UPMC International and Commercial Services Division (ICSD) Fast Facts
- UPMC is commercializing its expertise, bringing world-class health care,
advanced technologies, and management skills to markets throughout the world.
- The goal is to advance UPMC’s mission of positively transforming the way health
care is provided, while revitalizing the economy of western Pennsylvania. UPMC
is building an integrated global health enterprise that will attract the best and
brightest physicians, nurses, and researchers for the benefit of all of its patients.
- UPMC’s ICSD focuses on operations in five areas: clinical services management,
infrastructure consultation, strategic and commercial product development
partnerships, translational sciences, and national security and public health. Each
component is designed to drive transformation of health care delivery worldwide.
Clinical Services Management
Working with private partners and governments around the world, UPMC provides hands-on management of clinical care and specialty services, leveraging the clinical and managerial expertise honed in Pittsburgh. Major areas of focus include cancer clinics, hospital management, and transplantation.
- UPMC’s Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie di Alta Specializzazione
(ISMETT) in Sicily is now one of the leading organ transplant centers in Italy
and the Mediterranean.
- UPMC is operating cancer centers in Waterford and Dublin, Ireland, to deliver
high-quality radiotherapy services.
- UPMC Beacon Hospital, an independent, full-service hospital in Dublin,
is owned and operated by UPMC.
- UPMC is providing family medicine clinical teaching and training in Japan
for Aso Iizuka Hospital, a privately held 1,265-bed teaching hospital.
Infrastructure Consultation
As a leader in applying information technology to improve the quality and efficiency of health care, UPMC brings that expertise to the development of innovative IT products and services for customers worldwide.
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
have engaged UPMC to support or design and implement comprehensive electronic
medical records systems.
- dbMotion is a provider of web-based technology that seamlessly integrates
patient records from across disparate information systems, providing a single
and meaningful record to clinicians. UPMC, which holds an investment interest in
dbMotion, is partnering with the company to implement and refine this technology.
- Prodigo Solutions provides health care-focused supply chain management
solutions. Powered by technology licensed from Vinimaya, this e-procurement
solution enhances contract compliance, automates the requisition process, and
through a user-friendly online shopping portal, helps drive end-user compliance.
Translational Sciences
UPMC is leading the way in speeding scientific research from the laboratory bench to the bedside — and to the health care marketplace. These efforts promote advances in patient care, while boosting local economies through the development of new biotechnology companies.
- Based on its success at ISMETT, UPMC has been chosen to develop and co-manage
a Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center (BRBC) in Sicily. Until the
BRBC opens in 2015, postdoctoral scientists are training in University of Pittsburgh
laboratories through a fellowship program sponsored by the Ricerca Mediterranea
Foundation (Ri.MED).
- A state-of-the-art cell factory in Palermo, Italy, is one of the country’s most innovative
research projects. It processes, stores, and distributes human cells to be used for
regenerating damaged organs at transplantation centers throughout Europe.
- The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, based in Pittsburgh, is a
pioneer in tissue engineering, stem cell research, and medical devices development
used to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissue and organs.
- Working with the University of Pittsburgh’s Peter M. Winter Institute for
Simulation, Education and Research (WISER), the Renato Fiandaca Simulation
Center at ISMETT uses life-size, high-tech mannequins to prepare health care
professionals for a variety of medical emergencies.
Strategic/Commercial Product Development Partnerships
UPMC is actively forging long-term partnerships with technology and health care industry leaders. UPMC acts as a hands-on equity partner, using its $9 billion integrated global health enterprise to develop and evaluate products and services designed to improve health care delivery.
- Alcatel-Lucent, General Electric, and IBM have created joint development
funds with UPMC to develop technologies and build businesses that will improve
the quality of health care and reduce its costs. The strategic partnerships that
UPMC has established collectively provide $150 million to develop solutions
to challenging problems facing health care today. These unique joint development
funds are part of UPMC’s effort to commercialize leading-edge technologies and
ideas that will bring real change to health care throughout the world.
- Omnyx, a new company jointly owned by GE and UPMC, will develop and
market digital pathology solutions. This technology will transform diagnostic
processes that traditionally have relied on outdated manual methodologies.
- ImPACT software, developed by doctors at the UPMC Sports Medicine
Concussion Program for rapid concussion injury assessment, is now used
by more than 2,000 schools, universities, professional sports programs,
and sports medicine centers.
- D3 Oncology Solutions is a leader in rapidly implementing and supporting
intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Since 2001, D3’s expert physicists
and physicians have assisted more than 80 clinics nationally with advanced
radiotherapy and supported the treatment of more than 7,500 patients. Via
Oncology, a division of D3 created by UPMC, uses Web-based technology
to provide physicians with evidence-based treatment “pathways” for any given
state and stage of cancer, thereby reducing variability and improving outcomes
for patients.
- SmartRoom® is a health IT solutions company focused on improving clinical
workflow and providing in-context information for clinicians at the bedside. Jointly
funded by UPMC and IBM, SmartRoom innovates the delivery of health care by
eliminating tasks and helping clinicians more easily navigate patient information.
National Security and Public Health
Protecting western Pennsylvania and the nation from threats to public health is a critical part of UPMC’s mission.
- The Center for Biosecurity of UPMC provides independent, critical research
and analysis to inform decision makers in government, national security, bioscience,
medicine, public health, and private industry.