Obstacles to Effective Communication in Healthcare

For many years, Kevin Lilly has worked in the healthcare field at the executive level, most recently at MiMedX as the senior vice president of sales. Formerly, Kevin Lilly was the senior vice president of marketing and product management at Standard Register Healthcare, a business communications company recently renamed Taylor Communications.

In the healthcare field, perhaps more than any other, clear and efficient communication is essential. Without the benefit of secure mobile communications, healthcare staff face serious problems from delays. With almost half of hospitals still using pagers, the time it takes for nurses and physicians to communicate is appallingly slow compared to professionals in other fields.

Moreover, the lack of mobile electronic health record access slows down treatment considerably. If physicians have to access health records from shared access points, that wastes time, and also increases the time it takes to update information about patients.

One of the biggest problems in healthcare communications is potential security breaches, and it’s something that’s holding back the widespread adoption of mobile communication technologies. With so much sensitive information under regulatory scrutiny, any system needs to be extremely secure before it’s adoption can be considered.

HCT/P - 361 and 351 Products

With a degree in management and marketing from Kansas State University, Kevin Lilly has spent the majority of his career in the healthcare technology sector. Most recently, Kevin Lilly was a senior vice president of sales at MiMedx, a biopharmaceutical company based in Marietta, Georgia. During his tenure with the company, he led the efforts to evolve the company in the HCT/P market.

HCT/Ps, as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, are human cell and tissue products. They are intended for medical use, primarily in surgery, transplantation, infusion, and implantation procedures, as well as genetic research and therapies. There are two main types of these products - 361 and 351.

When they meet Section 361 of the PHS Act and 21 CFR Section 1271.3 criteria, HCT/P products are regulated as 361 products. That means that they don’t need premarket approval. These products are mainly used in transplantation and implantation procedures.

On the other hand, products that are regulated under PHS Act section 351 are referred to as 351 products. These products are treated as biologicals, and are mainly used in gene and somatic cell therapies.