11 minute read
Industry News
from Repertoire Jan 23
Manufacturer of Health o meter Professional scales and McAuley Medical products appoints new president and CEO
Pelstar, LLC, the manufacturer of Health o meter® Professional scales and McAuley Medical products, has announced that Ken Harris will succeed Dan J. Maeir as its next president and CEO on Feb. 1, 2023. Maeir announced his retirement this fall. As a member of the executive leadership team and executive vice president of sales and marketing, Harris’ group was responsible for the commercial activities at Pelstar since 2013, including sales, marketing, product development, and business development. “Dan Maeir retiring as CEO of Pelstar caps a 21-year career of success and leadership,” said Rick Crandall, chairman of the Board at Pelstar, LLC. “Over the years, Pelstar has grown its Health o meter® medical scales business to market leadership in the U.S. and has introduced
Ken Harris many new products. We are fortunate to have another long-standing executive Ken Harris, to take over. At Pelstar, he has been front and center, delighting customers with the Pelstar ‘Weigh Easier’ culture to remove friction at all levels of customer engagement. Pelstar won’t miss a beat in the transition and will probably add a few as well. Congratulations to Dan for his successful career and to Ken for his advance to Pelstar CEO.”
Prior to his time at Pelstar, Harris held executive roles at SCA Packaging North America (Essity). Harris served as vice president of Protexic Brands, SCA’s Tier 1 Automotive and Construction products division, and, as managing director of ThermoSafe Brands, oversaw the formation and growth of the largest global cold-chain pharmaceutical packaging company. Harris also served as the vice president of operations and R&D at Bohdan automation, a division of Mettler Toledo manufacturing robotic automation for pharmaceutical R&D Laboratories, as well as vice president of finance and administration at Ever Ready Thermometer Company, a manufacturer of scientific instruments.
Cardinal Health brings hospital-level care to the home with new supply chain solution
Cardinal Health announced the launch of Velocare™, a supply chain network and last-mile fulfillment solution capable of reaching patients in one to two hours with critical products and services required for hospital-level care at home. Through a strategic collaboration with Medically Home, Cardinal Health at-Home Solutions is now supporting a Medically Home health system customer with Velocare, collectively enabling scaled, highacuity care in the home.
Velocare brings together Cardinal Health capabilities through a combined offering intended for health systems, payers, digital health companies, telehealth providers and other entities moving high-acuity care to the home. Legacy Cardinal Health capabilities include global logistics and distribution expertise, management of a large network of suppliers and vendors, and access to a wide range of home-based care providers. The pilot will test the use of new technology, new order handling processes, small-format depots and short-haul delivery vehicles to enable safe and consistent hospital-level care in the home.
With the right infrastructure in place, patients who were historically admitted to brick-and-mortar hospitals such as those with severe pneumonia, complicated urinary tract infections, cellulitis, blood infections and congestive heart failure exacerbations can now receive high-quality, safe, hospital-level care in the comfort of their homes. The Velocare pilot includes real-time evaluation of the technology, service levels, effectiveness, patient experiences, plus consideration for future growth in new markets.
A recent study by McKinsey & Company estimates that up to $265 billion worth of care services for Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries could shift to the home by 2025 without a reduction in quality or access. The same research demonstrates how stakeholders – including payers, healthcare facilities and physician groups, home-based care providers, technology companies and investors – could see substantial value by providing patients
with care in the comfort of their homes. Potential benefits include cost savings due to reduced overhead and more efficient clinician protocols, increased safety due to a reduced risk of hospitalacquired infections and medical errors, plus increased patient satisfaction.
Thermo Fisher Scientific launches TrueMark Infectious Disease Research Panels
Thermo Fisher Scientific announced the launch of the TrueMark Infectious Disease Research Panels designed to enable rapid and accurate detection and categorization for investigating microorganisms that cause respiratory, vaginal, urinary, gastrointestinal, and sexually transmitted diseases.
To effectively study outbreaks and determine disease etiology where pathogens are similar, analytically sensitive panels are needed to support laboratory research. TrueMark Infectious Disease Research Panels are analytically sensitive, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) syndromic panels for the analysis of a wide range of infectious disease pathogens.
Leveraging real-time PCR technology, the predefined and customizable panel options allow researchers to choose from more than 90 different bacterial and viral strain assays to generate results within four hours from taking the samples.
“With the TrueMark Infectious Disease Research Panels, laboratories can choose either the readymade panels or create their own custom panels to suit their needs,” said Dr. Manoj Gandhi, senior medical director of Genetic Testing Solutions at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “By providing the flexibility to choose panels for researching polymicrobial infections, laboratories can now expand their testing menus using existing instrumentation and offer the benefits of PCR testing for researching a broad range of markers that can cause infectious disease.”
The assays use pre-spotted and dried down TaqMan plates, which are designed to enable easy set-up and increased accuracy. Testing can be done from nasopharyngeal swabs or nasopharyngeal aspirate, vaginal, genital and lesion swabs or urine samples. These samples can also be prepared using workflows that currently exist in most labs that use the Applied Biosystems MagMAX Viral/Pathogen kits automated on a KingFisher Purification System instrument and mixed with the Applied Biosystems multiplex master mix onto a 96-well or 384-well plate.
Midmark names Rob Sackett as company’s new COO
Midmark announced Rob Sackett as the company’s new chief operations officer (COO) effective Dec. 6, 2022. In this role, he will be in charge of day-to-day operations and execute the company’s long-term goals. Sackett comes to Midmark from Edwards Lifesciences where he was senior vice president of worldwide engineering for Edwards Lifesciences Global Supply Chain. Before that, he spent 20 years at Johnson & Johnson in a variety of roles in operations, manufacturing, research, development and
Rob Sackett
supply chain, including business unit manager, plant manager, vice president of manufacturing and vice president of R&D operations.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Akron, Sackett spent nine years serving his country as an engineering officer in the United States Air Force. He is also a certified Master Black Belt in Six Sigma.
Sackett will succeed the current Midmark COO, Mike Walker, who is retiring after more than 30 years with the company. Walker first joined Midmark in 1986 and was named an executive in 2000. Before becoming COO in 2018, he held leadership positions in operations, quality assurance, technical service and product development. Walker also served as vice president and general manager of the company’s animal health and medical business units.
President and CEO of Midmark, Jon Wells, stated, “Mike has been a vital member of Midmark’s executive team. Over his career at Midmark, he has been fully engaged in and guided our success. He is one of the main reasons Midmark has, for so many years, been not only a leader in healthcare but also teammate development.” Wells continued, “I am also excited to begin working with Rob. He is a great addition to the executive team, and I know his experience, insight and cultural fit will be a driving force as we transform healthcare experiences in the future.”
Medela partners with MedPro
Medela recently announced a new partnership with MedPro. The partnership will help expand access to Medela’s suite of wound therapy systems. This
collaboration will strengthen the footprint of Medela to include nationwide coverage with 60 skilled account managers supporting acute, post-acute and government channels, complementing the dedicated Medela team and reinforcing Medela’s investment in wound care.
“As a company, we remain committed to the patients and clinicians in the wound care space,” explains Jeff Castillo, executive vice president of the Americas for Medela. “Medela’s wound care systems improve patient comfort and mobility, increase clinical flexibility and confidence, and allow for better management of patient care. We are excited that our partnership with MedPro will allow us to extend our support to areas that previously did not have coverage and provide even better support to our customers, ensuring that all patients in need have access to Medela products.”
For nearly 20 years, the clinical care team at MedPro has worked to support the continuum of care and is trusted by manufacturers and distributors of all sizes. “Medela has incredible brand recognition, industry- leading products we believe in, and a great team of people with whom we are thrilled to be working,” states Manny Losada, president and partner of MedPro. “Our customer-focused model in the markets we serve is a perfect fit to support Medela’s wound care solutions.”
Medela also announced additional focus on the wound care segment welcoming Todd Harris to the team to lead as general manager for Medela wound care. “I’m thrilled to join the Medela team at such an exciting time for the organization,” said Harris. “Together with the support of MedPro, Medela will be able to provide more access and expanded support for hospital systems, clinicians, and patients. I look forward to collaborating with MedPro and across Medela to better serve patients and clinicians.”
Henry Schein Medical expands SolutionsHub with Rimidi
Henry Schein Medical announced the expansion of its SolutionsHub with Rimidi, a SaaS company that brings together remote patient monitoring tools, patient reported outcomes, and clinical decision support to help clinicians enhance patient care. As a result of this new distribution agreement, Henry Schein will offer its clinic, medical group, and health system customers access to Rimidi’s cloud-based software platform. As a result, this relationship will help further expand efforts to deliver to these health care providers an efficient model of care for patients with chronic conditions.
Integrated with a broad range of connected medical devices, including cellular and Bluetooth-enabled bloodglucose meters, scales, blood pressure cuffs, pulseoximeters, insulin dosing pens, and continuous glucose monitors, Rimidi’s software platform facilitates remote patient monitoring (RPM), patient reported outcomes, and clinical decision support into the clinical workflow. This allows for data aggregation across multiple devices into a single, streamlined solution that integrates with the clinician’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) and offers time effective and robust data-informed clinical decision support.
Physician-founded and led, Rimidi is designed to support health care providers with their quality improvement, patient engagement, and workflow optimization objectives. Current clinical use cases of the Rimidi platform include chronic, cardiometabolic conditions, epidemic management, and perioperative care.
BD named in top 25% of Newsweek’s 2023 list of America’s Most Responsible Companies
BD announced it has been named among the top 25% of Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies. This is the fourth consecutive year that the company has been named to the list.
The list recognizes the top 500 most responsible companies in the U.S. based on performance in the areas of environment, social and corporate governance (ESG). This recognition demonstrates BD’s ongoing progress in advancing its ESG strategy – Together We Advance – and efforts to achieve its 2030+ goals.
“This award recognizes our commitment to address the most relevant ESG issues to our business that make a lasting impact on our industry, society and planet today,” said Tom Polen, chairman, CEO and president, BD. “The work we do today throughout our organization of 77,000 employees helps us operate more responsibly and sustainably, and positions us for a more resilient future.”
America’s Most Responsible Companies are selected based on publicly available key performance indicators derived from reports on CSR and sustainability, among other topics, as well as an independent survey about the perception of company activity related to CSR. The award is presented by Newsweek and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider.
INVENT. CREATE. PROTECT.
In 1990, SHOWA® revolutionized personal hand protection forever with the invention of the world’s first nitrile exam glove. Since that time, the integrated manufacturer has accomplished a “Legacy of Firsts” for health care providers:
SUPPLY CHAIN ASSURANCE. CHAIN OF CUSTODY. BORN AND BRED IN THE .
1990
Invented of the world’s first nitrile exam glove
First 510(k) for the world’s first nitrile exam glove
Patent for nitrile exam held for over a decade
Research, development, and production of nitrile exam gloves in the USA since 1990
2012
Invented
ECO BEST
TECHNOLOGY®
Launched the world’s first biodegradable nitrile exam glove
2022
Stood up two more high speed monorail lines now with 800M glove capacity annually
Additional 40,000 square foot expansion in 2022 2021
Stood up two high speed monorail lines adding 400M glove capacity annually
29 Chemotherapy Claims and Fentanyl Tested 2020
510(k) for the Fayette, AL production facility
1990 2000 2010 2020 1995
Inventor of the world’s first nitrile accelerator-free exam glove (low dermatitis potential)
2004
Inventor of the world’s black nitrile elocstratic discharge glove
2018
Expanded Eco Best Technology® in all exam gloves
2019
40,000 square foot expansion in Fayette, AL
