Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN;LSE:SN), the global medical technology business, today announced the acquisition of two software assets from S2 Interactive, a surgical software development company. These two important applications are utilised by Syncera, Smith & Nephew’s innovative, new, orthopaedic supply chain model for hospitals and ambulatory surgery centres (ASCs).
The applications, Virtual Backtable® and TrayTouch®, allow hospital and ASC customers to access, analyse and manage real-time data related to instrument utilisation during surgery. This data allows central processing and operating room (OR) administrators to identify the instruments an individual surgeon uses during a specific procedure, assemble, prepare and streamline the instrument trays accordingly, and train the OR staff using interactive, visual layouts of each tray.
Arthroplasty surgery can involve the use of as many as 20 trays holding a total of 200 or more instruments, all of which need be counted, cleaned, inspected, assembled and sterilized before every surgery. In practice, a surgeon may only use a small number of these instruments during the surgery and by using the learning management module within these applications, a nurse or scrub technician setting up for surgery can quickly train themselves on each surgeon’s preferences, identify the instrument sequence and quickly locate every instrument within the tray.
“As operating rooms continue to look for ways to improve efficiency and trim costs, better instrument management becomes vital,” says Stuart Morris-Hipkins, SVP and General Manager of Syncera. “By organising the instrument trays and the OR equipment based on the surgical sequence and the instrument usage of each surgeon, a hospital can significantly reduce the overall costs associated with instrument prep and assembly without sacrificing patient care.”
The software applications acquired by Smith & Nephew are:
- Virtual Backtable (VBT) provides a visual map of each surgeon’s preferences covering patient preparation, OR planning and the surgical sequence. VBT also provides a learning management module that helps train new scrub technicians on the surgical sequence, instrument flow and tray layout – potentially reducing training time by as much as 40 percent.
- TrayTouch improves the efficiency, and documents inspection of the central processing department that cleans, re-assembles and sterilises the instrument sets prior returning them to the OR’s.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
About Syncera
Syncera Value Solutions is a recently formed strategic business unit within Smith & Nephew that has been specifically crafted to provide attractive economics through clinically proven products and cutting-edge technology solutions within the primary reconstructive hip and knee marketplace. Its innovative business model brings value solutions to the OR with point-of-care technology that links and interfaces with the entire hospital or ASC supply chain system. For more information about Syncera, please visit www.syncera.com.
Contacts:
|
Media |
|
|
Joe Metzger Smith & Nephew
|
|
|
Investor/Analyst |
|
|
Ingeborg Oie Smith & Nephew |
+44 (0)20 7401 7646 |
About Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business dedicated to helping healthcare professionals improve people's lives. With leadership positions in Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Advanced Wound Management, Sports Medicine and Trauma & Extremities, Smith & Nephew has around 14,000 employees and a presence in more than 100 countries. Annual sales in 2014 were more than $4.6 billion. Smith & Nephew is a member of the FTSE100 (LSE: SN, NYSE: SNN).
For more information about Smith & Nephew, please visit our corporate website www.smith-nephew.com, follow @SmithNephewplc on Twitter or visit SmithNephewplc on Facebook.com
Forward-looking Statements
This document may contain forward-looking statements that may or may not prove accurate. For example, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading margins, market trends and our product pipeline are forward-looking statements. Phrases such as "aim", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "well-placed", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "consider" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by the statements. For Smith & Nephew, these factors include: economic and financial conditions in the markets we serve, especially those affecting health care providers, payers and customers; price levels for established and innovative medical devices; developments in medical technology; regulatory approvals, reimbursement decisions or other government actions; product defects or recalls; litigation relating to patent or other claims; legal compliance risks and related investigative, remedial or enforcement actions; strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions, our success in performing due diligence, valuing and integrating acquired businesses; disruption that may result from transactions or other changes we make in our business plans or organisation to adapt to market developments; and numerous other matters that affect us or our markets, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or reputational nature. Please refer to the documents that Smith & Nephew has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Smith & Nephew's most recent annual report on Form 20-F, for a discussion of certain of these factors. Any forward-looking statement is based on information available to Smith & Nephew as of the date of the statement. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Smith & Nephew are qualified by this caution. Smith & Nephew does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in circumstances or in Smith & Nephew's expectations.
◊ Trademark of Smith & Nephew. Certain marks registered US Patent and Trademark Office.