Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL, Inc.) Brings Advanced Testing to Capitol Hill, Discusses Health Care Cost ...

RICHMOND, Va., July 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL, Inc.) is bringing its innovative approach to identifying and managing risk for chronic disease to the Nation's Capital for the inaugural Population Health Innovations Showcase, Wednesday, July 11, 2012, on Capitol Hill. Care Continuum Alliance (CCA), the leading voice in population health, is hosting the Showcase to provide a forum for population health and chronic disease management innovators to share expertise, technology, and strategies with lawmakers, regulatory and government officials, and others who work on expanding access to wellness, prevention and care management.

Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. presents interactive display of advanced biomarker testing allowing for sophisticated health risk stratification, patient engagement and positive population health outcomes.

11 am – 2 pm Networking Lunch and Interactive Displays
5 – 7 pm Evening Reception and Interactive Displays

Rayburn House Office Building, Rayburn Foyer

Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc.
Anna McKean, Executive VP of Strategic Initiatives
Mark Herzog, Senior Vice President of Corporate & Governmental Affairs

As a CCA member, Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc., will display innovative technologies such as advanced biomarker testing and personal health coaching that can cut costs and improve health care delivery, showcasing the Alliance's commitment to accountable and value-driven care. Members of Congress, their staff and State and Federal government officials will see the impact of these high-tech tools in the lives of their constituents.

Audience members will be able to ask questions, review sample test reports, and understand their benefits for population health management, as the country faces the challenges of deficit reduction, escalating health care costs and rising rates of chronic disease.

"Health Diagnostic Laboratory looks forward to our participation in the Population Health Innovations Showcase and to educating leaders in government about life saving technologies that provide positive outcomes on the health care system," said Anna McKean, Executive VP of Strategic Initiatives at HDL, Inc.

"Currently, the incidence of chronic disease continues to accelerate despite widespread laboratory testing. Health Diagnostic Laboratory was founded on the premise that many widely used laboratory tests do not adequately identify the risk for specific chronic diseases, and therefore limit the opportunity for prevention," said Mckean.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that 75% of overall medical costs are driven by preventable chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes. Health risk, however, are not identified until after disease reaches a chronic state. Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. will attend the inaugural Population Health Innovations Showcase with a mission to help change the paradigm and to identify disease risk earlier so that the conditions can be treated and even reversed. 

HDL, Inc., a fully CAP/CLIA accredited clinical laboratory, is surpassing the traditional lipid blood test by offering an innovative biomarker panel of laboratory blood tests. By testing for inflammation, oxidative and myocardial stress, metabolic function, along with lipoprotein particles and pharmacogenetic markers, medical professionals can tailor the most effective treatment based on an expanded, comprehensive patient profile.  The result -- earlier detection of risk factors, more advanced evidence-based treatments, and fewer patients progressing to overt cardiovascular disease and diabetes. 

The HDL, Inc. approach emphasizes prevention of disease by utilizing evidence-based practice guidelines and patient empowerment strategies.  Evidence-based and actionable biomarkers in blood testing are available and affordable to practicing clinicians, patients, as well as employer groups. These innovative tests coupled with patient-engagement strategies hold enormous promise for reversing the rising global trends in cardiovascular disease and diabetes.   This approach to healthcare results in improved clinical knowledge and improved quality in patient care, which ultimately creates significant reduction in healthcare costs.

For more information
Population Health Innovations Showcase
http://www.carecontinuum.org/innovations_showcase.asp

About Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc.
Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Inc. (HDL, Inc.), a CAP accredited leader in health management, offers a comprehensive test menu of risk factors and biomarkers for cardiovascular and related diseases. Our systematic approach identifies factors contributing to disease and provides a basis for effective treatment, allowing physicians to more effectively manage patients. As an added value, patients receive a personalized overview of their risk factors along with intensive counseling from expert Health Coaches at no additional cost, improving compliance and enhancing satisfaction. For more information about HDL, please visit www.hdlabinc.com.

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Drug Companies Are Testing Health Technology

Drug companies are dipping into health technology—or at least skimming the surface. Bristol-Myers Squibb is a new player at this week’s Health 2.0 matchmaking conference which seeks to pair health technology start-ups with deep-pocketed partners. The pharma company, which is a sponsor, says it is “interested in companies pursuing innovation/opportunities related to the digital workflow of health care providers, the role of big data/real world data in health care, and how social media will enable patients and health care providers to find appropriate health information and connect with peer communities.” Bristol-Myers is interested, among other things, in medication adherence.

“Pharma is showing a lot of interest, and trying to figure out how to deal with it”, says Marco Smit, president of Health 2.0 Advisors. Through its various conferences, Health 2.0 has had its pulse on emerging trends in the growing health technology community since 2007. At a Health 2.0 event called “Developer Challenge,” Novartis asked a team of developers to formulate a solution that allows patients to better manage their cardiovascular health, such as blood pressure. The winner, announced in March, was Sensei, Inc., which developed a mobile health app with a personalized education, nutrition, and fitness program.

Glaxo pops up in a Health 2.0 market monitor report, released today. In January, it launched a free mobile phone-based asthma management app which helps patients track their symptoms, and scores them on how well they’re doing it. Glaxo sells the asthma drug Advair.

Smit says that some smaller pharma companies are trying to do the smart thing by differentiating themselves on how they engage with patients. One example is Belgian biopharma UCB which developed the blockbuster allergy drug Zyrtec, and sells epilepsy drugs. UCB has been ahead of the curve by partnering two years ago with online patient community site PatientsLikeMe to form a community for people suffering from epilepsy. More than a quarter patients reported an improvement in sticking to their drug regimen, as a result.

Still, despite the fact that pharma can be a natural partner for health technology companies, it has been noticeably behind other industries, namely telecom and health insurance. Companies, such as Aetna, UnitedHealth Group, and AT&T are accelerating their partnerships and initiatives. According to Health 2.0’s report, during the first two months of 2012, AT&T announced it will launch a beta version of the AT&T Developer Center ForHealth to help developers integrate disparate health systems; it also launched a tablet-based management service for health care providers. UnitedHealth’s Optum plans a beta launch next month of a cloud-based platform that facilitates the exchange of electronic health data across multiple devices and locations. UnitedHealth also launched Health4Me, a mobile app that allows its members to connect with nurses, locate nearby physicians in their network, and access their health benefits information.

David Chase, the CEO of patient portal start-up Avado, is skeptical of what he sees is a half-hearted foray by pharma into health technology. In a recent Forbes post, he writes: “While the [app] challenges are a step in the right direction, they are doing the equivalent of providing polite applause from the stands and giving the gladiators (aka startups) some modest rewards for their efforts.” David Shaywitz, a pharmaceutical executive, has countered Chase on Forbes, stating: “I imagine the most effective applications will find a way to complement and enhance traditional therapeutics, rather than position themselves as “alt apps.””

At least the start-ups are not wasting time. Check out these natural partners to pharma: Happtique, mentioned by Chase. It plans to launch a mobile app that enables doctors to suggest health apps to their patients. See also First Life Research, which mines patient-generated content about drugs, and uses it to provide insight into medication use, including why patients switch drugs, and their concerns regarding use and costs. “They can bring a whole new level of innovation to how pharma understands what is really happening to patients who take their drugs,” says Smit.

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ICSA Labs Certifies First Hospital Under Its Electronic Health Record Testing Program

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- At the HIMSS Conference on Tuesday (Feb. 21), ICSA Labs announced its first certification of an IT system that is currently deployed by a hospital.  The hospital, Via Christi Health, earned the certification under ICSA Labs' electronic health record program.  Previous certifications had been limited to commercial off-the-shelf and open-source solutions.  

Via Christi Health, which provides a network of health care services via hospitals, doctors, specialty clinics and senior centers in Wichita and south central Kansas, demonstrated that its custom software is compliant with standards set forth by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology for electronic health records.  This certification from ICSA Labs demonstrates that Via Christi Health's software follows patient-care best practices and enables the secure exchange of patient records.

Via Christi Health uses its internally developed health IT software to help manage patient records throughout its facilities. In preparing to earn its ONC certification, Via Christi Health had to decide whether to invest in new software that was already certified or to certify and use the custom software the hospital system already had in place.

"Certifying our own software not only proved more cost effective for Via Christi Health, it was significantly less disruptive for our doctors and caregivers," said Dave Gestenslager, application architecture manager, Via Christi Health. "Instead of asking our doctors to switch to a new solution, our physicians were able to continue to use software with which they were already familiar. This enabled them to focus on delivering excellent patient care, instead of learning new technology."

Amit Trivedi, health care program manager, ICSA Labs, said: "By certifying its own software versus transitioning to new software, Via Christi Health is a great example of how certification for electronic health records promotes technology use in a meaningful way to allow for better economics and improved access to patient information.  The testing of custom EHR solutions for eligible providers and hospitals like Via Christi Health enables physicians and staff to effectively use certified health technology."

ICSA Labs is designated as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and is authorized to test complete EHR solutions as well as modular ones that address a specific IT function.  To learn more or enter a product into the testing process, visit ICSA Labs' Electronic Health Record Testing and Certification page.

NOTE: During HIMSS, follow us on Twitter @icsalabs and @verizonbusiness, hashtag #VZHIMSS. Visit us on Facebook for all the latest show activity.  

About ICSA Labs
ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon, offers third-party testing and certification of security and health IT products, as well as network-connected devices, to measure product compliance, reliability and performance for many of the world's top security vendors.  ICSA Labs is an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited and 9001:2008 registered organization. Visit http://www.icsalabs.com and http://www.icsalabs.com/blogs for more information.

About Via Christi Health
Via Christi Health, a Catholic-sponsored ministry affiliated with Marian Health System and Ascension Health, is the largest provider of health care services in Kansas. Via Christi employs more than 10,000 in its hospitals, senior villages, physician offices and health services. In fiscal year 2011, it provided more than $82 million in community benefit to those it serves, including the poor. Visit viachristi.org.

About Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with nearly 109 million total connections nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of nearly 194,000.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.  

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