Medtronic bets IT enhancements will boost revenue

Medtronic ($MDT) has turned to an unlikely source to help boost its annual revenue--IT. The Wall Street Journal's Clint Boulton writes about the journey the medical device giant is taking to get there that began in earnest when Omar Ishrak became CEO in May. Company CIO Michael Hedges evaluated the company's IT and determined that improvements could help sort through hospital and patient reports more quickly regarding defective or damaged medical devices (in addition to boosting sales efforts by coordinating global reports). Medtronic sees the improvements as helping it compete with St. Jude Medical ($STJ) and Boston Scientific ($BSX), as well as enhancing compliance with the FDA's record handling requirements. Blog