Today, Planar is continuing in its approach to raise awareness of the affordability and necessity of integrating digital equipment into the healthcare industry. The company is helping healthcare facilities to easily upgrade from CRT diagnostic imaging monitors to Planar’s Dome CX line of LCD monitors with the “Fat to Flat” trade-in program. Running April 19 to July 16, the program allows hospitals to trade in their current 2-megapixel or higher grayscale analog display controllers, regardless of make and model; they will receive special incentive pricing on the purchase of dual sets of Dome C3 3-megapixel and Dome C5i 5-megapixel grayscale flat-panel displays.

“According to our medical displays market opportunity study projection, by 2006, the worldwide market for high-resolution grayscale CRT medical displays will be virtually nonexistent,” said Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research at iSuppli/Stanford Resources (Santa Clara, Calif). “With current and future medical display development focused almost exclusively on flat-panel alternatives, LCD monitors are the smart choice for healthcare organizations currently considering investments in diagnostic imaging systems.”

Over the past several years, the healthcare market for flat-panel LCDs has grown steadily, as end-users realize the benefits of using LCDs over traditional CRT displays for medical imaging applications. CRT monitors degrade over time and require constant inspection and adjustments to maintain optimum display quality, costing healthcare organizations time and money. In contrast, Planar’s Dome CX line of LCD monitors can be calibrated automatically to stay in conformance with DICOM standards and be managed remotely by IT and QA departments, reducing the total cost of ownership of the displays.

“Planar’s ‘Fat to Flat’ program is a unique promotion that will allow us to offer our customers the most compelling reason to upgrade from CRT monitors,” said Gerry McGinley, medical business unit manager for Richardson Electronics’ Display Systems Group (LaFox, Ill), a reseller of Planar products. “The price of high-resolution LCD flat-panel displays historically has been a barrier to entry for many healthcare organizations. This program offers hospitals the incentive they need to acquire the high-quality display technology.”

The program is open only to end-users, who can register online at www.cxdisplays.com to qualify their existing display controllers and receive purchasing information with participating resellers. Resellers, OEMs, and service organizations are not eligible to participate in this program for stocking purposes. For more information, call 866-475-2627.

“In the initial study conducted in 1993, we found that after seeing the images of their lungs, the volunteers would state that every time they lit a cigarette, the images would come to mind, and they would essentially not smoke,” says Claudia Henschke, MD, the study’s principal investigator. “Of those who volunteered for the program, 25% quit smoking after having seen the images of their own lungs.”

The American Legacy Foundation (ALF of Washington) and the Medicsight Foundation (London) have donated $1.8 million each to the Weill Medical College for the continuation of the lung-cancer detection program. The donations will support a 4,000-patient study, the goal of which is to demonstrate that CT screening for lung cancer can be effectively linked to smoking-cessation programs to enhance the motivation for people to stop smoking. The study, which begins this month, will use advanced image analysis software.

“We want to make screening programs an economic and life-saving reality,” Henschke said. “The International Early Lung Cancer Action Program [I-ELCAP of New York] is proving that CT screening is an effective tool for early diagnosis of lung cancer. This newly funded study represents a unique opportunity to understand how to best increase smoking cessation in the context of CT screening. At the same time, we will be incorporating and developing advanced image processing software to make screening as effective as possible.”

Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, president and CEO of the ALF, added, “The foundation knows that science eventually will find far better ways to detect and treat lung cancer. The pressing question in the minds of many is whether or not CT screenings for lung cancer will encourage smokers to quit or make them put off this decision even longer. With lung cancer being the leading cause of cancer death in this nation, the foundation is especially interested in answering this vexing question.”

InSight Health Services’ Michelle Underwood (left) accepts the Stevie Award for Best Plant, Facility, or Satellite Office Manager from CNNfn anchor and emcee Ali Velshi.

Nicknamed for the Greek word crowned, the Stevies are the only national, all-encompassing business award program that honors great performances in the workplace in the United States. The 2004 ceremony was held May 10 in New York. Recipients were awarded during a nationally broadcast dinner that benefited the Leadership Education and Development Organization (LEAD of Philadelphia), a national partnership of business and academia that encourages high school students to pursue careers in business.

More than 800 nominations from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration. In the end, a total of 101 Stevies (designed by RS Owens of Chicago, which is the same company that produces the Oscar and Emmy award statuettes) were presented in more than 80 categories.

At this year’s awards, the healthcare industry did not go home empty handed. InSight Health Services Corp (Lake Forest, Calif) took home two awards. First, Michelle Underwood, the operations/branch manager for St John’s Imaging Center (Oxnard, Calif), won for Best Plant, Facility, or Satellite Office Manager. Second, the company was awarded for its “We Have Survived” piece in the Corporate Film or Video: Motivational category. Also, Qmedtrix (Portland, Ore) won the award for Best Product Development Team, specifically for the company’s Systems Development and Quality Assurance Team.

Congratulations to all healthcare industry nominees and winners!

The study involved a total of 334 high-risk patients who were randomized and treated by either stenting with embolic protection or surgery in the overall multicenter SAPPHIRE trial; the high-risk diabetic subset was composed of 86 patients.

“All of the SAPPHIRE trial patients were high risk, and the earlier data on the total study population showed the stenting to be safer than surgery,” said Mark Wholey, MD, interventional radiologist and SAPPHIRE trial principal investigator. “This diabetic subset was at an even higher risk, and these new data not only substantiate and confirm the earlier findings, but also show the dramatic results that stenting is safer than surgery in those at high risk.”

The stenting group had a 2.4% incidence of heart attacks compared with an 18.2% incidence in the surgical group. Incidence of major bleeding was 4.8% for the stenting group, versus 20.5% for the surgery group. The products used in the study were the Precise stent with the Angioguard filter, sponsored by Cordis Endovascular (Warren, NJ), a division of Cordis Corp, a Johnson & Johnson company.

The study also collected the 30-day event rate for any type of stroke, heart attack, or death. The 30-day event rate for stroke, heart attack, and death was 4.8% for stenting and 22.7% for carotid surgery.

In addition to the lesser risk of major adverse events, many other benefits exist from the balloon angioplasty and stenting treatment, which is an interventional radiology procedure. Because there is no incision, no damage to the cranial nerves can occur with surgery. This nerve damage, which can cause difficulty speaking and swallowing, occurred in 4.8% of the overall SAPPHIRE trial surgical patients and has been reported as high as 9% in other surgical studies. In addition, the patient can go home the next day, does not need general anesthesia, and has no infection rate; also, the interventional procedure takes only 20 to 30 minutes.

“These findings are quite significant because diabetics are at greater risk for all vascular events. This study shows that stenting is far safer than surgery, even in this highest risk population. It clearly establishes that all high-risk diabetics should have stenting, not surgery,” Wholey said.

These results are data of the high-risk diabetic arm of the Sapphire trial—a prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled trial at 29 US research centers comparing the safety and efficacy of carotid stenting, embolic protection, and standard carotid surgery to treat blocked carotid arteries to prevent stroke.

K Fehling & Associates Inc (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla) has recently entered the healthcare industry as an executive search firm focused on the recruitment of senior level executives in the healthcare and life sciences industries. President Kathleen Fehling has more than 22 years of experience in the medical device industry. Her industry experience allows for a specific network of executives and potential candidates, while giving insight to the specialized medical device, biopharmaceutical, and healthcare service industries. For more information, visit www.KFAsearch.com.

Kathleen Fehling

A trio from Quick Study Radiology (St Louis) has purchased the medical billing and practice management division of the company and has formed a new enterprise. Now called Evolutions, the company is owned by Tom Long, president and CEO; Gail Fowler, VP of operations; and Marie Palladino, VP of information. The company provides medical billing solutions to its client base of radiologists, radiation oncologists, imaging centers, and other medical specialties. Evolutions’ programs are HIPAA-compliant and reviewed by certified coders. The new company uses electronic claims submission and offers an accounts receivable management program. Regional offices are located in Cape Girardeau, Mo, and Evansville, Ind.

Rockwell Scientific Co LLC (RSC of Thousand Oaks, Calif) has formed a new commercial enterprise in collaboration with ITX International Holdings Inc (Mountain View, Calif). The new company—Altasens Inc, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif—is the next generation of Rockwell Scientific’s CMOS Image Sensors Business Group. ITX complements RSC’s technological capabilities by providing additional capital infusion and operational infrastructure to the venture. RSC will remain a substantial stakeholder in the new company and hold two seats on the Board of Directors. Altasens specializes in the development, marketing, and sale of the ProCamHD family of high-performance image sensors. For more information, visit www.altasens.com.

“It gives me great joy to listen to these accomplished doctors discuss the merits of each research project until they narrow it down to those who are likely to make the most innovative contributions to cancer research,” said Sidney Kimmel, the organization’s founder and chairman of Jones Apparel Group (Bristol, Pa). Kimmel has contributed more than $350 million to cancer centers and cancer research since 1997.

In choosing the newest scholars, the medical advisory board—made up of some of the top cancer physicians in their fields—asked such questions as: Is the science sound? How many others are working in this area of research? What scientific journals have published their work? This task requires more than 40 hours of review time from each board member before the annual selection meeting.

“These are Sidney’s ‘grant-children,’ ” said Web Cavenee, MD, medical advisory board member and director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of California, San Diego. “It is an extraordinary thing he’s doing, contributing to science and society in this way. He has jump-started the careers of young scientists across the country, many of whom have gone on to receive millions of dollars in funding from [other sources] and make significant contributions to the field of cancer research. Many past recipients report that they might never have achieved such success without Sidney’s grant at the most critical time in their career.”

The following are this year’s Kimmel Grant winners, their respective facilities, and research topics:

• Ivan Borrello, MD, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Institute, Johns Hopkins University: “Strategies to enhance tumor-specific immunotherapy in multiple myeloma”

• Scott Briggs, PhD, Purdue University: “Functional characterization of the multiple myeloma SET domain protein (MMSET)”

• George Calin, MD, PhD, Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University: “The role of micro RNAs in human cancer development”

• Diego Castrillon, MD, PhD, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center of Dallas: “Genetic model systems and translational studies of endometrial cancer”

• James Chen, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine: “Chemical and genetic studies of the hedgehog pathway”

• David Ferguson, MD, PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: “Genomic instability in cancer: Mechanisms of gene amplification and roles of Mre11”

• Daniel Kamei, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles: “Increasing the half-lives of angiogenesis inhibitors using systems-level analyses”

• Clara Kielkopf, PhD, Johns Hopkins University: “Structural basis of normal pre-mRNA splice site recognition and its dysfunction in neoplasia”

• Harmet Malik, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center: “Is genetic conflict responsible for centromere complexity?”

• Jeffrey Rathmell, PhD, Duke University Medical Center: “Cell survival and glucose uptake in cancer and autoimmunity”

• Jeremy Rich, MD, Duke University Medical Center: “Transforming growth factor beta signaling and targeting in malignant gliomas”

• Brian Schaefer, PhD, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences: “Role of NF-kB signaling intermediates in the etiology of MALT lymphoma”

• Sheila Stewart, PhD, Washington University: “Molecular mechanisms of cellular immortality”

• Kwok-Kin Wong, MD, PhD, Dana Farber Cancer Institute: “The genetic role of telomere dynamics and DNA damage response in cancer and aging”

• Yihua Yu, PhD, University of Utah: “An integrated docking/imaging device for cancer radioimmunotherapy”

For more information about this year’s scholars or the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research, visit www.kimmel.org.

Linda Puchalski, CRA
Imaging Department,
Hudson Valley Hospital Center
1980 Crompond Rd
Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567

For more information, visit www.ahraonline.org.

www.carstenscustom.com

Carstens Inc (Chicago; www.carstenscustom.com) has expanded its Web site to enable purchasing department managers, administrators, and other professionals working within the healthcare environment to quickly create, preview, and submit custom identification and alert labels and cards. The site’s product builder program assists users with choosing label or card size, ink, and background colors. It also helps in the positioning of custom text or uploading artwork that are best suited for the project.

www.medrecinst.com

The Medical Records Institute (MRI of Boston) has revamped its site (www.medrecinst.com) to include enhanced content and exhibitor capabilities, interactive features, and navigational tools. Also featured on the new site is an online discussion forum for private groups and private messaging functions within the MRI community and the healthcare industry.

www.scarnet.org

Next, what was previously an exclusive resource is now available for public use. The Society for Computer Applications in Radiology (SCAR of Great Falls, Va; www.scarnet.org) has released its online resource—the SCAR Expert Hotline—for public use within the medical industry. The question-and-answer resource, previously available only to SCAR members, will now be archived and updated online for access by members and nonmembers alike. The free site provides information for professionals who use or are interested in PACS technology and clinical implementation of information systems in imaging. SCAR members can post questions to the site free of charge, while nonmembers are able to post for a fee of $125, which includes a 1-year membership in SCAR.

www.spellmanhv.com

Finally, Spellman High Voltage Electronics Corp (Hauppauge, NY) has renovated its company Web site (www.spellmanhv.com) to feature improved navigational and parametric searching capabilities. According to the company, the new site is a significant improvement in terms of functionality, navigability, and user friendliness. Offering users a parametric search capability that incorporates a “wish list” feature, this search function allows for identification of products by specification (kV and W) and provides a shopping cart approach to selecting and requesting quotation on a variety of high-voltage products. The site also includes information on technical articles, application notes, high-voltage glossaries, and many application-specific features.

dosing regimens and expanding indications. The report forecasts strong growth driven by new market entrants. The late-stage osteoporosis pipeline will soon provide a boost to the number of available treatments, with a flurry of launch activity expected between now and 2008. Market sales are forecast to reach $10.4 billion by 2011—up from approximately $5 billion in 2003 (excluding HRT sales). Datamonitor’s report also analyzes the products and trends driving growth.

Bush itemized his proposal into a three-step procedural process. First is the appointment of a national health information technology (NHIT) coordinator who will report directly to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide the leadership and coordination needed to achieve this 10-year goal.

“In Washington, access is everything,” said Stephen Lieber, HIMSS president and CEO. “The president’s announcement of the new NHIT coordinator position recognizes proposals made by stakeholders and members of Congress to ensure that our nation makes rapid progress on the adoption of the electronic health record.”

According to comments released by the White House on April 26, the new NHIT Coordinator’s responsibilities include:

1) Guiding work pertaining to health information standards and working to identify and implement the various steps needed to support and encourage health information technology in the public and private healthcare delivery systems; and

2) Coordinating partnerships between government agencies and private sector stakeholders to speed the adoption of health information technology.

“HIMSS supports the president’s initiative to adopt health information standards, foster adoption of health information technology, promote demonstrations of best practices, and, most importantly, create this new senior sub-Cabinet level position,” Lieber said. “This step substantiates that our message is being heard, and that federal leaders are committed to improving patient safety and partnering with private sector stakeholders.”

Agfa also has been awarded two contracts to implement its Impax for Cardiology solution at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust hospitals in the United Kingdom. The NHS Trust comprises three hospitals based in Leicester—Glenfield Hospital, Leicester General Hospital and Leicester Royal Infirmary—and is one of the largest teaching hospitals in the United Kingdom, with a staff of nearly 10,000. Impax for Cardiology will integrate with the existing radiology Impax components installed within the Trust.

Airbee Wireless Airbee Wireless Inc (Potomac, Md) has received a letter of intent from Manmar Technologies Ltd (Chennai, India) to incorporate Airbee’s wireless connectivity software into Manmar’s imaging and diagnostic information capture and management systems. As part of the agreement, Manmar may purchase licenses for Airbee’s proprietary UltraLite software series, which supports peer-to-peer, mesh, and star topologies.

Fujifilm Medical Systems Fujifilm Medical Systems USA Inc (FMSU of Stamford, Conn) announced that Amerinet (St Louis) has added FMSU’s Synapse PACS to its existing CR and film contract, effective March 1, 2004, through December 31, 2006. FMSU’s Synapse image and information management system will be available to more than 1,800 hospitals and 18,000 nonacute care facilities through Amerinet’s contract portfolio. The addition of Synapse comes 3 years after the original 6-year contract was secured with Amerinet in 2001.

Merge eFilm Merge eFilm (Madison, Wis) has integrated the DeliveryWare technology platform from Esker (Madison, Wis) with its Fusion RIS solution. DeliveryWare extends the output capabilities of radiology information systems by enabling electronic delivery of reports through automated faxing.

MSSI-TeleScience MSSI-TeleScience International Inc (Vienna, Va) has been awarded a 5-year contract from the United States Air Force Medical Logistics Agency to fulfill staffing requirements at Keesler Air Force Base (Biloxi, Miss). The contract is expected to generate more than $386 million in revenue for MSSI throughout the contract period, which includes a base year and 4 option years. MSSI’s contract work for the Air Force Medical Logistics Agency began more than 3 years ago with a medical staffing assignment through a federal program for disadvantaged businesses.

NightHawk Radiology NightHawk Radiology Holdings Inc (Coeur D’Alene, Idaho) has received an investment of $25 million from Summit Partners (Boston), a private equity and venture capital firm. Summit Partners’ investment in NightHawk Radiology comes at a time of rapid growth for the

3-year-old teleradiology services firm, which provides services to more than 350 hospitals, radiology groups, and clinics.

Analogic Corp (Peabody, Mass) announced that revenues and earnings for the second quarter, ending January 31, were in excess of $95 million—compared with the prior year’s second-quarter revenues of $157 million, a 39% decrease. Second-quarter net income was $4 million, or $0.36 per diluted share. This compares with a net income of $21 million, or $1.59 per diluted share, for the prior year’s second quarter, a decrease of 77%.

Medrad Inc (Indianola, Pa) announced 2003 sales revenues of $294 million, a 16% increase over the previous year. This performance is consistent with Medrad’s 15% average growth rate achieved in the past 10 years. Additionally, Medrad’s employee base grew 8% in 2003, with 93 full-time, permanent employees added for a worldwide total of more than 1,250. Of these jobs, 72 were in the Pittsburgh area, where full-time employees numbered 919 at year-end. The company expects to add another 100 full-time employees in 2004—60 in Pittsburgh and the balance throughout the United States and around the world.

Nektop Ltd recently purchased Mennen Medical Group (Philadelphia), which includes Mennen Medical Ltd, Mennen Medical Corp, and Charter Kontron Ltd. Nektop will introduce a stream of new cardiac catheterization lab-related products and services designed to meet the evolving needs of healthcare providers.

Plasmon (Colorado Springs, Colo) has completed its acquisition of Raidtec (Alpharetta, Ga). The two companies have been working for more than 2 years to build a next-generation product that bundles Raidtec’s storage networking and RAID technologies with Plasmon libraries. The ownership transition will not affect current Raidtec customers. Plasmon will continue to market and support existing Raidtec products and will introduce new products currently under development. Raidtec solutions and components will continue to be sold worldwide through existing channels under the Raidtec brand.

PracticeXpert Inc (Los Angeles) has completed the acquisition of Cancer Care Network (CCN of Oklahoma City) in which CCN should generate approximately $9.5 million in revenues annually and almost $2 million in pretax profits for PracticeXpert. The purchase price was $5.5 million, with $4.1 million in cash, $500,000 in common stock of PracticeXpert, and $900,000 by way of a note to the seller.

SourceOne Healthcare Technologies Inc (Mentor, Ohio) has acquired C&A X-ray (Paramount, Calif). The acquisition will expand SourceOne’s coverage in southern California and Nevada, and will enable customers in those regions to receive radiographic supplies, service, and other equipment offerings.

Thermo Electron Corp (Waltham, Mass) has purchased US Counseling Services Inc (USCS of Brookfield, Wis) for $77.9 million in cash, subject to a postclosing adjustment. Thermo’s net purchase price is $74.7 million, after adjusting for $3.2 million in cash acquired with the business. With the addition of USCS, Thermo has augmented its service business to provide critical asset management skills.

UTI Corp (Collegeville Pa) has agreed to acquire MedSource Technologies Inc (Minneapolis), making the new organization one of the largest contract manufacturing, design, and engineering companies serving the medical technology market. Under the agreement, which was unanimously approved by MedSource’s Board of Directors, the MedSource common stockholders will receive $7.10 per share in cash upon the close of the acquisition. The aggregate transaction value is approximately $230 million, including assumed net debt. The deal is expected to close this summer and is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.

Cedara (Toronto) announced the appointment of Brian Pedlar as the company’s CFO. Pedlar has been a member of Cedara’s senior management team since October 2000 and held the position of director of finance and administration. Pedlar brings with him more than 12 years of public company, corporate finance, and public accounting experience.

Flo Healthcare Solutions LLC (Norcross, Ga) has relocated to a new headquarters facility just north of Atlanta. Located at 5801 Goshen Springs Rd, the new facility is twice the size of the previous facility.

Siemens Medical Solutions (Malvern, Pa) has announced the appointment of Gail Latimer, MSN, RN, to the newly created position of chief nursing officer. Latimer was formerly senior VP and chief nursing executive at Holy Redeemer Health System and SVP/chief operating officer at Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center (Meadowbrook, Pa). She has more than 30 years of nursing and healthcare administration experience. In her new position, Latimer will work closely with clinical product developers, customers, industry experts, and advisory groups to help drive the company’s clinical IT solutions.

Stentor (San Francisco) has announced Jeff Otten as the company’s CEO. Otten joins Oran Muduroglu, who will remain Stentor’s president while also taking on the role of COO. Otten has more than 25 years’ experience working in leadership positions within the medical field. Most recently, he served as CEO of Brigham & Women’s Hospital (Boston).