Medical device manufacturer Medtronic will provide $5 million in funding over five years to the Patient Safety Movement Foundation — founded by Joe Kiani, the CEO of Medtronic's competitor Masimo — and share de-identified patient data with the project to help predict future patient health problems and improve safety, according to the Star Tribune.
In addition to the commitment of funds and information, Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak will be joining his competitor Mr. Kiani on the board of the foundation.
"Individual patient-level data, generated in clinical practice from diagnostic tests and therapies [including infusion pumps, anesthesia machines, and physiological monitors] ... should be available for sharing among the relevant stakeholders [patients, clinicians, researchers, medical technology manufacturers and the public] in an effort to improve patient safety," says Mr. Ishrak's signed pledge, according to the Star Tribune.
A wealth of blinded patient health device data could allow programmers to write computer codes to predict potential patient health issues associated with the devices. This information could help the foundation meet its ambitious goal to eliminate all preventable patient deaths in healthcare settings by 2020.
"We wanted to show the healthcare industry, hospitals, everyone, that when it comes to patient safety we all have to collaborate together. Even fierce competitors," Mr. Kiani told the Star Tribune by phone. "Hopefully some of the other [companies] that are sitting on the sidelines will now say, 'Look, Medtronic joined, and they are Joe's major competitor. What are we waiting for?'"
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