ActivHeal® Cuts Costs

RNS Number : 8082D

Advanced Medical Solutions Grp PLC

09 December 2009

 



For immediate release

9 December 2009

Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc

("AMS" or the "Group")

Major London Teaching Hospital endorses financial savings offered by ActivHeal® range

Winsford, UK: Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc (AIM: AMS), the global medical technology company, today announces that its ActivHeal® value range of advanced woundcare dressings has delivered annualised cost savings of 54% to University College London Hospitals' NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) whilst maintaining a high standard of clinical care.

These findings were reported in an article entitled "Using ActivHeal® dressings in a London teaching hospital: a cost analysis" published in a recent edition of the British Journal of Nursing 2009 (Tissue Viability Supplement) Vol 18 No 20, by Sarah Lewis, Tissue Viability Nurse UCLH.

ActivHeal® is a value range of products provided directly to the NHS by AMS as a first line therapy for routine wounds. These complement the use of AMS's new technologies, such as silver alginate, which are sold through strategic partners for treating more difficult wounds.

The ActivHeal® range offers equivalent technical and clinical performance to similar branded products but at a substantially reduced cost thereby delivering real and immediate savings to the NHS. This potential saving is estimated to be of the order of £25 million per year in the UK which helps to balance budgets and afford new technologies for problematic cases.    ActivHeal® products are currently used in around half of the NHS Foundation and Acute Hospital Trusts in the UK. Hospital usage represents around 25% of the current £100 million NHS spend on advanced woundcare dressings with the majority being in the community.

In the study reported in the British Journal of Nursing, the ActivHeal® range of dressings consisting of foams, films, alginates, gels and hydrocolloids were substituted for "branded" dressings over a three-month period in 2007 during which time dressing cost and clinical effectiveness were assessed. The result was an equivalent yearly cost saving of £55,221 (54%) with retention of performance standards across the dressing range. 

The study adds: "Two years after the trial, wards in University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust continue to benefit from significant annual cost savings on dressings by using the ActivHeal® range of products, while maintaining a high standard of clinical care."

Commenting on this announcement, Dr. Don Evans, Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Medical Solutions, stated:

"This study, which fully endorsed the ActivHeal® value offering, is of particular relevance because pressure on healthcare budgets is putting increasing importance on the achievement of cost savings without compromising patient care.

"This "in-use" study at a major London teaching hospital rated the dressings as "equivalent to" or "better than" the original dressings in almost all cases and allowed a significant cost saving to be made by switching to ActivHeal®."

For further information, please contact:

Advanced Medical Solutions Group plc
Don Evans, Chief Executive Officer Mary Tavener, Finance Director www.admedsol.com	Tel: [phone]
Buchanan Communications
Mark Court / Stasa Filiplic	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Advanced Medical Solutions develops and manufactures products for the $15 billion global woundcare market.

Founded in 1991 and quoted on AIM, Advanced Medical Solutions is focused on the design, development and manufacture of innovative products for advanced woundcare and wound closure.  

The advanced woundcare products are based on the moist wound healing principle. AMS uses its in-house technology to provide a vertically integrated 'one stop shop' for all categories of moist wound healing products. The Company has the capability to move a product from design and development through to production and delivery for distribution and sale into customer markets.

AMS' technology in cyanoacrylate based tissue adhesives is used for the closure of small cuts and trauma wounds through to large surgical incisions, and also for protecting or sealing skin to prevent breakdown or infection. 

AMS' products which currently serve the majority of the key global markets are sold either direct or through strategic partners and distributors. 

 

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