Join this webinar and dive into The FDA regulations for healthcare software products, covering strategy, pathways and clinical data expectations.
Join Connie Qiu, MEng, RAC, Senior Consultant, Regulatory Affairs, ProPharma MedTech, for the live webinar on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at 10am EST (4pm CET/EU-Central).
Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars and digital content to the global life science, food, healthcare and medical device communities. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food, healthcare and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps professionals stay current with industry developments, regulations and jobs. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.
Consider this analogy: A highly esteemed doctor with a full patient list is faced with a choice – to keep their full patient load and spend less time on each patient or to drop some individuals as patients. If they reduce time spent on each patient, details may occasionally slip past the doctor and could result in significant adverse health outcomes, thus impacting the quality of care. Alternatively, if they drop patients, those patients now must join doctor waiting lists that can be up to six months long.
What would you recommend? Would you risk patient health outcomes or drop patients from your care altogether?
What if there was another solution?
The third option is for the doctor to keep their current patient list and apply a predictive AI model for diagnostic support. This AI model learns from extensive research findings and data on symptoms and disease correlations and can identify the most critical concerns to help the doctor reach medical conclusions faster.
Now, which solution would you recommend?
The AI will never replace the doctor, but it will help to ensure every vital detail or data point is considered as part of the diagnostic decision. The doctor could input the patient’s symptoms and test results and the AI would present them with the most logical conclusions based on those details.
Using AI, the doctor can reach a diagnosis faster, reduce the risk of distraction posed by their bustling practice, shorten appointment times, and improve the patient’s experience. With an outcome like this, the best solution becomes abundantly clear.
Of course, not all workplace AI applications are life-or-death. Some make things easier for people, reduce the time involved in completing a task, automate a workflow, or eliminate the backtracking that happens when mistakes are inevitably made. In truth, it will only make sense for some companies, and people will always have to provide high-level oversight, but it is priceless for things that are repetitive, logical, and have a consistent if-this-then-that kind of flow.
Solving the Talent Shortage While Gaining Competitive Edge
We live in a transitional time, and nowhere is this more evident than in the state of the workplace today. Most businesses struggle to keep staff, and business competition is fierce, with the fastest to market gaining the greatest share. As business leaders, we constantly look for ways to do things faster and more efficiently, reducing costs and generally doing more with fewer people.
By ‘opting out’ of AI, regardless of your reasoning, you automatically put yourself at a disadvantage — like showing up for the Boston Marathon prepared to run it as a three-legged race. The costs associated with affecting growth using only human power in the absence of AI would eat every morsel of profit and put founders into an early grave.
Considering decreased staff and increased competition, leveraging AI is the most viable approach if you want your company to grow. Those who choose to add AI to their stack will not only realize financial value but also gain a competitive edge.
Applied successfully and thoughtfully, AI delivers significant cost reduction and incredible insights that help businesses grow. Every data point has meaning, and the more you collect or produce, the more meaningful the data becomes. With AI, this can go a step further and determine the most relevant data and even act on those insights so you can take advantage of every opportunity.
More Information, More Data, Greater Risk
The points made thus far are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg that leads to a much more serious conversation about data quality, security, and IT risk.
Whether you are an AI champion or an end-user, it is essential to consider the implications of widespread AI adoption. We have already established that it is here, and there is no shutting it out of our lives. If you use nothing more sophisticated than a Google search box, you have experienced AI. Google performs more than 8.5 billion daily searches —and it all feeds into AI’s super brain.
Of course, predictive AI, like Google, is just one type of AI. But you get the picture. It is exponential; the more widely AI is adopted, applied, and used, the more data it collects and produces.
AI in Managed IT
For individuals in IT and cybersecurity, AI helps to better serve and protect client data and systems. For example, say your server just locked up and issued a random error code. Without AI, the tech would be required to innately know or manually find a unique error code’s definition. This could cause the client to experience downtime, which could carry with it a bottom-line impact. By using AI, the tech could instantaneously identify the error code and save themselves a lot of time and the client a lot of money. By identifying the issue quickly and accurately, techs can accomplish more with less strain on internal resources, meaning costs are kept low enough that businesses can afford to outsource.
That is the bottom line: IT and cybersecurity providers who leverage AI to improve business outcomes can deliver it reliably and affordably through managed services.
However, it is important to stress that people are still critical to those outcomes. Just as the doctor was still required to make the final diagnostic decision, IT technicians need to be able to assess the information and apply it correctly. AI delivers a solution that will work 90% of the time, removing much of the effort involved in the process but still requiring technician review.
AI and Ethics
The question of ethics often comes up in discussions about AI. However, most ethical and privacy issues ensue when people upload personal information into public AI, such as an open ChatGPT model.
The AI needs data to learn, of course, so more information is valuable as it helps the predictive AI engine deliver better results.
Take dermatology, for example. Healthcare apps are now mainstream tools for healthcare providers. In this scenario, you have woken up with a terrible rash on your arm and do not have time in your schedule for an urgent care visit. You decide to upload five photos of your rash to a dermatology app, and the app runs them through machine learning, giving you a predictive result that is often more accurate than the average doctor’s opinion.
Now that AI has told you that you have poison ivy; do you take the diagnosis as fact, or do you still want the doctor to tell you what they think? It is possible, after all, for a rash to present as poison ivy but, based on other health indicators that a doctor would be trained on, have some common traits of measles that would require more testing.
The human factor is undeniably the most significant issue in people’s minds, but if AI predicts the answer, it may provide the basis for deeper discussions.
Addressing Organizational Risk
Still on the topic of ethics, but looking at a slightly darker side of the coin, we are also seeing a significant increase in AI for things like phishing scams and cyber attacks. From the messages themselves—which are becoming harder to detect—to zeroing in on the rhetoric that elicits consistent responses or clicks from the target, malicious actors leverage AI to their benefit, just as legitimate companies do. Since Covid and the increase in remote workers using shared devices, breaches and attacks have increased exponentially.
Many ways exist to reduce the risk of these attacks, and the first line of defense is proper training combined with established data security policies. However, AI can also help monitor machines (computers) connected to company systems, and that is one of the most critical layers. If you have 100 computers connecting to company data, some might be older machines or use unpatched software, creating a vulnerability in the network. In this scenario, one person could represent a sizable portion of the risk. Luckily, AI can sweep for those vulnerabilities so you can get ahead of them.
The reality is that today, companies are investing in AI and testing various use cases, adjusting in response to their customers’ preferences until they get it right. Pretty soon, those customer service chatbots will be so good it will be difficult to tell whether they are a person or a machine.
We are still in a nascent phase where AI is concerned. Businesses are just starting to scratch the surface of how they can benefit from it, but ethics will always be a concern. So far, AI cannot replace what humans do. What AI can do is inform, predict, and make it easier for us to get things right.
One of the strengths of Genedata Biologics is the platform’s ability to integrate with Boehringer Ingelheim’s laboratory instruments, sample management systems, and corporate IT infrastructure. “Our sample management integration allows us to instantly see all available aliquots for any sample and order them from whichever site in Europe or the US has availability. This means that the DMPK US can see global sample availability, request QC methods, and monitor progress on one single, shared platform, which saves time and streamlines our R&D operations,” said Alexander Schmalz, Head of IT Development Services, Boehringer Ingelheim.
“We are pleased to expand our partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the leaders in developing innovative therapies against life-threatening diseases, and we are proud to be an integral and essential part of their digitalization strategy,” said Othmar Pfannes, Ph.D., CEO of Genedata. “Our vision is one in which organizations can track all information, share all R&D data across all groups, and make informed decisions based on complete and high-quality data. We are delighted to help our long-term partner Boehringer Ingelheim achieve this goal.”
About Genedata Genedata transforms data into intelligence with innovative software solutions and domain-specific consulting services that automate complex, large-scale experimental processes and enable organizations to maximize the ROI in their R&D, spanning early discovery all the way to the clinic. Founded in 1997, Genedata is headquartered in Switzerland with additional offices in Germany, Japan, Singapore, the UK, and the US. http://www.genedata.com LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube
Disclaimer The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties related to contract cancellations, developing risks, competitive factors, uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for the Company’s products and services. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Consider data that is important to patient communities
Examine a protocol for patient experience optimization
Apply real-life examples to your study
Join Daniel A. Perez, CCRP, Global Head of Patient Experience, Diversity & Inclusion, Worldwide Clinical Trials; Juliane K. Mills, MS, MPH, Therapeutic Strategy Lead, Rare Disease, Worldwide Clinical Trials; and Sandra Ojeda, Science Director, Glut1 Deficiency Foundation, for the live webinar on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at 10am EST (4pm CET/EU-Central).
Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars and digital content to the global life science, food, healthcare and medical device communities. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food, healthcare and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps professionals stay current with industry developments, regulations and jobs. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.
The Georgia Spa Gives Back Program is holding a toy drive across all its locations through November 30. All collected toys will be donated to local toy drives in December in advance of Christmas.
AUBURN, Ga., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — The Georgia Spa Gives Back Program is holding a toy drive across all its locations through November 30. All collected toys will be donated to local toy drives in December in advance of Christmas.
Those purchasing a hot tub or spa during the donation period can receive a discount of up to $500 on a hot tub or swim spa accessory package for donating toys (each $10 value toy = $100 discount; max discount $500).
Additionally, a portion of purchases made at Georgia Spa Company in the month of November will go to supporting the Winder Fire Department’s Empty Stocking Drive and to the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office’s Shop with a Hero program.
The Georgia Spa Gives Back program will collect unwrapped toys at its six showrooms as well as it’s pre-owned and service center. Georgia Spa Company showrooms are in Alpharetta, Kennesaw, Buford, Athens, Newnan and Augusta. Showrooms are open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. The Pre-Owned and Service Center in Auburn is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. All locations will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.
The Georgia Spa Gives Back program is a charitable giving initiative focused on giving back to different organizations and deserving individuals around the state of Georgia. Through the program, Georgia Spa selects a charity or cause to sponsor and donates a portion of our proceeds from a given month or quarter to that organization.
The Georgia Spa Gives Back Toy Drive follows up a successful Food Drive held in October. MUST Ministries, North Fulton Community Charities and the North Gwinnett Cooperative each received a $2,000 donation and a food contribution. These Georgia Spa Gives Back donations were made possible by Georgia Spa customers from a portion of proceeds from October and their support of the food drive.
Media Contact Tanner Tedeschi, Georgia Spa Company, 1 4702380063, [email protected], Georgia Spa Company
Christing says, “Meeting planners forget that the first three letters of the word fundraiser are FUN. People will give more money to your cause when you give them a great time.”
Christing says, “I am not the star of these gatherings.” It’s these amazing non-profit groups–and their donors–who are transforming lives through their causes.
The popular master of ceremonies has joined forces with a group he considers the world’s #1 major donor event company: Westfall Gold. Nine out of ten of these events were produced by WestfallGold.com. Christing says, “You don’t want to produce an event without expert consulting and a stellar production company that knows how to maximize the experience for generous givers.”
Turning Donors into Investors via the Transformational Experience of Giving
Westfall Gold has helped non-profit groups raise approximately $2 billion by producing major donor experience weekends for charitable orgs. Westfall Gold is an experienced design agency and fundraising consultancy for organizations passionate about advancing good in the world.
John Baas is Vice President for Advancement at Dordt University. He has hired Christing to emcee his university’s “President’s Weekend” three times and says, “Adam, once again, you hit it out of the park!” Christing utilizes clean stand-up comedy, interactive magic, and heartfelt humor to help donors have a tremendous experience at events like the one Dordt recently staged at the Ritz Carlton in Dove Mountain, AZ.
Lisa Wolf is the Senior Vice President of Client Experience for Westfall Gold. Her company has hired Adam Christing nearly 200 times. She considers Christing a partner in their work. “It’s always a better weekend when Adam is in the house as the master of ceremonies.”
Many of the events Adam Christing emceed featured food celebrities like Maneet Chauhan, SuperChef Darnell Ferguson, and Johnnyswim’s Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano from In the Kitchen with Abner and Amanda.
Adam Christing has been a professional emcee for over 30 years. He has also served as a corporate emcee for companies like Coca-Cola, COX Communications, and Insperity.
According to Christing, when a meeting planner hires an emcee, they are setting themselves up for better fundraising success. “A gifted event MC will help elevate your event by engaging your people, not just by feeding them content, but by making them a part of the program. Your event MC needs to entertain your attendees and guide them through an unforgettable experience.”
Christing states, “People love to give in community. A great Master of Ceremonies will help you galvanize your group and drive your mission forward. He/she will bond with your audience and inspire them to give in a way that makes a big difference.”
Bob Westfall, the founder and chairman of WestfallGold.com says the key “is moving people from being transactional to transformational givers.”
Christing states, “The best corporate emcees and fundraising hosts work for you long before the event takes place. With a master of ceremonies, you want more than a humorous host, you want someone who can help you think through every aspect of your program.” Christing helps organizations develop what is called their “Run of Show” (the meeting agenda). Sarah St. Marie acknowledged Christing for this by saying, “Thank you for helping us craft a really special and successful night!”
What was the master of ceremonies’ favorite event during a 9-week run? “Ha! It was the one for Cottonwood Preschool, my grandson’s preschool in Southern California,” says Christing.
Christing’s forthcoming book taps into his 30 years of event emcee experience. It will be released in 2025 and is called We Got You: Gather Your Group, Galvanize Your People, Grow Your Results.
Reach out to Adam Christing via his website (AdamChristing.com) or email [email protected]
Single Pass, Inc. CEO, Bill Colone, announced today that the company received the CE Mark under EU MDR for its biopsy closure device.
LAKE FOREST, Calif., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Single Pass, Inc. (Lafe Forest, CA) CEO, Bill Colone, announced today receipt of the CE Mark under EU MDR for their Kronos Biopsy Closure device. The cautery device prevents or stops bleeding caused by biopsy tools during co-axial biopsy procedures and is most useful in liver, kidney, lung, and breast biospy procedures.
The new, high-capacity clinic in the heart of the healthcare district will vastly increase the number of individuals in active treatment and recovery from substance use disorder.
SPOKANE, Wash., Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Ideal Option, a national leader in evidence-based outpatient treatment for addiction to fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, alcohol and polysubstance, has opened a 5000 square foot addiction medicine center in Spokane.
The new center, located behind Catholic Charities, occupies the entire building at 26 E 5th Ave, staffed with three addiction medicine providers, four medical assistants, a care navigator and a peer outreach specialist. With capacity to see up to 100 patients per day, the clinic is the largest of its kind in Spokane.
A trusted, low-barrier provider in Spokane for nearly 9 years, Ideal Option carries no waitlists, accepts Medicaid and serves all patients with respect and dignity. Ideal Option providers are experts in treating high-risk patients who need specialized protocols for complex drug combinations or health conditions such as pregnancy and chronic disease.
Ideal Option data support the effectiveness of medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. Among Washington state patients who continued treatment with Ideal Option throughout 2022, urine drug testing revealed a remarkable 98% reduction in fentanyl use and a 94% reduction in total opioid use.‥
With the recent expansion of its in-house laboratory capabilities, Ideal Option is now able to detect, report on and treat dozens of fentanyl analogs, nitazines, novel psychoactive substances, and cutting agents such as xylazine and lidocaine.
According to the Spokane County Department of Health, there was a 186% increase in fentanyl-related overdoses between 2020 and 2021. In addition, Spokane was designated by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 2022 as one of eleven crisis spots for fentanyl addiction after its seizures increased by 1,098%.‥
“There are too many people dying in Spokane and too many families suffering because of street drugs. Our community is desperate for a treatment center like this one that makes it easy for anyone to start recovery and keep it going,” said Tyler Vermillion, community outreach coordinator for Ideal Option. “If we work together as one to direct people into treatment that works, we can help Spokane get in front of the overdose epidemic.”
The new treatment center is open Monday – Thursday,‥7:30‥a.m. –‥6‥p.m. at 26 E 5th Ave, Spokane.
Most forms of insurance are accepted, including Medicare and Medicaid, and patients can typically get started on treatment for fentanyl, heroin, alcohol or other substances within 1-3 business days.
While Ideal Option’s offices on Monroe and Washington St have now closed, its clinics on Francis St and in Spokane Valley continue to operate as normal.
Patients can make an appointment by calling 1.877.522.1275 or visiting www.idealoption.com.
About Ideal Option‥
Headquartered in Kennewick, Washington, Ideal Option was founded in 2012 and has since helped more than 75,000 patients through a network of 90 office-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinics across 9 states. With a mission to serve under-served communities, Ideal Option accepts most forms of insurance including Medicaid and Medicare. Financial assistance and payment plans are also available.
Ideal Option’s team of medical providers carry certifications in Addiction and Emergency Medicine, Internal, and Family Medicine, among other specialties. The company also employs social workers, caseworkers, counselors, and mental health practitioners. This holistic approach helps drive positive outcomes, including family stability, stable housing, improved overall health, and reduced rates of recidivism.
In all the communities it serves, Ideal Option collaborates with existing stakeholders and providers to improve the continuum of care. This approach includes partnerships with emergency rooms and county jail systems, where individuals with substance use disorder often appear, as well as collaborating with numerous support agencies and municipal programs addressing social needs such as housing, mental health, and nutrition support.
DoorSpace has officially launched its app for clinicians and healthcare organizations.The app is designed to help licensed clinicians of all ages and stages of their careers by making it easy to keep track of their credentials, certifications and admin-related work.
HOUSTON, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — DoorSpace has officially launched its app for clinicians and healthcare organizations.
The app is designed to help licensed clinicians of all ages and stages of their careers by making it easy to keep track of their credentials, certifications and admin-related work.
“Releasing this app to the public is a large step in ensuring that licensed clinicians and healthcare employers are maximizing their days without being bogged down by credentialing, redundant paperwork and other time-consuming, administrative tasks. Healthcare organizations need to step into the 21st century, particularly their HR departments. Our app can help providers get back to their mission: taking care of people,” explains DoorSpace CEO Sarah M. Worthy.
Physicians face an overwhelming schedule of visiting and caring for patients and administrative work and credentialing. DoorSpace’s app cuts down on that by streamlining the process and keeping all data in one secure place that physicians can access at any time throughout their careers.
“Today, with the launch of DoorSpace’s groundbreaking app, we are redefining the way healthcare staffing operates. Gone are the days of fragmented and outdated data management. Our commitment is to empower both healthcare providers and clinicians with streamlined, interconnected data solutions. We believe that by enhancing the employee journey, we’re not just reducing turnover and administrative burden, we’re elevating patient care,” states the Chief Physician Executive at DoorSpace, Paul Bergeron.
Based in Houston, Texas, DoorSpace is delivering cutting-edge talent development software through their innovative, cloud-based platform. With a people-centric approach that helps healthcare professionals focus on what matters most: their patients and themselves. DoorSpace is changing the game by seamlessly integrating personnel, administration monitoring, and organization systems; they’re streamlining healthcare processes and helping organizations retain and develop clinical talent. DoorSpace is all about making work better, for the people making a difference in our communities.
To connect with Sarah or Paul to discuss this app launch or what it means for physicians and healthcare organizations please contact:
Dr. Adrian Hickmon, Founder of Capstone, expresses, “We are thrilled to welcome Ruth Ann Rigby back to our Capstone family. Her extensive experience and unwavering commitment to our mission will undoubtedly drive our organization to new heights.”
Rigby is a prominent figure in the recovery and mental health industry, having worked with some of the leading treatment providers in the nation. In 2022, she received the Dr. Jasper Chen See Volunteer Leadership Award from the National Association of Treatment Providers in recognition of her outstanding leadership, volunteerism, and mentorship to countless professionals.
Slade Hickmon, chief executive officer at Capstone, adds, “Ruth Ann Rigby’s dedication to helping those struggling with addiction is truly remarkable. Her own remarkable journey and accolades speak volumes about her passion and commitment to making a difference.”
In Ruth Ann’s own words, “I am humbled and honored to return home to continue to grow our company with Capstone Wellness. With more than 20 years of serving families one at a time, I am committed to helping individuals with substance-use disorders, mental health struggles, trauma, attachment, sexual compulsions, addictive behaviors, and more.”
Ruth Ann Rigby’s passion for service extends to her involvement on the boards of numerous community organizations, church leadership committees, and behavioral health associations, including NACoA, the Mississippi Association of Drug Court Professionals, Central Mississippi Chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, Mississippi Association of Addiction Professionals, American Diabetes Association, National Alliance for Mental Illness (Mississippi Chapter), and the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers.
Additionally, Ruth Ann serves on the advisory board for the Center for Hope and Healing at Broadmoor Baptist Church, where she remains on call to support any family in need. Along with her husband, LTC (Ret) Joseph Rigby, she is a co-founder of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called First Responders of Mississippi, which provides aid, wellness and hope to first responders and agencies in their time of greatest need.
Capstone Wellness is a leading institution in the field of behavioral health and addiction recovery, encompassing Capstone Treatment Center, Vine & Root Counseling, and the upcoming Encounter at New Canaan Ranch for women. With more than two decades of experience, Capstone has been dedicated to assisting individuals and families in overcoming challenges related to substance-use disorders, mental health struggles, trauma, attachment, sexual compulsions, addictive behaviors, and more.
If you have a question about our services or need immediate assistance, please contact us via our phone number 866-729-4479 or through our website https://capstonewellness.com/
