Carolinas HealthCare System and Edison Nation Collaborate to Drive Medical Innovation and Technology

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Carolinas HealthCare System and Edison Nation have formed Edison Nation Medical, LLC, a joint venture to stimulate innovations in healthcare delivery and improvements in patient care. This combination will provide a unique and creative platform for physicians, nurses and other caregivers, as well as patients throughout the country, to submit their best ideas to further medical innovation and technology, thus transforming the future of patient care.

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"The collaborative relationship between Carolinas HealthCare System and Edison Nation was fundamentally built on a shared vision that, working together, these two organizations can have a lasting impact on the future of healthcare," said Michael C. Tarwater, chief executive officer, Carolinas HealthCare System. "By encouraging those who personally deliver care to patients—and even patients themselves—to become innovators in improving both the care and the patient experience, we believe we can stimulate more meaningful ideas that truly result in real, tangible innovation. CHS believes that by blending our comprehensive clinical expertise and our core strengths in innovative thought with Edison Nation's creative execution abilities, together we can transform healthcare."

Edison Nation, a Charlotte-based product developer and online social community for inventors, is the ideal partner to apply the same approach to healthcare. Edison Nation works with major retailers and manufacturers, such as Clorox, Fisher-Price, Colgate and Bed Bath & Beyond®, to be a catalyst for them to find new products to develop and sell. Edison Nation products have been carried in more than 25,000 stores and more than 13 million units have been sold in the U.S. and abroad.

"The collaboration between Edison Nation and Carolinas HealthCare System will allow Edison Nation to bring our expert product development capabilities to the healthcare arena in a way that hasn't been done before," said Louis Foreman, chief executive officer, Edison Nation. "Our goal is to provide a platform for bringing innovative ideas, from simple solutions to complex products or instruments, to market to best benefit patient outcomes and experiences."

Governance of the new entity will be through a board of managers; members are appointed by each organization. Headquarters will be in Charlotte, N.C. where the leadership will work together to bring new ideas to market.

Development ideas will come primarily through two sources — 1) Innovation Searches hosted by Edison Nation Medical, to find ideas to license and develop and 2) Innovation Searches sponsored by corporations who are seeking specific product solutions.

Membership in Edison Nation Medical is free. The process for submitting ideas as an individual inventor is through a secure and confidential online submission form through a published Innovation Search online. Individuals wishing to learn more about this new organization should visit www.edisonnationmedical.com.

About Carolinas HealthCare System
Carolinas HealthCare System (www.carolinashealthcare.org), one of the nation's leading and most innovative healthcare organizations, provides a full spectrum of healthcare and wellness programs throughout North and South Carolina. Its diverse network of more than 650 care locations includes academic medical centers, hospitals, healthcare pavilions, physician practices, destination centers, surgical and rehabilitation centers, home health agencies, nursing homes and hospice and palliative care. CHS works to improve and enhance the overall health and wellbeing of its communities through high quality patient care, education and research programs, and numerous collaborative partnerships and initiatives.

About Edison Nation
Edison Nation is a product design and development group with expertise in the consumer, industrial and medical space. Edison Nation operates EdisonNation.com, an online community for innovators, Everyday Edisons, an Emmy® Award-winning series on public television, and Inventors Digest, a top trade publication dedicated to the study of business and innovation. Edison Nation utilizes corporate relationships with the country's top retailers, manufacturers and ASOTV companies to bring independent inventor-driven ideas to market. Products can be found in all major mass retailers across the country. Edison Nation was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. For more information, please visit www.edisonnation.com.

SOURCE Edison Nation