BD launches rapid point-of-care antigen test to detect COVID-19 in 15
BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (Franklin Lakes, NJ) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a rapid, point-of-care, SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test for use with the company’s BD Veritor Plus System. This new assay delivers results in 15 minutes on an easy-to-use, highly portable instrument, which enables real-time results and decision making while the patient is still onsite, the company says.
BD is leveraging its global manufacturing network and scale and expects to increase capacity to be able to produce 2 million tests per week by the end of September. The company already expects to produce up to 10 million tests from July through September.
The launch of the BD Veritor Plus System for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Assay is the latest effort in the company’s comprehensive response to address critical health needs related to the global pandemic. The new immunoassay test joins a portfolio of three molecular solutions for COVID-19 testing that have been registered for use with the BD MAX Molecular System, including two with EUAs and two with CE mark. BD intends to pursue 510(k) clearance for the BD Veritor Plus SARS-CoV-2 assay from the FDA at a later time.
Telehealth claims increase by more than 8,335%
According to FAIR Health’s Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker, telehealth claims have increased by more than 8,335% between April of last year and April of this year. The Northeast region of the United States saw the largest increase at 26,209%. The top diagnosis of telehealth claims in the U.S. was for mental health conditions. FAIR Health has tracked monthly telehealth usage since January of this year using its database of more than 31 billion privately billed medical and dental claims.
Shawn Ashcraft named vice president of information technology for Midmark
Midmark Corp., announced Shawn Ashcraft was named vice president, information technology. In this leadership position, Ashcraft will lead the strategy and execution of delivering global technology services solutions and propelling IT along its digital transformation journey. Ashcraft comes to Midmark from Johnson & Johnson, where he most recently focused on building digital solutions for surgical robots in the position of digital surgery senior program manager and lead systems engineer. During his tenure with Johnson & Johnson, Ashcraft held multiple positions and was responsible for enterprise application delivery, medical device engineering and implementing software engineering practices such as Agile Scrum, DevOps and automated testing.
Ochsner Health System teams with Ready Responders on in-home care efforts
Ochsner Health System (Louisiana) has teamed with Ready Responders (Louisiana) to reduce preventable emergency department visits and support patients during the COVID-19 outbreak. The collaboration is the latest in Ochsner’s in-home care efforts. Ready Responders provides on-demand urgent care, in-home testing services, post-hospital care and more, and has raised roughly $53 million since launching in 2016.