Health Care: Lifestream wins FDA approval for new cholesterol monitor

FORT COLLINS – Lifestream Technologies Inc., a public medical-device company recently relocated from Post Falls, Idaho, to Fort Collins, has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market Cholestron Pro, a hand-held instrument that monitors cholesterol levels.

Lifestream manufactures the device at its facility in Post Falls. Marketing and sales, senior management, customer service and distribution departments are located in Fort Collins.

Cholestron Pro screens and monitors total cholesterol levels from one drop of blood in about three minutes. The instrument is used in conjunction with a patented chemical test strip to determine cholesterol levels and evaluate seven other risk factors for developing coronary heart disease. These reveal the patient’s biological age compared with his or her calendar age.

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The company plans to market the device to physicians and pharmacists, said company president Christopher Maus. Ultimately, the device will be used to screen for several conditions, and much of that screening will be done in a pharmacy setting, Maus said.

The American Heart Association estimates that 97 million American adults have blood cholesterol levels high enough to require medical intervention. Elevated blood cholesterol is recognized as a leading contributor to coronary heart disease, which kills approximately 500,000 men and women in the United States annually. But it is a condition that can be controlled through lifestyle adjustments and drug therapy.

And the survey says …

Most workers in the United States are not offered a choice of health plans and are not provided with information to help them evaluate the quality of care they receive. Those are the results of a survey of 21,000 employers conducted by RAND and Research Triangle Institute as part of Health System Change’s Community Tracking Study.

Although most employees do not have a choice of health plans, the study showed that many workers now have greater choice of physicians. Employers have expanded hospital and physician networks available to employees, the survey indicated.

Specifically, the survey found that only 17 percent of private employers that offer insurance to employees provide a choice among plans, and one-third of businesses with 100 or more employees allow workers to select from a variety of plans.

The study also revealed that, almost universally, employers extend coverage to workers’ dependents. Further, only 27 percent of employees in firms offering a choice of plans have financial incentives to shop for less-expensive plans.

In another study, conducted by Ernst & Young LLP, it was determined that managed-care organizations are investing more than a third of their resources in supporting infrastructures and conducting back-office operations such as claims processing, billing and enrollment.

In contrast to the previous year’s focus on growth, new-product development and expansion of market share, this new direction indicates a reaction to eroding annual profits and a recognized need to improve core functions for future growth, according to the study.

Ernst & Young’s 1998 Managed Care Benchmarking Study analyzed processes and functions within 11 large MCOs that represent more than 13 million people.

Helen Taylor can be reached at (970) 221-5400, (970) 356-1683, (800) 440-3506 or via e-mail at htaylor@ncbr.com. Her fax number is (970) 221-5432.