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Digital Patient Communication Platform Gets Partner

Healthcare providers are increasingly incorporating technologies to provide better care at lower cost. One area of focus is communication—using mobile platforms to drive better physician-patient communication, care management and patient engagement.

PatientPoint LLC in Cincinnati, Ohio, has partnered with Irvine-based MeU Care LLC to release PatientPoint Connect. The product is slated to launch this spring and will allow health systems, hospitals and providers to communicate with patients using HIPAA-compliant multimedia messaging and education. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulates privacy safeguarding of medical data.

PatientPoint plans to use the platform to send educational and sponsored brand content, including a doctor news program.

MeU Care develops mobile and web communication platforms used for patient activation and care management.

PatientPoint Connect will serve as a central hub for providers to facilitate and monitor communication, deliver relevant education and important facility/practice information and conduct electronic visits.

MeU Care said its mobile platform can facilitate patient engagement.

“We know that using multidirectional multimedia to explain and communicate about a condition extends care and boosts efficiencies, particularly in our smartphone-centric culture,” said MeU Care founder Kendall Lockhart.

COO Named

MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center named a new chief operating officer. Ryan Olsen replaced Cheryl Jacob, who retired last month after 37 years with MemorialCare Health System.

Olsen comes from Cedars-Sinai, starting as chief operating officer and senior vice president and later working as acting chief executive at the hospital’s Kerlan-Jobe Institute. He previously was vice president of operations at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, part of Providence St. Joseph Health’s network of hospitals in Southern California, and chief administration officer at UCI Health.

“The week I got here our physician installed the world’s smallest pacemaker—the size of a vitamin and weighs less than a penny—for patients with [irregular heartbeats],” Olsen said. “We are staying at the cutting edge of technology … [providing] patients the right care at the right time, the right place.”

That means improving patient experience in inpatient and outpatient settings.

“We have to meet the need of our community, whether that’s a modern, state-of-the-art hospital when they need inpatient services or ambulatory sites,” said Chief Executive Marcia Manker. She said the hospital is expanding in the areas of cancer, imaging and cardiology—which Olsen can largely contribute to because of his “expertise from other organizations.”

Saddleback is upgrading cancer infusion center, “quadrupling” its size, according to Manker.

The patient demographic is comprised of a large aging population who have a higher risk for cancer.

Its women’s hospital provides comprehensive care from preconception planning and childbirth to after childbirth. “Patient experience is everything,” said Manker, adding that the hospital has spent over $1 million modernizing patient rooms.

She took over as chief executive of Saddleback Medical Center and Orange Coast Medical Center in 2016 following the retirement of former Chief Executive Steve Geidt.

Heart for Patients

Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) received European CE Mark approval to use the Centera valve in patients with severe aortic stenosis.

The self-expanding transcatheter heart valve hasn’t been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration and isn’t commercially available in the U.S. Edwards said on its fourth-quarter earnings call that it plans to launch a pivotal U.S. trial for the device this year.

The European approval was based on a trial that enrolled over 200 high-risk patients at 23 centers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Edwards has a $28 billion market cap.

Transportation Service

Cryoport Inc. (Nasdaq: CYRX), which says revenue growth is primarily driven by biopharmaceutical customers, added another account. It will provide logistics services to Salt Lake City, Utah-based DiscGenics Inc., servicing a multicenter study to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of using its injectable cell therapy to treat patients with degenerative lower back pain.

The Irvine-based company transports biopharmaceutical materials that must be kept at frozen temperatures. It reported revenue of $3 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 52% year-over-year.

Cryoport trades at nearly $8.50 per share for about a $219 million market cap, up about 150% in the past 12 months.

Bits & Pieces

Children’s Hospital of Orange County held its 10th annual gala at the Disneyland Hotel this month. This year’s theme was “A Decade of Caring,” honoring the Cherese Mari Laulhere Foundation. It raised $2.7 million. … The University of California-Irvine Health’s comprehensive stroke and cerebrovascular center was awarded a gold seal of approval from the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. It’s the third time UCI Health has been recognized since the stroke center program was established in 2012, representing the highest level of stroke care available. The department treated more than 600 stroke patients last year.

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