White House Launches Program to Target Medical Errors; New Billion-dollar Patient Safety Initiative Will Lead to Introduction of Visual Healthcare Quality Assurance Technology
RENO, Nev., April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Visual Healthcare Corp. (the "Company") (NASDAQ OTC: VSHC) and its affiliated partners are poised to benefit directly from a new billion-dollar patient safety program announced Tuesday by the Obama administration, aimed at reducing preventable medical errors. Through this program, President Obama is challenging hospitals to dramatically cut mistakes and readmissions due to preventable errors or negligence.
This watershed program comes on the heels of the publication in Health Affairs of a study showing that one in three people admitted to hospitals suffers a medical error or accident. PBS News Hour has reported that this devastating statistic was ten times larger than expected by the authorities.
Administration official Rima Cohen, adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Kathleen Sibelius, was quoted saying that the ultimate goal was to "make the best care normal care for all patients... the ultimate goal is to eliminate preventable errors. To get started, we're setting two ambitious goals for the next three years: Reducing preventable injuries in hospitals by 40 percent and cutting preventable hospital readmissions by 20 percent," continued Ms. Cohen.
"Those initiatives could save as much as $35 billion, including $10 billion for Medicare, according to HHS, beyond the ultimate goal of saving lives and reducing problems for patients. Some $1 billion will be made available through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to fund various demonstration projects over the next three years," concludes Ms Cohen.
"This is the first serious program against ADEs since the alarming Institute of Medicine (IOM) report of 2000 To Err is Human," says Gerard Dab, Chairman and CEO. "Reducing the massive incidence of drug errors in hospital can only be achieved by automation and using smart systems like ours. This program demonstrates the seriousness of the White House commitment to modernizing the healthcare industry."
"We built smart medical applications and quality assurance in response to the IOM but we had to wait nearly a decade to see tough government policies like the ones being ushered in today to drive demand for our life saving technology," concludes Mr. Dab.
Visual Healthcare's CPOE, Electronic Notes and Quality Assurance modules are used successfully by over one thousand clinicians and have been demonstrated to reduce both morbidity and cost associated with hospital errors by more than 30%, and fatal errors by more than 50%.
With our operational track record, academic validation and high marks from independent industry analysts, Visual Healthcare fully expects to be a part of the ADE initiative. This is one earlier step in the reform of the medical system in America. Our company and our affiliates stand to benefit directly on all fronts and we will see increased demand for automation technology as healthcare struggles to close its huge technology gap with other major industries.
ABOUT VISUAL HEALTHCARE
Visual Healthcare Corp., since 1998, designs, creates and develops innovative information platforms, specifically conceived for the automation of a wide range of scientific disciplines. These include pharmaceutical research, clinical trials, laboratory automation, true quality assurance tools, total quality control applications, and quantitative analytic tools such as proprietary frameworks for electronic health records, electronic prescription, infection and disease control, and smart cancer registries. The company's extensive portfolio of proprietary technologies is the result of a unique collaboration between senior clinicians from the McGill University Faculty of Medicine and affiliated tertiary care centers, medical software architects, and a Fortune 100 healthcare service company, investing some $50 million in the process. The Company licenses its technology to operating companies in exchange for an equity stake or a royalty stream. It owns significant stakes in various companies including VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ OTC: VMCS), a leader in the field of electronic health records.
For more information, please visit: www.visualhealthcarecorp.com.
FORWARD- LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for historical information provided herein, this press release may contain information and statements of a forward-looking nature concerning the future performance of the Company. These statements are based on suppositions and uncertainties as well as on management's best possible evaluation of future events. Such factors may include, without excluding other considerations, fluctuations in quarterly results, evolution in customer demand for the Company's products and services, the impact of price pressures exerted by competitors, and general market trends or economic changes. As a result, readers are advised that actual results may differ from expected results.
Contact:
Gerard Dab, CEO
Visual Healthcare Corp.
514-582-5220
e-mail: [email protected]
SOURCE Visual Healthcare Corp.
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