Here are five of the top stories at MedCity News this week:
    ♦   Steve McHale and Charlie Lougheed want to help medical researchers and physicians get together to make sense of burgeoning patient data, leading to innovations in health care. The information technology veterans have tackled “big data” problems before. Now, McHale and Lougheed are creating Explorys Medical Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio, to develop a Google-esque technology that enables researchers and physicians to noodle questions by querying databases of medical information in real time, leading to their next discoveries.
    ♦   Click4Care wants to translate fast growth into big growth. The Columbus-area technology company has quickly built a strong reputation around its software that manages patient care and automates management requirements by health insurers. In the past two years, it’s been recognized nationally as one of the country’s fastest-growing small businesses, it recently added a new chief executive officer and took on $2 million in new investment. Late last month, it unveiled new features in its software meant to better manage patients, administrative duties and staff.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
    ♦  A recent donation to the Cleveland Clinic Nursing Institute will be used to invest in education technology, including state-of-the-art “human patient simulators” — lifelike mannequins that talk, breathe and undergo changes in skin color. The simulators are “almost eerie,” said Joan Kavanagh, associate chief nursing officer for clinical education and professional development. “Technology is revolutionizing how we can educate nurses.”
    ♦   A handful of consulting firms suggested this week that Cleveland put in place a selective “payment in lieu of taxes” program for hospitals and other non-profit organizations. The suggestion painted a fiscal bull’s eye on health care systems like the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals — major property owners in Cleveland that don’t pay taxes on their property because, as non-profits, they are exempt.
    ♦  In development news this week: Biopharmaceutical company NewLink Genetics in Ames, Iowa, raised $30 million to develop its therapeutic cancer vaccines… CytoPherx Inc. in Ann Arbor, Mich., has received a $2 million investment to develop devices that treat renal disease and inflammation caused by cardiopulmonary bypass surgery… Vertebration Inc., Powell, Ohio, developer of the ZYcor spinal vertebrae replacement device, wants to raise an additional $1.3 million… Checkpoint Surgical in Highland Hills, Ohio, raised $1.1 million to develop and commercialize a hand-held disposable nerve stimulator… Minneapolis device company Vascular Solutions Inc. received clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market its GuideLiner catheter — a device the company thinks could eventually net it more than $10 million in annual sales.
