Jul 8 2010
CompuMed, Inc. (OTCBB: CMPD) (http://www.compumed.net), a medical informatics and telemedicine services company, has secured extended contracts to provide its signature CardioGram™ electrocardiogram (ECG) remote interpretation systems and over-read services for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (OKDOC) and Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) at selected facilities throughout both states. The OKDOC rents 21 CardioGram systems, and the ADC owns 45 CardioGram systems.
“The CardioGram helps a facility to gain rapid access to specialists in diagnosing and treating cardiovascular disease. Such access increases the standard of care while minimizing costs and potential liability for the facility.”
Maurizio Vecchione, CompuMed's CEO, said, "The CardioGram helps a facility to gain rapid access to specialists in diagnosing and treating cardiovascular disease. Such access increases the standard of care while minimizing costs and potential liability for the facility."
CompuMed's CardioGram is a portable telemedicine device supported by proprietary work-flow software. CompuMed's traditional core business is providing remote ECG interpretation terminals and related services to medical facilities that may not have access to physicians trained and qualified to interpret ECG results or for whom the costs are prohibitive.
Customers for the company's CardioGram system are typically correctional facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, occupational health clinics, research facilities and physician offices. New markets being targeted are rural health and school based clinics. The CardioGram system reduces healthcare costs significantly by providing remote cardiac screening at the point-of-care and reducing unnecessary transports to emergency rooms.
After patient preparation, the ECG is acquired with the push of a button. The ECG data is digitally transmitted via any phone or Internet connection to the company's computer laboratory for instant analysis. ECG data is interpreted by a sophisticated computer algorithm, and interpretations are available in near real-time at the CardioGram device. The data and interpretation can then be transferred to an electronic medical record (EMR) via CompuMed's proprietary EMR software solution.
However, the most unique and life-saving feature of the CardioGram is the device's over-read capabilities or "The Doctor Inside™," which immediately engages one of CompuMed's on-call cardiologists to over-read the computerized interpretation. Cardiologist over-reads can be made available to attending physicians at the point-of-care, providing expert interpretations in those situations where the data is ambiguous or difficult to interpret. "The Doctor Inside™" is a key element of CompuMed's unique approach to telemedicine and telecardiology.