GE Healthcare, which is part of General Electric Co., recently announced that it has joined with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center that will create new employment opportunities in healthcare within the next few years. The partnership has resulted in a new company, Omnyx LLC, whose purpose is to improve both the speed and efficiency of interpreting lab results and reaching a diagnosis.

Omnyx’s purpose will be to market digital services that will enable lab techs to virtually share images and interpret results using advanced algorithms. Both GE and UPMC believe that patients will benefit from these services as they will reduce medical errors, decrease the amount of time it takes get lab results and make it possible to have pathology information integrated into individuals’ personal medical records electronically. Because of the nature of this work, many of the healthcare jobs created will rely heavily on technology.

A spokesperson for GE said that its researchers spent three years developing the first prototype by utilizing digital X-ray imaging to overcome image quality and speed of scanning slides. George K. Michalopoulos, who is a professor and chairman of the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh and a pathologist at UPMC, said that “Digital pathology provides a platform for the creation of new tools that will help pathologists screen large number of slides in search of a small nest of cells or a few bacteria to quickly and accurately diagnose disease.”

The joint development partnership between UPMC and GE actually became two years ago, leading to the creation of Omnyx. To assist in the creation of new healthcare jobs within the company, the state of Pennsylvania is giving Omnyx $180,000. State officials expect that a minimum of 40 high-technology jobs will be created by the company within the next three years.

Jeffery Romoff, president and CEO of UPMC said in a recent statement that “this innovative collaboration with GE will help to address the critical cost and quality issues facing healthcare today.” He went on to say that Omnyx will also help to revitalize the economy of western Pennsylvania through the creation of new healthcare jobs.

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