NEW YORK – Executives at CareFusion, the clinical and medical products subsidiary of Cardinal Health, have hit upon a unique means of publicizing the company as it prepares for its spinoff later this year.
Company officials, who unveiled the CareFusion name brand one week ago, on Tuesday launched the CareFusion Jazz Festival Series, an international series of concerts designed to raise awareness of the uniquely American music form as well as the new company’s products and services, designed to improve the safety and quality of healthcare.
“There is a clear connection between jazz and medicine that provides the perfect opportunity to launch our new brand, raise funds for and awareness of patient safety and help support and preserve the arts,” said David Schlotterbeck, CEO of the San Diego-based company, in a press conference Tuesday at the City Winery in New York. “Both jazz and the practice of medicine embrace innovation, performance and change. Jazz is also used to teach listening skills to medical students and resonates with our customers.”
Currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal Health, CareFusion encompasses Cardinal Health’s medical products businesses and includes Alaris IV pumps, Pyxis automated dispensing and patient identification systems, AVEA and Pulmonetic Systems ventilation and respiratory products, ChloraPrep and MedMined infection prevention software and services, V. Mueller surgical instruments and a line of products to support interventional medicine.
Cardinal Health has held the CareFusion name since acquiring the maker of hand-held barcode technology in 2006. The new company is expected to employ 13,000 people and earn roughly $4 billion in annual revenue. Company officials say CareFusion, which will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CFN, "will be the largest medical technology company with a singular focus on patient safety."
According to Jim Mazzola, CareFusion’s senior vice president, company officials “were looking for ideas beyond just traditional advertising” when they were told of the jazz festival series, which had recently lost its title sponsor. He said officials looked at three or four other ideas, and felt this “is a pretty efficient use of our brand-launch dollars” in that it not only pushes the CareFusion name into the public but also supports the arts.
Aside from sponsoring the international festival series, CareFusion will broadcast some of the performances live to hospitals and invite selected caregivers and hospital administrators to the events. That will be part of CareFusion’s Rhythm of Care healthcare safety campaign, designed to raise awareness of best practices to reduce medication errors and hospital-acquired infections.
According to Mazzola, the company will tie this into a national nomination process for “healthcare heroes,” or individual caregivers who epitomize CarFusion’s goals.
The CareFusion Jazz Festival Series will open Aug. 7-9 in Newport, R.I., with George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival 55, the oldest of the festivals, featuring Newport Jazz Festival founder George Wein.
“This is a critical time to invest in the arts,” said Wein, in a press release supporting Tuesday’s press conference. “CareFusion is re-igniting a 34-year tradition in New York City and supporting cultural institutions around the world.”
The series continues with
- The Chicago Jazz Festival presented by CareFusion on Sept. 4-6;
- CareFusion Presents Dizzy’s Den at the Monterey Jazz Festival on Sept. 18-20;
- The Manly Jazz Festival on Oct. 305 in Manly, Australia;
- The CareFusion Jazz Festival Paris on Oct. 16-24; and
- The CareFusion New York Jazz Festival in June 2010.
