Smith+Nephew teams up with Avail Medsystems to help deliver remote procedural support, observation and clinical education to customers

LONDON, Sept. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Smith+Nephew (LSE:SN, NYSE:SNN), the global medical technology business, today announces it has teamed up with Avail Medsystems (Palo Alto, CA) to provide remote, real-time collaboration services to its customers, directly in the OR. Smith+Nephew is the first Orthopaedics company to work with the Avail System and, starting immediately, will bring the power of remote collaboration to facilities across its extensive customer base.

Streamlining procedures in both hospitals and Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) is becoming increasingly important with operating room space at a premium. By utilizing the Avail Procedural Telemedicine™ System – a remotely accessible console with an integrated split-screen display, multiple remotely controllable HD pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and an ability to remotely annotate over live video - Smith+Nephew will offer its customers the option of remote procedure support, proctoring and collaboration where space, or other restrictions, are a concern. It enables sales representatives, medical education professionals and visiting surgeons who are not physically in the OR to still actively participate in a case.

"Smith+Nephew has been at the forefront of medical education for decades; and now with the evolving dynamic of limiting personnel in the OR, they have once again stepped up to help solve a problem where a critical need existed," said J.W. Thomas Byrd, MD, Orthopaedic Hip Specialist at the Nashville Hip Institute. "By working with Avail Medsystems, they are able to bring visiting surgeons and sales reps into the operating room using a fully interactive telecommunication format that can be superior to even having the actual person being there."

Avail's System does not replace a person being in the operating room, but rather augments the procedure being performed in a way that previously was not possible. Avail has already begun placing their consoles, free of charge, in hospital and ASC facilities nationwide and offers companies like Smith+Nephew a time-based subscription, usable at their discretion, to access consoles across the Avail network.

"We have been exploring options for remote access in hospitals and ASCs and have found that the Avail System checks many boxes for both Smith+Nephew and our customers," said Cindy Walker, Senior Vice President Global Medical Education for Smith+Nephew. "The ability to tap into the extensive facility network they are building and eliminating the need for Smith+Nephew, or our customers, to invest in capital is an important option for us."

To help further drive OR efficiency, Smith+Nephew recently introduced its INTELLIO™ Connected Tower Solution which uses a centralized app to wirelessly connect and control the major components of an arthroscopy surgical tower from outside the sterile field. Avail's System brings a similar dynamic to the OR by changing the way we think about performing procedures.

"We're thrilled that Smith+Nephew is offering Avail's Procedural Telemedicine solution to complement their highly innovative products," said Daniel Hawkins, CEO Avail Medsystems. "When technology can help remove the historic requirement for physical presence in the operating room to collaborate during a procedure, clinical education and access to specialized medical expertise has no boundaries."

About Smith+Nephew

Smith+Nephew is a portfolio medical technology business that exists to restore people's bodies and their self-belief by using technology to take the limits off living. We call this purpose 'Life Unlimited'. Our 17,500+ employees deliver this mission every day, making a difference to patients' lives through the excellence of our product portfolio, and the invention and application of new technologies across our three global franchises of Orthopaedics, Advanced Wound Management and Sports Medicine & ENT.

Founded in Hull, UK, in 1856, we now operate in more than 100 countries, and generated annual sales of $5.1 billion in 2019. Smith+Nephew is a constituent of the FTSE100 (LSE:SN, NYSE:SNN). The terms 'Group' and 'Smith+Nephew' are used to refer to Smith & Nephew plc and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless the context requires otherwise.

For more information about Smith+Nephew, please visit www.smith-nephew.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook.

About Avail Medsystems

Avail Medsystems is a pioneering medical technology company that aims to enhance clinical knowledge sharing, collaboration and speed of training while mitigating infection risks and lowering costs. The Avail System is a simple cost-effective technological solution to connect procedural healthcare professionals (like surgeons, medical device specialists and experts) regardless of location by separating the requirement of physical presence from the ability to collaborate during a procedure. Our Procedural Telemedicine™ System helps hospitals overcome the challenges of physical presence — including travel time and infection risk — by enabling on-the-go, real-time, HIPAA compliant collaboration with any remote healthcare professional, wherever, and whenever, is needed.

For more information about Avail Medsystems, visit Avail.io and follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Forward-looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements that may or may not prove accurate. For example, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading margins, market trends and our product pipeline are forward-looking statements. Phrases such as "aim", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "well-placed", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "consider" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by the statements. For Smith+Nephew, these factors include: economic and financial conditions in the markets we serve, especially those affecting health care providers, payers and customers; price levels for established and innovative medical devices; developments in medical technology; regulatory approvals, reimbursement decisions or other government actions; product defects or recalls or other problems with quality management systems or failure to comply with related regulations; litigation relating to patent or other claims; legal compliance risks and related investigative, remedial or enforcement actions; disruption to our supply chain or operations or those of our suppliers; competition for qualified personnel; strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions, our success in performing due diligence, valuing and integrating acquired businesses; disruption that may result from transactions or other changes we make in our business plans or organisation to adapt to market developments; and numerous other matters that affect us or our markets, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or reputational nature. Please refer to the documents that Smith+Nephew has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Smith+Nephew's most recent annual report on Form 20-F, for a discussion of certain of these factors. Any forward-looking statement is based on information available to Smith+Nephew as of the date of the statement. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Smith+Nephew are qualified by this caution. Smith+Nephew does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in circumstances or in Smith+Nephew's expectations.

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SOURCE Smith & Nephew plc

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