Healthcare Industry News: pressure ulcer
News Release - September 20, 2007
CMS to Stop Reimbursement for Hospital Acquired Pressure Ulcers
GLEN MILLS, Pa.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Longport, Inc. (OTC PK: LPTI), a medical technology specialist in high-frequency high resolution ultrasound imaging, today commented on rule changes by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which includes CMS stopping reimbursement for hospital-acquired pressure ulcers starting October, 2008. This change was announced last month by CMS as part of an update to the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS).These changes have been widely reported in the media, with the Wall Street Journal on September 5, 2007 stating in an article entitled "Hospitals Combat Dangerous Bedsores", that hospitals are now putting in place new programs to prevent pressure ulcers.
Paul Wilson, President of Longport, Inc. commented, "This rule change is forcing clinicians to put greater emphasis on pressure ulcer prevention in hospitals and is expected to open up major new opportunities for Longport's EPISCAN ultrasound scanner. In this regard, the EPISCAN can help hospitals in two ways; it can determine if the patient has come into the hospital with a pre-existing condition such as deep tissue injury and in circumstances where the injury originates in the hospital, it provides a means of earlier detection leading to prevention."
Longport's EPISCAN is able to detect changes in tissue structure characteristic of developing pressure ulcers, when often no visual signs are yet apparent. This capability can be used to better document a patient's condition on admission to a facility. When abnormalities are seen, the scanner enables targeted intervention to be instigated earlier. Such early intervention can often prevent the development of open pressure ulcers.
The pre-mentioned Wall Street Journal article also states that 60,000 deaths a year are caused by hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, which inflict about 2.5 million people per year and that the cost of treating all pressure ulcers in the U.S. is up to $11 billion a year.
Further details on this CMS rule change, related articles, and other recent developments can be viewed at the News section of Longport's WEB site: http://www.longportinc.com/about/news.html
About Longport, Inc.
Longport, Inc. of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, is a medical technology company that specializes in high resolution ultrasound imaging. After several years and a multi-million dollar investment in the technology, Longport has secured patents, copyrights and FDA permission to market. The Company's technology has been used to engineer a unique high resolution ultrasound imaging system. For further information please contact Longport, Inc. at 1-800-289-6863 or visit our website at www.longportinc.com.
Forward-looking Information and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Certain statements in this press release, including statements concerning product development milestones and anticipated events, are "forward-looking statements" within the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward Looking Statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," variations of such words, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could affect Longport's actual results include, among others, uncertainties as to the Company's ability to manage potential problems, delays or anticipated expenses, including problems, delays or expenses involving manufacturing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements that speak only to the date of this release. Reference is made to Longport's 2004 annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more definitive description of such factors. Longport, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Source: Longport
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