Urodynamic testing is a group of tests used to evaluate how well how well the bladder, sphincters, and urethra are storing and releasing urine.  Due to the nature of urodynamic testing, some patients experience anxiety. However, there are a few simple steps that can be taken to significantly reduce patient anxiety.  The presentation in ths post details several clinical studies performed to determine which actions meidcal practices can take to reduce anxienty.  

Reduction in Medicare contract payments and decreased physician reimbursement from insurers are causing decreased physician salaries, medical profits and general revenue. This is driving the desire for urology practices to add ancillary services - and this is a good thing for patients.  

Your bladder relies оn muѕсlеѕ tо соntrасt and rеlеаѕе whеn you’re ready tо urinate. Yоur brain tурiсаllу rеgulаtеѕ thiѕ process, but sometimes thе mеѕѕаgе thаt you nееd tо urinаtе iѕn’t ѕеnt from your brain tо your blаddеr. Thiѕ iѕ a соnditiоn known as neurogenic bladder. Treatment for thiѕ соnditiоn саn hеlр уоu rеgаin соntrоl.

Acquisition Highlights:

• Significantly increases BHN’s size and profitability
• Further expands BHN’s geographic footprint into the New England states and Florida
• Expands BHN’s diagnostic services offering
• Increases the depth of BHN’s clinical teams
• Immediately accretive to earnings

See PRNewsWire Press Release here.  

Flowood, MS – Brighter Health Network, LLC (BHN), which offers medical diagnostic solutions such as urodynamic testing services, today announced it has acquired Urodynamic Testing Specialists (UTS) for an undisclosed amount.  The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings and will significantly increase BHN’s top and bottom lines.

I am entrepreneur, so I see the business world primarily through an entrepreneur’s eyes.  My role as CEO of BHN takes me inside many large hospitals and clinics.  I am always amazed at how capital intensive these operations are.  They have a device or machine for everything, and all the people with the right skills to operate the equipment as well.  As an entrepreneur, this just does not make sense to me.  As entrepreneur I've learned to look at capital as a very precious resource.   For hospitals, it certainly makes sense to have certain devices/equipment present for critical care needs (i.e. a defibrillator), but for other assets it does not make sense.  It would seem more logical and cost effective to share some of these capital-intensive resources with other locations or even other hospitals. 

Medtronic just released a new product called the Medtronic  NURO for treating overactive bladder (OAB).  It will compete directly with Uroplasty's incumbent product Urgent® PC. (Note: Uroplasty is now owned by Cogentix Medical)  We have been using the Urgent PC product within several partner clinics we serve, and we have had great success with it.  I am sure many will be looking for a NURO and Urgent PC product comparison, so we have attempted to compile a comparison in the bullets below and in the included video.  There are quite a few differences, but the major ones are detailed below.

Brighter Health Network (BHN), a leading medical diagnostics services company, and Medspira, a leading medical device maker, today announced a national partnership between the two companies to further market, distribute, and service Medspira’s mcompass anorectal manometry system.  BHN provides turn-key, on-site medical diagnostics that include equipment, staff, software, and supplies required to perform multiple types of diagnostic testing such as anorectal manometry.  As part of this partnership BHN will use Medspira’s equipment and supplies to service clinics and hospitals across the country that desire to offer anorectal manometry.  This partnership will enable these clinics and hospitals to offer anorectal manometry testing to their patients without having to purchase expensive equipment, train staff, or incur the other challenges encountered when providing a new service.  This will make it extremely easy for the clinics and hospitals to leverage anorectal manometry, which will in turn allow them to better diagnose and treat patients suffering from fecal incontinence, chronic constipation, and other lower gastrointestinal problems.  

I have the benefit (and sometimes curse) of having an engineering degree and a finance degree. Due to this background I tend to analyze everything.  In dealing with clinics and hospitals of all sizes, I see numerous purchase decisions being made.  Sometimes the purchase decision is related to direct purchase of medical equipment, and sometimes it's related to a rent rather than buy decision. 

We have recently released and Urodynamics Equipment Buyer's Guide.  You might want to check it out if you are involved in urodynamics testing.