GE Healthcare, the healthcare business of General Electric Company (GE), is showcasing its advanced range of diagnostic technologies and the company’s healthymagination initiative at the 13th International Healthcare, Hospital Supplies and Medical Equipment Show (Saudi Medicare 2010) being held this week from April 12 to 15 at the Riyadh International Exhibition Center.
Saudi Arabia is one of the key markets for GE in the region, where the company already has several key private and public partnerships that are aimed at strengthening the healthcare sector of the Kingdom. Through its partnership at Saudi Medicare 2010, GE Healthcare aims to enhance awareness on the need for ‘earlier healthcare’ and to promote healthymagination, GE’s vision to develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery.
David Carr, General Manager at GE Healthcare for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said that the clinical expertise and advanced technologies being highlighted at Saudi Medicare can have a transformational impact on healthcare delivery in the Kingdom.
“Today, the key challenge before healthcare administrators is to address the additional burden on healthcare delivery resulting from the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases and a fast growing population. Both these are interlinked and highlight the need to have an earlier healthcare model that emphasizes earlier diagnosis.”
He added: “We are committed to partnering with the public and private sector healthcare institutions in the Kingdom to further promote a sustainable healthcare model. Healthymagination is one of our key initiatives in this as it emphasizes on innovation to reduce healthcare costs and increase quality of healthcare delivery.”
At this year’s Saudi Medicare, GE Healthcare showcases its wide range of products, services and solutions. Capturing the attention of attending healthcare professionals at the opening day of the conference this year, GE’s advanced Computed Tomography (CT) diagnostic equipment. GE’s Discovery CT750 HD, delivers fine detail and repeatable outcomes – with up to 50% less dose for patients of all ages. The redesigned image chain has the industry’s only Gemstone detector to enable high-resolution images.
GE Healthcare is also showcasing ASiR, an exclusive technology to reduce dose on the raw data, now on BrightSpeed, to make it available and affordable for all customers and patients for all clinical routine exams.
For the first time in the Kingdom, GE introduces Vscan – a pocket-sized, ultraportable, easy-to-use visualization tool. Developed to help make point-of-care imaging a reality, Vscan has the potential to redefine the way doctors examine patients and ultimately help improve patient care by enhancing the physical exam and enabling more rapid diagnosis at the point of care.
Vscan is roughly the size of a smart phone, but houses powerful, ultrasmart ultrasound technology that can be used in many clinical, hospital or primary care settings and can easily be taken from room to room Through healthymagination, GE is tackling the toughest global challenges in healthcare today. GE’s goal is to improve the quality of care by increasing access to important healthcare technologies and providing online training and support. Vscan provides immediate, non-invasive information about what is happening inside the body and offers the power and image quality that until recently was only available as a console ultrasound – potentially helping to speed diagnoses, reduce patient wait-times and improve physician workflow.
In addition to strategic partnership with leading healthcare providers in the Kingdom, GE Healthcare is also helping strengthen the competencies of Saudi Arabian healthcare professionals. An ongoing training programme is offered for the Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH) employees to familiarize them with the latest technologies, GE Healthcare has trained more than 1,000 MoH healthcare professionals, since March 2009.
GE Healthcare’s pavilion is at Hall 3 of Saudi Medicare 2010.