The Adaptive Business Leaders (ABL) Organization has announced the names of 12 innovative healthcare companies which have been selected as Finalists for the 2011 ABBY Awards. The ABBYs will be presented at the 13th Annual Innovations in HealthcareSM Awards Event, on September 28, 2011. The ABBY Awards honor companies, selected from throughout North America, which have developed ways to lower the cost of providing quality healthcare through their medical or information technologies, or innovative approaches to the delivery of healthcare.
The 12 Finalists three each in each of the four categories were selected by a committee composed of ABL Members who are C-level healthcare executives with deep domain knowledge in each of the Award areas. In this, our 13th year of selecting Finalists for the ABBY Awards, the Committee was truly impressed with the caliber of all of the nominees, representing companies from throughout North America, noted Mimi Grant, President of the ABL Organization. Not only are they all innovative, they have convincingly demonstrated that they are currently in use in the United States, and have clinical and financial metrics that prove their product or service reduces the cost of providing quality care.
Four ABBY Award Winners will be selected via secret ballot by the healthcare executives attending the September 28 Event, after viewing presentations made by the CEO representing each Finalist company. Attendance is open to ABL Members and their guests, as well as non-Member senior executives of healthcare providers and payers, health IT, medical technology, and services firms. Details about the Innovations in HealthcareSM Awards Event, to be held at the Marriott Hotel, in Long Beach, CA, can be found at http://www.abl.org/IIH.htm
Finalists in the Healthcare Information and/or Telecommunications Technology Consumer-Facing category are:
Westbend, WI-based GrandCare Systems provides a telecommunications system that enables individuals to remain independent and at home by remotely assessing their activities of daily living and managing their chronic health conditions. It also offers virtual communication and visits with family and caregivers via two-way web conferencing, and stimulates brain activity and fitness with such activities. GrandCare Systems helps relieve individuals feelings of isolation and gives caregivers peace of mind.
Boulder Creek, CAs HeartMaths Revitalize You! Resilience Training program provides a video-based online course for organizations and consumers, teaching how to maximize heart-brain communication for increased physiological well-being and cognitive performance. Research has shown that the heart is a primary generator of body rhythms and powerfully influences brain processes that control the nervous system, cognitive function, and emotion.
Toronto, Ontario, Canadas IDEAL LIFE is a multinational company that delivers secure, reliable remote health management solutions for individuals with chronic conditions on demand, to any location accessible through major brands of cell phones, computers, and other devices. The FDA-approved products are wireless, easy-to-use, and affordable, with an open technology platform that supports customization and integration with existing information-based systems, including electronic medical records.
Finalists in the Healthcare Information and/or Telecommunications Technology Business-Facing category are:
Houston, TX-based Blausen Medical Communications has developed and deployed the Blausen Human Atlas app for smartphones and tablets, utilizing its worlds-largest library of 3D medical animations. Doctors and nurses use the app, at the point of care, to explain often-complex medical concepts to patients. The app contains 300+ topics covering medical conditions and treatments, with easy-to-understand animation and narration. Clinicians report that using the Blausen app has resulted in better-informed, less-anxious, and more treatment-compliant patients and their families.
San Mateo, CAs Extend Health, which operates the largest private Medicare-focused health insurance exchange in the U.S., developed its patent-pending call center solution, Complemax, to shorten average telephone hold times for its customers, while maximizing agent utilization. Using an innovative algorithm, Complemax matches the calling customers location and profile with an agent who holds appropriate credentials to provide service i.e., state licensure, insurance company appointments, and certification to sell specific products in that region.
Irvine, CAs PathCentral, Inc. offers a scalable web-based anatomic pathology laboratory information system that seamlessly integrates all of the critical components of a pathology practice's day-to-day operations into a single platform. PathCentrals system quickly and inexpensively interfaces with hospital electronic medical records, doctors offices, and a wide range of laboratory instrumentation. It reduces costs through improvements in operating efficiencies and enhances patient safety using state-of the art specimen identification and tracking.
Finalists in the Medical Device category are:
Cleveland, OHs Chart SeQual Technologies Eclipse 3 Personal Ambulatory Oxygen System provides reliable continuous flow and pulse dose options in a 24/7 portable device that satisfies both stationary and ambulatory oxygen needs. Eclipse 3 lowers operational costs by reducing monthly deliveries and simplifying inventory management and space; it also uses less electricity than traditional stationary concentrators. Clinically, studies have shown that active oxygen therapy patients have 80% fewer hospitalizations than inactive patients.
Austin, TX-based Vermillion, Inc.s OVA1 is the only FDA-cleared blood test intended to help physicians identify the likelihood of a womans ovarian mass being malignant prior to surgery, thus facilitating her referral to the most appropriate specialist (i.e., a gynecologic oncologist) for her initial surgery. Incorporating OVA1 into physicians preoperative assessment may also help reduce the number of second surgeries, therefore reducing overall healthcare costs.
South San Francisco, CAs VitalWears VitalWrap System provides heating, cooling, and compression through a family of body-part-specific therapeutic wraps, combined with a base unit and tubing set. This continuous thermal therapy reduces pain and dependency on pain medication, and minimizes tissue damage and scarring. In an orthopedic rehabilitation field study, VitalWrap was shown to reduce recovery time in half.
Finalists in the Approaches to the Delivery of Healthcare category are:
Aliso Viejo, CA-based CareMeridians continuum of post-acute care and rehabilitation options to people with life-altering injuries (i.e., brain, spinal cord) and medically complex illnesses, merges a skilled healthcare team with state-of-the-art technology in community-based settings. With over 1,400 admissions and discharges in recent years, CareMeridian has experienced successful outcomes in 96% of those cases, returning one-third of its short-term admissions directly home and another 40% to acute rehab environments for intense therapy prior to the ultimate discharge home. The companys 44-day average length of stay is less than half of the benefit days that most patients have in their long-term care plan.
San Fernando, CAs Partners in Care Foundation Institute for Change developed and disseminated the In-Home Palliative Care (IHPC) program in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente, providing home visits to patients with serious chronic illnesses and an estimated life expectancy of one year. The IHPC significantly reduced ER visits (20% for those receiving the intervention vs. 33% of usual care patients), hospitalizations (36% vs. 59%), and hospital use by 4.36 days. Overall cost
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