Health + Wellness

HealthBridge links hospitals, docs to help patients

By Newsroom

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August 16, 2011

Today when computer technology has streamlined everything from business filings to banking, many health records are still paper-based. But most hospitals and doctors' offices in the tri-state area are ahead of the curve, thanks to a Blue Ash nonprofit. HealthBridge is one of the country's largest electronic health information exchange organizations, serving 80 to 90 percent of physicians and acute care hospitals in southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and southeast Indiana. "Because of HealthBridge, and participating doctors and hospitals, we're among the nation's leaders in using electronic tools to make healthcare more efficient and secure," says Trudi Matthews, company director of policy and public relations. The system not only makes healthcare delivery quicker and more secure, but also cuts down on medical mistakes. HealthBridge helps medical centers quickly and simply share information for 2.5 million patients in the region. More than 24 hospitals and 5,000 physicians use the company's health IT services in Greater Cincinnati, saving the region an estimated $20 million a year. HealthBridge is working to expand its system into other parts of the region under several federally-funded initiatives. The nonprofit is expanding its services through the Tri-State Regional Extension Center. "There is a big move to adopt electronic health records (nationwide) and one of the new services we offer, through a $10.1 million grant, is to help more than 1,700 physicians adopt electronic health records," Matthew says. Another program aimed at improving care is funded through a $13.75 million federal Beacon Community Grant. The grant will use health IT to measure and detail healthcare delivery improvement in three areas: quality, cost-efficiency and population health. HealthBridge is growing along with the demand for its services. From 2008, it's grown from 22 employees to more than 40 full-time and contract workers. By Feoshia Henderson You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

Latest in Health + Wellness

Healthwarehouse’s e-pharmacy grows 250 percent

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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August 16, 2011

In less than five years, Healthwarehouse.com has grown from a home-based idea to a publicly traded company with nearly 50 employees that ships more than 3,000 prescriptions across the U.S. each day."We are growing 250 percent a year, year over year," says co-founder Lalit Dhadphale. "In the first quarter, we filled about 33,000 prescriptions."Dhadphale, a tech entrepreneur, started the business with chief pharmacist Ron Ferguson. Dhadphale moved to Cincinnati, where Ferguson lives, from Las Vegas to start the business.The economic downturn, and the massive loss of individuals' jobs and health insurance, has a growing number of people turning to businesses like Healthwarehouse.com. The mail-order pharmacy offers about 300 generic prescription drugs for $3.50, and ships the medicines free to every U.S. state.The company also sells pet medications, over-the counter medications and more than 1,200 brand name prescription drugs at reduced prices. It cuts cost by selling directly from the manufacturer to consumers from its "pharmacy/warehouse." "The way consumers traditionally get drugs is to take a prescription to a retailer, and it's not the most efficient model," Dhadphale says. "We cut down on the cost associated with getting the medicine to the consumer. Whether we have 100 customers or 10,000, our fixed costs are the same. We pass the savings onto the consumer."Healthwarehouse.com sells only FDA-approved and legal-for-sale drugs, and is licensed in all 50 states. It's one of only 24 Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) accredited pharmacies in the country.The company recently relocated from Loveland to a 30,000 square foot space in Florence, Ky. About a third of that is office space, with the remainder warehousing medications. Healthwarehouse.com received incentives from the state as part of the move, and has a target to eventually create 220 jobs.In addition, New Atlantic Ventures invested a total of $1.5 million in equity in the company by purchasing common stock. The investment will be used primarily for working capital and to expand the company's online presence and upgrade its technology infrastructure.By Feoshia Henderson You can follow Feoshia on Twitter @feoshiawrites

UPS expands board to include Candace Kendle

By Newsroom

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Cincy In The News

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August 16, 2011

Candace Kendle, the co-founder and former chairwoman and CEO of global clinical research firm Kendle International, is the latest addition to the UPS board. The Cincinnati company was acquired by INC Research LLC for $232 million last month.Read the full story here.

Salad bars in pork city

By Newsroom

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Cincy In The News

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August 16, 2011

Cincinnati isn't the only town in the country that's bringing salad bars to its public schools (there's New Haven, and New Orleans), but it has the rare distinction of once being known as Porkopolis, from the time – the early-to-mid 19th century – when herds of hogs roamed its streets, and it was the biggest pork-packing center in the country.Read the full story here.

New Sensor Detects Dangerous Heavy Metals in Humans

By Newsroom

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Cincy In The News

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August 9, 2011

Work by University of Cincinnati researchers to create a sensor that provides fast feedback related to the presence and levels of heavy metals—specifically manganese—in humans is published in the August issue of the prestigious international journal, Biomedical Microdevices.Read the full story here.

UC researchers innovate with lab-on-a-chip technology

By Soapbox

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Education + Learning

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August 9, 2011

A sensor chip developed by researchers at The University of Cincinnati is small enough to be covered by a matchbook. But this little device offers huge potential for making medical care faster, easier and less painful.UC researchers Erin Haynes, DrPH, and Ian Papautsky, PhD, are in the early stages of testing a sensor that can measure the level of manganese, a potentially toxic metal, in a blood sample. Excessive manganese exposure can cause a range of symptoms, including behavioral changes, balance problems and nervous system damage. Haynes, an environmental medicine researcher, initially began studying manganese exposure after she was contacted by residents of Marietta, Ohio, who worried that a manganese processing facility in that city was releasing dangerous amounts of the metal into the air.Haynes says that current testing practices, which involve periodic blood testing among participants, can take up to six months or more as her team collects a batch of samples, ships them to a lab, and then waits for results."Families are anxious," Haynes says. "They want to know the results immediately or in a short amount of time."Haynes says she approached Papautsky with the idea of developing a so-called lab-on-a-chip: a single-use device that could quickly test a small blood sample for manganese and provide a near-instant result. Papautsky says this type of point-of-care testing is a hot topic in biomedical engineering. And the subject at hand presented a unique challenge, he says."It turns out manganese is very challenging to detect in an electrochemical approach," he says.The researchers' prototype chip uses an electrical current to pull manganese out of the blood sample, and measures how much energy it takes to do that - the amount of energy required correlates to the amount of manganese in the sample. The electrodes normally used in this kind of device are often made from mercury, but the team found that making the electrodes out of less-toxic bismuth produced a more sensitive sensor, and one that's more environmentally friendly.Papautsky says the chip is still in the early phases of lab testing - it has shown promise detecting manganese in blood serum, and his team hopes to test it using whole blood in the near future. It could be several years before a consumer-ready version of the chip can be deployed to Marietta, thanks to the long process of verification and testing that goes into ensuring any medical device is ready for use.But both Papautsky and Haynes are excited about the chip's potential. Its high sensitivity could trickle down into making other tests, such as that for lead exposure, more effective. But patients young and old may better appreciate another fact: the lab-on-a-chip could one day conduct a range of front-line lab tests with only a finger-prick's worth of blood, rather than the vials required today."These type of systems are changing the way medicine is practiced and can be delivered," Papautsky says.By Matt Cunningham Follow Matt on Twitter @cunningcontent

NDT exceeds funding goal for initial series

By Soapbox

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Health + Wellness

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August 9, 2011

Joel Ivers is making it look easy to raise venture capital dollars in Southwest Ohio.As CEO of NanoDetection Technology, Ivers recently announced that the start-up company had closed its Series A funding round with 21 investors and was "oversubscribed" – venture capital talk for taking more money than it set out to raise.The company had set a $2 million goal for the round of financing, but investor interest was so strong it decided to take an additional $300,000, Ivers says. And even more impressive: All but three of the 19 individual investors are local individuals."We were thrilled by the number of individuals who saw the potential for our technology, especially so many local investors," says Ivers. Ivers joined NDT, a health-care diagnostics company, last fall after CincyTech brought it here from Knoxville, Tenn. CincyTech led the round, which closed in July, with a $400,000 investment and brought half a dozen investors into the deal. Southern Ohio Creates Companies invested $100,000, and 19 individual investors put in the rest. "The seven-month effort was especially impressive given the tough fund-raising climate," Ivers says.NDT is focusing initially on marketing a low-cost point-of-care diagnostic system to hospitals and physicians' offices, with a first target on the detection of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in skin and soft tissues. Ivers says this investment round will fund efforts for clinical trials and for NDT to complete Food and Drug Administration clearance of its new test. NDT expects its initial U.S. MRSA-targeted sales early in 2013. NanoDetection Technology was founded by Knoxville physician Charles Barnett, who developed a way to detect and identify pathogens much more quickly than existing technologies – within minutes instead of days. Ivers was brought in to run the company in Cincinnati after working in biomedical fields in the region for 30 years. He has served as president of Union Springs Pharmaceuticals and CEO of Hill Top Research. NDT moved to the Tech-Way Office Park in Franklin, Ohio, in March, and hired two research scientists. Tech-Way Industries will produce the plastic parts for the devices and assemble the final product.NDT's local capital-raising success validates its move here, says Bob Coy, president of CincyTech. "It was serendipity that NDT came across our radar, but serendipity only happens when your networks are robust to begin with."By Sarah Blazak

Local bakeries expand to satisfy gluten-free customers

By Soapbox

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Development News

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August 2, 2011

The phrase "gluten-free bakery" might seem oxymoronic. Gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and possibly oats. It's part of what gives baked goods their light, fluffy texture, and is a common component in breads, rolls, cookies and other bakery staples.But a growing body of evidence suggests too much gluten may cause problems for some people. In extreme cases, such as people with Celiac disease, a genetic disorder, the protein gliadin, which is found in gluten, sets off an autoimmune reaction that destroys cells in the small intestines. Severe reactions can be life-threatening, and those who suffer from the disease have limited opportunities to eat outside of their homes. Even products advertised as gluten-free might have traces of gluten, given the difficulty of creating a gluten-free environment in a bakery or restaurant that sells gluten products. Given the growing public recognition of gluten-free dietary restrictions, bakeries that offer low-gluten and gluten-free products are popping up in storefronts and farmer's markets across Cincinnati.Amber Jones, owner of AJ Creations, the only completely gluten-free bakery in the region, suspects that the growing number of people with gluten intolerance comes from greater awareness and better diagnostic tools. "Before, people were often told they had a weak stomach," she says. Her bakery, located in an historic storefront in downtown Covington, offers a variety of baked goods, from muffins and fresh biscuits to cookies, candies and coffee cakes, many of which are also dairy-free. Instead of wheat or rye flour, she uses a wide variety of alternatives, like garbanzo bean flour, rice flour, potatoes, tapioca, corn flour and almond meal. In Over-the-Rhine, Madison's at Findlay Market sells several gluten-free projects, from Udi's bread to Tinkyada pasta and Sesmark crackers. Neighboring bakery Skirtz & Johnston's Fine Pastries and Chocolates offers a low gluten bread. Called Dinkelbrot, this dense spelt flour bread with sunflower seeds, flax seeds and oats, is based on an old German recipe. The bakery also offers a low-gluten chocolate torte with only four ingredients: chocolate, butter, eggs and sugar. The Cincinnati Celiac Support Group lists eight bakeries in the region with gluten-free offerings. And with a host of restaurants throughout the area offering gluten-free menu items - or even full allergen-sensitive menus - it's becoming easier for people sensitive to this common food item to enjoy the smells and tastes of fresh-baked goods. By Becky Johnson

BioEnterprise: Cincinnati snags four top venture deals

By Soapbox

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Entrepreneurship

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August 2, 2011

Two Cincinnati-based health care startup companies were among the top four venture deals in Ohio in the first half of 2011, according to a new report by Cleveland-based BioEnterprise. Blue Ash-based Akebia Therapeutics raised $14 million and Mason-based AssureRx Health raised $11 million during that time, joining Cleveland companies Athersys ($13 million) and Explorys ($11.5 million) in the top four. Ohio ranked as the top state in terms of number of deals in the time period among 11 Midwestern states analyzed for the BioEnterprise Midwest Health Care Venture Investment Report. Ohio saw 25 deals; Minnesota was second with 13. (Kentucky ranked at sixth with four deals.)Minnesota startups attracted the most dollars, $88 million, but Ohio was a close second with $80 million, BioEnterprise determined."While the number of companies funded remains high and similar to prior years, the total dollars invested is down compared to recent years," says Baiju Shah, president and CEO of BioEnterprise. Shah says Midwestern growth-stage health care firms are increasingly being purchased rather than pursuing additional financing because of the economic climate.In Ohio, Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky accounted for $23 million in venture deals, while Cleveland saw $50 million in activity and Columbus saw $6.1 million. The Cincinnati region's total applied to four deals. That compares to two deals worth $7 million in the first half of 2010.Both Akebia Therapeutics and AssureRx Health are portfolio companies of CincyTech, the region's seed-stage investment firm. Akebia has received about $500,000 from CincyTech since 2007 and more than $50 million total in venture financing, led by Novartis. AssureRx has received $1 million from CincyTech and a total of $15 million. Its $11 million round this spring was led by Silicon Valley firms Claremont Creek Capital and Sequoia Capital.Akebia is a biopharmaceuticals company focused on the development of small molecules for the treatment of anemia and vascular disease. AssureRx has developed a genetic test that helps doctors more precisely determine dosage and medication for individuals.CincyTech President Bob Coy says the firm has seen strong activity among health-care-related startups. "The interest among high-caliber venture investors in these startups shows the kinds of companies our region can produce when our research institutions, corporations, early-stage investors and entrepreneurial minds come together," says Coy. By Sarah Blazak for CincyTech

NKU team helps develop, launch innovative CPR app

By Soapbox

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Education + Learning

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August 2, 2011

An area university has brought its technical expertise to the table to help develop a live-saving mobile application for fire departments and first responders.The Center for Applied Informatics (CAI) at Northern Kentucky University in June joined the advisory board of the PulsePoint Foundation, a non-profit group created to develop and expand the use of a mobile application that helps fire departments spread information and emergency information. "In today's connected world, the public can stay current on emergency situations via this application directly from the EMS/Fire unit," says Tim Ferguson, executive director and chief information officer of the CAI at NKU. "The technology automates this with integration with the 9-1-1 system. Public service now and in the future will be more focused on providing real-time information from the teams that provide the service."The mobile technology, known as the Fire Department CPR notification application, was originally developed and tested by the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District in California, in conjunction with CAI, Ferguson says."It began several months ago as a research project," Ferguson says. "NKU has provided our mobile application research to the foundation."The application currently works on the iOS platform found on Apple iPhones, says Josh Rodamer, marketing specialist for CAI.Approximately 10 students and four faculty members served as graphic designers, testers and web and database developers on the project, which is similar to applications currently in use by school systems and other governmental agencies that need to communicate to the public, Ferguson says.The partnership with PulsePoint falls in line with NKU's efforts to contribute back to the local community, says James Votruba, president of NKU."Collaboration with the PulsePoint Foundation perfectly aligns with Northern Kentucky University's community outreach mission," Votruba says. "This innovative technology has true potential to change and save lives, and we are proud to be part of such an initiative." Besides normal fire department notifications, the application includes a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) function meant to increase life-saving measures and improve patient care. This helped earn the application multiple technology and innovation awards since its inception, including an American Heart Association Life Saver Heart Partner Award."The CPR feature connects someone trained in CPR who is close proximity-wise (within one block) to someone who is in need of CPR," Ferguson says. "This almost immediate response before EMS shows up can save lives."Approximately 10 fire and EMS departments throughout Northern Kentucky are in partnership talks with the PulsePoint Foundation and NKU regarding the mobile application – including the Erlanger, Ky, Fire/EMS Department."We have been working with them to review the Fire Department Application and to hopefully deploy it in the fall," Ferguson says. "They are a good example of a local EMS/Fire that sees the mobile technology as a necessary step in informing the public and in fact public service."The department was informed of the project by a mutual partner it has with the university, Sprint Wireless."Sprint, knowing our desire to be cutting edge, thought our department would be a good local match for NKU," says Steve Castor, an officer with the Erlanger Public Safety Communications Center.The application benefits not only fire and EMS units, Castor says, but the public as well."The more hands out there, the better," Castor says. "It's putting that many more trained people out there (in the area of an incident) that can help someone until that paramedic or ambulance arrives."Residents that sign up and download the application, once the city of Erlanger institutes it, will be acting under the Good Samaritan laws and not as agents of the city, says Terry Allen, Erlanger fire chief.Allen says he wishes he had the application one evening while eating at Outback Steakhouse when another diner began choking."All of a sudden the EMS showed up and I didn't know about it," Allen says, "but if I had this application I could have helped."Not only will the application notify citizens of medical emergencies and locations of defibrillators but also of road closures and other information, Allen says.There is no additional cost to taxpayers if the city institutes the application, Allen says."I think it's a tremendous tool for the public and we are 100 percent behind it," he says. "It's worth it if we can help save a life."A presentation on the mobile application is to be presented at the Erlanger City Council meeting Aug. 2, Allen says.By James Sprague