GE Healthcare expands portfolio of
ecomagination products
15 February 2010
GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) has expanded its ecomagination
portfolio of products aimed at helping healthcare companies and
hospitals reduce cost and waste while positively impacting the
environment.
The portfolio of more than 85 products now includes two new
healthcare products and three product categories, including the
Centricity Enterprise Electronic Medical Record (EMR) solution.
“Our expanding portfolio confirms our commitment to finding
innovative solutions that tackle energy use and waste reduction,
both of which also reduce cost in the system.”
Rising energy costs and heightened concern for the environmental
consequences of energy consumption and resource use have driven the
need for high quality, efficient technology in healthcare. In order
to be recognized as an ecomagination offering, each product had to
complete a rigorous review process of the operating and
environmental performance improvements it delivers to customers.
“We’re committed to building a strong portfolio of products that
meet both the ecomagination environmental performance standards and
the needs of our customers around the globe,” said John Dineen,
President and CEO of GE Healthcare. “Our expanding portfolio
confirms our commitment to finding innovative solutions that tackle
energy use and waste reduction, both of which also reduce cost in
the system.”
Newly approved categories and products:
- GE Healthcare's Centricity
Enterprise software solution is an integrated
clinical, financial and administrative Electronic Medical Record
(EMR) solution that assists hospitals in saving lives, time and
money. By recording patient demographic and clinical information
electronically, the solution makes this information more
accessible to clinicians and can help reduce costs, improve
productivity, and eliminate or reduce the number of forms that
comprise a patient's medical record — reducing the amount of paper
used, stored and ultimately sent to landfills.
- By employing efficient
gradient and electronics design as well as innovative
water-cooling technology, the high efficiency family of
magnetic resonance (MR) systems from GE is among the most
energy efficient 1.5T MR systems, using about 34 percent less
energy than previous generation systems. The high efficiency
family of GE’s MR systems includes Optima MR360, Brivo MR355,
and Signa HD 1.5T.
- By replacing analog film and
film processing with digital images, the GE Digital
Mammography Platform offers significant advantages over
traditional analog mammography including improved throughput,
less waste and reduced energy, water, and chemicals use. For
example, replacing an analog mammography system that processes
27,400 films per year with a GE digital mammography system can
eliminate the need to store (and ultimately landfill) more than
890 lbs (400 kg) of film annually.
- GE's WAVE Bioreactor
system, used for vaccine and other biotherapeutics
production, enables cell culturing without requiring cleaning or
steam sterilization by using disposable bags rather than large
stainless steel tanks. This reduces water and energy consumption
— and staff time requirements — compared to the stainless steel
bioreactor it replaces. GE's WAVE Bioreactor system reduces
annual energy consumption for users by up to 43%.
- GE Healthcare's +PLUSPAKTM
polymer bottle for contrast media offers significant
advantages over traditional glass packaging, including less cost
for waste disposal, reduced storage, and improved workplace
safety for healthcare workers who administer contrast media to
patients. The bottle achieves these benefits
through its patented design and pharmaceutical grade
polypropylene composition, which result in smaller, lighter, and
safer packaging than glass. A radiology department can reduce
the weight of its contrast media red bag waste by more than 75
percent.
GE ecomagination approval
The ecomagination Product Review (EPR) process provides a
third-party verification of claims, quantifying operating and
environmental performance benefits that accrue to GE’s customers by
using ecomagination products relative to baselines such as
competitors' best products, the installed base of products and
regulatory standards. Ecomagination products are re-approved
regularly to help ensure that claims remain accurate.