Category Archives: Medical

American Academy of Sleep Medicine, American Sleep Apnea Association, Medical, Polysomnography, Sleep apnea, Sleep Center, Sleep disorder

NovaSom Launches AccuSom Deliver, Uses Cloud to Move Sleep Testing to the Home

NovaSom, Inc., the leader in home sleep testing and cost-saving solutions for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) management, announces the launch of AccuSom Deliver, a turnkey program for Sleep Centers offering Out-of-Center Sleep Testing (OCST), will be featured at the SLEEP 2012 meeting in Boston, MA, June 9-13.

AccuSom Deliver provides a complete OCST logistics solution while the participating Sleep Center maintains complete clinical control of their patients. The new offering includes a cloud-based portal for Sleep Centers to enable efficient management of uncomplicated adult OSA diagnosis via OCST. The new portal is integrated with the AccuSom® testing device, the first and only wireless out-of-center sleep study device approved by the FDA. Leveraging NovaSom’s mHealth partnership with Verizon, data recorded by the device in the patient’s home is wirelessly transmitted to the Sleep Center portal for timely, efficient diagnosis.

Michael Coppola, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs, NovaSom, said, “The simple truth is Sleep Centers alone don’t have the capacity to test the upwards of 40 million undiagnosed OSA sufferers across the country. OCST offers a highly convenient option with the potential to significantly improve patient access to testing. NovaSom’s Sleep Center program is unique in that it offers a clinically accurate solution that radically shortens time to diagnosis, while removing the capital expenditure and administrative burdens that often make out-of-center sleep testing impractical for centers to implement at scale.”

Leveraging more than ten years’ experience with turnkey OCST, the AccuSom Deliver program allows Sleep Centers to enjoy the scale and operating efficiency of the NovaSom’s proprietary MediTrack® operating platform and StudyViewer® interpretation portal. Once a sleep specialist prescribes an OCST through the cloud-based portal, NovaSom ships the device directly to the patient’s home. NovaSom’s Clinical Team provides proactive, 24/7 clinical support to patients throughout the testing protocol. Upon completion, test data is transmitted wirelessly via the Verizon Network to the portal and presented in a user-friendly display ready for sleep specialist interpretation.

Richard Hassett, MD, CEO, NovaSom, said, “As major healthcare payers increasingly require home sleep testing for uncomplicated OSA, it makes sense for Sleep Centers to incorporate an accurate, efficient out-of-center sleep testing model to ensure patients continue to be cared for by trained sleep specialists. Our AccuSom Deliver partnership program is designed to facilitate out-of-center sleep testing in a way that is flexible with the Sleep Center’s daily spike in demand. It offers Sleep Centers the ability to significantly extend their reach in the community with a highly convenient test to expand their market opportunity.”

Dr. Coppola, also President and Chief Medical Officer of the American Sleep Apnea Association and a practicing board-certified sleep specialist in Massachusetts, will be available to discuss AccuSom Deliver at the SLEEP 2012 Conference in NovaSom’s booth #120, from June 9-13, 2012.

NovaSom’s sleep testing technology directly measures the parameters recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to diagnose OSA, and has been proven clinically equivalent to traditional polysomnography in two peer-reviewed publications. For more information about NovaSom’s OCST technology and the AccuSom Deliver program, please visit www.NovaSom.com.


Electronic health record, Health Care, Medical, Medical imaging, Partnerships, SeeMyRadiology.com

PACSGEAR Adds SeeMyRadiology.com to Open Image Exchange Network

PACSGEAR, a provider of imaging connectivity for electronic health records, today announced an agreement with SeeMyRadiology.com, a collaborative, cloud-based medical imaging solution, to participate in the Open Image Exchange, a cloud-based network designed to securely share medical images and results. PACSGEAR has incorporated the application programming interface (API) from SeeMyRadiology.com to upload images and reports to the company’s secure network. The Open Image Exchange will be demonstrated live at the upcoming SIIM Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

“Our industry has a history of coming together to solve challenges like image exchange,” said Eli Rapaich, PACSGEAR’s CEO. “By incorporating SeeMyRadiology.com’s API, we strengthen the Open Image Exchange network and provide customers with options to share medical images electronically. We welcome the inclusion of all open APIs to accelerate image sharing and health information exchange,” Rapaich said.

“The Open Image Exchange network will deliver value throughout the entire process of care delivery, from healthcare organizations, to physicians, to patients,” said Willie Tillery, CEO at SeeMyRadiology.com. “Through partnering with PACSGEAR and serving as the first available integrated API partner in the Open Image Exchange, we are committed to making medical image exchange more broadly available, ultimately improving the quality of patient care.”

Open Image Exchange will be featured at PACSGEAR’s Booth #513 at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM 2012) in Orlando, Florida from June 7 – 10, 2012.


Electronic health record, IDC MarketScape, Medical, Medical record, Research

Report Examines Leading Vendors of EMR/EHR Technology for Small Physician Practices

IDC Health Insights has released a new IDC MarketScape report designed to guide firms evaluating electronic medical record/electronic health record (EMR/EHR) vendors providing solutions to small physician practices. The new report, IDC MarketScape: U.S. Ambulatory EMR/EHR for Small Practices 2012 Vendor Assessment (Document #HI234732) provides an assessment of eleven EMR/EHR products from nine U.S.-based vendors that target small physician practices and qualify for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) incentives. In the report, IDC Health Insights provides an opinion on which vendors are well-positioned today through current capabilities and which are best positioned to gain market share over the next one to four years. Vendors included in the report are: ADP AdvancedMD; Allscripts; athenahealth; eClinicalWorks; Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc.; LSS (MEDITECH); Lumeris; Optum (OptumInsight); and Practice Fusion.

IDC Health Insights expects the U.S. market to move from less than 25% adoption in 2009 to over 80% adoption by 2016. This anticipated growth is primarily influenced by regulatory stipulations and government incentives under the ARRA; additional trends include the quality of care improvements that result from using EMRs/EHRs in ambulatory practices, their growing capabilities and use of cloud computing, the use of mobile devices in ambulatory practices, and the consolidation of provider vendors as market saturation increases.

According to Judy Hanover, IDC Health Insights research director, “ARRA presents an unprecedented opportunity for providers in small practices to garner federal incentives for demonstrating meaningful use of clinical applications that will help to improve the quality of care, enhance patient safety and prepare their practices for the future. However, the EHR technology itself, the requirements and deadlines for achieving meaningful use and capturing incentives, and the need to change their business practices and integrate the new technology into practice patterns, present complex issues and challenges. If providers allow the constraints of meaningful use to dictate their technology choices and limit the goals for implementation, they may only see the short-term incentives and not the long-term strategic advantage that EHR can bring to their practices and may fail to compete under healthcare reform.”

With hundreds of small practice EMR/EHR vendors participating in the market, the vendors included in this report were carefully selected to include the top five market leaders in the U.S., and a selection of additional vendors that offer compelling technology, strategies or services, such as advanced software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings, innovative pricing or service options, platforms or architecture capabilities. This IDC Marketscape highlights the attributes and key capabilities that providers should look for when selecting an EMR/EHR, and offers a guide for using best practice-based approaches to leveraging an EMR/EHR to build competitive advantage in small practices.

Each product was evaluated against 25 criteria in two category measures for success: strategies and capabilities. Within each of these criteria, IDC Health Insights has weighted specific features of the product or the product’s vendor that are particularly significant for purchasers of the software and for users. A significant and unique component of this evaluation is the inclusion of customer references for all of the products included in the assessment.

Ms. Hanover will review the results of the IDC MarketScape in a one-hour, complimentary Web conference, EHR in the Small Ambulatory Practice: An IDC MarketScape Analysis, on Wednesday, June 6 at 12:00 p.m., U.S. Eastern time. She will also review best practices for implementing EMR/EHR in small ambulatory practices. Register here: http://bit.ly/JjEGj7.


Government, Health care reform, Health Insurance Exchange, HIX, Insurance, Medical, Partnerships, Xerox

Xerox, CHOICE Administrators Team to Deliver Health Insurance Exchanges for States

Xerox

Xerox has formed an alliance with CHOICE Administrators Exchange Solutions in all 50 states to offer a comprehensive, secure, cloud-based Health Insurance Exchange (HIX) solution. States can begin implementing and customizing the solution today with confidence that the HIX will be fully operational for October 2013 enrollments and for January 2014 coverage effective dates, the deadlines set by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

“Our discussions with states show that the majority want to make health reform as state-specific as possible and to maintain control over their HIX rather than defaulting to the federal solution,” said Kevin Counihan, president, CHOICE Administrators Exchange Solutions. “As the certification deadline gets closer, it’s increasingly important for states to consider a comprehensive solution that doesn’t require building a product and allows time for customization. States can tailor their HIX solution developed by Xerox and CHOICE to meet the needs of their residents and small businesses and be sure their HIX is ready on time.”

CHOICE Administrators Exchange Solutions delivers the framework of the HIX Solution Suite, a software-as-a-service cloud-based platform, which allows participants to make informed enrollment decisions while providing their sponsoring employers the infrastructure to maintain affordable budgets. Xerox provides the business process and technology solutions to help states operating a HIX handle massive amounts of information quickly, efficiently and securely on behalf of millions of people.

“Xerox has more than 40 years of experience working with state governments,” said Kevin Walsh, vice president, Healthcare Eligibility and Insurance Exchange Services, Xerox. “Our expertise, knowledge of the marketplace and partnership with CHOICE positions us well to support the HIX design to increase access to health coverage for consumers.”


Big Data, Biomax Informatics AG, DNA sequencing, Illumina, Ingenuity Systems, Knome, Medical, Real Time Genomics, Strand Life Sciences

Illumina Introduces BaseSpace Apps Genome Informatics

Illumina, Inc. today introduced BaseSpace Apps, a dedicated applications store for BaseSpace, the Company’s genomics cloud computing platform. Informatics solutions available through BaseSpace Apps will allow customers to connect with a growing community of academic, commercial and open source tool providers who are building applications around Illumina data to dramatically simplify and accelerate genomic data analysis.

BaseSpace Apps will include a publicly available API (application programming interface) that allows developers to create and deploy new applications for the analysis of genetic data generated on Illumina systems. Diagnomics, GenoLogics Life Sciences, Genomatix, Golden Helix, Ingenuity Systems, Knome, Omicia, Spiral Genetics, Omixon, Real Time Genomics, Station X, Integromics Inc., Biomax Informatics AG, and Strand Life Sciences were named as initial application development partners.

“The rapid adoption of BaseSpace coupled with BaseSpace Apps will help us achieve our goal to create an ecosystem where users of Illumina next generation sequencers can easily access a broad range of genome analysis tools from the world’s leading bioinformatics vendors,” said Alex Dickinson, Illumina’s Senior Vice President, Cloud Genomics. “By providing an open API and collaborative environment, we can encourage more rapid proliferation of the tools that will enable scientists to analyze, understand and make use of massive amounts of genetic data.”

Illumina also introduced its iSAAC genome alignment tool today. Historically, alignment has been the most time consuming and processor-intensive step in genome analysis. Available on BaseSpace as well as standard workstations, iSAAC maps sequencing reads to their proper location up to 10 times faster than existing aligners, significantly expediting and simplifying a critical component in data analysis.

Through BaseSpace Apps, a diverse array of new data analysis applications and programs such as iSAAC will be available as part of a growing toolset within the BaseSpace cloud for MiSeq® and HiSeq® systems. Collectively, the tools will provide a wide range of functionality, from workflow management and downstream data analysis, to data visualization and biological interpretation.

BaseSpace is a scalable cloud-computing environment for all of Illumina’s sequencing systems that can be accessed securely from anywhere in the world. MiSeq system data already can be seamlessly transferred to BaseSpace for storage, analysis and sharing between researchers and their peers around the world, all in a secure and user-friendly environment. HiSeq data storage and analysis capabilities will be commercially released later this year.


Cancer Genome Atlas, Clinical trial, Medical, NextBio, Translational medicine

NextBio Clinical Extends Life Sciences Platform From the Bench to Translational Medicine

Image representing nextbio as depicted in Crun...

NextBio today unveiled NextBio Clinical, an extension of the company’s existing life sciences platform to translational medicine applications such as biomarker discovery and clinical trial optimization. Adding curated genomic, molecular and clinical profiles from thousands of individual patients to the platform’s existing repository of data from animal and cell line models, NextBio Clinical enables the earlier application of clinical information to enhance research and development.

“Since 2004, NextBio has been addressing the research needs of scientists at academic institutions, pharmaceutical and biotech companies with our cross-technology platform for integrative data analysis,” says Saeid Akhtari, NextBio President and Chief Executive Officer. “Now, with NextBio Clinical, we directly address the challenges of taking genomics into clinical research for the development of therapeutics and companion diagnostics. By providing patient-centric data and analysis, we facilitate biomarker-driven research that can accelerate the process of translational drug discovery.”

Mr. Akhtari concluded, “With the growing availability and decreasing cost of obtaining individual patient data moving genomics into clinical applications, NextBio Clinical is a natural extension for both our platform and our clients who have been using NextBio in their research for many years.”

NextBio Clinical aggregates and correlates terabyte-scale collections of private and public cross-platform ‘omics’ data, experimental data from cell lines and other sources, and clinical data from individual patients and population studies. Controlled vocabularies and the platform’s semantic framework eliminate confounding gene, disease and compound annotations, facilitating applications of this content at all stages of research, from early stage experimentation to repositioning approved drugs.

“With efforts such as The Cancer Genome Atlas, the International Cancer Genome Consortium and others, the growth of patient-level data in the public domain has been enormous. Simultaneously, efforts like the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia are transforming our understanding of pharmacogenomics with cell line models. We are excited about the potential of integrating these diverse data within the framework of NextBio Clinical,” said Ilya Kupershmidt, co-founder and Vice President of Products at NextBio.

Organizations can use the NextBio Clinical platform to accelerate drug discovery by applying human biology earlier in the discovery process, to discover and develop predictive biomarkers, and to optimize clinical trial design and patient selection to reduce development timelines and increase the chance of successful approval for new therapies.

Mr. Kupershmidt added, “By enabling our users to bring patient genomic data into the clinical development process at an early stage, we hope to help improve the pace and success rate at which biomarker-based therapeutics are approved for clinical use.”

Ilya Kupershmidt, Co-founder and VP of Products at NextBio, will describe NextBio Clinical in his talk at Bio-IT World 2012, titled “Patient-centered solutions for translational medicine” on Wednesday April 25, 2012 from 3:00-3:15 p.m. The meeting is being held in Boston, MA at the World Trade Center from April 24-26.

NextBio representatives are also available for additional information or product demos at Booth 326 in the exhibit hall.


Cancer Genome Atlas, Clinical trial, Medical, NextBio, Translational medicine

NextBio Clinical Extends Life Sciences Platform From the Bench to Translational Medicine

Image representing nextbio as depicted in Crun...

NextBio today unveiled NextBio Clinical, an extension of the company’s existing life sciences platform to translational medicine applications such as biomarker discovery and clinical trial optimization. Adding curated genomic, molecular and clinical profiles from thousands of individual patients to the platform’s existing repository of data from animal and cell line models, NextBio Clinical enables the earlier application of clinical information to enhance research and development.

“Since 2004, NextBio has been addressing the research needs of scientists at academic institutions, pharmaceutical and biotech companies with our cross-technology platform for integrative data analysis,” says Saeid Akhtari, NextBio President and Chief Executive Officer. “Now, with NextBio Clinical, we directly address the challenges of taking genomics into clinical research for the development of therapeutics and companion diagnostics. By providing patient-centric data and analysis, we facilitate biomarker-driven research that can accelerate the process of translational drug discovery.”

Mr. Akhtari concluded, “With the growing availability and decreasing cost of obtaining individual patient data moving genomics into clinical applications, NextBio Clinical is a natural extension for both our platform and our clients who have been using NextBio in their research for many years.”

NextBio Clinical aggregates and correlates terabyte-scale collections of private and public cross-platform ‘omics’ data, experimental data from cell lines and other sources, and clinical data from individual patients and population studies. Controlled vocabularies and the platform’s semantic framework eliminate confounding gene, disease and compound annotations, facilitating applications of this content at all stages of research, from early stage experimentation to repositioning approved drugs.

“With efforts such as The Cancer Genome Atlas, the International Cancer Genome Consortium and others, the growth of patient-level data in the public domain has been enormous. Simultaneously, efforts like the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia are transforming our understanding of pharmacogenomics with cell line models. We are excited about the potential of integrating these diverse data within the framework of NextBio Clinical,” said Ilya Kupershmidt, co-founder and Vice President of Products at NextBio.

Organizations can use the NextBio Clinical platform to accelerate drug discovery by applying human biology earlier in the discovery process, to discover and develop predictive biomarkers, and to optimize clinical trial design and patient selection to reduce development timelines and increase the chance of successful approval for new therapies.

Mr. Kupershmidt added, “By enabling our users to bring patient genomic data into the clinical development process at an early stage, we hope to help improve the pace and success rate at which biomarker-based therapeutics are approved for clinical use.”

Ilya Kupershmidt, Co-founder and VP of Products at NextBio, will describe NextBio Clinical in his talk at Bio-IT World 2012, titled “Patient-centered solutions for translational medicine” on Wednesday April 25, 2012 from 3:00-3:15 p.m. The meeting is being held in Boston, MA at the World Trade Center from April 24-26.

NextBio representatives are also available for additional information or product demos at Booth 326 in the exhibit hall.