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About Us Early stage software development projects included ECG display, editing and analysis, CT image processing and manipulation, and professional educational software design and development. Leading medical device, biotechnology organizations, such as Pacesetter, Bard Electrophysiology Inc., Genentech and others contracted with ARMUS for state-of-the-art software developments. In 1998 ARMUS began the development of a clinical and financial database application for Cardiothoracic Systems Inc. (CTS), an early pioneer of developing tools for beating heart surgery. The purpose of the project was to develop a solution to capture and analyze clinical and financial information and support peer review publications regarding beating heart coronary artery bypass surgery. From 1998 to 2000 CTS and ARMUS successfully installed client-server applications in several major academic centers in the U.S. In 2000, having demonstrated the effectiveness of beating heart surgery CTS was acquired by Guidant Corporation. In July 2001 ARMUS released the company's first independent product line, OUTCOMES™ a clinical quality and performance management application certified by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The same year ARMUS introduced its Internet based application delivery service (ADS). By 2005 ARMUS successfully converted its entire installed-base clients to ADS and established a predictable, stable, scaleable, and recurring revenue based business model. ARMUS is the sole application service provider for the Virginia Cardiac Surgery Quality Initiative (VCSQI) where 17 centers are using ARMUS' technologies to combine clinical and financial information into OUTCOMES 3™ with a highly accurate (99.7%) patient-matching algorithm. VCSQI is recognized as a leading demonstration of the 'Pay for Performance' quality initiative. Members assess and compare information with the aim to improve the quality of surgical care and reduce costs. Clinical and financial data are combined for all the participant sites and mapped to track procedure outcomes, resource utilization and episodic costs. The program and its supporting technologies were reviewed by the Senate Finance Committee, AHRQ, CMS, and presented to the Ways and Means Congressional Commission on Healthcare. This project, still unique of its kind, has become a model for collaborative outcomes based evidence on medical service value. Recently ARMUS became the database and service provider for the Foundation for Healthcare Quality (FHCQ), a statewide organization in Seattle, WA. FHCQ's�Clinical Outcomes Assessment Program (COAP) is a Washington State initiative designed to produce clinical information needed to improve quality of care and meet the growing demand for accountability in the health care industry. COAP's timely reporting mechanism, powered by OUTCOMES3, provides hospitals with clinical feedback on a quarterly basis. FHCQ's SCOAP program is the future of surgical quality improvement. It is a physician-lead, voluntary collaborative creating an aviation-like surveillance and response system for surgical quality. SCOAP's goal is to improve quality by reducing variation in process of care and outcomes at every hospital in the region. Now at more than 40 hospitals in the State, SCOAP is an engaged community of clinicians working to build a safer, higher quality, and more cost effective surgical healthcare system using OUTCOMES3 over the Internet. As a service provider, ARMUS supports online clinical data research and quality management services for over 100 hospitals, academic centers, and regional organizations managing quality improvement programs. ARMUS has maintained and expanded its core business of facility and provider quality management software and service while expanding the VCSQI model to other regional initiatives in cardiac surgery and other specialties. Customer base includes;
OUTCOMES3, the third generation of the platform with advanced meta data layer implementation, released in late 2004, is a significantly versatile and powerful clinical data reporting and analysis tool that clearly differentiates ARMUS from its competitors. New Clinical Information Management System The new, patient centric Clinical Information Management System architecture with built-in flexibility, will be able provide timely responses to the rapidly-changing clinical information demands. The new platform will be able to handle and follow changes in clinical data content as it relates to participation in the STS (cardiac and thoracic surgeries), ACC (all four registries) and Vascular Registries, as well as other registries and reporting structures yet to be determined.
© ARMUS Corp., 2003-2005. ARMUS, the ARMUS logo, Outcomes 3 , Nota Medica, and ARMUS Risk Calculator are trademarks of ARMUS Corp. All rights reserved. |
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