Intuitive Surgical is partnering with InTouch Health to access data from its surgical systems installed in hospitals and surgery centers, Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. InTouch's telehealth platform enables Intuitive Surgical and other medical device companies to access data from their devices after they've been installed within highly secure healthcare networks.
2. Intuitive approached InTouch for a solution to pull data from its 4,000 surgical robot devices around the world and push software into them, InTouch Health CEO Joseph DeVivo told MD+DI.
3. The companies did not disclose financial terms, but Mr. DeVivo said it was "not an insignificant deal."
4. InTouch is taking a page from Amazon's book by creating a service offering allowing "all medical companies who wish to have access to their devices in these secure environments to do so through our cloud," Mr. DeVivo said.
5. The agreement will help Intuitive support surgeons in the operating room with real-time data, said Brian Miller, PhD, Intuitive's senior vice president of systems and vision.
"Hospital firewalls and security requirements are purpose-built to keep outsiders outside, which makes in-facility telehealth between two unaffiliated institutions with separate security protocols and VPNs a major challenge," Mr. DeVivo said. "Over the past 15 years, we solved this issue by creating the only telehealth network that reliably connects across secure provider networks."