Daxor Corporation, a medical instrumentation and biotechnology company, today announced the receipt of a signed trial agreement from Susquehanna Health of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. This will provide Susquehanna Health with a Blood Volume Analyzer-100 (BVA-100), an instrument which enables semi-automated measurement of a patient's total blood volume, red blood cell volume and plasma volume. Blood volume abnormalities are observed in a variety of cardiac conditions. Proper diagnosis and correction of blood volume abnormalities can lead to improved patient outcomes.
Susquehanna Health is a not-for-profit system consisting of three hospitals and a multi-specialty group practice in north central Pennsylvania. It includes The Williamsport Hospital & Medical Center (a 223-bed and 22-bassinet acute care hospital), Divine Providence Hospital (a 31-bed inpatient behavioral health and general acute outpatient center), Muncy Valley Hospital (a 25-bed acute care critical access hospital), and the Susquehanna Health Medical Group (a large multi-specialty physician group comprised of 108 physician providers). Susquehanna Health is a healthcare leader that serves patients from an 11-county region. It includes a Heart and Vascular Institute, located on the Williamsport Hospital & Medical Center campus, which provides a complete range of advanced cardiac services. The BVA-100 will be located at the Williamsport Hospital & Medical Center.
Dr. Judith Gouldin, Medical Director of Nuclear Medicine at The Williamsport Hospital, states that "having a test that directly measures intravascular blood volume will improve the care given to our most vulnerable patients -- those with compromised heart and kidney function, those undergoing major surgery, and those with serious infections. Blood volume information will translate into faster recovery at a lower cost."
The BVA-100 has proven to be useful in the diagnosis of volume-overloaded heart failure patients, which can then allow for more effective treatment: In a previous study of 43 patients with the BVA-100, heart failure patients who were treated to a normal blood volume showed a 100% survival rate over a two-year period, in contrast to patients who remained volume overloaded -- who showed only a 45% survival rate. These findings are extremely significant in light of the fact that hospitals may lose their reimbursement for repeat hospitalizations within a 30-day period for the treatment of heart failure patients. In addition, the treatment of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is a major medical expense for patients over 65 years of age. Such patients require frequent readmission to the hospital to treat their condition. Medicare is currently evaluating whether or not to withhold reimbursement for CHF hospital readmissions which occur in less than 30 days. This will provide a strong economic incentive for hospitals to provide treatments which are effective over the long-term.
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