IOWA CITY, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Emerging health IT start-up HealthTech Solutions has named Robert Emery MD as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Emery will oversee the company’s research, funded by a recent SBIR Phase 1 grant, on using intelligent communication technology to reduce organ waste and improve efficiency in the process of obtaining and transporting organs for transplantation, with a focus on marginalized kidneys.
Dr. Emery is a founding member of Upper Midwest Organ Procurement Organization (LifeSource), one of the first Organ Procurement Organizations in the United States, and is a Cardiothoracic Transplant Surgeon trained at the University of Minnesota and Harvard University, now retired from practice. Dr. Emery served as the director of cardiac transplantation at the Minneapolis Heart Institute and surgeon-in-chief at the John Nasseff Heart Hospital as well as Medical Director of Cardiac Surgical service for HealthEast Care System. He is a member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and served as president and founder of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery.
“There is a real need for technological advancement in the field of organ transplantation, and HealthTech Solutions’ platform to improve communication surrounding the organ procurement process could transform the industry,” said Dr. Emery. “The company’s secure software enables clinicians, transplant coordinators and organ procurement specialists to communicate vital donor-recipient data, in real-time, streamlining a process overwhelmed with inefficiencies. We believe this platform will reduce costs, increase placement of marginal organs and ultimately save lives.”
Organ transplant is a complicated, time-sensitive process that relies on numerous phone calls and faxes per donated organ. This inefficient communication contributes to over 50 percent of available organs being discarded when a significant portion could be transplanted; meanwhile, 22 patients die each day in the US waiting for a life-saving organ, over 120,000 people continue to wait for a major organ transplant, and the average wait time is over five years.
HealthTech Solutions, Inc. is a secure communications technology provider focused initially on providing solutions in organ transplantation. The company’s first product, TXP ChatTM, connects Organ Transplant Centers, Organ Procurement Organizations and Clinicians and Coordinators through a secure HIPAA-compliant mobile messaging and workflow app to simplify real-time clinical communication and coordination when time matters.
