A great article of Dr. Steven Winowich, Congratulations. For a photo of Steven click on to pittsbulrghtribune Article date was Jan.5, 2015. UPMC monetizes tech, services through its subsidiaries 1 / 2 Guy Wathen | Trib Total MediaEd Moskovitz (left), a perfusionist with Procirca, and Stephen Winowich, president of Procirca, visit a perfusion classroom on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, at UPMC Shadyside. On the Grid From the shale fields to the cooling towers, Trib Total Media covers the energy industry in Western Pennsylvania and beyond. For the latest news and views on gas, coal, electricity and more, check out On the Grid today. Procirca What: The company is hired by hospitals to operate technologies used during cardiac and neuro surgeries, including machines that keep the heart and lungs functioning during open-heart surgeries and equipment that monitors the brain and spinal cord during surgeries that could affect the nervous system. Where: Oakland Employees: 110 Ownership: For-profit subsidiary of UPMC Sales: More than $20 million a year Website: Procirca Executives: Stephen Winowich, president; Robert Dyga, vice president of perfusion operations; Richard Schaub, senior director of vital engineering; Ryan Quallich, senior director of intra-operative neuromonitoring Daily Photo Galleries Sunday - Jan. 11, 2015 Business Photo Galleries Alcoa, Israeli company collaborate on aluminum-air battery By Alex Nixon Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, 11:33 p.m. An aging American population with unhealthy lifestyles is good for UPMC for-profit subsidiary Procirca. The Oakland medical services company has benefited from a rise in heart disease and other cardiac conditions by providing technical support to heart surgeons across the country. The companys 110 employees work in hospitals across the country operating machines that keep a patients heart and lungs functioning during open-heart surgeries, assist in the implantation of devices that aid weak and damaged hearts, and run equipment that monitors the brain and spinal cord during surgeries that could affect the nervous system. Procircas business is growing as more hospitals take on these complicated surgeries and need the companys help. “Weve taken the expertise we developed at UPMC and molded that into expertise for hospitals” outside the UPMC system, President Stephen Winowich said. Procirca provides services to about 17,000 patients a year, including 4,000 open-heart surgeries, half of which are in non-UPMC hospitals. Winowich expects revenue growth this year of 10 to 15 percent. The company generates more than $20 million in annual revenue, which comes back to its nonprofit parent to support hospitals in Western Pennsylvania. He declined to provide more specific financial results. “The field is growing, and were recognized as a leader,” he said. Procirca is one of a string of companies formed by the regions biggest hospital network that have commercialized its medical technology and services. It is organized under UPMCs International and Commercial Services Division, which logged $215 million in annual revenue last year, just 2 percent of the systems total revenue of $11.4 billion. But the division also produced $53 million in operating profit, or 28 percent of UPMCs total operating profit of $190 million. Some other companies with roots in UPMCs medical and technological expertise are Omnyx, a joint venture firm UPMC formed with General Electric Co. to sell advanced cancer imaging technology; Prodigo, a software firm that helps hospitals save money on the goods and services they purchase; and Evolent Health, which helps hospitals transform into integrated health care systems and start health insurance divisions. Like those firms, Procirca became a company when UPMC executives realized other hospitals would pay for a unique technology or service they developed. Procirca has 70 customers, up 6 percent in the last year, Winowich said. About half of the companys business comes from perfusion services, which are machines that keep blood flowing to the heart and lungs during heart transplants and other complicated cardiac procedures. While that is the biggest contributor to revenue, Winowich said, growth is coming primarily from two other business lines: neuro-monitoring and mechanical circulatory support. Neuro-monitoring, which accounts for about 30 percent of revenue, is used during procedures in which a mistake by the surgeon could harm the patients brain or spinal cord. “Its going to be a major source of growth for us,” he said. Revenue from mechanical circulatory support services, which provide about 20 percent of revenue, is expected to increase because of a rising number of patients with heart disease. Winowich said an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 patients a year would benefit from a heart transplant, but there are only about 2,200 hearts available each year. New artificial heart devices are hitting the market that will help fill that gap by assisting a weakened heart to continue pumping. “These are new technologies, and its very difficult to train a group in any hospital,” said Dr. Christian Bermudez, chief of UPMCs Division of Cardiothoracic Transplantation. Bermudez uses Procirca technicians to help with his surgeries at UPMC and other hospitals where he has set up programs. “When you want to educate and implement these techniques elsewhere, you need a team,” he said. “There is a growing need in this area, and very few companies are able to support it.” Alex Nixon is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7928 or anixon@tribweb. Add Alex Nixon to your Google+ circles. Read more: triblive/business/headlines/7296330-74/upmc-procirca-heart#ixzz3OZbkaCBQ Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 03:22:07 +0000
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