SAN FRANCISCO, May 13, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ndd Medical Technologies, Inc. has announced that Ohio-based Summa Health has turned to the EasyOne Pro®, a portable pulmonary function testing (PFT) device, for the health system’s groundbreaking population health management program. The announcement was made today at the American Thoracic Society’s international meeting.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/11ea3391-81e8-47bd-be3d-9bc5c56ffa52
Summa Health is one of a growing number of health care organizations seeking to improve the health of entire patient groups by better identifying their medical needs and responding to those needs in targeted ways. With incidence of respiratory diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma rising, and with half of COPD patients undiagnosed, Summa Health began bedside testing of symptomatic patients regardless of admission diagnosis.
“If we do a better job of identifying who has COPD, we will eventually decrease the burden of disease, improve the health of the community and ultimately save significant dollars,” explains Tim Buckley, MS, RRT, Summa Health’s Director of Respiratory Care.
Summa Health purchased six EasyOne Pros to replace its aging PFT labs — a move that other organizations have begun doing. For Summa Health, one immediate benefit of the new equipment is that it standardizes test results regardless of where the patient is tested, something that wasn’t always the case previously, according to Buckley. EasyOne Pro is also simple to use and unlike the replaced equipment, not subject to mechanical failure.
“Because the EasyOne Pro uses ultrasonic technology, you don’t have to worry about parts replacement that can cause downtime,” adds Buckley.
The EasyOne Pro performs Diffusion Capacity (DLCO) testing, spirometry and full lung volumes in just 20 minutes. DLCO testing is commonly used to differentiate between COPD and asthma, as well as to evaluate cardiovascular symptoms. The lightweight equipment can easily be deployed anywhere in the hospital, in outpatient clinics or mobile screening sites.
The traditional hospital PFT lab is a capital-intensive investment that some organizations are beginning to rethink.
“The cost of a traditional pulmonary function testing system, even without a body box, is almost twice as much as an EasyOne Pro Lab,” said Buckley. “And most importantly, EasyOne Pro Lab can do everything a traditional system can do.”
“The move to value-based reimbursement is a key driver behind the growing popularity of population health management,” said ndd’s Director of Marketing, Joy Tobin. “Devices like EasyOne Pro identify chronic diseases sooner, enabling clinicians to forestall or at least slow down their exacerbation, ultimately saving the system money.”
About Summa Health
Summa Health is one of the largest integrated healthcare delivery systems in Ohio. Encompassing a network of hospitals, community health centers, a health plan, a physician-hospital organization, a multi-specialty physician organization, research and the Summa Foundation, Summa is nationally renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to healthcare delivery. Summa’s clinical services are consistently recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (Magnet status), U.S. News and World Report, Thomson Reuters and The Leapfrog Group. For more information, visit www.summahealth.org or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/summahealth and Twitter, http://www.twitter.com/summahealth.
About ndd Medical Technologies, Inc. – ATS Booth # 2001
With a 40 percent of the U.S. spirometry market share, ndd Medical Technologies, Inc. offers innovative, easy-to-use pulmonary function testing instruments that help clinicians diagnose and treat lung disease with greater precision. Its EasyOne® portable instruments take lung testing wherever it is needed, measuring DLCO, FRC, LCI and FVC. ndd’s patented Ultrasonic TrueFlow™ technology eliminates problems associated with traditional methods of flow measurement, making testing fast, reliable and error free. To learn more, visit www.nddmed.com.