Other Headlines

Advocacy groups applaud passage of bill that would permanently repeal and replace SGR.
The medical community pays tribute to a dedicated crew.
DOTmed discusses the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) program for public awareness with ASTRO's assistant director of communications, Beth Bukata.
A novel microfluidic drug delivery system makes it possible to reach parts of the body poorly served by oral and injectable medications.
Thanks to a European grant for the HyperIMAGE project, a consortium of scientists across Europe have worked with Philips to develop a proof-of-concept, pre-clinical combined MR-PET scanner that could one day lead to improved radiation therapy and cardiology treatments.

Have News for Us?

Submit your news on the industry, people, or companies.

Forward to a Friend

More Industry Headlines

House Passes Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act Advocacy groups applaud passage of bill that would permanently repeal and replace SGR.

Aural Trumps Oral for Ear Treatment A novel microfluidic drug delivery system makes it possible to reach parts of the body poorly served by oral and injectable medications.

Clinical PET-MRI Moves Closer to Reality Thanks to a European grant for the HyperIMAGE project, a consortium of scientists across Europe have worked with Philips to develop a proof-of-concept, pre-clinical combined MR-PET scanner that could one day lead to improved radiation therapy and cardiology treatments.

Scientists Find Unusual Immune System Activity in Brains of Schizophrenics The "germ theory" of schizophrenia got a mild boost this week as scientists discover that recently afflicted schizophrenics show higher levels of inflammatory proteins in the brain.

Senate Health Care Reform Bill Unveiled Legislation may go to cloture vote this weekend. Read the details.

RSNA 2009 Preview This year's RSNA should provide a very interesting look at the effects of the economy on the major OEMs. As always, vendors are whipping up the hoopla, and inside this story are great previews of what's being debuted. But DOTmed reporters will also be there to get the real buzz. Look for video interviews in our Online News direct from the show.

Interview With Fred Robertson, President & CEO of TomoTherapy TomoTherapy president and CEO Fred Robertson talks with DOTmed about his perspective on ASTRO's 2009 annual meeting, changes in the radiation oncology industry and two important TomoTherapy product launches that occurred at the show. Watch the HD video.

Pen-Sized Microscope Aims for Precise Brain Surgeries A confocal microscope picking up brain-safe fluorescent dyes could result in more accurate and streamlined surgeries to remove tumors from the brain.

Health Care Reform Round-Up: CBO Pegs Senate Bill at $849 Billion The numbers are in on the Senate's version of reform. Also read about the wide-ranging impact that the legislation would have.

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Has Stunning New Guidelines on Mammography Agency recommends no routine screening for women 40-49, no self-examination. Read the details.

Agility Healthcare
Solutions

GE Acquires Agility Healthcare Solutions

by Barbara Kram, Editor
WAUKESHA, WI, - GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), has acquired the privately held Agility Healthcare Solutions of Glen Allen, Virginia. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Agility Healthcare Solutions provides unique and innovative products that transform hospital workflow and patient care management. Agility's AgileTrac™ technology provides the most comprehensive enterprise resource management, asset tracking, and clinical workflow solution in the healthcare industry. Agility will become part of GE Healthcare's global Diagnostic Imaging Services business, a world-class provider of solutions enabling healthcare providers to achieve real performance results through a combination of consulting and asset management offerings. The strategic fit between the two businesses, combined with the ability to optimize productivity and enhance service levels, will offer substantial benefits to patients and providers.

Agility offers the only technology platform that provides enterprise visibility and management of patient flow, assets, beds and rooms, staff, emergency department activities, surgical services processes, and other hospital resources and workflow in an integrated, modular application. The company's turnkey technology offerings utilize Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) for automated data capture and display.

"Any hospital administrator knows about the daily headaches caused by the logistical coordination of providing patient care. For each and every patient interaction, patient, clinician, staff, space, assets & supplies must come together at the same time. Agility's visualization system is the one tool we've found that lets us visualize these interactions to predict and prevent bottlenecks before they occur," said Jeffrey Burke, Vice President and Regional Chief Information Officer, Bon Secours Health System.

"Agility was one of the first companies to utilize RTLS to deliver workflow and resource management solutions to the healthcare industry," said Rob Reilly, general manager, GE Healthcare Services. "By leveraging the AgileTrac solution and its integration with other hospital systems, GE Healthcare will be able to expand our capability to help hospitals proactively manage the unique needs of diverse patient populations."

This acquisition will enable GE Healthcare to expand upon its industry-leading offerings to help customers grow through patient-focused service delivery and asset optimization solutions. Additionally, the combination of GE's patient flow and hospital optimization capabilities with Agility's cutting-edge visual management technology will enable hospitals to reduce the operational burden on clinicians so they can spend more time at the patient's bedside.

"Our business started with a vision of improving the quality of healthcare delivery by coordinating and managing all elements of patient care, and this is a tremendous opportunity for us to further advance that goal," said Fran Dirksmeier, CEO, Agility Healthcare Solutions. "By joining GE Healthcare, we can reach more providers and provide more complete solutions."
ABOUT AGILITY HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS:
Agility Healthcare Solutions is one of the first companies to deliver RTLS-enabled workflow and resource management solutions to the healthcare industry. Agility offers truly unique technology and services that transform hospital patient care management and operational workflow. Agility's AgileTrac technology provides the most comprehensive enterprise resource management, asset tracking, and workflow solution in the healthcare industry.

<<> <>
About GE Healthcare


GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform, treat and monitor disease, so patients can live their lives to the fullest.

GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Our vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.

Interested in Medical Industry News? Subscribe to DOTmed's weekly news email and always be informed. Click here, it takes just 30 seconds.

Please Send us your Comments.

Printable Story
Access and use of this site is subject to the terms and conditions of our LEGAL NOTICE & PRIVACY NOTICE
Property of and Proprietary to DOTmed.com, Inc. Copyright ©2001-2009 DOTmed.com, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED