January 2009
- Study Reveals Focus of Hospital C-Suite
- Access to Capital Remains Critical
- Ultrasound Helps Identify Rare Pediatric Tumor
- Recent Acquisition Fuels Global R&D Effort
- A Hybrid Approach to Intervention
- CORE 320 Set to Validate Dynamic Volume CT
Study Reveals Focus of Hospital C-Suite
A study spotlighting the opinions and concerns of chief executive officers, financial officers, and operating officers (C-suite) of U.S. hospitals reveals their top initiatives for 2009. Commissioned by Toshiba and conducted by an independent research company, the survey includes interviews with 60 leading executives throughout the country.
Patient care and safety, improving patient satisfaction and recruiting and retaining leading physicians are the group's top three concerns today. Another top concern is accessing capital funds to invest in facilities and equipment, not surprising in today's economic environment.
Carrying on with the theme of improving patient care, most of the institutions surveyed have or will expand or modify their patient safety and quality programs and they have or are increasing administrative time to educate their staff on compliance with safety measures.
When it comes to diagnostic imaging, the C-suite views having state-of-the-art imaging equipment as an important component of their ability to recruit physicians and technical staff and very important to their overall success. They also believe these technologies have improved the speed of diagnoses for heart attacks and stroke.
Other topics addressed in the study include issues related to reimbursement. For instance, have they seen a drop in reimbursement due to the implementation of Medical Severity Diagnostic Related Groups (MS-DRGS)? Nearly 80% said "No." Or do they plan to increase their percentage of on-staff physicians if MedPAC's (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) recommendation regarding restructuring hospital payments based on "Episode of Care" is implemented? (Episode of Care would provide one fixed payment for the treatment of a specific illness and combines the technical fee with the professional fee.) Fifty-seven percent said "Yes, they would consider hiring more staff physicians."
The study was completed in December 2008. A copy of the complete results of the study are available for customers by contacting Mary Kienstra, senior research analyst, Toshiba, at mkienstra@tams.com.
Access to Capital Remains Critical
Like most of us, hospitals have seen their investment portfolios shrink and access to capital diminished. Pending healthcare reform and the recent passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program may lead to an increase in patients within the healthcare system and presents a new set of challenges. This confluence of events places many healthcare executives at a crossroads as they determine their priorities for the months and years ahead.
In the midst of this turmoil, Toshiba America Medical Credit (TAMC) has been helping healthcare organizations gain access to the capital they need to address their patient care priorities. "Our ability to secure funding from our consortium of AAA rated partners is undiminished", said Kevin Abbott, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, "so we've been able to provide many of our customers with capital during this stressful period."
TAMC provides Toshiba customers with a range of financing solutions including extensive financial product offerings, competitive interest rates, upgrade programs and quick credit decisions.
Ultrasound Helps Identify Rare Pediatric Tumor
Cincinnati Children's Hospital uses ultrasound to aid in the diagnosis of a Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor in a nine year old female patient who presented with vomiting and abdominal pain. Click here to read the case study.
Recent Acquisition Fuels Global R&D Effort
Last year, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation announced that via its newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary, Toshiba Medical Visualization Systems Europe, Ltd. (TMVS), it would acquire the Advanced Visualization Imaging System Division (AVIS) of Barco nv, Edinburgh, Scotland. This acquisition was made complete last month.
This acquisition brings in-house critical core competencies -- the development of 3D volume rendering and advanced visualization capabilities for all Toshiba modalities. In addition, Toshiba now is capable of conducting R&D twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, ensuring that the medical community gets the most advanced technologies possible.
"The formation of TMVS establishes a significant multi-modality research and development center in Europe," said Kenichi Komatsu Ph. D., president and CEO, Toshiba Medical, "ensuring Toshiba's unfettered access to leading-edge technology in an area of the world widely acknowledged for its innovations in medicine. This also demonstrates Toshiba's strong commitment to our customers in Europe as well as the healthcare industry worldwide."
Toshiba is patterning this acquisition after the 2006 acquisition which resulted in the creation of Toshiba Medical Research Institute USA, Inc. (TMRU), a wholly–owned subsidiary. TMRU is a significant research and development center of advanced imaging technologies and clinical applications in the U.S. Combined with Toshiba's R&D capabilities in Japan, the company undertakes development efforts worldwide on a 24-hour basis.
Toshiba's global research entities support clinical programs in partnership with luminary academic institutions worldwide to accelerate research and development of clinical applications using Toshiba's advanced imaging systems.
A Hybrid Approach to Intervention
Rush University Medical Center, one of the top five medical centers in the US, brings cardiovascular surgeons, interventional cardiologists and other clinical experts together in a collaborative hybrid OR suite. Click here to read the case study.
CORE 320 Set to Validate Dynamic Volume CT
As the next phase in validating advanced computed tomography technology in a clinical setting, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (TMSC) is supporting CORE 320, the largest worldwide multi-center trial comparing the effectiveness of 320-detector row dynamic volume CT to SPECT technology. The trial is examining whether the combination of CT angiography and myocardial perfusion can identify coronary stenoses that are less than or equal to 50 percent by Quantitative Coronary Analysis (QCA) and correspond to a SPECT perfusion defect.
"One of Toshiba's core missions is to validate its technology through clinical trials by leaders in the medical field," explained Yusuke Toki, general manager, Clinical Application Research Center, TMSC. "As the first and largest multi-center trial using dynamic volume CT, CORE 320 will result in the most statistically reliable data available on this advanced technology. This will be attributed in part to the trial's design, which calls for an international, multi-center approach, bypassing the limitations associated with focusing on one geographic area and/or small patient populations."
CORE 320's multi-center trial will be lead by primary investigator Dr. João A. C. Lima of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Md. Johns Hopkins University will also serve as the core site for CT. Dr. Marcelo Di Carli of Brigham and Women's Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital, in Boston, Mass. will serve as core site for SPECT. Additional investigation sites will be announced in the coming months.
"We expect CORE 320 findings to impact the way the medical community views the role of dynamic volume CT in the diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening diseases," explained Toki. "These results eventually could impact they way patients are diagnosed and treated."