IDx, LLC Welcomes Senator William H. Frist To Board of Directors

IOWA CITY, Iowa, March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IDx, LLC, a company dedicated to improving healthcare productivity by bringing automated diagnostic solutions to market, today announced that Senator William H. Frist, MD has joined its Board of Directors.

"Senator Frist is one of the most influential leaders in healthcare today, with a long of history of advocating for improved clinical care and access around the world," said Gary Seamans, Chairman and CEO of IDx. "We are honored to have him working with us as we establish partnerships across the healthcare system and improve rates of screening for sight- and life-threatening diseases."

William H. Frist, M.D. is a nationally recognized heart and lung transplant surgeon, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, and Chairman of the Executive Council of Cressey and Company. Senator Frist represented Tennessee in the U.S. Senate for 12 years where he served on both the Health and Finance committees. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Cardiac Surgery at Vanderbilt University and Clinical Professor of Surgery at Meharry Medical College. He is also Co-Chair of the Health Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. His board service includes the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"I've dedicated my life to effecting change in healthcare as a practicing surgeon, professor, a senator and policy maker, and through medical mission work globally," Senator Frist said. "I believe the automated technologies that have driven productivity in American industry over the last century also have a role to play in healthcare, where they can dramatically enhance patient access to care and markedly improve patients' overall health.  IDx's unique approach to this problem is going to have a huge impact on medicine." 

IDx's Technology
IDx works to make data in the eye meaningful to health care providers that serve patients on the front lines of medicine.

"The back of the human eye is very much a 'window' into patient health," explained Dr. Michael Abramoff, IDx's founder and President.  "Retinal images allow doctors to have a look inside the body, where blood vessels and nerve tissue provide a wealth of data about a patient's physical health status."  Some of this information can be used to diagnose eye diseases, like retinopathy, macular degeneration and glaucoma, but fundus photos can also be used to determine which patients are at an increased risk for stroke and heart attack. 

IDx-DR, IDx's software system capable of detecting diabetic retinopathy with greater sensitivity than trained physicians, received CE approval as a class IIa medical device in 2013.  The CE marks clears the product for sale in the 31 countries that comprise the European Economic Area.  IDx-DR is not yet approved for sale by the Food and Drug Administration the United States.

"IDx is working to tap all of the data contained in the human eye and present that data in a manner that can dramatically improve patient health," said Dr. Abramoff. "Senator Frist's focus on improving quality, efficiency and price in healthcare merges perfectly with IDx's goal to transform frontline diagnostics through advanced imaging and automation.  We are immensely pleased to have him on board."

SOURCE IDx, LLC