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Sale of .org domains could have big impact on healthcareHAZMAT! Take action nowVote for the 2020 Excellence in Sales Awards!Midmark to expand manufacturing footprint in VersaillesMeridian Bioscience's Lyo-Ready 1-Step RT-qPCR Mix is used in development of molecular diagnostics for new coronavirus outbreakAbbVie donates $1M+ of HIV drug to combat coronavirus; rush is on for effective drugs, vaccinesCDC monitors 110 people in 26 states for coronavirusBaptist Memorial Group tells flu patients to stay home, use telemedicine appPsychiatric hospital, cancer institute on hold in South Carolina as Prisma reviews spendingMary Free Bed Rehabilitation to lead Beacon Health System's programs at two Indiana hospitalsCleveland Clinic, GYANT team up on post-discharge patient communicationHCA reports fourth quarter 2019 resultsPremier partners with CommonSpirit to clinically integrate its newly merged supply chainVizient supports FDA's efforts to expedite biosimilar insulin development| Market Research | Sale of .org domains could have big impact on healthcare
The Internet Society in November announced its intent to sell control of all .org domains to private equity firm Ethos Capital for $1.1 billion. The sale and its implications have generated outrage and worry among .org users – including the many healthcare nonprofit organizations who would be affected.
Since 2002, domains ending in .org have been purchased through an agency called the Public Interest Registry, which is owned by the Internet Society, a well-regarded nonprofit working to expand access to the internet across the world. One worry of the proposed sale is that Ethos, in an attempt to make the .org top-level domain as profitable as possible, will rapidly raise prices for its customers.
Currently, .org is an open domain so anyone is allowed to register a .org domain, and there are more than 10 million of them registered worldwide. But the Public Internet Registry has the authority to suspend domain names for illegal activity, and one of the concerns raised in a public letter opposing the sale is the potential for governments to target NGOs by accusing them of illegal activity and pressuring the Public Internet Registry to take down their domains.
This could have serious implications for the many healthcare nonprofits who use .org addresses.
Read the full New York Times article here. |
| | | -back to top- | | Sponsored | HAZMAT! Take action now
 | | When it comes to handling hazardous materials, physician offices are required by law to follow specific guidelines and standards regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA). This helps minimize incidents and protects employees as well as patients.
But physician offices may not have a comprehensive understanding of what qualifies as hazardous materials, or what alternatives exist. With a little research and a keen eye on the physician office space, distributor reps can help. Read “HAZMAT! Take action now” here. |
| | | -back to top- | | From Repertoire Magazine | Vote for the 2020 Excellence in Sales Awards!
Know a Manufacturer or Distributor rep who deserves to be recognized for their hard work?
Click here to submit your nominations for the 2020 Excellence in Sales Awards from Repertoire Magazine and HIDA! | |  |
| | | -back to top- | | Distributor News | Midmark to expand manufacturing footprint in Versailles
 | | Midmark Corp. (Versailles, OH) announced plans to grow the company’s manufacturing footprint in Versailles. Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020. The project will allow for the expansion of the company’s manufacturing footprint in specific areas as well as shipping and receiving. It will also connect the plant to a second existing facility, supporting a safer environment by allowing teammates to remain indoors as they move between the plants.
Learn more about Midmark’s new planned facility here. |
| | | -back to top- | | Manufacturer News | Meridian Bioscience's Lyo-Ready 1-Step RT-qPCR Mix is used in development of molecular diagnostics for new coronavirus outbreak
 | | Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH) announced that diagnostic companies and laboratories in China have turned to Meridian’s Lyo-Ready 1-Step RT-qPCR Mix to develop fast and accurate screening assays for the novel coronavirus strain. The company says that its manufacturing team “is working diligently to meet the supply of critical reagents for the detection of Coronavirus and fast response to the outbreak.” The company says that the Meridian Lyo-Ready 1-Step RT-qPCR Mix can be set up and freeze-dried, so that the assays are highly stable, just requiring the patient sample to be added and the assay run. This means that patients can be screened very quickly to help stop the spread of this virus.
Learn more about how the company is responding to the outbreak here. |
| | | -back to top- | AbbVie donates $1M+ of HIV drug to combat coronavirus; rush is on for effective drugs, vaccines
 | | AbbVie (North Chicago, IL) is donating more than $1 million worth of an HIV drug to help combat the spreading coronavirus outbreak in China. The country’s national health commission has suggested Aluvia, a pill containing lopinavir and ritonavir, as one of two possible treatments for the symptoms of the virus known as 2019-nCoV in the absence of effective antiviral medications. Drugmakers are racing to add more potential drugs to the arsenal as Chinese government officials are rushing to contain and find solutions for the epidemic that originated in the city of Wuhan. The theory behind Aluvia is it works by blocking a protease that the coronavirus needs for reproduction in the human body. It’s not the same protease that the drug was originally designed to block, but it may be similar enough to delay disease progression. Aluvia has also been tested in patients with SARS and MERS. Other drugmakers are heeding the call for effective medications, including Gilead’s (Foster City, CA) remdesivir, an antiviral that missed the mark on Ebola. Moderna (Massachusetts) is aligned with the NIH to develop a vaccine and J&J recently told CNBC about its efforts to create a potential vaccine, testing at least five different constructs in parallel, building an animal model and preparing the manufacturing infrastructure. Read more about combating the coronavirus here. |
| | | -back to top- | | Government News | CDC monitors 110 people in 26 states for coronavirus
| As the Wuhan virus death toll jumps to 106 and more than 4,000 cases have been confirmed in China, U.S. health officials are currently monitoring 110 people across 26 states for the coronavirus, including five patients who contracted the deadly virus in China and transported it back to the U.S. The disease has killed 81 people in China and sickened more than 2,800 worldwide. The risk to the U.S. public right now is still considered low. However, the number of patients monitored has almost doubled from the 63 under monitoring last Thursday. The CDC has screened roughly 2,400 people flying from Wuhan to five major U.S. airports and is considering expanding its screening. The agency has increased its travel warning for all of China, asking people traveling to practice enhanced precautions. Chinese health officials are warning that the virus could be much more contagious than initially thought, as infected patients can spread the flu-like illness before showing any symptoms. It has also expanded screening to 20 U.S. airports to screen nearly all passengers traveling from China. Read more coronavirus updates here. | |  |
| | | -back to top- | | Hospital and IDN News | Baptist Memorial Group tells flu patients to stay home, use telemedicine app
| Baptist Memorial Group (Memphis, TN) is urging flu patients to stay home and use its telemedicine application to see one of its physicians. Telemedicine allows the patients to conduct an “e-visit” and fill out a questionnaire to find out if their symptoms match the flu. Baptist Memorial is implementing this policy for infected flu patients as well as a policy in light of the new coronavirus, which hasn’t hit the mid-South yet. However, Baptist Memorial emergency department staff received notice this week to ask entering patients if they had been to China recently. They are also asking about flu-like symptoms and will remove any patient from the general population if they show signs of the flu. Read more here. | |  |
| | | -back to top- | Psychiatric hospital, cancer institute on hold in South Carolina as Prisma reviews spending
| Officials with Prisma Health-Upstate have put plans on hold for a $34.7 million psychiatric hospital (Greenville, SC). Plans called for it to replace the Marshall I. Pickens Psychiatric Hospital, which was going to be demolished for a new cancer institute. However, both projects are in limbo as Prisma reevaluates its capital spending. The 65-bed psychiatric hospital was first announced in November 2016, but was delayed when it was opposed by two private behavioral health facilities in Greenville County, SC. The State Department of Health and Environmental Control then denied a certificate of need for the facility. But a new certificate of need was eventually granted and Prisma overcame objections by the two private facilities. However, Prisma is now reconsidering its capital spending. Read more here. |
| | | -back to top- | Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation to lead Beacon Health System's programs at two Indiana hospitals
| Beacon Health System and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital (Grand Rapids, MI) have announced a collaboration in which Mary Free Bed will manage the adult inpatient rehabilitation programs at Beacon Health System’s Elkhart General Hospital (Elkhart, IN) and Memorial Hospital (South Bend, IN). A Mary Free Bed director will lead the program at both hospitals. Physicians and clinical liaisons will also be helping hospital staff in Indiana. Beacon’s current staff will continue to work with patients at Elkhart General Hospital and Memorial Hospital. The Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Network, which includes more than 30 Michigan hospitals, is one of the largest rehabilitation systems in the U.S. Read more here. |
| | | -back to top- | Cleveland Clinic, GYANT team up on post-discharge patient communication
 | | The Cleveland Clinic and GYANT, a patient connection and relationship management company, have collaborated on post-discharge communication between patient and caregiver. The combination of Cleveland Clinic’s care management processes and GYANT’s AI-driven patient engagement platform has helped the hospital’s patient contact rate increase by 39% during the past two years. GYANT’s platform is being utilized in 10 hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic will roll out the solution within the Women’s Health Institute to help new mothers in the first weeks after giving birth. Read more about the partnership here. |
| | | -back to top- | HCA reports fourth quarter 2019 results
 | | HCA Healthcare, Inc. (Nashville, TN) announced financial and operating results for Q4 2019. Key fourth quarter metrics include:- Revenues totaled $13.523 billion
- Net income attributable to HCA totaled $1.071 billion
- Revenues in Q4 2019 increased to $13.523 billion, compared to $12.274 billion in Q4 2018
- Same facility admissions and same facility equivalent admissions increased 4.7% and 5.0%, respectively, in Q4 2019 compared to the prior year period
- Same facility ER visits increased 6.7% in Q4 2019, compared to the prior year period
- Same facility inpatient surgeries increased 2.1%, and same facility outpatient surgeries increased 1.8% in Q4 2019, compared to the same period of 2018
For the full reporting, click here. |
| | | -back to top- | | GPO News | Premier partners with CommonSpirit to clinically integrate its newly merged supply chain
 | | CommonSpirit Health (Chicago, IL) will partner with Premier Inc. (Charlotte, NC) in order to achieve operational excellence as it undergoes the complex integration of its newly-merged health system, which was formed through the alignment of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health in February 2019. While historically CHI has used Premier’s performance improvement technologies and services and Dignity Health has accessed Premier’s supply chain services, CommonSpirit Health will be fully converting to Premier’s GPO and will leverage Premier technology and a focused team of experts to strengthen and accelerate the execution of a clinically integrated supply chain. The total financial impact of the agreement was not disclosed.
Learn more about the new partnership here. |
| | | -back to top- | Vizient supports FDA's efforts to expedite biosimilar insulin development
 | | Vizient, Inc. (Irving, TX) submitted comments to the FDA in response to its draft guidance, Clinical Immunogenicity Considerations for Biosimilar and Interchangeable Insulin Products.
“We applaud the FDA’s draft guidance which clarifies that a comparative clinical immunogenicity study may not be necessary for approval of certain proposed biosimilar and interchangeable insulin products. Vizient believes FDA’s draft guidance will support a more effective and efficient approval process for biosimilar and interchangeable insulins by streamlining clinical data requirements…
“Vizient encourages the FDA to…” (Continue reading) |
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