RYDALMERE, Australia
Welch Allyn, a leading medical diagnostic device company that delivers pragmatic innovation at the point of care, today introduced the industry’s most comprehensive clinical surveillance system designed specifically for the medical/surgical (med/surg) environment. Enabled through a unique set of medical device partnerships, this solution expands the capabilities of traditional intermittent vital signs systems providing effective tools for the clinical staff on med/surg floors to help them monitor and identify early warning signs of potential patient deterioration and enhance patient safety.
Now available in Australia and New Zealand, the Welch Allyn Connex® Clinical Surveillance System is the centerpiece of the company’s objective to optimise care on med/surg floors by enabling proactive, cost-effective care to beds outside the intensive care unit (ICU). Building upon Welch Allyn’s market leadership position in vital signs systems, the Connex CSS is designed to electronically capture and document vitals from the bedside directly to the electronic medical record (EMR) and alert clinicians to the risk of significant adverse events that may occur in hospitals, including issues around failure to rescue, respiratory failure, falls, hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, and cardiopulmonary arrests.
The Connex CSS system benefits from the integration of three additional monitoring parameters—all designed to help in avoiding adverse events—into the Welch Allyn Connex® Vital Signs Monitor (CVSM) in addition to traditional automated measurements such as pulse rate, blood pressure, temperature and pulse oximetry. The Connex® CSS solution offers acoustic respiration from Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI); Microstream® end-tidal carbon dioxide technology from Covidien (NYSE: COV); and contact-free motion, heart rate and respiratory rate monitoring from EarlySense.
The system can also include an optional central station for remote viewing of patient status and alarm notification capabilities to deliver critical patient alarms where and when staff need them. The solution leverages Welch Allyn’s extensive EMR partnerships to enable connectivity and increase access to accurate patient information. In conjunction with the launch of the Connex CSS, the company has also introduced the Connex® Service Dashboard which provides easy access to equipment status and helps facilitate management of technology.
The majority of patients in an acute care hospital are cared for in med/surg units. Patients within med/surg units span a wide range of age, complexity, acuity and disease state. Due to their size and scope, med/surg units can be operationally challenging to manage. Today, clinicians on med/surg units must manage the admission, discharge and care for many clinically complex patients throughout a typical workday, at a far lower nurse-to-patient ratio than in higher acuity environments.
The Connex CSS has already enabled Meadville Medical Center in Meadville, Pennsylvania (USA) to better detect and respond to the onset of patient respiratory deterioration following surgery. Says Kimberlie Bovard, MSN, RN, and nursing informatics specialist with Meadville, “post-surgical patients receiving pain medication, or suffering from respiratory co-morbidities can present a higher risk for respiratory deterioration and life-threatening events. We needed a solution that would be easy to deploy on med/surg floors, in addition to our existing vital signs interfaces for our EMR system, and complement our nursing staff workflows and skill sets.”
Orange Heath Service (Australia, NSW) is currently evaluating the EarlySense system in the medical ward. Dr. John Lambert is leading the project with results expected later this month.
About Welch Allyn
Welch Allyn helps reduce risk and improve patient safety, satisfaction and outcomes in a variety of clinical settings through a complete range of EMR-interfaced vital signs and cardiac monitoring diagnostic solutions, physical diagnosis instruments and infection-control products. The company specializes in helping doctors, nurses and other frontline providers across the globe streamline workflow by developing innovative solutions that enable immediate access to accurate patient data. A leading global healthcare company founded in 1915 and headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y. (USA), Welch Allyn is a family-owned business that employs over 2,600 employees in 26 different countries. More information about Welch Allyn and its complete line of connected products and solutions may be found at www.welchallyn.com. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
About Masimo
Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) is the global leader in innovative noninvasive monitoring technologies that significantly improve patient care—helping solve “unsolvable” problems. In 1995, the company debuted Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, known as Masimo SET®, which virtually eliminated false alarms and increased pulse oximetry’s ability to help clinicians detect life-threatening events. More than 100 independent and objective studies have shown that Masimo SET® outperforms other pulse oximetry technologies, even under the most challenging clinical conditions, including patient motion and low peripheral perfusion. In 2005, Masimo introduced rainbow® Pulse CO-Oximetry™ technology, allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures; total hemoglobin (SpHb® ), oxygen content (SpOC™), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO®), methemoglobin (SpMet®), PVI®, and perfusion index (PI), in addition to measure-through motion SpO2, and pulse rate. In 2009, Masimo introduced rainbow® Acoustic Monitoring™, the first-ever commercially available noninvasive and continuous monitoring of acoustic respiration rate (RRa™). Masimo SET® and Masimo rainbow® technologies also can be found in over 100 multiparameter patient monitors from over 50 medical device manufacturers around the world. Founded in 1989, Masimo has the mission of “Improving Patient Outcome and Reducing Cost of Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications®.” Additional information about Masimo and its products may be found at www.masimo.com.
About Covidien
Covidien has a long history in respiratory care and decades of experience in such areas as patient monitoring, ventilation and airway management. Covidien Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions is committed to taking a comprehensive approach to developing innovative products and improving outcomes in respiratory care by focusing on three key areas: patient safety, medical efficacy and healthcare efficiency. Covidien offers a suite of industry-leading monitoring technologies, including Microstream® capnography that provide clinicians with critical patient information enabling them to make patient-care decisions quickly and effectively. For additional information please visit www.covidien.com/rms.
About EarlySense
EarlySense has brought to market an innovative technology designed to advance proactive patient care and enable clinicians to achieve better patient outcomes, by assisting in preventing adverse events from occurring. The company’s flagship product, the EarlySense System, is a continuous, contact-free, patient monitoring solution that monitors and documents a patient’s vital signs and movement using a sensor that is placed underneath a bed mattress. There are no leads or cuffs to connect to the patient who has complete freedom of movement and is not burdened by any cumbersome attachments. The system is designed to monitor non-ICU ‘lower risk’ patients on medical surgical floors who are usually monitored by nursing staff approximately once every four hours. The system is currently installed at hospitals and rehabilitation centers in the USA and Europe. It is also commercially available in Canada. EarlySense Inc. is headquartered in Waltham, MA. For additional information, please visit www.earlysense.com. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
CONTACT
Welch Allyn
Jamie Arnold, APR
Public
Relations Manager
+1-315-685-4599
jamie.arnold@welchallyn.com