Nine medical device companies ranging from industry titans to small-cap movers inked a pledge to make the data generated by their devices available to patients, in a move aimed at ridding the healthcare system of unnecessary deaths by 2020.
The pledges, led by Masimo founder & CEO Joe Kiani, capped the 1st Patient Safety Science & Technology Summit last night in Laguna Beach, Calif. Former President Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker, urging attendees to work together to eliminate unnecessary deaths and improve the healthcare system.
Leaders of GE Healthcare Systems (NYSE:GE), Cerner (NSDQ:CERN), Dräger Medical (PINK:DRWKF), Smiths Medical, Zoll Medical (NSDQ:ZOLL), Fujifilm Holdings (TSE:4901) subsidiary SonoSite, Patient Safety Technologies (OTC:PSTX) subsidiary Surgicount and Cercacor all pledged to make their devices interoperable.
"My fellow med-tech CEOs have taken patient safety to heart in a way that this industry has never done before," Kiani said in prepared remarks. "I am proud to be standing with these eight other pioneers as we break down the walls of data ownership to empower patients and clinicians with device interoperability, information, and technology integration that will save lives and reduce costs. As other medical technology leaders become aware of what we have begun to accomplish, we look forward to announcing more companies committed to the same objective."
"Thanks to these courageous leaders who have made public pledges, patients around the globe will be safer. These companies are blazing a trail in the name of patient safety and dignity – a move that will elevate their standing in the medical community as well as the market," added Dr. Peter Provonost, senior vice president for patient safety and quality at Johns Hopkins Medicine and director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality.
Here are the pledges each company made to lower unnecessary patient deaths:
"I pledge, on behalf of myself and my company, to do what we can to interface and share patient health information across different devices and platforms to help provide comprehensive patient health information to caregivers to assist them in making treatment decisions. This is my pledge to making a better healthcare system."
Stefan Dräger, chairman & CEO, Dräger
"We pledge to improve patient safety by allowing medical industry companies and healthcare providers to access patient data by maintaining open interfaces that enable third party devices and systems to communicate with GE Healthcare patient monitors, therapy devices and clinical information systems. I am personally encouraged to see the partnership and mutual commitment of the medical industry and clinical providers to do the right thing for patients, everywhere. This is GE Healthcare’s pledge and we invite our hospital providers and industry partners to join in the pursuit of zero preventable deaths."
Tom Gentile, president & CEO, Healthcare Systems; senior vice president, GE Healthcare
"I pledge, on behalf of myself and my company, to make the clinical data stored in my company’s products, subject to all applicable privacy laws, available to anyone or any entity that wants to use it to improve patient care. And I expect to be held accountable for this pledge by others in the industry."
Paul Gorup, co-founder & chief of innovation, Cerner
"I pledge, on behalf of myself and my company, to make the physiological parameters displayed by my company’s products, subject to all applicable privacy laws, available to anyone or any entity that wants to use it to improve patient care. And I expect to be held accountable for this pledge by others in the industry."
Richard Packer, CEO, Zoll Medical
"I pledge, on behalf of myself and my company, to make the physiological parameters displayed by my company’s products, subject to all applicable privacy laws, available to anyone or any entity that wants to use it to improve patient care. And I expect to be held accountable for this pledge by others in the industry."
Joe Kiani, founder, chairman & CEO, Masimo
"I pledge on behalf of myself and my company to make the information available from my company’s products, subject to all applicable privacy laws, available to others in the industry for their use to help make a better healthcare system."
Srini Seshadr , president, Smiths Medical
"I pledge, on behalf of my company, to make the physiological parameters displayed by my company’s products, subject to all applicable privacy laws, available to anyone or any entity that wants to use it to improve patient care. And I expect to be held accountable for this pledge by others in the industry."
Marcelo Lameg , chief technology officer, Cercacor
"I pledge, on behalf of myself and my company, to make the physiological parameters displayed by my company’s products, subject to all applicable privacy laws, available to anyone or any entity that wants to use it to improve patient care. And I expect to be held accountable for this pledge by others in the industry."
Kevin Goodwin, president & CEO, SonoSite
"I pledge, on behalf of myself and my company, to make the surgical sponge count summary information displayed by my company’s handheld mobile computers, subject to all applicable privacy laws, available to anyone or any entity that wants to use it to improve patient care. And I expect to be held accountable for this pledge by others in the industry.
Brian Stewart, president & CEO, SurgiCount Medical
