Prevent Blindness declares May as Ultraviolet (UV) Awareness Month.

“There are so many ways that we can protect our vision today and for years to come,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “Consistently protecting our eyes and faces is one way to help save sight.”

CHICAGO (PRWEB)
April 27, 2020

Extended exposure ultraviolet (UV) rays can immediately cause damage to eyes, including photokeratitis, also referred to as a “corneal sunburn.” UV damage to the eyes may also be cumulative, resulting in the development of cataract or cancer later in life.

Prevent Blindness, the nation’s oldest eye health and safety organization, has declared May as Ultraviolet Awareness Month to help educate the public on the dangers of UV exposure. The group provides dedicated fact sheets and web resources on topics related to the basics on how UV can damage the eyes, to advice on choosing the best UV eye protection, and more.

The risk of sun-related eye problems is higher for people who:

• have light-colored eyes
• spend long hours in the sun
• have had cataract surgery
• have certain retina disorders
• are on certain medicines, such as tetracycline, sulfa drugs, birth control pills, diuretics and tranquilizers that increase the eye’s sensitivity to light.

The best protection against UV damage to the eyes is wearing a brimmed hat in conjunction with UV-blocking sunglasses. Consumers should always read labels carefully and only purchase sunglasses that clearly state that the sunglasses block 99 to 100 percent of UV-A and UV-B rays. An eye care professional can recommend the best eye protection based on outdoor activity and/or prescription lens needs.

“There are so many ways that we can protect our vision today and for years to come,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “Consistently protecting our eyes and faces is one way to help save sight.”

For more information on UV eye protection, please visit the Prevent Blindness dedicated Web page at http://www.preventblindness.org/protect-your-eyes-sun or call (800) 331-2020.

About Prevent Blindness

Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation’s leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of people each year through public and professional education, advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and patient service programs and research. These services are made possible through the generous support of the American public. Together with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more information, or to make a contribution to the sight-saving fund, call 1-800-331-2020. Or, visit us on the Web at preventblindness.org or facebook.com/preventblindness.

###

Share article on social media or email:

“Our relationship with EMERGO by UL seeks to streamline this process by pairing Greenlight Guru’s purpose-built quality management system alongside EMERGO by UL’s award-winning consulting services.”

INDIANAPOLIS (PRWEB)
April 27, 2020

Greenlight Guru, the med-tech industry’s leading medical device quality management software (MDQMS) platform, has teamed up with EMERGO by UL, the industry’s leading consulting firm specializing in global medical device regulatory compliance. Together, they will offer an all-in-one quality management and regulatory affairs solutions package for medical device companies looking to grow and scale globally.

Through this strategic alliance between two of the industry’s most trusted brands, medical device companies gain access to Greenlight Guru’s modern, cloud-based MDQMS platform and EMERGO by UL’s industry-leading Quality Management System (QMS) consulting services and cloud-based Regulatory Affairs Management Suite (RAMS). Greenlight Guru’s MDQMS platform enables closed-loop quality traceability for real-time audit readiness, while accelerating product development activities. EMERGO by UL consultants help companies implement and maintain quality systems to ensure medical device regulatory compliance across more than 20 markets, and RAMS provides digital tools to manage registration and certification documents, monitor the latest regulatory updates, as well as coordinate registrations and renewals.

This strategic alliance creates automated capabilities for medical device manufacturers to bring devices to market faster and helps ensure success in a fast-changing industry. The strategic alliance will be fully operational by May 13, 2020.

“Legacy-based systems are all too common in the medical device industry; however, building a quality management system from scratch or phasing out an old system can be a daunting task,” said David DeRam, CEO of Greenlight Guru. “Our relationship with EMERGO by UL seeks to streamline this process by pairing Greenlight Guru’s purpose-built quality management system alongside EMERGO by UL’s award-winning consulting services.”

The State of Medical Device Product Development & Quality Management Report 2020 found that 81% of medical device companies are not using tools and processes designed for the medical device industry in their quality management processes. Furthermore, EMERGO by UL’s Global Medical Device Industry Outlook for 2020 shows that less than 30% of survey respondents have implemented automated components of their RA/QA processes. The use of the Greenlight Guru software platform coupled with RAMS automated RA/QA capabilities allows organizations to move away from legacy and general-purpose tools that are burdensome and stifle innovation.

Furthermore, the joint offerings will allow organizations to:

• 
  Streamline and automate device design documentation and quality processes in alignment with major industry regulations and standards such as ISO, FDA, EU MDR, & MDSAP
• Easily discover and access regulatory requirements by market
• Automate the generation of error-free 510(k) submissions
• Manage and monitor device registrations globally
• Assure real-time audit readiness
• Simplify market access and drive revenue growth with global in-country representation
• Access a bench of QA/RA experts with insights and best practices from across the medical device industry, including mechanical and electromechanical devices, IVDs and digitally-enabled products such as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)

“This relationship will help medical device companies establish a modern, integrated approach to quality and regulatory system strategy,” said Michael Van Der Woude, Director & General Manager of Market Access at EMERGO by UL. “I am confident that our expertise in combination with Greenlight Guru’s MDQMS platform will not only create peace of mind but also stimulate growth and help organizations navigate global regulatory changes with ease throughout the coming decade.”

This announcement comes on the heels of significant enhancements to Greenlight Guru’s Change Management and Risk Management workflows, the launch of Digital Design Reviews, and the company’s sixth consecutive quarter as a G2 Crowd market leader in the quality management software category. In addition, EMERGO by UL recently launched Smart Builder market access tools for the RAMS platform, enabling automated preparation of documentation necessary for US FDA 510(k) and European MDR Technical File submissions.

For more information about this alliance and the bundled offerings, please visit https://www.greenlight.guru/alliance-emergo-by-ul.

###

About Greenlight Guru

Greenlight Guru is the only quality management software platform designed specifically for medical device companies. The platform helps companies bring safer products to market faster, simplifies FDA and ISO regulatory compliance and provides a single source of truth by connecting the management of all quality processes like CAPAs, risk, audits and more. Greenlight Guru’s platform is used by thousands of users across the globe to push beyond baseline compliance and achieve True Quality for their medical devices. For more information, visit http://www.greenlight.guru.

About EMERGO by UL

EMERGO by UL is the leading regulatory consulting firm specialized in global medical device and IVD compliance. Emergo’s comprehensive solution is designed to help you achieve and maintain regulatory and commercial success. With a presence on six continents, Emergo can provide real-time service and on-the-ground expertise. Learn more about Emergo at EMERGObyUL.com.

About RAMS

Developed by experts at Emergo by UL, the RAMS suite of software helps device companies monitor the latest changes, prepare FDA 510(k) and MDR TD file submissions, coordinate registrations and renewals, facilitate regulatory procedures, and more. Learn more about RAMS.

Media Contact

Kate Johnson

kate_johnson@blastmedia.com

(317) 806-1900 ext. 144

Share article on social media or email:

Practices have seen a 60% drop in patient volume and a 55% decrease in revenue since the beginning of the public health crisis. Greenway saw it as our obligation to quickly develop GRS Express to further support our customers as they navigate new financial challenges as a result of the pandemic.

TAMPA, Fla. (PRWEB)
April 27, 2020

Greenway Health, a leading health information technology and services provider, today announced a new Greenway Revenue Services offering, GRS Express, to ensure practice cash flow during the COVID-19 pandemic. A simplified solution for revenue cycle management (RCM) that can be deployed in as little as two weeks, this rapid response solution was designed to assist practices as they manage critical areas of the revenue cycle, providing immediate relief and improved, timely revenue collections.

Specifically, GRS Express will provide customers with:

• Charge posting, claims submissions and reconciliation, rejection management, and payment posting services
• Access to timely industry and billing knowledge as a source of consistency during a time of need and uncertainty
• Expedited implementation to get practices up and running in as soon as two weeks
• Variable pricing based on revenue
• Longer term cash flow security to ensure business continuity

“Healthcare providers are on the front lines of the pandemic, yet many practices are struggling to stay afloat,” added David Cohen, Senior Vice President Product Management, Greenway Health. “Developed by a team of clinicians and billing experts, our goal is for GRS Express to release some burden from providers on the business side, so they can focus solely on patient care.”

To further protect practice cash flow, GRS Express will be offered with deferred payment for the first 90 days of service. In addition to the solution offering, customers can also take advantage of Greenway’s free COVID-19 resources, product templates, billing-related documents and more, all designed to further inform and educate practices as they work to ensure business continuity during this time of uncertainty.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has created historic challenges for our industry. Some practices have had to quickly implement new tools like telehealth in an effort to continue seeing and treating patients, while others have been forced to temporarily close their doors. On average, however, medical practices have seen a 60% drop in patient volume and a 55% decrease in revenue since the beginning of the public health crisis,” said Richard Atkin, CEO at Greenway. “As a partner and trusted adviser to many providers, Greenway saw it as our obligation to quickly develop GRS Express to further support our customers as they navigate new financial challenges as a result of the pandemic.”

For more information on how GRS Express can further support your practice, visit http://www.greenwayhealth.com/solutions/greenway-revenue-services-express.

About Greenway Health

Fueling our customers’ success is at the heart of Greenway Health’s work. Driven by our five-point customer pledge and our mission to be trusted advisers, we provide innovative technology, quality services, and strategic partnerships that help practices grow profitably, improve patient outcomes, run efficiently, and remain compliant with federal and state regulations. Greenway’s team of clinical, financial, and technology experts is committed to innovative solutions that keep people healthier and happier. We connect providers to the right information and insights, at the right place and time, so they can make patient-driven care a reality. Greenway partners with organizations and progressive providers across multiple specialties, which translates into millions of lives touched daily by our solutions. For more details, visit http://www.greenwayhealth.com, call 877-537-0063, or follow Greenway on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Share article on social media or email:

Strategic investment that boosts operational efficiency right now ensures a company can maximize performance and outperform its peers coming out of the downturn,” Brian Sallade says

HOUSTON (PRWEB)
April 27, 2020

Last week, the U.S. energy sector faced a severe blow as the value of oil to be delivered in May dropped to a staggering -$37.60 per barrel—the first negative close in history.(1) Pharma and manufacturing industries are facing similar wake-up calls for a future riddled with uncertainty. But the key to maintaining operations during and after the coronavirus crisis revolves around digital transformation and document management for processes, analytics, and an agile workforce, according to Brian Sallade, the CEO of engineering and information management firm Kinsmen Group. “COVID-19 reveals the problems of onsite-only data location access, lack of digital access, and paper or manual processes,” Sallade says. “This slows information exchange, decreases accuracy, and elevates operational risk.”

While a reported $1.2 trillion in projects and contracts are in the O&G pipeline, the current crisis is changing how those involved plan for the future in reference to project timelines, reviews and suspensions, investment decisions, safety, and risk management re-structuring.(2) “Black Swan” events like COVID-19 stress the importance of energy sectors needing to implement innovative workforce strategies, IT measures, and customer service support systems—changes that call for information management processes and digital document management. While these adaptations are crucial to weathering the current chaotic business environment, such preparations may arguably be more important when transitioning back into a post-crisis world.(3)

The Center for International Environmental Law posits that oil and gas are among the hardest-hit industries of the ongoing economic crisis, with leading companies losing an average of 45% of their value since the beginning of 2020.(4) Cutting costs through digitization is nothing new, and investment in technology platforms will be necessary for energy’s ability to move forward.

COVID-19 Pharma Fallout

The pharma industry is in a similar position when it comes to navigating new challenges through digitalization and technology. Document management has always been critical for the intensive preclinical, clinical, and marketing phases of drug approval—though this becomes even more so when met with drug shortages, approval pressures, and supply chain challenges.

The pandemic has introduced numerous stressors to the pharma sector, such as the more than 100 associated drug trials that are placed on hold for the time being.(6) Public-private partnerships like Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) are simultaneously working to accelerate prioritization of vaccines and drug candidates to combat the novel coronavirus.(7)

Analyses show that pharma companies may have to respond to a potentially necessary shift of generic drug manufacturing back to the U.S.(8) This requires a very nimble and accessible document management system to respond to ramping up processes, production, and regulatory approval management as well as workforce and equipment management.

Manufacturing and the Global Supply Chain

With virtually every industry reliant on the supply chain, more and more manufacturing sectors are coming to a screeching halt. According to a recent industry survey from the National Association of Manufacturers, nearly 80% of manufacturers anticipate a financial impact while more than half are expecting to face operational changes.(9)

Manufacturing, pharma, and energy sectors desperately need visibility, reliability, and responsive data management to deal with the workforce, supply chain, and overall economic impact of COVID-19. Additionally, these industries should be thinking ahead by adopting information management, document management systems, and digital technologies that enable mobile collaboration, cloud access, and COVID-19 workforce management plans in order to adapt to the unknown.

According to Sallade, the inclination of these sectors is to pull back on investment in these areas, but now is more than ever is the time to push forward and prepare for an uncertain future global landscape. “Strategic investment that boosts operational efficiency right now ensures a company can maximize performance and outperform its peers coming out of the downturn,” Sallade says. “A digital strategy that optimizes facility operations through improved information/document management and control allows companies to ramp-up and diversify production as the tide turns.”

About Kinsmen Group

Kinsmen Group is a leading team of engineering information management specialists with a passion for applying innovation to prominent oil, gas, pharmaceutical, and utility companies. Their organization strives to deliver superior business results through excellence and pragmatism each time they partner with any business, revolutionizing each with wiser decision-making, risk reduction, safety improvement, and higher returns on their investments. Kinsmen Group is ranked as the “Best of the Best Professional Service Organizations” by Service Performance Insight Research and among the “Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America” by Inc. Magazine. To learn more, visit http://www.kinsmengroup.com.

1.    Julia Horowitz. Oil prices turn positive, but the market remains ‘broken’, CNN Business, April 21, 2020, cnn.com/2020/04/21/investing/oil-prices/index.html

2.    Coronavirus creates supply chain and workforce management challenges for oil and gas EPC projects, says GlobalData, GlobalData, April 2, 2020, globaldata.com/coronavirus-creates-supply-chain-and-workforce-management-challenges-for-oil-and-gas-epc-projects-says-globaldata/

3.    Mike Beehler. COVID-19 a Critical ‘Black Swan’ Event for Electric and Gas Utilities, Engineering News Record, March 25, 2020, enr.com/articles/49018-covid-19-a-critical-black-swan-event-for-electric-and-gas-utilities

4.    Pandemic Crisis, Systemic Design, Center for International Environmental Law, April 2020, ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Pandemic-Crisis-Systemic-Decline-April-2020.pdf

5.    Matthew Farmer. How will the offshore industry recover after Covid-19?, Offshore Technology, March 27, 2020, offshore-technology.com/features/coronavirus-covid-19-offshore-cost-opec/

6.    Hannah Yee, Niki Gallo, Kim Raymer. What to Expect from The FDA During (And After) COVID-19, Clinical Leader, April 20, 2020, clinicalleader.com/doc/what-to-expect-from-the-fda-during-and-after-covid-0001

7.    NIH to launch public-private partnership to speed COVID-19 vaccine and treatment options, National Institutes of Health, April 17, 2020, nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-launch-public-private-partnership-speed-covid-19-vaccine-treatment-options

8.    Josh Nathan-Kazis. Covid-19 Could Bring Generic Drug Manufacturing Back to the U.S., Analyst Writes, NASDAQ.co, April 7, 2020, nasdaq.com/articles/covid-19-could-bring-generic-drug-manufacturing-back-to-the-u.s.-analyst-writes-2020-04-07

9.    “Manufacturers’ Survey Reveals Current Industry Impact of COVID-19.” NAM, 12 Mar. 2020, nam.org/manufacturers-survey-reveals-current-industry-impact-of-covid-19-7411/?stream=series-press-releases.

# # #

Xtalks Life Science Webinars

The webinar will present findings from the open source Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative database, which suggests that baseline volumetric MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can meaningfully inform the longitudinal progression of DaTscan uptake in PD patients.

TORONTO (PRWEB)
April 27, 2020

Join David Scott, PhD, Scientific Director, Bioclinica in a live webinar on Tuesday, May 12, 2020 at 10:30am EDT (3:30pm BST/UK).

Nigrostriatal dopaminergic denervation is a critical pathological event in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and related disorders. Degeneration of presynaptic neurons leads to reduced density of dopamine transporters in the striatum, the progression of which leads to development of motor deficits and other clinical features.

DaTscan SPECT permits the in vivo assessment of striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) availability, which is the most widely utilized imaging biomarker for clinical trials in PD. Emerging evidence suggests that a pattern of reduced volume in the striatum and altered morphometry throughout the brain may inform the likelihood of progressive reduction in DaTscan binding.

In this webinar, the speaker will discuss how the integration of biomarkers across neuroimaging modalities can improve the characterization of PD disease state and help to predict whether a PD patient will reliably progress over the time frame of a clinical trial.

The webinar will present findings from the open source Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative database, which suggests that baseline volumetric MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can meaningfully inform the longitudinal progression of DaTscan uptake in PD patients. It will also explore the performance of different image processing pipelines, analytic endpoints and anatomic localization to determine which combination is most sensitive in predicting disease progression.

For more information or to register for this event, visit Neuroimaging in Parkinson’s Disease.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com

For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/

Share article on social media or email:

Jason Pappas, vice president, Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio accepts a donation of 12,000 facemasks from Darryl Tanner, chief executive officer, Facemasks for All.

While facemasks are only one of several measures important to creating a new American culture of public health and safety, they are a proven – and visible – tactic to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (PRWEB)
April 27, 2020

Facemasks for All is equipped to distribute millions of three-ply, non-surgical facemasks to Ohio businesses and other organizations as they start to welcome employees back into offices, restaurants and other gathering places. While specific requirements in Ohio are expected to be announced later today by Governor Mike DeWine, several businesses and organizations are already anticipating making masks part of their reopening plans. Seven states (Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island) already mandated facemask usage for businesses.

Masks from Facemasks for All are available in minimum quantities of 2,000. Costs depend on quantity requested, payment terms and desired delivery timeline. The average cost per mask is lower than $0.90 and is less than $0.66 cents when pre-paying with eight to ten days of lead time. Facemasks for All, which is utilizing a just-in-time inventory strategy to eliminate storage costs, has access to up to 100,000 masks available for next-day delivery. Additional quantities can be provided within four to ten days.

Businesses and organizations interested in obtaining masks should reach out directly at facemasksforall.com. The company has the resources to equip every worker in Columbus with a facemask within seven to ten days, and all of Ohio within two weeks, according to Darryl Tanner, chief executive officer, Facemasks for All.

“As we saw with facemasks for our healthcare workers, demand is going to exceed supply when employees return to the workplace,” Tanner said. “This is a rapidly-growing global industry that was seemingly created just months ago out of nowhere. And while facemasks are only one of several measures important to creating a new American culture of public health and safety, they are a proven – and visible – tactic to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.”

A large portion of the proceeds from the commercial sale of the masks will cover the costs of Facemasks for All donations to nonprofit organizations and municipalities, along with advocacy, lobbying, education and overhead. The company has already distributed more than 430,000 masks to various entities, including the donation of 20,500 masks to central Ohio firefighter and police organizations as well as the Ohio National Guard and The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA).

“The Fraternal Order of Police is extremely grateful for Mr. Tanner’s generosity by donating masks to Ohio law enforcement,” said Jason Pappas, vice president, Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio. “The donation allows our departments to conserve supplies of personal protective equipment and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.”

Tanner is also the chief executive officer of Columbus-based technology company King Memory. Darryl’s passion for supplying masks came as a result of his late-January visit to meet potential King Memory suppliers in Taiwan, as well as visiting his sister in Japan.

“I couldn’t help but notice every person in public was wearing a facemask in both Tokyo and Taipei. Wearing facemasks in these countries was part of everyday life before COVID-19, so there was no cultural resistance to implementing facemask usage to slow the spread of the virus,” Tanner said. “As a result, the global pandemic has not been as severe in places such as Taiwan, Japan and South Korea in comparison to the western world. I wanted to lend my experience in building high-growth companies and navigating fast-paced, evolving and fractured supply chains to quickly get a face mask to as many people as possible. I believe we cannot begin reopening the economy until everyone is wearing a facemask.”

Facemasks for All, which is equipped with U.S.-based distributers with physical stock, is also currently verifying 12 manufacturers located in China with a combined daily production capacity of 14 million masks. These manufacturers are registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are either currently approved by the Chinese government or have an application in process. China is verifying every manufacturer for quality and only permitting manufacturers that pass certain criteria to be allowed to export personal protective equipment including facemasks.

“Ohio business and governmental leaders have shown great resourcefulness and creativity to help fight the COVID-19 public health pandemic,” Tanner concluded. “I feel a responsibility to do whatever I can as well. We truly are #InThisTogetherOhio.”

For more information on Facemasks for All, please visit http://www.facemasksforall.com.

Share article on social media or email: