Hospitals and Health Systems News

ST. CHARLES, IL–(Marketwire – October 15, 2010) –  At a time when budgets are being cut, costs scrutinized and improvements deferred, members of the St. Charles Country Club recently banded together to bring accuracy improving technology to their local community women’s health center. 

In a golf and tennis outing this summer, St. Charles Country Club members Christine Kluck, Sue Dugan, Sara Woods and Mary Lisa Vale organized 70+ members to help buy a Magnification Localization Paddle Kit for the Delnor Center for Breast Health. The Magnification Localization Paddle is a device which provides greater visual accuracy, clarity and detail during localization of suspicious lesions or calcifications in the breast. As a result, patients may have less tissue removed, heal quicker and have improved accuracy for a more positive outcome, both physically and mentally.

According to Teri Koehn, Manager of the Women’s Imaging at the Delnor Center for Breast Health, “It is both humbling and refreshing to have members of the community participate in the purchase of equipment for us and our patients. The efforts of the women at the St. Charles Country Club will have a big impact on the high level of care we provide to our patients, particularly at a time when costs are rising and spending heavily scrutinized.” 

The Delnor Center for Breast Health located in Geneva, Illinois, promotes breast wellness by providing excellence in screening and diagnostic services for the Fox Valley community. The Center, which specializes in women’s needs, performs five-to-six breast localizations each week. The new Magnification Localization Paddle Kit, already in operation, is being used by radiologists and technicians for improved accuracy. 

Additionally, through the highly successful efforts of the St. Charles Country Club’s fund raising initiative, the Center was able to purchase 150 issues of the Breast Cancer Treatment Handbook, by Judy C. Kneece, RN, OCN which it will distribute to breast cancer patients. The handbook provides comprehensive insights on the technical and medical aspects of treatments and the emotional challenges faced by women undergoing breast cancer treatment.

Organizer Christine Kluck says, “Working with co-members of the St. Charles Country Club, its staff and the Delnor Center for Breast Health has been a most rewarding and personally satisfying experience. The women of the Club were eager to join the effort to assure all the women in our Fox Valley community have local access to advanced imaging technology that can help them avoid painful biopsies, uncomfortable recoveries and the emotional stress of waiting for results.”

About St. Charles Country Club

The St. Charles Country Club, located in west-suburban Chicago, is a perfect retreat for those seeking camaraderie, competition, relaxation, family fun and a high level of personal service. Founded in 1924, the Club is nestled on 270 acres in the scenic Fox River Valley. Its original golf course, which has been periodically updated and expanded, was designed by world-renowned Tom Bendelow. In addition to the unique and challenging Quarry Course, members enjoy the amenities of a 34,000 square-foot Clubhouse, two swimming pools, a Tennis Center, day camp, full-swing driving range, expansive putting greens and world-class banquet facilities. The St. Charles Country Club and its membership are dedicated to being active and involved neighbors through their participation in and support of programs and activities that benefit their community. 

About Delnor Center for Breast Health

The Center for Breast Health promotes breast wellness by providing excellence in screening and diagnostic services for the Fox Valley community. The Center for Breast Health staff is dedicated to providing prompt, private, personal and compassionate care in an atmosphere that has been designed for women. It offers an exceptional team of skilled mammography and ultrasound technicians, radiologists, pathologists, oncologists, surgeons, plastic surgeons and nurses. Delnor also has an active clinical trial program. The Center for Breast Health is located at 351 Delnor Drive, Suite 201, on the Delnor hospital campus. To schedule an appointment, call (630) 762-6400.

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SAN DIEGO, CA–(Marketwire – October 14, 2010) –  Southern California is in for a real treat. Pacific Liposculpture, Inc. has officially opened the doors to their new premier lipo clinic in the UTC area. Specializing specifically in minimally invasive liposculpture procedures, Pacific Lipo is the premier practice for San Diegans’ liposuction needs.

No longer a taboo or dangerous surgery, liposculpture procedures are routine and performed to remove unwanted fat with minimal discomfort and little to no downtime. Patients do not have to undergo the dangers of general anesthesia, there are no stitches required and you can go back to work the next day.

FDA approved and safer than standard liposuction, Pacific Lipo provides instant results and fat cells are removed permanently. Pacific Lipo uses the most technologically advanced medical techniques and skilled professionals, having performed over 10,000 procedures — liposculpture is all they do and thus makes them the most experienced and best at what they do. Affordable with prices starting at just $895 per area, and free consultations available 7 days a week. For more information on liposculpture services or Pacific Lipo please contact Rodney Davis, Physician Assistant at (858) 794-LIPO or visit www.pacificlipo.com

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WASHINGTON, DC–(Marketwire – October 14, 2010) –  Despite the promise of a new era of health care in which medicine has shifted from treating conditions to emphasizing prevention fueled by individualized care, a significant gap remains in realizing its benefits because of outmoded attitudes, protocols and procedures targeted for treating mass populations. Such is the core argument and motivation behind the “Personalized Health Manifesto,” released today to kick off the 2010 Translational Medicine Alliance Forum (TMAF) at the Mandarin Oriental. 

Written by journalist and best-selling author David Ewing Duncan and funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the manifesto is “an old-fashioned call to arms and action plan for a new age of health care” that takes direct aim at the challenges of integrating and implementing personalized health care in the United States and seeks to accelerate the incorporation of personalized health into the current health care system.

“Making this shift to personalized health is a formidable task that will take many years to accomplish, but having scientists and health care leaders sign on to a comprehensive plan is a powerful place to start,” Duncan said. “Launching a new era of personalized health will not require the creation of a radical new blueprint for change. We can use existing plans and reforms that individuals inside and outside of government have already proposed.”

“The manifesto is a fitting catalyst for conversation about how we can better and more quickly get cures to patients amid the billions being spent on research and drug development,” said Lesa Mitchell, vice president of advancing innovation at the Kauffman Foundation. “It directs us to focus on what we need to treat a patient, what we need to change in policy, what do we need to change in process, and how we need to more broadly share data to get the patient what he or she needs.” 

The manifesto’s “action plan” aims to set a new direction for health care, emphasizing prediction, prevention, individualized care and healthy wellness to ensure that the best medicines make it to the marketplace and optimize patient care. By focusing on the whole human organism, the manifesto challenges the prevailing use of drugs and protocols to target populations and averages rather than individuals. It further outlines the necessary groundwork for speeding up the process of moving from research to new drugs and other products and treatments by introducing more effective models that will ultimately improve health and reduce health care costs.

The manifesto was prepared with input from life science leaders representing medicine, business, government, patients, law and the media. Although the work is solely that of the author, these advisors have endorsed the manifesto, and many of them are convening at the TMAF today. The manifesto organizers hope to acquire the endorsement of at least 500 life science leaders by the end of the year. Anyone who reads the manifesto can add their name to the list of endorsers and leave comments by visiting www.kauffman.org/healthmanifesto.

The full manifesto is available at www.kauffman.org/manifesto.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Through its research and other initiatives, the Kauffman Foundation aims to open young people’s eyes to the possibility of entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship education, raise awareness of entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and find alternative pathways for the commercialization of new knowledge and technologies. It also works to prepare students to be innovators, entrepreneurs and skilled workers in the 21st century economy through initiatives designed to improve learning in math, engineering, science and technology. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo. and has approximately $2 billion in assets. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org, and follow the Foundation on www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.

David Ewing Duncan is an award-winning, best-selling author of seven books published in 19 languages; he is a journalist and a television, radio and film producer and correspondent. His most recent book is the bestseller Experimental Man: What one man’s body reveals about his future, your health, and our toxic world. He is Chief Correspondent of public radio’s Biotech Nation and a columnist for Fortune. He is the Director of the Center of Life Science Policy at UC Berkeley. He has been a commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition, and a contributing editor for Wired, Discover and Conde Nast Portfolio. David writes for The New York Times, National Geographic, Harper’s, Atlantic Monthly, the San Francisco Chronicle, and many other publications. He is a former special correspondent and producer for ABC Nightline and a correspondent for NOVA’s ScienceNOW! He has won numerous awards including the Magazine Story of the Year from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His articles have twice been cited in nominations for National Magazine Awards, and his work has appeared twice in The Best American Science and Nature Writing. He is a graduate of Vassar College and now lives in San Francisco.

The Translational Medicine Alliance Forum, hosted by the Kauffman Foundation, the Council for American Medical Innovation and FasterCures, convenes with the common interest of accelerating translational research to the patient. The Forum brings together leaders from academia, government agencies, and pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and venture industries to work toward developing a deeper understanding of effective models to enable and accelerate the progress of translational medicine. Through focused, dynamic sessions and exclusive networking opportunities, attendees have the opportunity to learn about breakthrough approaches and progress on current best practices in translational medicine collaborations. This Forum will focus on the following topics: regulatory science, lessons from the most experienced translational models, how and why rare disease and pediatric medicine are changing the landscape, transparency and access to data, and reverse engineering translational science starting with the patient.

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwire – October 14, 2010) –  Mindjet®, the leading provider of software and web-based applications for visually organizing and managing information and ideas, today announced the successful implementation of MindManager™ version 9 with MedMan, a leading medical management services company based in Boise, Idaho. MedMan was looking for a solution to help get closer alignment on internal operations and access to customer information for its 25 remote working employees so they could drive more strategic business plans for their dispersed medical practice client base. MedMan deployed MindManager to help employees create and organize all vital business documents, such as client rosters, HR documents and new hire information, in MindManager so information is easy to access, update and share. Using MindManager, MedMan is able to better serve its clients by providing in-depth and interactive strategy plans that foster idea generation and increase productivity.

MedMan provides administrative and business assistance and consultation for clinics, physician-owned and private medical practices. With numerous clients across multiple states and a workforce that is spread across the country, the business was difficult to keep on track. MedMan needed an easy-to-use and understand platform for tracking key pieces of information related to its clients and business.

“The methodology behind MedMan’s business is helping our clients prioritize needs and establish operational efficiencies to more effectively manage their medical practices,” said Jim Trounson, President of MedMan. “The beauty of MindManager is that we can easily create an actionable business plan with goals, owners and deadlines and work in real-time with the client to show progress and quickly revise the plan when needed. This allows us to the make decisions quicker and faster, making business better for our clients and MedMan.”

MedMan has also taken advantage of the new features in MindManager version 9 including the enhanced integration with Microsoft Outlook, the resource availability feature and the Gantt Project View to understand when clients have available assets and how MedMan can effectively use those to better a client’s business.

“Resource and project management is something that is essential to the survival of any business, whether providing services to clients or providing healthcare to patients,” said Scott Raskin, CEO of Mindjet. “MedMan’s use of MindManager demonstrates the power of visualizing pieces of information that are critical to everyday business function and we are excited to help MedMan provide a unique and necessary service to medical professionals.”

By using MindManager’s extensive visual environment and its innate ability to organize and manage all forms of data and information, MedMan has created elaborate maps that contain all pieces of relevant information for any client, ranging from current business plans, to action items to client rosters. With MindManager, MedMan has been able to strengthen its relationship with existing clients, acquire new ones and provide all clients the service needed to keep business thriving.

MindManager’s visual information maps start with a central theme, and then add branches with ideas, notes, images, tasks, hyperlinks and attachments. Users can easily import from all types of information sources. MindManager maps are used to capture and organize information, and quickly transform thoughts and ideas into fine-tuned visual representations, documents, compelling presentations and winning strategies. MindManager provides a better way to brainstorm, organize facts, plan projects, and communicate results. Users have access to tight integration with Microsoft Outlook and Office to keep the constant stream of information for a project organized in one easy-to-access location, and a visualization and dashboard tool for SharePoint environments with MindManager Explorer for SharePoint. Collaboration tools, real-time map co-editing and web based document storage with Mindjet Catalyst is also available.

For more information visit: www.Mindjet.com

About MedMan
Founded by Jim Trounson in 1977, MedMan’s business model was based on Jim’s experience with outsourcing management companies that were improving the efficiency of hospitals by centralizing and computerizing many of their management functions. MedMan’s goal is to positively affect healthcare delivery to one million patients per year by 2015, based on a proven ability to provide an elite team of professional practice administrators to physician-driven medical clinics.

About Mindjet
Mindjet provides productivity software that helps business professionals visually organize and act upon ideas, information, and resources to drive productivity, team effectiveness, and business innovation. Mindjet products include industry-leading software and online services centered on information mapping, as well as applications that incorporate Mindjet’s innovative visualization technology to improve the usability of leading business applications, including Microsoft® SharePoint® and Salesforce.com. More than 1.5 million people around the world use Mindjet software to clarify thinking, efficiently analyze information, increase team productivity, and make better-informed decisions.

Used by business professionals in 44 of BusinessWeek‘s® 50 “World’s Most Innovative Companies,” Mindjet solutions dramatically boost productivity and team effectiveness. Surveys across several industries show that Mindjet can increase productivity by up to 25 percent by making meetings, common communications, and project management tasks more efficient and effective. Mindjet products are available for free trial or purchase at www.mindjet.com/products/overview, through salesforce.com AppExchange, and through an extensive partner network at www.mindjet.com/community/partners/overview. Mindjet is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia.

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HILO, HI–(Marketwire – October 13, 2010) –   Pacific Quest recently held an informational and educational gathering for visiting educational consultants on the Big Island of Hawaii. Educational consultants arrived from the Midwest, East and West Coast, and Southern U.S. to learn about Pacific Quest’s wilderness therapy programs for struggling youth and young adults. Guests were greeted in camp with a welcoming ceremony, drumming circle, and a nutritious lunch prepared by Pacific Quest students. Afterwards, a garden tour of the four organic farms captured the key components and stages of the program for the consultants.

The next morning, Pacific Quest therapists and wellness staff delivered interactive presentations about the wilderness therapy program. Following the educational presentations, the group spent an afternoon engaging on the gardens and with students in the various phases of the wilderness program. Staff and guests put on work gloves and joined students in working in the nursery, transplanting plants, and harvesting mangoes and papayas on the farm. Students shared their experiences and knowledge of the farm with the visitors and were active teachers for the day.

What came from this gathering was an exchange of knowledge between educational consultants and the students and staff at Pacific Quest. Guests were able to experience the students’ daily life and engage in learning about the mind-body-emotion connection. By hosting this event, Pacific Quest was able to share its sustainable growth model through experiential education, informational sessions, and one-on-one interaction with students and staff.

For more information regarding Pacific Quest, please visit www.pacificquest.org or contact Mark Agosto, Outreach Director, at (808) 937-5806 or via email at [email protected]. Read more at: http://www.pacificquest.org/news/3/196/Pacific-Quest-Wilderness-Therapy-Program-Celebrates-First-Annual-Educational-Consultant-Gathering/.

About Pacific Quest:

Pacific Quest is an outdoor behavioral healthcare (“wilderness therapy”) and sustainable treatment program for struggling teens and young adults, located on the Big Island of Hawaii. Their wilderness programs offer a clinical, yet holistic approach to treatment, going beyond traditional therapy and teaching sustainable life skills. Owned and operated by a veteran team of professionals with over 200 years of combined program experience, Pacific Quest offers a unique approach to treatment that is individualized for each student. Through experiential education, clinical services, a dedicated approach to health and wellness, and sustainable gardening, Pacific Quest provides a structured yet flexible outdoor therapy environment that serves the individual needs of each student.

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LEBANON, OR–(Marketwire – October 13, 2010) –  The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest campus has yet to open its doors in Lebanon, Ore., but prospective students are lining up to apply for the 100 slots available in the inaugural class that begins in fall 2011.

More than 1,400 applications have been received, with several months left in the application process. The interview process began on Oct. 9 and applications will be accepted until Feb. 1, 2011.

“The early deluge of applications only codifies our historic belief that there was a significant unmet need both for medical education and health care services in geographic locations outside the major metropolitan areas of Seattle and Portland,” said COMP Dean Clinton Adams, DO.

Thirty-nine applicants, mostly from the northwest region, traveled to Lebanon for their formal interview with the school on Oct. 9. The interview is the final step in the application process to medical school following the primary and secondary written application documents.

The interviews were conducted by leaders who have volunteered to provide support for COMP-Northwest, including state and regional osteopathic physicians, Oregon business leaders, and representatives from Samaritan Health Services. The volunteers were divided into groups of three and conducted interviews for three to four applicants.

The interview day began with opening remarks by Dean Adams, followed by remarks from Paula Crone, DO, Executive Associate Dean for COMP-Northwest. The interviewees then received an orientation and overview of COMP, including presentations from Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Affairs and the COMP curriculum.

The day concluded with a 90-minute bus tour of the area, taking in the cities of Lebanon, Albany and Corvallis and highlighting the history, geography, amenities, activities and hospital facilities in each city.

“It’s very difficult for Oregonians and students from the Northwest to access medical education in the Northwest,” Adams said. “These students coming from the Northwest, educated in the Northwest, offer a significant solution to the health care needs of the Northwest as we face the ever-increasing demand for primary care and specialty services. The creation of a new opportunity for medical education in a small-town, rural environment will go a long way toward achieving our objective of providing health care to the many underserved areas of the Northwest.”

COMP-Northwest will be the first new medical school built in Oregon in more than a century.
The new COMP-Northwest facility is a 54,000-square-foot building due to be completed in spring 2011. The building contains two large lecture halls and four 60-seat classroom spaces, 15 student breakout and study rooms, an anatomy lab, an osteopathic manual medicine lab and significant research space.

COMP-Northwest is the approved new campus in the expansion of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, which was founded in Pomona, Calif. in 1977. COMP is now one of nine colleges that make up Western University of Health Sciences.

LAGUNA BEACH, CA–(Marketwire – October 13, 2010) –  The American Society of Bariatric Plastic Surgeons (ASBPS) today announced a partnership with RealSelf.com, a community that shares, discusses, and rates cosmetic services and procedures, that enables its 134 surgeon members to seamlessly participate and contribute to the growing online community.

The ASBPS delivers expert advice and educational resources on body contouring surgery with the goal of helping patients that have lost significant weight to find a knowledgeable and experienced plastic surgeon. This partnership significantly expands on the existing resources available to RealSelf.com visitors who anonymously seek authoritative counsel on post-surgical bariatric care and excess skin issues.

“For some patients, the euphoria — and associated health benefits — of significant weight loss may be tempered by the new realities of excess skin,” said ASBPS President Edward J. Domanskis, M.D., F.A.C.S. “This can be a highly personal issue, and before considering surgical options, many people first turn to online sources for education. RealSelf.com provides consumers with an easily accessible expert community, an open forum for discussion, and credible, of-the-moment resources. Our member surgeons look forward to sharing their knowledge to improve the quality of life for consumers seeking elective body sculpting surgeries.”

RealSelf.com includes thousands of first-hand accounts from past patients on hundreds of cosmetic services and skincare treatments, including Worth It ratings, cost, diaries of the experience, before and after photos, and videos. To date, board-certified doctors have posted more than 100,000 answers to consumer questions on RealSelf.

“Our bariatric surgery community on RealSelf.com has shown a marked increase in consumer interest, and we’re responding by ensuring visitors get timely, expert answers from leading medical authorities,” said Tom Seery, founder and president of RealSelf.com. “By aligning with ASBPS, we’re now providing access to the latest technologies and news on body sculpting surgery for consumers.”

About ASBPS

The American Society of Bariatric Plastic Surgeons was established by plastic surgeons that specialize in body contouring surgery specifically for patients that have lost significant amounts of weight through non-surgical means, such as diet or exercise, or through the various bariatric procedures. The goal of ASBPS is to help consumers find a knowledgeable and experienced plastic surgeon. Its members are all certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgeons and most are members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons as well as the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery or the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons.

About RealSelf.com

RealSelf.com is the largest social media site for sharing information about cosmetic treatments, cosmetic dentistry, anti-aging, and skin health. Featuring real opinions, reviews, and ratings, as well as doctor Q&A and before and after photographs, RealSelf covers hundreds of topics including plastic surgery procedures such as Mommy Makeovers, breast augmentation, tummy tuck, and liposuction. The Seattle-based privately held company is angel funded. For more information, visit http://www.realself.com.

OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL–(Marketwire – October 13, 2010) – The Sullivan Group, a leading provider of clinician solutions to reduce medical errors and malpractice claims, launched its National Risk & Safety Collaborative today at the ASHRM Annual Conference. The Collaborative was created to extend The Sullivan Group’s proven framework for saving lives and reducing risk with evidence-based e-Learning, software, and services. Nationally known physicians who teach patient safety in high-risk areas of medicine were chosen as Collaborative Champions for their specialties.

The Sullivan Group is exhibiting this week at the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management’s 30^th Annual ASHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition, held October 13 – 16, 2010 in Tampa; they are located in booth #200. Dr. Dan Sullivan, president and CEO of The Sullivan Group, will be joined at ASHRM by Dr. Henry Lerner, Obstetrics Champion for the Collaborative, to discuss this new initiative with conference attendees.

Dr. Sullivan states, “Collection and analysis of 12 years of medical error data proved that there needs to be a deep, systemic change in medical systems and processes in order to keep patients safe and reduce medical errors at the point of care. We all know that missing a single detail can be lethal, so risk management must be real-time and occur at the bedside. With our National Risk & Safety Collaborative we are leveraging our success and proven methodology in emergency medicine to other high-risk practice areas.”

The National Risk & Safety Collaborative represents the culmination of Dr. Sullivan’s vision for a broad-based system solution to the national medical error and patient safety problem. Preventable medical mistakes and infections are responsible for about 200,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to an investigation by the Hearst media corporation, which published its findings in “Dead by Mistake” in 2009.(i) The Sullivan Group’s successful Emergency Medicine solutions have been shown to reduce medical errors by up to 50%, which in turn decreases malpractice claims and associated financial losses. 

These proven solutions have been implemented at over 600 U.S. hospitals, physician groups, and risk retention groups (RRGs) nationally. Three fundamental components to The Sullivan Group’s “Risk, Safety, Quality Cycle” are incorporated in all of the solutions developed by the Collaborative. These include:

• Web-based risk and safety education covering the spectrum of high-risk care
• Bedside clinical decision support tools
• Clinical performance evaluation relative to evidence-based best practices

Collaborative Champions
 Renowned doctors have joined the National Risk & Safety Collaborative with the goal of expanding The Sullivan Group’s solutions for reducing medical errors and malpractice claims into the areas of obstetrics, surgery, hospitalist medicine, pediatrics, family practice, stroke, internal medicine, medical-legal, emergency ultrasound, toxicology, and triage. Each Champion is working with The Sullivan Group to create a scalable solution to the patient safety and risk issues for his or her specialty and build it into the fabric of delivery of medical care. This is not a single “one size fits all” solution. Each Champion will work with The Sullivan Group to develop a multi-faceted, patient-centric approach that is specific to his or her specialty and is focused on the point of care.

Dr. Lerner is developing Obstetric solutions building on The Sullivan Group framework. He explains, “Having practiced obstetrics for over 30 years, delivered over 9,000 babies, and reviewed over 300 obstetrical medical malpractice cases, I have developed a sense of which clinical practices most often lead to good outcomes and low liability and which practices do not. My goal is to share this experience in an organized, programmatic way with obstetricians and obstetrical units across the country.”

The Champions involved in the Collaborative include:

• Dan Sullivan, MD, JD, FACEP – Emergency Medicine and Medical-Legal
• Henry Lerner, MD – Obstetrics
• Geoffrey A. Machin, MD, PhD – Fetal and Placental Pathology
• Steven Selbst, MD – Pediatric Emergency Medicine
• Fred Callahan, MD – Stroke
• Scott Allen Kale, MS, JD, MD – Internal Medicine
• Paul Sierzenski, MD, RDMS, FAAEM, FACEP – Emergency Ultrasound
• Leon Gussow, MD, FACMT, RDMS – Toxicology
• Shelley Cohen, RN, MSN, CEN – Triage
• Steven Pantilat, MD – Hospitalist Medicine

The Sullivan Group has created a guide on the National Risk & Safety Collaborative, including full biographies of the Champions. For more information on The Sullivan Group’s approach for reducing medical errors and malpractice claims, view this three minute video: www.thesullivangroup.com/images/flash.html

Note to Editors: If you are interested in setting up an in-person meeting with Dr. Dan Sullivan or with Dr. Henry Lerner during ASHRM or a telephone interview after the show, please contact Maria Doyle at [email protected] or 781-964-3536.

About The Sullivan Group
 The Sullivan Group provides software and services solutions to help reduce medical errors and malpractice claims across the spectrum of high-risk clinical care. The Sullivan Group’s clients — hospitals, physician groups, and RRGs — have reduced malpractice claims and financial losses due to medical errors by up to 50%. The Sullivan Group achieves these results by leveraging an evidence-based approach to integrate extensive clinical knowledge with technology focused on the point of care. For more information, visit www.thesullivangroup.com.

(i) http://www.hearst.com/press-room/pr-20090809b.php

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BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM–(Marketwire – Oct. 13, 2010) – A new study has revealed that the UK is a nation of over eaters and grazers with seven out of 10 people reaching for a snack on a regular basis.

The study, showed that half of Britons graze on food when they are bored whilst 23 per cent eat and snack more at times of crisis, turning to food to help them with their emotional needs.

Out of the 3000 people surveyed it was discovered that twice as many women as men snacked when they were stressed with only one in 10 reaching for a tasty treat when they were actually hungry.

Boredom was one of the key roles in overeating with 57 per cent of women scoffing down chocolaty treats and fatty delights and 40 per cent of men doing the same when they were fed up.

Other interesting reasons behind some of the UK’s snacking habits included eating at times of sadness as a way for people to cheer themselves up.

Those who are worried about being overweight should book a consultation with an expert bariatric surgeon at The Hospital Group.

The Hospital Group is the UK’s biggest provider of weight loss surgery, including gastric bands, gastric bypasses and gastric balloons.

David Ross, Chief Executive of The Hospital Group, said: “We are all guilty of having a snack every now and then especially when so many of us lead hectic lifestyles, a quick snack or readymade item can seem like the perfect choice to keep us going.

“However, it’s when people start to graze on a regular basis that it can be bad for their health. Eating sugary and fatty foods throughout the day can lead to weight gain and means that the body isn’t getting the vitamins or nutritional content that it needs.

“Those who are overweight often find themselves in a vicious circle, they want to lose weight and become more healthy but are locked in a battle with overeating and don’t know how to change their bad and harmful eating habits.

“Our consultants ensure that, as well as having an absolute need for a gastric procedure, the patient understands that weight loss surgery isn’t a miracle cure and they would need to work with the band to achieve the healthier lifestyle they desire.”

Since The Hospital Group was established in 1992, it has risen to become the UK’s biggest weight loss surgery providers, performing more gastric procedures last year than the NHS.

The Hospital Group is committed to providing the very highest standards and all procedures are performed by an expert medical team in state-of-the-art facilities that are second to none.

For further information of The Hospital Group’s range of weight-loss procedures, surgery-seekers should visit the website www.thehospitalgroup.org or call our patient care coordinators on 0845 762 6727.

SAN DIEGO, CA–(Marketwire – October 12, 2010) –  When San Diego resident Paul Henderson was hospitalized last year after a fall and subsequent hip surgery, he realized that even highly trained hospital staff were unable to meet his basic comfort needs — not because of lack of concern, but because as an Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS — more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) patient, he had lost the ability to speak. 

His week in the hospital ICU followed by two weeks at a rehab facility so impacted Henderson and his family — who had to be present at all times to interpret simple messages such as “I need my pain medication,” or “I need to go to the bathroom,” — that it inspired him to set up a new business designed to help anyone with limited speech ability in a care-giving situation.

Called “HelpMeSpeak, Inc.” (www.helpmespeakcards.com), the new company manufactures and sells reasonably priced message cards that can be used virtually anywhere — in hospitals, nursing facilities, rehab facilities or at home. The two-sided cards come in sets of 15, and have basic “needs” phrases in English and Spanish. They are ideally suited to individuals who have suffered strokes, paralysis, or who have other nerve/muscular-damaging diseases (such as ALS or muscular sclerosis). Henderson plans to donate $1 from every sale to the San Diego ALS Association. 

“I assumed that nursing staff would understand that ALS does not impact my mental capacity, only my ability to move and speak. I also assumed that they would be able to interpret my efforts to communicate, or to at least anticipate my basic needs,” said Henderson. “Unfortunately, I was wrong on all counts. They would talk to me as though as I was mentally impaired, and unfortunately, could not understand my efforts to communicate.

“As a result, I would lay cold in the bed for hours, or in pain, all because they couldn’t understand me.”

Henderson’s idea for HelpMeSpeak cards was so simple, he was sure a product like this must already exist. However, after contacting several hospitals and facilities, none were in use. Any communication products he found were not directed to basic patient care and cumbersome to use. 

The HelpMeSpeak cards are held by a ring that can be attached by a clip to a hospital gown or by a lanyard to a bedrail (or for patients not at risk of tangling, around the neck). The cards are color coded — red for English and black for Spanish. The cards are large enough that even if someone has limited hand mobility, it’s possible to handle them with relative ease. For patients without mobility, the caregiver can show the cards — thumbing through until the patient nods that his or her message has been selected.

HelpMeSpeak messages include: “I need my medications,” “Turn off the light,” “I am hot,” “I am cold,” “I am thirsty,” “I need to go to the toilet,” “I am hungry,” “I am OK,” etc. 

HelpMeSpeak cards can be ordered through the company website, www.helpmespeakcards.com, with individual set prices starting at $25 and per-unit Henderson plans to have a customization option introduced soon that will allow users/orders to expand the sets, or change the sets, with other messages as well.

About HelpMeSpeak
HelpMeSpeak, Inc., a San Diego-based company, is the creator and distributor of HelpMeSpeak cards, which are care cards designed by Paul Henderson, an ALS patient, to assist speech-impaired patients with communicating urgent needs to doctors, nurses and other caregivers. Each set of HelpMeSpeak cards contains 15 cards with messages translated in both English and Spanish. For more information, visit www.helpmespeakcards.com.

IRVINE, CA–(Marketwire – October 12, 2010) –  SK&A, A Cegedim Company, today announced results of its ongoing survey of U.S. medical offices to determine the policies for allowing pharmaceutical and other medical industry sales-rep access to physicians and other prescribers. The Physician Access survey is based on completed telephone interviews with more than 237,000 medical sites representing 680,000 physicians.

While other similar studies and services are based on sample surveys, projections and manufacturer-based data, SK&A has invested in a comprehensive, ongoing survey to directly profile every U.S. medical office and record their exact policies for contact with sales reps. SK&A surveys its Office-Based Physician database every six months from its Research Center in Irvine, California.

After three years of measuring access to physicians, what has emerged is a portrait of doctors and their willingness to interact with sales representatives. Nearly half of the physicians surveyed say they require or prefer appointments to be made by reps prior to one-on-one meetings, while about 23 percent of doctors refuse to see sales reps at any time at any of their practice locations.

According to the survey, the percentage of doctors who will not allow access unless an appointment is scheduled increases measurably when their practices are owned by hospitals or health systems. In many cases, the appointment must be made through a headquarters location rather than the practice site itself.

“As prescribers become busier and less accessible, understanding physician access preferences is critical to successful sales and marketing resource planning, and execution,” said SK&A’s Dave Escalante, Vice President of Data and Information Solutions. “The information available from SK&A’s up-to-date profiling of physician access gives sales and marketing organizations deeper insight, enabling them to target more efficiently while not jeopardizing important relationships.”

Managing sales-rep calls is a significant part of the physician work week. According to the latest findings of the Physician Access study, most doctors (98 percent) report their offices are visited by up to 20 industry reps per week or one rep an average of every two hours.

Other significant trends found within the survey include:

• Specialty physicians are less likely to grant sales reps access than general practitioners. The top-three most accessible physician areas are allergists/immunologists (4.2% no-see rate), orthopedic specialists (5.1%) and diabetes specialists (7.6%). The least accessible physicians are diagnostic radiologists (92.1% no-see rate), pathologists (91.8%) and neuroradiologists (90.6%).The access rates for these specialists have remained constant for the last two bi-yearly reporting periods.

• Offices with fewer patients seen daily are less likely to see sales reps. Sites with a daily patient volume of one to 10 have a no-access rate of 28.9 percent, while those with a daily patient volume of 31 to 40 have a 13.4 percent no-access rate. Sites that are less busy are often staffed by one physician who is not able to take a break from patient appointments to visit with industry sales reps.

• Health system- and hospital-owned offices are less likely to grant sales reps access. Health system- and hospital-owned offices have no-access rates of 30.8 percent and 29.6 percent, respectively. Non-health system and hospital-owned offices have no-access rates of 21.4 percent and 21.7 percent, respectively.

• Larger practices are less likely to grant sales reps access. Offices with one to two physicians have a no-access rate of 13.3 percent while offices with 10 or more physicians have a no-access rate of 42.2 percent.

• Physician offices in the Western U.S. are least likely to allow sales reps access. The South had the lowest no-access rate of 19.4 percent, and the West had a 28.4 percent no-access rate.

The Physician Access report is available to help healthcare marketers and sales executives in appointment-setting and connecting personally with physicians. SK&A has compiled access data at the physician level and offers custom databases selectable by geography, specialty, office size, patient volume, practice ownership and other variables upon request. 

Editor’s Note: For a copy of the summary findings for publication, please contact Jack Schember, SK&A Director of Marketing, at 800-752-5478, ext. 1259. 
 
About SK&A, A Cegedim Company:
SK&A is a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research. SK&A, as part of Cegedim’s global OneKey® offering, researches and maintains contact and profiling information for over two million healthcare practitioners, including 800,000-plus prescribers. SK&A also offers the only 100-percent telephone-verified database of email addresses of U.S. prescribers and professionals working at active healthcare sites. SK&A’s customers include many of America’s most recognized healthcare, life sciences and pharmaceutical companies. Please visit www.skainfo.com for more information or www.skalivecounts.com for counts and ordering. 

About Cegedim:
Founded in 1969, Cegedim is a global technology and services company specializing in the healthcare field. Cegedim supplies services, technological tools, specialized software, data flow management services and databases. Its offerings are targeted notably at healthcare industries, life sciences companies, healthcare professionals and insurance companies. The world leader in life sciences CRM, Cegedim is also one of the leading suppliers of strategic healthcare industry data. Cegedim employs 8,600 people in more than 80 countries and generated revenue of EUR 874 million in 2009. Cegedim SA is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: CGM).
To learn more, please visit: www.cegedim.com

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NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – October 12, 2010) –  Healthnostics, Inc., (PINKSHEETS: HNSS), a medical manufacturing and biotechnology analytics company, has purchased a major manufacturer of specialty medical products. There will be an immediate positive impact on revenue and earnings commencing in the 1^st Quarter of 2011. Details will be forthcoming in subsequent press releases.

“This accretive purchase directly ties into the Company’s recent acquisition of World Wide Wipes Co., and it will result in even more substantial impact on our profitability and earnings per share,” said Alan Grofe, president.

About Healthnostics

Healthnostics, Inc. is a medical and biotechnology analytics company that provides comprehensive patient clinical monitoring and risk management systems to acute care hospitals and utilizes its Internet portals to deliver medical and biotechnology resource information to industry professionals as well as to the general public. Healthnostics’ major products include: Worldwide Wipes Co., a manufacturer and distributor of medical and other wipes, MedGuardian, a patient care monitoring and risk management system for hospitals that is fully Web-based; and through the MedBioWeb subsidiary, MedBioWorld™, one of the largest professional medical and biotechnology directory resource and reference portal sites on the Internet, and FamilyMedicalNet, a companion consumer healthcare information portal.

For further information please visit Healthnostics www.healthnostics.com, and Worldwide Wipes Co. www.wipesco.com, MedBioWorld www.medbioworld.com, and FamilyMedicalNet www.familymedicalnet.com. And visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Healthnostics.

This press release may contain certain statements that are not descriptions of historical information, but are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements refer to matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements reflect management’s current views and are based on certain assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from the assumptions currently anticipated.

BOCA RATON, FL–(Marketwire – October 12, 2010) –  David H. Fater, CEO of Vicor Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: VCRT), today announced that the Company completed the sale of $2.75 million principal amount, 10% convertible notes due in 2012 and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 6,111,000 shares of Vicor’s common stock on October 8, 2010. Vicor Technologies is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative, non-invasive medical devices using its patented, proprietary PD2i^® nonlinear algorithm and software. Vicor is currently in the process of commercializing diagnostics that accurately risk stratify specific target populations for future pathological events, including congestive heart failure patients for cardiac death resulting from arrhythmia or pump failure, diabetics for diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN), and trauma victims for imminent death absent immediate lifesaving intervention.

“We’re extremely pleased to have secured this financing, especially given the current state of the economy. We are gratified by our investors’ confidence in the market potential of our non-invasive risk stratification products, which we are beginning to realize. This financing will provide us with the working capital needed to continue to execute our business plan,” stated Mr. Fater.

About Vicor Technologies, Inc.
Vicor Technologies is a biotechnology company creating innovative non-invasive diagnostics employing its patented, proprietary point correlation dimension algorithm (PD2i^®). The PD2i^® nonlinear algorithm is a deterministic, nonlinear measure of electrophysiological potentials that predicts future pathological events with a high degree of accuracy in target populations.

Vicor currently has three products employing the PD2i^® nonlinear algorithm. The PD2i Analyzer™, which has FDA 510(k) marketing clearance, measures heart rate variability; physicians performing diagnostic tests with the PD2i Analyzer™ are able to receive reimbursement under existing CPT codes. The PD2i VS™ (Vital Sign), in clinical trials under a collaborative effort with the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research (http://www.usaisr.amedd.army.mil/), risk stratifies combat and civilian trauma victims. The PD2i CA™ (Cardiac Analyzer), in multiple clinical trials, identifies patients at risk of sudden cardiac death.

Vicor anticipates additional applications employing the PD2i^® nonlinear algorithm to enable early detection and risk stratification for a variety of other disorders and diseases. Additional information is available at www.vicortech.com.

Disclaimer
The appearance in this release of name-brand institutions, such as the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research, does not constitute endorsement by these institutions of the information, products, or services contained therein.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements in this press release are based on current plans and expectations that are subject to uncertainties and risks, which could cause our future results to differ materially. The following factors, among others, could cause our actual results to differ: our ability to successfully complete the normal range study for PD2i^®values; our ability to generate revenues from the sale of the PD2i Analyzer™; our ability to obtain FDA approval of our 510(k) submission to secure a claim for the PD2i CA™(Cardiac Analyzer) for risk stratifying congestive heart failure patients at elevated risk of cardiac mortality and our ability to obtain marketing clearance from the FDA for the PD2i VS™ (Vital Sign) for military and civilian applications; our ability to develop additional applications for the PD2i^®algorithm; our ability to continue to receive financing sufficient to continue operations and complete critical clinical trials; our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to successfully develop products based on our technologies; our ability to obtain and maintain adequate levels of third-party reimbursement for our products; the impact of competitive products and pricing; our ability to receive regulatory approval for our products; the ability of third-party contract research organizations to perform preclinical testing and clinical trials for our technologies; the ability of third-party manufacturers to manufacture our products; our ability to retain the services of our key personnel; our ability to market and sell our products successfully; our ability to protect our intellectual property; product liability; changes in federal income tax laws and regulations; general market conditions in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries; and other matters that are described in Vicor’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of the press release, and we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements or the reasons why actual results could differ.

Release 10-19

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MADISON, WI–(Marketwire – October 12, 2010) – TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO), maker of advanced radiation therapy solutions for cancer care, saw attendance double over 2009 levels for its annual Asia Pacific User Education Symposium, held October 2-3, 2010, in Incheon, South Korea. More than 190 TomoTherapy^® treatment system users from across the Asia Pacific region convened to share insights on a growing body of clinical evidence of the efficacy of TomoTherapy radiation treatments. The increased attendance underscores the rapid adoption of the solution in the region, where the installed base of TomoTherapy systems has increased by 27 percent in just the last year.

“The Asia Pacific User Education Symposium was extremely valuable for all TomoTherapy users in the region,” said Dr. Yong Chan Ahn, associate professor and chairman of Radiation Oncology at Samsung Medical Center in South Korea, who also served as chairman of the event. “We had the opportunity to see a great deal of excellent clinical research, with many presentations focused on those diseases, such as liver cancer, that are difficult to treat and commonly seen in Asia. I look forward to the maturing of the results we are seeing, further showing the benefits of TomoTherapy in these areas.”

The Asia Pacific region is one of the fastest growing markets for TomoTherapy, with its installed base experiencing consistent growth of about 30 percent annually for the last few years. The key growth drivers for the region have been Korea, Japan and, more recently, China. Also, in the past year, expansion into Malaysia and Australia have added to the growth. Japan remains the largest market in the Asia Pacific region with 19 TomoTherapy systems installed, second overall only to the United States. South Korea is the second largest market in the region, with 14 systems currently installed.

“We were extremely pleased to see the representation of our customers at this meeting. Their presence overwhelmingly confirms that TomoTherapy offers very high quality treatment and is considered the gold standard in radiation therapy,” said H.W. Jang, CEO of Oncology Total Solutions, a distributor of TomoTherapy technology in South Korea and host of the symposium. “We are proud to have a very strong relationship with TomoTherapy to provide the best quality service, which strengthens our bond with our customers and helps them in the delivery of treatment to their patients.”

The User Education Symposium featured a strong scientific program covering topics from treatment of liver and nasopharynx cancers, to sparing of the hippocampus during treatment for brain cancer. Of particular note were two presentations:

• Dr. Chul Seung Kay of Incheon St. Mary Hospital of Korea presented on five years of clinical experience with TomoTherapy technology at his institution, citing multiple areas of investigation. In the treatment of advanced hepatocellular cancer with TomoTherapy, results showed a median survival rate double that of similar patients treated by other means. Other disease studies showed positive response to TomoTherapy treatments, particularly patients with pulmonary metastases who did not respond to multiple cycles of systemic chemotherapy. Researchers also reported on the feasibility of TomoTherapy to treat inoperable, advanced pancreatic cancers, and discussed ongoing studies on extracranial metastases, re-irradiation of recurrent rectal, head and neck cancers and oligometastases from breast cancer.

• Dr. Chikao Sugie of Nagoya City University, Japan detailed his center’s experience with craniospinal treatments on a group of 12 patients, median 14 years of age. For treatment of various brain tumors, TomoTherapy plans were superior to conventional linear accelerator-based plans with regard to the homogeneity and conformality in planning target volume.

“We have treated more than 1,300 patients with a broad spectrum of disease with TomoTherapy since September 2006,” said Dr. Pei-Wei Shueng, chief of Radiation Oncology at Far Eastern Hospital in Taiwan. “We have found that helical TomoTherapy provides us with a flexible treatment fractionation scheme that offers better dose coverage and highly conformal dose distributions, combined with an impressive ability to simultaneously spare multiple critical structures.”

“The degree of clinical interest in TomoTherapy in the Asia Pacific region is very impressive, as evidenced in the participation in our symposium. In just its third year, the Asia Pacific User Education Symposium has grown to be the largest one TomoTherapy hosted this year,” said Fred Robertson, M.D., TomoTherapy’s CEO. “Based on the response to our symposium and the clinical evidence coming out of the region, we believe that the stage is set for continued significant adoption of the TomoTherapy platform throughout the Asia Pacific region.”

The Asia Pacific event is the final in a series of three User Education Symposia held in 2010. The first, for the Americas region, took place in April in San Diego, Calif., and the second, for Europe and the Middle East, was held in May in Marbella, Spain. 

About TomoTherapy Incorporated
TomoTherapy Incorporated develops, markets and sells advanced radiation therapy solutions that can be used to treat a wide variety of cancers, from the most common to the most complex. The ring gantry-based TomoTherapy^® platform combines integrated CT imaging with conformal radiation therapy to deliver sophisticated radiation treatments with speed and precision while reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. TomoTherapy’s suite of solutions include its flagship Hi·Art^® treatment system, which has been used to deliver more than three million CT-guided, helical intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment fractions; the TomoHD^™ treatment system, designed to enable cancer centers to treat a broader patient population with a single device; and the TomoMobile™ relocatable radiation therapy solution, designed to improve access and availability of state-of-the-art cancer care. TomoTherapy’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol TOMO. To learn more about TomoTherapy, please visit TomoTherapy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this release regarding future products or product capabilities, events, expectations and other similar matters, including but not limited to statements using the terms “may,” “should,” “suggests” or “indicates” constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including but not limited to factors such as our ability to integrate acquired assets, ability to protect intellectual property, risks of interruption due to events beyond the company’s control, and the other risks listed from time to time in TomoTherapy’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which by this reference are incorporated herein. These forward-looking statements represent TomoTherapy’s judgments as of the date of this press release. TomoTherapy assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements in this release because of new information, future events or otherwise.

©2010 TomoTherapy Incorporated. All rights reserved. TomoTherapy, Tomo, TomoDirect, TQA, the TomoTherapy logo and Hi·Art are among trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of TomoTherapy Incorporated in the United States and other countries

FLEMINGTON, NJ–(Marketwire – October 8, 2010) –  Ken Glynn, President of SpeechSwitch, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: SSWC), reported today that another of the required SEC documents to bring the company current was submitted today for EDGAR review. The first quarter 2009 Form 10-Q has been completed and submitted to Marketwire for conversion and filing with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. This filing will be completed by Marketwire. Additional filings will be made over the next two weeks. The annual report for 2008 (end of year 10-K) will be submitted by the end of next week, as it is still under final attorney review; Second quarter 2009 Form 10Q will be filed within the next week. The company will continue to step up its effort to bring the company current as a pink sheet company as quickly as possible.

Information set forth in this press release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Private Securities Litigation reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) provides certain “safe harbor” provisions for forward-looking statements. The reader is cautioned that such forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time and/or management’s good faith belief with respect to future events, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statement was made. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking information to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. 

BERKELEY, CA–(Marketwire – October 7, 2010) – Berkeley Bionics™, developer and maker of bionic exoskeletons that augment human strength, endurance and mobility, today unveiled eLEGS, a wearable, artificially intelligent, bionic device that powers paraplegics up to get them standing and walking.

eLEGS was unveiled at a press conference today in San Francisco by Berkeley Bionics’ CEO, Eythor Bender, who explained that the company’s mission is to provide people with unprecedented mobility options. “Many of the 6 million Americans who live with some form of paralysis today were highly active and at the top of their game when they sustained their injury. As they research their options for increased mobility, they discover that wheelchairs are pretty much it. This has been the only alternative — their only hope — for nearly 500 years,” he said. “We want to enhance their independence and freedom of movement,” he added, “and with eLEGS, they can stand up and walk for the first time since their injury.”

“As a wheelchair user, I experience the multiple health and fitness benefits of mobility from the standing position. I can’t wait to share this alternative with other individuals,” shared eLEGS tester and a partial quadriplegic herself, Dr. Suzy Kim, an assistant clinical professor at the Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, UCI Medical Center, as well as director, Clinical Spinal Cord Injury Program & Scientific Liaison for Reeve-Irvine Research Center. “The application of eLEGS will revolutionize the field of neurologic rehabilitation from the hospital to the home setting.”

Initially, the device will be offered to rehabilitation centers for use under medical supervision, and can be adjusted to fit most people between 5’2 and 6’4″ and weighing 220 lbs or less, in a matter of minutes. Users must be able to self-transfer from their wheelchair. Simple Velcro straps, backpack-style clips, and shoulder straps secure eLEGS to the user, over their clothing and shoes, and with a little practice, users can put eLEGS on and take it off in a minute or two.

eLEGS provides unprecedented knee flexion, which translates into the most natural human gait available in any exoskeleton today, making it better equipped to handle mixed terrains. It is also relatively quiet while in operation. Walking speeds depend on each patient’s aptitude and condition, but speeds in excess of 2MPH can be attained, and speeds can be varied. The device is battery-powered and employs a gesture-based human-machine interface which — utilizing sensors — observes the gestures the user makes to determine their intentions and then acts accordingly. A real-time computer draws on sensors and input devices to orchestrate every aspect of a single stride.

Clinical trials will commence early next year at select rehabilitation clinics in the United States. A limited release of eLEGS is scheduled during the second half of 2011 at several of the most respected rehabilitation facilities around the country. At that time, eligible patients will have the opportunity to enroll in a medically-supervised eLEGS gait training program, working with their physical therapist. Therapists will undergo training in order to become eLEGS-certified prior to assisting patients.

Berkeley Bionics developed the first practical exoskeleton and the first untethered exoskeleton in the world. Lockheed Martin Corporation entered into a licensed agreement with Berkeley Bionics in January 2009 and is currently productizing the Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC™). HULC’s users can carry up to 200 lbs for hours and over all terrains.

About Berkeley Bionics

Berkeley Bionics (www.berkeleybionics.com) — based in Berkeley, CA and founded in 2005, develops and manufactures powered and artificially intelligent human exoskeletons for military, civilian and medical uses that augment strength, endurance, mobility and injury prevention.

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MIAMI BEACH, FL–(Marketwire – October 7, 2010) –  New You magazine, the premier consumer magazine for cosmetic surgery, announces the hiring of a new vice president of national sales, Amy Ammon.

Ms. Ammon will be responsible for directing sales to all pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and medical device companies nationwide.

Ms. Ammon brings to New You an extensive background in the aesthetic and dermatology markets. Prior to joining New You, she served as national account manager for Advanstar Communications (Dermatology Times and Cosmetic Surgery Times).

“I am confident that New You is the up-and-coming information resource for anything having to do with beauty, cosmetic surgery and anti-aging. It’s destined to become one of the top brands in our industry, reaching a highly motivated audience,” says Ms. Ammon.

New You is the official consumer magazine of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, distributed to the waiting rooms of more than 2,000 cosmetic surgeons nationwide. It is also distributed to 1,500 bookstore newsstands and thousands of beauty businesses such as spas, medi-spas, health clubs, beauty salons and bridal shops.

The magazine is written for people interested in the latest and safest cosmetic procedures, from laser-assisted liposuction and breast augmentations to facial fillers and eyelifts, as well as how to find the best cosmetic surgeons nationwide.

“Amy brings an exceptional level of professionalism and understanding of the industry,” says New You Publisher Peter Mansfield. “She makes a great addition to the New You team.”

About New You Magazine

New You is the official magazine of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS), published by Miami Beach-based New You Publishing, LLC. The mission of New You is to inform readers about the latest cosmetic procedures, to educate them about safety, cost and personal experience, and to locate the best possible cosmetic surgeon. For more information visit: http://newyoumag.com

About The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery

The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery is a professional medical society dedicated to patient safety and physician education in cosmetic surgery. The AACS represents cosmetic surgeons in the American Medical Association through its seat in the AMA House of Delegates. Members of AACS are dermatological, facial plastic, head and neck, oral and maxillofacial, general, plastic, gynecological or ocular plastic surgeons specializing in cosmetic surgery. Founded in 1985, the AACS has over 2,500 members.

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PHILADELPHIA, PA–(Marketwire – October 6, 2010) –  There is much focus on patient recruitment, specifically finding patients willing to participate in clinical trials. However, the second phase of recruitment is often overlooked: pulling prospective patients through the referral pipeline and into the study center. This phase occurs after patients pass a pre-screener that matches them to the study’s criteria. It is during this phase that pre-screened patients wait for site follow-up that often does not occur.

To streamline the recruitment ‘pull-through’ process and increase recruitment success, MediciGlobal introduces the Study Resource Center™ and welcomes Pat Patterson, RN, CCRC as its Director. Pat is a certified clinical research nurse with nearly 20 years of clinical research experience at academic, hospital and community based research settings. Pat has seen first-hand the need for a central resource providing sites with services that save time on processing patient referrals.

MediciGlobal established the Study Resource Center in response to growing numbers of requests from study coordinators and site marketing managers to directly provide services that support finding patients, pulling those patients most likely to randomize through the referral pipeline, and retaining patients long term.

The Study Resource Center is a place for sites to go when they need recruitment-retention support. Pat contends that study coordinators like to know they are dealing with someone who understands their issues. MediciGlobal has supported sites indirectly through study sponsors, but now these services can be accessed directly by sites, and include:

1. Education: building effective recruitment-retention programs
2. Efficient pre-screening
3. Logistical support: appointment scheduling, patient follow up
4. Problem solving: innovative recruitment approaches. 
5. Advertising and eMarketing support
6. Retention: during and post active treatment
7. Lost-to-follow up: Find missing patients

The Study Resource Center integrates MediciGlobal’s Site Support team with the services of its in-house patient contact center, ProtoCall^®. Centralizing these functions enhances the coordination of critical recruitment-retention support services to study sites.

Ms. Patterson was one of the first to undergo the Association of Clinical Research Professionals’ (ACRP’s) qualification process for a certified clinical research coordinator (CCRC). Recognized as a consistent performer for studies conducted for major biopharmaceutical sponsors, Pat served on numerous national and international study advisory boards.

About MediciGlobal
MediciGlobal based in the U.S. and U.K., is a specialty patient recruitment — retention company, developing programs for clinical trials of all sizes in countries around the globe. www.mediciglobal.com

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – October 6, 2010) –  MMRGlobal, Inc. (OTCBB: MMRF) (MMR) announced today that its MMR Stimulus Program will be expanded to include the MMRPro Insurance Advance Program. This program is an expansion of the existing MMRPro Stimulus Program launched in the first quarter of 2010 which rewards MMRPro users when their patients upgrade to the MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record. 

The Insurance Advance Program is designed to help MMRPro healthcare professionals smooth out cash flow during their transition to achieving meaningful use. MMRPro users will be paid advances on the uncollected commercial third-party amounts they billed each preceding week to the extent permitted by federal and state laws and regulations. They must use an MMRGlobal approved Stage 1-Certified Meaningful Use practice management and billing system to be eligible to receive payments under the MMRPro Stimulus Insurance Advance Program. The program will be part of the Company’s previously announced plans to offer one or more EMR products, which could include applications for iPad and PC-based platforms in addition to its MMRPro and MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record products. 

“We recognize that converting an existing billing system to one that enables the practice to achieve meaningful use could affect a practice’s cash flow, which could also affect the lifeblood of the practice,” said Robert H. Lorsch, Chairman and CEO of MMRGlobal. “One of the largest problems doctors and hospitals face today is reimbursement for their services. Our goal is to assist doctors, hospitals and medical groups in maintaining control of their finances while transitioning to meaningful use at the same time healthcare reform is being implemented.”

Additionally, MMRPro users and their patients continue to receive protection under MMRGlobal’s million dollar Cyber Liability Insurance Policy, which, among other things, protects healthcare professionals using MMRPro defend themselves in the event of a violation of the expanded HIPAA regulations under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). 

The underlying Cyber Liability policy is underwritten by an A-rated insurance company by A.M. Best to cover damages arising from the use and deployment of the Company’s personal and professional health record products and services. The coverage extends to MMRGlobal’s corporate clients that offer MMR’s products and services as an employee benefit and to individuals who sign up to receive MMR’s services over the Internet.

About MMRGlobal, Inc.

MMR Global, Inc., through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, MyMedicalRecords, Inc. (“MMR”), provides secure and easy-to-use online Personal Health Records (“PHRs”) and electronic safe deposit box storage solutions, serving consumers, healthcare professionals, employers, insurance companies, financial institutions, and professional organizations and affinity groups. MyMedicalRecords enables individuals and families to access their medical records and other important documents, such as birth certificates, passports, insurance policies and wills, anytime from anywhere using the Internet. The MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record is built on proprietary, patented technologies to allow documents, images and voicemail messages to be transmitted and stored in the system using a variety of methods, including fax, phone, or file upload without relying on any specific electronic medical record platform to populate a user’s account. The Company’s professional offering, MMRPro, is designed to give physicians’ offices an easy and cost-effective solution to digitizing paper-based medical records and sharing them with patients in real time through an integrated patient portal. MMR is an Independent Software Vendor Partner with Kodak to deliver an integrated turnkey EMR solution for healthcare professionals. MMR is also an integrated service provider on Google Health. To learn more about MMR Global, Inc. and its products, visit www.mmrglobal.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature constitute “forward-looking statements.” Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some can be identified by the use of words (and their derivations) such as “need,” “possibility,” “offer,” “development,” “if,” “negotiate,” “when,” “begun,” “believe,” “achieve,” “help,” “will,” “estimate,” “expect,” “maintain,” “plan,” and “continue,” or the negative of these words. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the risk the Company’s products and programs are not adopted or viewed favorably by the healthcare community; risks related to the current uncertainty and instability in financial and lending markets, including global economic uncertainties; variations in our quarterly operating results; timing and volume of sales and installations; length of sales cycles and the installation process; market acceptance of new product and program introductions; ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships; ability to identify and integrate acquisitions; relationships with licensees; competitive product offerings and promotions; changes in government laws and regulations and future changes in tax legislation and initiatives in the healthcare industry; undetected errors in our products; possibility of interruption at our data centers; risks related to third party vendors; risks related to obtaining and integrating third-party licensed technology; acceptance of the Company’s marketing and promotional campaigns; risks related to a security breach by third parties; maintaining, developing and defending our intellectual property rights including those pertaining to our biotechnology assets; risks associated with recruitment and retention of key personnel; uncertainties associated with doing business internationally across borders and territories; and additional risks discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, we are a developing early-stage company and many variables can affect revenues and/or projections, including factors out of our control. The Company is providing this information as of the date of this release and, except as required by law, does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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BOCA RATON, FL–(Marketwire – October 6, 2010) – David H. Fater, CEO of Vicor Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: VCRT), today announced that Vicor has selected Dell’s Healthcare and Life Sciences division to serve as its worldwide hardware partner for the Company’s PD2i Analyzer™ and PD2i CA™ (Cardiac Analyzer). According to the terms of the agreement, Dell will create Vicor-labeled laptop computers specifically customized to Vicor’s specifications and package them for Vicor’s worldwide distribution. Vicor Technologies is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative, non-invasive medical devices using its patented, proprietary PD2i^® nonlinear algorithm and software. Vicor Technologies is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative, non-invasive medical devices using its patented, proprietary PD2i^® nonlinear algorithm and software. Vicor is currently in the process of commercializing diagnostics that accurately risk stratify specific target populations for future pathological events, including congestive heart failure patients for cardiac death resulting from arrhythmia or pump failure, diabetics for diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN), and trauma victims for imminent death absent immediate lifesaving intervention.

“Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences is proud to be chosen as Vicor’s worldwide IT solutions provider. Dell is committed to developing and supporting healthcare IT solutions to improve care and delivery,” stated Scott Jenkins, PhD, Vice President, Dell, Inc.

 “We’re thrilled to have Dell as our worldwide IT solutions partner. Dell’s well-established reputation for creating innovative technologies and business solutions, strong internal development capabilities, global reach, and consumer-centric approach make it the perfect worldwide IT solutions partner for Vicor,” stated Mr. Fater. 

“Given the growing amount of positive feedback we’re receiving from physicians and cardiologists using the PD2i Analyzer™ to enhance diagnosis of those at risk of cardiac death from arrhythmia or pump failure, as well as autonomic neuropathy, we’re extremely optimistic about the prospects for the PD2i Analyzer™ and PD2i CA™ worldwide. These diagnostics have enabled the physicians and cardiologists using them to use existing CPT codes for reimbursement, strengthened their ability to diagnose difficult to identify conditions, and enabled early, sometimes life-saving treatment,” Mr. Fater concluded.

About Vicor Technologies, Inc.
Vicor Technologies is focused on commercializing innovative non-invasive diagnostics employing its patented, proprietary point correlation dimension algorithm (PD2i^®). The PD2i^® nonlinear algorithm is a deterministic, nonlinear measure of electrophysiological potentials that predicts future pathological events with a high degree of accuracy in target populations.

The PD2i Analyzer™, which has FDA 510(k) marketing clearance, measures heart rate variability. Physicians performing diagnostic tests with the PD2i Analyzer™ are able to receive reimbursement under existing CPT codes. The PD2i VS™ (Vital Sign), in clinical trials under a collaborative effort with the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research (http://www.usaisr.amedd.army.mil/), risk stratifies combat and civilian trauma victims. The PD2i CA™ (Cardiac Analyzer), in various clinical trials, identifies patients at elevated risk of cardiac death resulting from arrhythmia or pump failure.

Vicor anticipates developing additional applications utilizing the PD2i^® nonlinear algorithm to enable early detection and risk stratification for a variety of other disorders and diseases. Additional information is available at www.vicortech.com.

Disclaimer
The appearance in this release of name-brand institutions, such as Dell and the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Research, does not constitute endorsement by these institutions of the information, products, or services contained therein.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements in this press release are based on current plans and expectations that are subject to uncertainties and risks, which could cause our future results to differ materially. The following factors, among others, could cause our actual results to differ: our ability to generate revenues from the sale of the PD2i Analyzer™; our ability to obtain FDA approval of our 510(k) submission to secure a marketing claim for the PD2i CA™(Cardiac Analyzer) for testing patients for cardiovascular disease and our ability to obtain marketing clearance from the FDA for the PD2i VS™ (Vital Sign) for military and civilian applications; our ability to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals to market in the People’s Republic of China; our ability to develop additional applications for the PD2i^®algorithm; our ability to continue to receive financing sufficient to continue operations and complete critical clinical trials; our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to successfully develop products based on our technologies; our ability to successfully complete the normal range study for PD2i^®values; our ability to obtain and maintain adequate levels of third-party reimbursement for our products; the impact of competitive products and pricing; our ability to receive regulatory approval for our products; the ability of third-party contract research organizations to perform preclinical testing and clinical trials for our technologies; the ability of third-party manufacturers to manufacture our products; our ability to retain the services of our key personnel; our ability to market and sell our products successfully; our ability to protect our intellectual property; product liability; changes in federal income tax laws and regulations; general market conditions in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries; and other matters that are described in Vicor’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of the press release, and we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements or the reasons why actual results could differ.

Release 10-18

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KANKAKEE, IL–(Marketwire – October 5, 2010) – Riverside Medical Center has now joined the Illinois Hospital Association’s (IHA) “Raising the Bar” initiative to continue improving the level of quality of South Chicago Illinois healthcare and patient safety. Two hundred hospitals including Riverside are participating in the “Raising the Bar” initiative to make Illinois a national leader in healthcare. 

Riverside leaders pledged to share best practices through the IHA Quality Care Institute. The pledge includes implementing innovative methods to prevent and reduce infections and other complications leading to unnecessary hospital re-admissions. Riverside signed the Raising the Bar: A Call to Action pledge, proving this Kankakee County hospital is dedicated to patient safety and success.

Phil Kambic, President and CEO of Riverside, stated, “Our signature on the pledge is further evidence of Riverside’s everyday mission to provide remarkable, quality healthcare experience to every one of our patients and their families. Riverside is continually recognized as a leader in patient care and safety. And the standards we subscribe to make that possible.”

Over the next three years, Illinois hospitals will be “Raising the Bar” on current standards. Hospitals joining the pledge must reduce re-admissions and infections acquired in hospitals along with other complications. Riverside and other Illinois hospitals are “Raising the Bar” to develop and implement key programs to achieve these goals. 

The “Raising the Bar” initiative seeks to help hospitals improve quality in major areas such as lowering 30-day hospital readmission rates for pneumonia, heart attack and congestive heart failure and minimizing infections and conditions acquired in hospitals such as surgical-site infections, C. difficile, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), central-line associated bloodstream infections and pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis following select orthopedic procedures.

By working through IHA’s Quality Care Institute, Riverside has access to tools, best practices and essential data from across the state as well as from state and national experts. These facilities help the Southern Chicago suburbs hospital offer better quality and improve patient safety through developing practical approaches for improving patient care and active advocacy to coordinate care.

To find out more about how Riverside Medical Center is “Raising the Bar,” visit www.RiversideMC.net. To learn more about IHA and the Quality Care Institute, visit www.illinoishospitals.org.

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