Mr. Randy Africano is the new CEO of Parallax Surgical

“Being actively involved in aviation as a pilot for the past 45 years, and having provided business consulting services to the healthcare industry for over 20, I am well aware of the benefits that can be derived by bringing aviation safety management to healthcare. When you think about it, both aviation and healthcare operate in a “zero-tolerance” environment so I am excited to be part of a firm that I know can and will bring transformational change while saving human life.”

Randy Africano – CEO

Randy J. Africano, founder and Executive Director of OSF Aviation, the largest helicopter EMS operation in Illinois, will head Parallax Enterprises LLC, now doing business as Parallax Surgical, the latest entrant into the medical technology industry. The Baltimore-based company has developed and been granted a patent for their CHaRM (Consolidated Healthcare and Resource Management) technology, a voice-activated system that allows surgeons to follow a step-by-step surgical checklist similar to how a pilot uses a checklist in a cockpit. Additionally, in much the same way a flight data recorder monitors and records the performance of an aircraft, the system monitors and collects data on multiple parameters of the surgical process, providing medical intelligence to the provider.

“CHaRM represents a transformational opportunity for healthcare because it protects patients, improves surgical performance and reduces costs. Every year over 250,000 people die from preventable medical errors with 40% of those deaths occurring in the operating room. This costs the industry over $2B a year. For the first time, healthcare has a tool that can dramatically increase patient safety while quantifying patient outcomes as they relate to the surgical process. There are valid reasons why a person has a 1 in 300 chance of dying in a hospital due to a medical error versus a 1 in 10 million chance of dying on an airliner. Our technology brings aviation safety into the OR, improving the performance of the surgeon while significantly mitigating risk to the patient.”

The company has a working prototype and has identified a potential $10B market in the US alone for its technology which will ultimately be provided as a web-based subscription service. Africano said Parallax has plans to guarantee a complete cost offset in cost of the service. “We know the service will pay for itself through gains in efficiencies and in the medical intelligence it provides the client. To that end, we will guarantee the value of our technology based on performance and by doing so, eliminate purchase obstacles that may have otherwise prohibited hospitals from improving patient safety.”