MX Introduces Its Editorial Advisory Board Members

Throughout 2006, MX will be announcing members of an editorial advisory board that will help to guide the overall direction and content of the publication. In its January/February issue, MX presented the first members of the advisory councils for two rapidly changing areas of critical importance to medtech executives: information technologies (IT) and reimbursement affairs.

To read an expanded version of the article introducing MX’s first six advisory board members, visit www.devicelink.com/mx/archive/06/01/eab_x.html.

Dillione: Enabling EHRs.

Expertise in IT

By far the hottest topic of discussion concerning healthcare IT today is electronic health records (EHRs). While market demand and technological innovation traditionally drive the advancement of medtech sectors, the federal government has in recent years taken the reins in dictating the future of EHRs in the United States. Ever since President Bush in 2004 announced his 10-year goal of creating a national health information network (NHIN), government officials at all levels have been pushing for legislation and initiatives, such as the establishment of regional health information organizations (RHIOs), to speed the nation toward this target.

Gee: Aware of barriers.

Janet Dillione, a member of MX’s council on IT and chief operating officer of the healthcare IT division of Siemens Medical Solutions USA (Malvern, PA), has been particularly active in the ongoing quest for widespread adoption of interoperable EHRs.

“Since the pivotal discussions regarding the action plan for building an NHIN first began, Siemens has been proud to be a part of these deliberations,” Dillione says. “As a significant provider to the industry and a member of the EHR Vendors Association of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, we look forward to continuing to collaborate and contribute to the activities of our participating customers in the selected markets. It is through the industry’s ongoing commitment to EHR- and RHIO-enable the nation’s healthcare providers that the communities they serve will indeed benefit from the power and promise of a connected, secure, and patient-centric healthcare system.”

Rudolph: Adding expertise.

Advisory board member Tim Gee, however, says the costs involved in implementing healthcare IT remain a major obstacle for most healthcare institutions. “At $20 million for a hospital electronic health record application, price will continue to be the biggest barrier to progress in healthcare IT initiatives,” he says. “Over the next 12 to 18 months, hospital budgets will continue to be squeezed by falling reimbursement rates, driving interest in open source software and other schemes to commoditize software.”

Gee is the principal of Medical Connectivity Consulting (Beaverton, OR), a firm that specializes in the application of technology and process reengineering for hospitals and medical product manufacturers.

Mannen: Guiding reimbursement strategies.

In addition to Dillione and Gee, Harvey Rudolph, PhD, has also joined MX’s council on IT issues. He serves as the global program manager for medical devices at Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (Northbrook, IL), an independent, not-for-profit product-safety testing and certification organization.

Refining Reimbursement

Today, device manufacturers are considering reimbursement planning more than they did in the past. However, Ted R. Mannen, JD, managing director of the consulting firm of ContentHealth LLC (Washington, DC) and newly appointed to the reimbursement affairs council of the MX editorial advisory board, notes that medtech companies still frequently make erroneous choices that can hurt their chances of appropriate reimbursement for their products. “The fastest regulatory route may be the best one for many products,” he says. “But for others, getting to market quickly, but doing little to differentiate the product from competitors’ products, may lead to disappointment in reimbursed markets.”

Bostic: Tracking reimbursement trends.

Robin R. Bostic, a member of MX’s council on reimbursement and vice president of reimbursement for ventricular assist device manufacturer Thoratec Corp. (Windham, NH), has spent the past 15 years managing reimbursement departments and national accounts for medical device companies. According to Bostic, CMS requirements for the creation of postmarket registries in connection with national ‘coverage with evidence development’ determinations is a trend to be watched. “CMS has already given us indicators of what will be required for a positive national coverage decision. Rather than a snapshot of evidence, CMS is basically requiring ongoing clinical validation to establish and maintain coverage,” she says.

Slurzberg: Industry insights.

“Three recent national coverage decisions (lung volume reduction surgery, left ventricular assist devices for destination therapy, and c ardiac resynchronization therapy ) have stipulated that patient outcomes must be reported to a nationally audited registry,” Bostic adds. “Manufacturers should plan strategically to provide a broad view of ongoing evidence—especially for innovative procedures and devices.”

In addition to Mannen and Bostic, Jo Ellen F. Slurzberg has also joined MX’s council on reimbursement affairs. She serves as vice president of reimbursement and health policy at Almyra Inc. (Boxborough, MA), the holding company for a variety of firms trying to bring new therapeutic and implantable cardiac and obesity-related products to market.

MX looks forward to the contributions of these editorial advisers and will continue to announce members of additional councils throughout 2006. In the March/April issue, MX will present its advisory board members in the areas of business planning and finance. To nominate medtech industry experts in these or other fields, contact MX editor-in-chief Steve Halasey at 310/445-4274 or via e-mail at steve.halasey@cancom.com.

© 2006 Canon Communications LLC

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