based healthcare,” said Karim Boussebaa, General Manager of Computed Tomography at Philips. “Precise Suite drives end-to-end smart workflows from image acquisition through to reporting, as well as boosting speed, consistency, and diagnostic confidence.”

Precise Suite adds to Philips’ growing suite of AI-enabled ‘smart workflow’ solutions designed to support system operators at the point of image acquisition for greater efficiency. Precise Suite accelerates CT workflows, improves diagnostic confidence, and enhances the staff and patient experience through the following:

Precise Image: Designed to improve diagnostic confidence and reduce radiologist fatigue by simultaneously reducing dose and improving image quality.

Precise Position: Automated patient positioning through an AI-enabled camera designed to increase positioning accuracy and user-to-user consistency in a fraction of the time.

Precise Cardiac: Zero-click technique designed to improve high heart rate cardiac imaging by compensating for cardiac motion.

Precise Intervention: Provides automatic needle tracking and guidance designed to improve efficiency and confidence in CT-guided interventional procedures.

Precise Suite is the latest in a continuous program of performance enhancements for Philips’ market-leading Incisive CT platform, which already includes a newly designed patient table that accommodates bariatric patients, the ‘Tube for Life’ guarantee, Philips’ PerformanceBridge process improvement services, and its DoseWise Portal patient/staff radiation exposure tracking solution. The inclusion of the AI-enabled Precise Suite combined with OnPlan patient-side controls and the ‘Tube-for-Life’ guarantee in a single CT scanner platform make Incisive CT unique in the industry.

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips is a leading health technology company focused on improving people’s health and well-being, and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum – from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips generated 2020 sales of EUR 19.5 billion and employs approximately 82,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries.

eHealth Exchange customers said the health information exchange (HIE) enables patient data exchange across state and regional HIEs and public health agencies, according to a recent KLAS First Look report.

Although a few respondents reported a lack of consistent support and platform navigation, all respondents said they would purchase the product again in the future.

eHealth Exchange, the nation’s largest HIE, connects to 75 percent of all US hospitals, over 60 regional or state HIEs, and four government agencies, including Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD). KLAS interviewed 19 individuals from 19 unique organizations, made up of HIEs, clinics, hospitals, and various health systems to assess client satisfaction and use.

Nearly every respondent said the HIE supported integration goals, promoted needed functionality, and would recommend the service to a friend.

Sixty-seven percent of respondents said they were highly satisfied with the HIE overall, and 28 percent said they were satisfied. Meanwhile, only 5 percent of eHealth Exchange customers reported dissatisfaction with the HIE.

Following integration, 46 percent of respondents said they saw immediate results and an equal percentage saw results within six months. Less than 10 percent said they saw results between six and 12 months.

Over 60 percent of respondents said eHealth Exchange is easy to scale, while only 7 percent said it was not scalable. A little over 30 percent of customers reported it was scalable with effort.

When it comes to connectivity, 92 percent of respondents said they could connect with VA and DoD, 69 percent said they could connect with the Social Security Administration (SSA), 69 percent reported connectivity with 60 state and regional HIEs. In comparison, only 38 percent of respondents reported connectivity with public health agencies, and 23 percent said they could connect with the Indian Health Service (IHS).

The respondents reported several strengths, but most agreed that interoperability, especially with SSA and VA connections, was most beneficial. Customers also reported seeing value with the organization and most said the HIE works as well as expected and promoted.

“We wanted to be able to exchange the information and utilize the system to exchange with our state reporting agency,” an anonymous manager told KLAS. “The system allows us to do that work easily and successfully. With the SSA, we have been hugely successful with our information exchange. There is a fast turnaround on the disability claims because the SSA can electronically obtain the information from us quickly.”

However, some respondents said the HIE sometimes lacks health IT support and the platform can be difficult to navigate.

“eHealth Exchange’s support is confusing. Sometimes when I try to seek out information, I feel like there are a couple of different steps to take before I can find out whether I have all of the information that I need,” described an anonymous application manager.

Mike Davis of the KLAS Research Arch Collaborative said eHealth Exchange could address a few key interoperability areas.

“Land mines for interoperability include the ability to provide positive patient identification when exchanging patient information,” Davis said. “How many Tom Smiths are there? The other challenge is creating an effective minimum discrete data set that can be used to improve care management and analytics. CDA information helps, but discrete patient data would be more useful.”

Overall, Davis said eHealth Exchange has long-term viability across the healthcare sector.

“Promoting interoperability is a key focus of CMS to drive higher levels of patient care quality and safety,” Davis explained. “The pandemic exposed the need for better information sharing between care providers. eHealth Exchange’s ability to provide an interoperability solution that can be quickly implemented with standard exchange protocols and partners sets them up for long-term success.”

Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) announced it has successfully launched its new EHR system, MHS GENESIS, as a part of the Pacific Wave group deployment.

NMCSD is now one of over 200 military locations to deploy the EHR platform. “The progress to date demonstrates our team’s focus and commitment to ensuring we have the right people in the right places to get this done,” said Holly Joers, acting program executive officer for the Defense Healthcare Management Systems (DHMS).

The EHR implementation intends to increase interoperability and allow for patient data exchange between all military branches and connected commercial care providers.

The new system aims to increase efficiencies, improve patient experience and safety, enable the application of standardized workflows, and integrate healthcare delivery.

It will also provide a single patient health record for service members, veterans, and their families.

“Now more than ever our military needs the most advanced healthcare delivery system,” said Liz Porter, president of Leidos Health Group. “We remain diligently focused on meeting the implementation schedule for this vital program and are proud of the team’s ability to continue delivering during these challenging times.”

Leidos said the EHR platform is now live with roughly 20,000 active users on the Pacific Wave.

“You’ve all done an amazing job and I thank you,” Brad Smith, commanding officer at NMCSD, said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “I appreciate all of your hard work and look forward to what’s to come.”

Staff training, internal infrastructure changes, and health IT upgrades have occurred over the past few months before launch, Smith noted.

The new system also includes a patient portal to allow patients to view their health information online, securely message providers, access test results, and request prescription refills online.

However, during the next few weeks, leaders at NMCSD said its patients should expect reduced appointment availability.

“This is necessary to ensure that the provider teams have sufficient time during and between appointments to deliver safe care while navigating the new system,” said Matthew Wauson, NMCSD MHS GENESIS lead.

MHS GENESIS will deploy across the country and overseas throughout 23 total waves. Each deployment wave aims to target a specific region of the country per year, with roughly three hospitals and several military treatment facilities for each wave.

Following the Pacific Wave, the Atlantic Wave will begin in early 2021 at Coast Guard Atlantic Area shore health facilities. According to the Coast Guard, both the Pacific and Atlantic waves and the subsequent deployment activities are recognized as Segment A of the Coast Guard EHR acquisition program.

Once the Coast Guard completes the first two waves, estimated by 2022, the military branch plans to implement MHS GENESIS into 43 ashore medical clinics and 67 ashore sick bays.

The next segment, Segment B, targets the Coast Guard’s medical and dental radiology system. This deployment is scheduled for completion by June 2024.

Following Segment B, Segment C will eventually modernize the Coast Guard’s afloat sickbays. There currently is no implementation timetable set for Segment C.

The EHR implementation process has been rocky for the DoD, which began in 2018.

The MHS GENESIS implementation was recently delayed in April 2020 due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With DoD staff focusing on the coronavirus, the necessary EHR training and implementation were paused for several months. However, the agency continued to work on the system’s back-end optimization before launching the EHR system at four pilot Coast Guard medical facilities.