MARLBOROUGH, Mass., April 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) announces the signing of two strategic agreements to advance the company's efforts to bring value based solutions aimed at improving outcomes and reducing the cost of cardiovascular care delivery to healthcare systems.

As part of an agreement with MedAxiom, a leading cardiovascular consulting company and nationally recognized community of progressive cardiovascular healthcare providers, Boston Scientific will offer programs to help improve the way care is delivered to patients suffering from cardiovascular conditions including heart failure, atrial fibrillation, structural heart and ischemic heart disease. These programs will assist hospitals and ambulatory care sites in developing and implementing comprehensive clinical and operational strategies to drive efficiencies across the care continuum, from diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care. This agreement brings together Boston Scientific's strong expertise in lean practices, process improvement and supply chain optimization with MedAxiom's deep experience in cardiovascular program leadership.

Additionally, Boston Scientific has signed an agreement with TogetherMD, a leading provider of healthcare data analytics software, to explore the integration of TogetherMD technology into the Boston Scientific cardiovascular portfolio and offer providers with access to actionable data in support of operational improvement and cost reduction initiatives. This includes robust industry benchmarking data and analysis of ongoing operational and financial performance, and billing and coding accuracy.  TogetherMD has reported improved reimbursement and average service line cost savings of approximately $1.5 million from the introduction of similar initiatives in single hospital sites.¹ Boston Scientific will evaluate the use of this information technology platform across its businesses and regions.

"We are focused on addressing the many challenges healthcare systems are facing, and expanding our offerings to solutions that leverage our organizational competencies and complement our differentiated technology platforms," said Mike Mahoney, president and chief executive officer, Boston Scientific.

Boston Scientific will bring these and other comprehensive solutions to healthcare systems through its recently launched ADVANTICS™ solutions brand that emphasizes collaboration to meet unique customer needs.  ADVANTICS programs include performance optimization, capital financing, care pathway transformation and patient management.

"Most hospital systems can benefit from the sharing of best practices – and methods to make this easier to do are welcome," said David Hurrell, M.D., senior consulting cardiologist, Minneapolis Heart Institute, Allina Health System. "We are already seeing how our work with Boston Scientific can improve the quality and efficiencies of cardiovascular care."

About Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific transforms lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world.  As a global medical technology leader for more than 35 years, we advance science for life by providing a broad range of high performance solutions that address unmet patient needs and reduce the cost of healthcare.  For more information, visit www.bostonscientific.com and connect on Twitter and Facebook.

1.       TogetherMD internal data on file.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "anticipate," "expect," "project," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "intend" and similar words.  These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and estimates using information available to us at the time and are not intended to be guarantees of future events or performance.  These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding our business plans and our agreements with MedAxiom and TogetherMD and their impact.  If our underlying assumptions turn out to be incorrect, or if certain risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements.  These risks and uncertainties, in some cases, have affected and in the future could affect our ability to implement our business strategy and may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements expressed in this press release.  As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties that may cause such differences include, among other things: future economic, political, competitive, reimbursement and regulatory conditions; new product introductions and the market acceptance of those products; markets for our products; expected pricing environment; expected procedural volumes; clinical trial results; demographic trends; intellectual property rights; litigation; financial market conditions; the execution and effect of our restructuring program; the execution and effect of our business strategy, including our cost-savings and growth initiatives; and future business decisions made by us and our competitors. New risks and uncertainties may arise from time to time and are difficult to predict. All of these factors are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of them are beyond our control.  For a further list and description of these and other important risks and uncertainties that may affect our future operations, see Part I, Item IA - Risk Factors in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we may update in Part II, Item 1A - Risk Factors in Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q we have filed or will file hereafter.  We disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in our expectations or in events, conditions, or circumstances on which those expectations may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.  This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

SOURCE Boston Scientific