MUSC partners with Siemens Healthineers

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The Medical University of South Carolina is partnering with medical technology company Siemens Healthineers for a 10-year relationship to work to improve several areas of health care.

“This new strategic partnership positions us as an organization to play a pivotal role as we reimagine how we can deliver health care in the future,” said Dr. David Cole, president of MUSC. “Our plan is to capitalize on MUSC’s clinical care, research and education expertise, coupling it with the engineering, innovations and workflow capabilities that are hallmarks of Siemens Healthineers.”

MUSC and Siemens will work together to improve specific focus areas, such as reducing the time it takes for stroke patients to receive treatment and incorporating “digital twin technology” in the new MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital. Digital twin technology allows doctors to create a digital replica of a patient in order to test treatment options before administering them on a patient.

“Ultimately, our goal is to enable health care providers to get better outcomes at lower cost,” said Dave Pacitti, president of North America for Siemens Healthineers.

An MUSC-Siemens advisory board will help guide the current projects and decide what else to pursue. Cole said at least a dozen projects are being considered, but the next steps will depend on how current projects go and what technological and medical advances are made in the next few years.

This partnership is the first of its kind for both MUSC and Siemens, but Bernd Montag, CEO of Siemens Healthineers, said he could see partnering with other institutions in the future. Montag said MUSC was Siemens’ choice for an initial partner because the health care system is a “wonderful frontrunner” in looking at the future of medicine.

“Also, there’s the combination as an academic medical center, the uniqueness of research, education and clinical care,” Montag said. “We can combine all this and have all three aspects in one partner, is another factor of why.”