Uptime, service management, and utilization tracking for MR, CT and other diagnostic equipment are expected to improve at Scripps Health in San Diego following the deployment of Glassbeam Inc.'s proactive and predictive analytics solutions.

The implementation of the software products will be carried out by Radiographic Equipment Services (RES) which has agreed to become a strategic reseller for Glassbeam solutions in Southern California. The agreement is the second to be established this month by the machine data analytics firm, which has also signed on ISO Brown's Medical Imaging as a strategic partner and reseller.

“Providers are going to be very cautious about the machine uptime or machine utilization because all these things become a cost center, not just a profit center,” Puneet Pandit, founder and CEO of Glassbeam, told HCB News. The gathering of machine uptime and utilization metrics from machine data analytics is where the real truth lies in the machine's performance, and that’s going to be super important.”

The addition of RES as a reseller equips Glassbeam with the domain knowledge of regional healthcare systems catered to by the clinical engineering service provider, many of which seek to integrate machine learning and greater predictive analytics into their practices to improve patient care and financial performance.

RES will deploy Glassbeam's solutions, as part of its ongoing service management contract for imaging systems such as MR and CT scanners, to clientele such as Scripps Health, which treats half a million patients annually throughout its five acute-care hospital campuses, hospice and home health care services, ambulatory care network of physician offices, and 25 outpatient centers and clinics.

Furthering the trend to enhance financial performance is the growing consultation among providers and ISOs that supply guidance for lowering procedure costs and finding affordable solutions for clinical and bioengineering needs, in order to enhance value-based care and meet the demands of changing reimbursement systems.

The agreement with Brown's Medical Imaging enables Glassbeam to capitalize on this service and the 25-years of experience offered by Brown, particularly in the X-ray and women’s health markets. It also extends the reach of its analytical offerings to multiple modalities and manufacturers.

Utilizing Glassbeam's technology, Brown plans to expand its portfolio from simple time and materials support to full comprehensive coverage for entire fleets and incorporate services for Siemens, GE and third-party brand CT and MR scanners.

It also places it on greater footing as a competitor with other ISOs, which lack the necessary software and analytics capabilities to draw and integrate disparate data from machine logs and transaction systems into one holistic system, preventing them from thoroughly assessing the value of resources available to providers.

Brown president and CEO Chad Brown says such a partnership allows the enterprise to build on the value of its offerings and its mission to help providers cut expenses and make necessary, cost-effective changes.

“What attracted Brown was being able to stay on top of equipment to predict failures so the company could have better uptime for changes,” Chad Brown, president and CEO at BMI, told HCB News. “The other side is the asset utilization, and being able to see what type of procedures are done, how often they’re done and help administrators add more value without necessarily having to buy more equipment. It’s making sure they utilize the equipment and the people they have in place to drive the best results, bring down costs and create more value to the whole cycle of the healthcare market.”

Glassbeam expects to sign up more customers and partners in each quarter, having just done so with Calamed LLC, a clinical service engineering provider for Caribbean and Latin American healthcare communities. The details for this agreement are set to be unveiled in the coming weeks.