Interview: Steve Lufkin, CEO of Vantix Diagnostics

Steve Lufkin is CEO of Vantix Diagnostics, a ground-breaking healthcare technology platform that runs the most common blood tests providing results instantly which will dramatically improve patient care and physician operations.  Throughout his career, Lufkin has led the establishment of global joint  ventures and partnerships that resulted in technology acquisitions,  research partnerships and new commercial channels.Under his  visionary leadership, he has successfully directed technology and  strategic business development efforts, focused on the development  and execution of growth strategies, and significantly increased research operations.Steve Lufkin holds an MBA with a concentration in Marketing and New Product Development from the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics and a Bachelor's of Science degree in Health Education from the University of Maine. For more info, visit www.VantixDx.com

1. Your company has come up with a patented point-of-care solution that provides immediate blood work results while patients are in the doctor's office. What are the security concerns that arise when it comes to patients' information, and how does the Vantix Diagnostic address these issues?

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Vantix employs a system engineering process for the product development of the system that is in strict adherence to the requirements for CE Mark and FDA approval. To achieve these designations Vantix has designed and developed the system to comply with international and US regulations for health IT. The entire system including the web application V-Lab™ will be tested and verified many times before the system will be FDA approved.

Healthcare products that have FDA approval have submitted data validating the required level of security and privacy for health information. The CMS project for Meaningful Use has driven the use of certified electronic health record technology by hospitals and eligible professionals thereby making security less of a differentiator and more to be expected.

The blood test results will populate the electronic health records that the physician is using and will therefore fall under the laws, regulations and guidelines required of healthcare providers for health information management. The Vantix system has been designed to all governmental regulations. We expect that as patients trust their physicians to hold their health information safely they will expect that since the physician is using the device that the appropriate level of security and privacy is present. However, we will have materials available for the physicians to give their patients explaining the technology and the measures taken to keep the health information secure and private.

By limiting the chain-of-custody in the blood test process, Vantix has immediately become a preferred platform in security. On the technology side, the security of the Vantix system is built into the design of the system. As a result the security comes from the Vantix design and because it is a point of care device delivering actionable data in real time where it can be used most efficiently and safely.

We are. As a healthcare technology company with a physician to patient POC platform, our technology incorporates every current requirement meeting all compliance levels. Additionally, we can easily enhance our technology platform to integrate further security requirements as they are needed.

While cloud-based solutions continue to grow and become more abundant in the healthcare industry, Vantix will always provide the necessary protections for users to insure data integrity.

Yes, as a result of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, Meaningful Use, eligible health professionals and hospitals have been involved in adopting electronic health records (EHR). The Vantix platform can stand alone or seamlessly integrate into the physician's Health Information Management System.

The Vantix business model is a pay-per-use or cost-per-reportable result and does not require a capital investment from physicians. This is a real change from the traditional practice in which the physician sends the blood test to a reference lab and waits for the results and then having to reschedule the patient (often with the follow-up appointment not being reimbursed). With the Vantix system, the physician will run the tests in their office and receive the reimbursement for conducting the blood tests instead of the reference lab. Additionally, by communicating the results to the patient in real-time, the physician significantly reduces unreimbursed administrative time chasing test results and increases patient compliance and engagement in their own healthcare.

Speed, convenience and reliability. Vantix provides physicians with one device that will run the most commonly ordered blood tests, all at one time, with results in less than 10 minutes at the same quality-level as achieved by reference labs. The Vantix system will not require specialty training so current staff can use and operate. Today there is not one device that can do that. We expect Vantix to be the first, truly changing the way healthcare is delivered.

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Besides providing a complete solution from sample collection to electronic health records integration the Vantix system is an open platform that can also be used for other point of use testing needs such as veterinary, novel biomarker development for personalized medicine and environmental testing. It is our intent that the Vantix Point of Care system will prove the technical credibility of the technology positioning Vantix for entry into these other markets as the provider of choice for point of care/use diagnostics.