Elucid Bioimaging Inc. announced that vascuCAP, Elucid Bio’s AI-enabled software for evaluating atherosclerotic plaque stability from CTA, has been added to the IBM Imaging AI Marketplace, an IBM Watson Health® solution.

The IBM Imaging AI Marketplace provides streamlined access to meaningful AI technologies designed to support leaders working in radiology and cardiology. The marketplace is designed to support healthcare providers with a solution to address the complex problem of finding, purchasing, deploying and managing innovative AI imaging applications.

“We are very excited to work with IBM Watson Health to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease by expanding access to our software,” said Blake Richards, CEO of Elucid Bio. vascuCAP is the only histologically-validated tool for objective quantitation of atherosclerotic plaque for the coronary, carotid, aorta, and femoral arteries. Interim results of the CRISP study (NCT04448353) demonstrated vascuCAP’s AI technology significantly outperformed stenosis-based guidelines in predicting risk of major adverse neurological events. The PoSTCARD (NCT04439643) trial demonstrated similar effects for predicting major adverse cardiovascular events.

“We are proud to help support meaningful advancements in the application of AI,” said Mandy Long, Vice President of Product and Strategy for IBM Watson Health Imaging & Oncology. “By partnering with Elucid and offering vascuCAP through the IBM Imaging AI Marketplace, we are demonstrating our continuous commitment to diagnostic imaging in helping clinicians gain critical clinical insights in their delivery of care.

CERENOVUS, part of Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies announced that it has launched CERENOVUS Stroke Solutions™, which includes a suite of three devices designed to aid physicians in clot removal procedures. The announcement was made during the virtual European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy (ESMINT).

Strokes are the second leading cause of death globally, and account for an estimated 140,000 deaths in the United States each year. Over half of stroke survivors become chronically disabled placing an estimated $34 billion economic burden on healthcare systems each year in the United States.

CERENOVUS Stroke Solutions™ were designed with compatibility in mind to help physicians perform mechanical thrombectomy procedures. The suite of technologies includes:

CEREBASE™ DA Guide Sheath, a long guide sheath, designed with more trackability and support to allow physicians to navigate challenging anatomy and secure Distal Access for Geometric Anchoring.[iii]
CERENOVUS Large Bore Catheter is designed for atraumatic vessel wall interaction to balance trackability with more durability and compatibility. Featuring excellent distal kink resistance in a thin wall design, it allows rapid navigation to the middle cerebral artery based on anatomically optimized design.

EMBOTRAP® III Revascularization Device, the latest generation stent retriever, is designed to engage a wide range of clot types, improve procedural confidence and provide more tailored options to achieve the First Pass Effect (FPE).[vii],[viii] FPE is an independent predictor of good functional outcome and has resulted in faster patient recovery times, which may translate to lower healthcare costs.[ix]

“Stroke is a silent killer that can take a life within minutes, and we designed CERENOVUS Stroke Solutions™ to support physicians in successfully treating their patients efficiently and effectively,” said Mark Dickinson, Worldwide President, CERENOVUS. “We are committed to developing differentiated solutions based on physicians’ real-world experiences to change the trajectory of stroke care.”

CERENOVUS at ESMINT

Interim data from the EXCELLENT registry will be presented focused on the composition of the clots collected. This research on clot science continues to provide the foundation used to inform the design of CERENOVUS Stroke Solutions.

“Not all mechanical thrombectomy procedures are equal and the greatest benefits to patients are observed when reperfusion is achieved from the first pass,” said Professor Kyriakos Lobotesis**, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK, principal investigator in the EXCELLENT study. “The EXCELLENT registry is a unique study that goes beyond reporting patient outcomes and helps to understand more about clot composition, revascularization rates and clinical outcomes.”

CERENOVUS will also host a virtual symposium on Thursday, Sept. 10at 10:45 AM CET., “The quest for a total stroke solution. Now in sight?” moderated by Prof. Kyriakos Lobotesis, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK, with faculty presenters Dr. Fritz Wodarg, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany, and Dr. Hannes Nordmeyer, Radprax Neurocenter Solingen, Germany.

About CERENOVUS
CERENOVUS, part of Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, is a global leader in neurovascular care. Our commitment to changing the trajectory of stroke is inspired by our long heritage and dedication to helping physicians protect people from a lifetime of hardship. CERENOVUS offers a broad portfolio of devices used in the endovascular treatment of hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke.

About Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies
As the world’s most comprehensive medical devices business, we are building on a century of experience, merging science and technology, to shape the future of health and benefit even more people around the world. With our unparalleled breadth, depth and reach across surgery, orthopedics, vision and interventional solutions, we’re working to profoundly change the way care is delivered. We are in this for life.

Braidio, the creator of the award winning WorkStream platform that threads all critical information, people, and business tools into a single point of productivity, announced its partnership with Arkos Health. Arkos was formed from the merger of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) Curavi Health, VIZI Healthcare/Carepointe, and U.S. Health Systems. Arkos Health will utilize the Braidio WorkStreams low-code/no-code platform, powered by the AT&T API Marketplace providing voice, messaging, chat, and video capabilities to create turnkey customer engagement mobile applications. Braidio integrates with Arkos Health’s clinical data warehouse, EPIC, Five9, and other remote patient monitoring service devices to create an intuitive engagement layer. This engagement layer helps empower new access to health services through on-demand virtual care during an unprecedented global pandemic.

The combination of Arkos Health and Braidio will provide virtual care and remote patient management solutions to patients in UPMC’s region-leading hospital network. Together, the partnership will give healthcare professionals the tools to better serve patients, while lowering costs both in UPMC’s extensive patient network, as well as across other regions. UPMC integrates more than 90,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctor’s offices and outpatient sites, and serves nearly 4 million members in the Pittsburgh region.

“The healthcare industry has been slow to embrace unified digital transformation strategies, resulting in fragmented data management that limits the quality of care a patient receives. In today’s post-pandemic world, we are constantly looking for opportunities to consolidate data and services around patients to improve the quality and access to care, while correspondingly reducing costs. When we are successful, we find our solutions also increase provider revenue while lifting their administrative burden,” said Aaron Duerksen, Executive Vice President and Board Member of Arkos Health. “With Braidio, we are able to provide a new patient engagement experience that consolidates their information and links them to needed concierge health services, whether those services are in-person or virtual. This is the future of healthcare where the power of unified communications, workflow interoperability, and service access can be focused around an integrated patient engagement, as opposed to just delivering services in silos. We are shifting from a static experience to a dynamic, collaborative experience that dramatically enhances care for vulnerable populations and reduces waste.”

“Telehealth solutions have been critical to halting the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and helping providers deliver the care that patients need when walking into clinics isn’t an option. We could be witnessing a shift in expectations for receiving care,” said Rich Shaw, Vice President, Voice and Collaboration for AT&T Business. “By pairing developers like Braidio with capabilities from the AT&T API Marketplace, applications like these can use the power of AT&T’s highly secure network and leading cloud infrastructure to be in a better position to adapt successfully.”

Braidio’s solutions unify data and knowledge silos to create a dynamic and integrated view of patient care. Care providers now gain real-time patient access and insights to create a smarter ecosystem, maintaining a fluid digital journey for patients, and delivering a more agile and tailored concierge approach to patient care. Using Braidio’s My Health Concierge, patients can easily connect with a Care Team professional using live chat, reducing inbound phone calls and providing additional concierge touch points for the patients.

“In this unprecedented time in all of our lives, this pandemic has given all of us a glimpse into the future of healthcare – which will require new tools that are built specifically to enhance patient and revenue automation workflows and embed real time communications that produce results,” said Iain Scholnick, Founder and CEO of Braidio. “Braidio WorkStreams was built with this in mind, eliminating click fatigue and time lost looking for information across data silos, freeing more time to provide better patient care through intuitive experiences that unlock productivity across the entire patient journey. Braidio’s applications are very modular, allowing them to be malleable based on a healthcare partner’s operational needs, and can add other components such as online pharmacy, remote patient monitoring, or be stripped down so it’s very focused on just a few workflows.”

For more information about Braidio, please visit https://braidio.com/.

About Braidio
Braidio’s award winning WorkStreams™ platform is an engine consisting of permissioning, orchestration, and low-code/no-code mobile app building to thread all information, knowledge, people, and business tools into a single point of productivity. The future of work will look very different than it does now. Braidio WorkStreams helps accelerate sales, improve customer satisfaction, and simplify employee on-boarding by efficiently spreading knowledge and insights across any workflow and business unit in real-time. Based in San Francisco, Braidio is surrounded by some of the most innovative and disruptive companies in the world. Braidio WorkStreams simplifies success. For more information, please visit braidio.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About Arkos Health
Arkos Health delivers care in the community so people can live healthier and more independent lives. They serve health plan and provider organizations by managing their highest-risk and highest cost populations within an integrated system-of-care, comprised of clinical and social services backed by a robust technology platform. By engaging individuals with virtual, in-home, in-clinic, and in-facility care options, Arkos Health delivers advanced community-based health services that allow our clients to improve quality care and reduce unnecessary costs for their members.

Prior to COVID-19 hitting early this year, telemedicine at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine was low in volume, representing less than 0.1% of total ambulatory care.

THE PROBLEM

During the peak of the pandemic, more than 50% of ambulatory care was delivered through telemedicine, reaching a peak of nearly 100,000 encounters in May 2020. This virtual care is delivered through an integrated video platform through the organization’s Epic EHR.

This rapid increase in telemedicine capabilities created unique challenges, including: 1) Scaling the existing platform to handle new, COVID-19-driven volume, 2) Improving patient access and technical support structures, and 3) The need to monitor larger numbers of patients and different vital signs remotely.

“In addition to the need to scale our video-visit capabilities, the pandemic highlighted a myriad of other new issues to be solved,” noted Dr. Brian Hasselfeld, a pediatrician and medical director for digital health and telemedicine in the office of Johns Hopkins Physicians. “In managing our own workforce, we identified the need to screen and monitor employees for concerning infectious symptoms daily.”

As post-acute discharge options became limited due to bed capacity and medical staff learned more about pulmonary complications of COVID-19, the organization needed ways to more safely discharge to their homes patients who had been admitted with COVID-19. Further, with new infectious risks and with limitations of personal protective equipment, there were new needs around video and remote monitoring of patients admitted in the hospital.

PROPOSAL

Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission awarded the Johns Hopkins Health System $1,000,000 for a remote intensive care unit, a medical kiosk, tablets and other connected devices, cameras, and other telehealth equipment.

This included patient-monitoring equipment to provide routine and complex care for patients with COVID-19, including a COVID-19 ambulatory response team and a regional public-private partnership to serve patients in the surrounding community, all using telehealth. Most of the vendor functionality is tied directly to Epic EHR integration.

“Our FCC application was focused on multiple areas, to address each of these problems,” Hasselfeld said. “As our video-visit volume expanded by up to 1,000 times in areas of our health system, basic IT infrastructure to improve video/audio performance was critical. This was work directly with our integrated video vendor inside of our Epic EHR, which also included improved IT support pathways.”

“As our video visit volume expanded by up to 1,000 times in areas of our health system, basic IT infrastructure to improve video/audio performance was critical. This was work directly with our integrated video vendor inside of our Epic EHR, which also included improved IT support pathways.”

“In coordination with our home care group and pulmonology clinical teams, we expanded our home pulse-oximetry remote-monitoring capability and, in coordination with home care nursing teams and pulmonary provider teams, paired home pulse-oximetry data with virtual pulmonology follow-up for patients leaving the hospital after admissions for COVID-19 for safer care in the home.”

Inside the hospital, staff acquired a wide variety of IT equipment, ranging from mobile phones to tablets, to multifunctional camera kiosks, in order to ensure patients in a wide variety of inpatient venues could engage virtually with providers and outside friends and family, he added.

In critical care areas, which fluctuated and often expanded into previously noncritical care space in the hospitals, the organization began work with a software vendor for improved remote vital sign monitoring, he said.

MARKETPLACE

There are many vendors of telemedicine technology and services on the health IT market today. Healthcare IT News recently compiled a comprehensive list of these vendors with detailed descriptions. To read this special report, click here.

MEETING THE CHALLENGE

“The aforementioned solutions, which are multiple solutions addressing multiple new problems across the various care settings in Johns Hopkins Medicine, were used broadly,” Hasselfeld said. “Improved video-visit platforms touched all ambulatory providers and staff. Enhanced home monitoring engaged a multidisciplinary team ranging from discharge case managers/care coordinators, home care nursing, and pulmonology specialists.”

Improved inpatient video monitoring and data aggregation was leveraged by all types of providers and staff in the hospital setting, and also improved patient connectivity to family and friends during inpatient stays where visitor restrictions were in place due to the pandemic, he added. Each of these solutions was integrated into the Epic EHR infrastructure to limit workflow disruptions and maintain source-of-truth integrity for the medical record, he explained.

RESULTS

In the ambulatory space, Johns Hopkins Medicine has completed more than 400,000 virtual visits, touching nearly 200,000 unique patients.

“Our expanded home-monitoring platform enrolled 270 patients upon discharge from our hospitals, with approximately 20 nursing virtual touchpoints – calls, messages or clinical interventions – per enrolled patient, creating a safer environment after acute illness,” Hasselfeld reported. “With these intensive services, only around 2% of the patients in the home pulse oximetry program required readmission to date.”

Thousands of patients in the Johns Hopkins hospitals, he concluded, were monitored remotely or experienced virtual subspecialty consultation to keep patients safe from unnecessary infectious exposure when clinically appropriate.

Patients at two UK hospitals are able to view their medical records on their iPhone from October 7. Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH) and Oxford University Hospital are the first British hospitals to enable patients to view their health care records via the Health app on their iPhone.

The Health Records feature on the app means patients can get a central view of their medical records including lab results, medications, procedures, allergies, conditions, vital signs and immunizations. It also notifies patients when their data is being updated.

The Health app also shows activity, heart rate, nutrition and other health data consolidated from the user’s iPhone or Apple Watch, for instance.

More than 70,000 patients at MKUH are already registered to the hospital’s MyCARE app, which lets them book and change appointments, access hospital correspondence and other information directly from their smartphone. Health Records on the iPhone provides another option to ensure patients have access to available hospital data from within their electronic patient record (EPR).

Patients can can download their health records by selecting Milton Keynes University Hospital and authenticating with their existing MyCARE credentials. They are then invited to register with MKUH’s MyCARE patient portal once they come into the care of specific hospital services.

The feature has been designed to protect patients’ privacy via a direct, encrypted connection between the user’s iPhone and the healthcare organisation. Downloaded health records data is stored on the device and encrypted with the user’s iPhone password, Touch ID or Face ID.

The hospital refers some of its patients to specialist services at Oxford University Hospitals, who also launch the iPhone app today, so that patients can view their records from both hospitals in one place.

MKUH Chief Executive, Professor Joe Harrison said: “This is a really exciting step for the hospital and our patients. We continually hear from our patients that they want more autonomy over their health care – having access to their health records is the key part of this, so this is a momentous step forward.

“Accessing their health records via the Health app on iPhone provides another great option for patients to view their health data. Clinicians will still contact patients to discuss their care and any test results. It just means patients have the additional opportunity to view this information on their iPhone.

“We are living in a modern world, in which people organise every aspect of their lives online. At MKUH, we want to be at the forefront of making sure the NHS allows patients to do the same.”