IBM medical devices and IT integration

Collaborative innovations, enhanced medical devices
Medical device companies must meet new and evolving challenges to stay competitive. Today's market place for medical devices includes high regulatory compliance costs, recalls and a need for increased research and development levels. Legal challenges such as patent infringement and malpractice lawsuits are also common obstacles to medical device companies. The integration and alignment of IT and medical devices is crucial to overcoming these challenges. Aligning IT and medical devices can help your company better market to a diverse, well informed and more demanding population. You can also meet increasing pressure to create product differentiation through innovation and bring this innovation to market more quickly.

IBM combines industry insight, medical device business process knowledge, IT integration expertise and collaborative innovation to help medical devices companies gain competitive advantage through affordable innovation. We've helped bring a series of medical devices to market. According to eweek.com:

• "One IBM collaboration with the Mayo Clinic yielded a portable MRI device after just eight months, much shorter than the typical turnaround of almost two years."
• "IBM has also worked with Bang & Olufsen Medicom to develop a wireless pill counter that informs both patients and doctors of medicines that need to be taken."
• "The most recent fruit of these medical device partnerships is a portable system that programs ICDs (implantable cardioverter defibrillators) and pacemakers, designed by IBM with cardiac medical device company St. Jude Medical."

Harness new technology to increase your medical devices company's operating efficiency and profitability. IBM can help you:

• Improve information flow and transparency across your company.
• Accelerate growth through new revenue streams.
• Leverage security-rich, private transactions.
• Realize affordable innovation and cost reductions.
• Improve privacy protection and information management.
• Build alliances with customers, suppliers or new product innovators.
• Gain competitive advantage through shortened cycle time to market.

Footnote: 1. Source:
IBM Moves into Medical Devices, May 31, 2006, eWeek.com