Patient monitoring player Welch Allyn has partnered with software company Spok to connect its vital signs monitors to the mobile devices of healthcare practitioners. The idea of a systemwide connection approach is to better prioritize and not overwhelm staff with device-related alarms.
Spok's software will deliver patient-monitoring data from the Connex Vital Signs Monitors to mobile devices including smartphones, tablets, pagers, etc. This is all as part of Welch Allyn's Connex Clinical Surveillance System, which takes an enterprise approach to management and prioritization of adverse patient events. It allows practitioners to monitor patient status continuously and to manage alerts on the basis of an individual bed or an entire floor in order to mitigate the number of alarms.
"By partnering with Welch Allyn, we have created a system that routes critical alerts directly to the correct nurse, physician or rapid response team member on their mobile device. We pair that capability with escalation rules and response tracking to help ensure the highest quality care," Hemant Goel, COO at Spok, said in a statement.
He continued, "Taking advantage of mobile devices and sending messages directly to appropriate staff also allows providers to reduce noisy overhead paging--to increase patient satisfaction and potentially decrease lengths of stay. Having fewer buzzes and beeps is designed to alleviate the growing problem of alarm fatigue for clinicians, to help improve staff satisfaction as well as patient safety."
The Connex CSS system electronically captures and documents vitals directly from the bedside into a patient's electronic medical record. It's designed to alert providers in order to reduce the risk of adverse events such as failure to rescue, respiratory failure, falls, hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and cardiopulmonary arrests. It connects to an acoustic respiration device from Masimo ($MASI), Microstream end-tidal carbon dioxide technology from Covidien and contact-free motion, heart rate and respiratory rate monitoring from EarlySense.
"With immediate access to patient data and alerts, clinicians are able to make informed, fast decisions on the care plans of their patients," Doug Linquest, SVP of Vital Signs and Cardiology at Welch Allyn, said in a statement. "The ability to assess changes in patients' conditions and have access to current data from anywhere on the health IT network is provided to help improve overall workflow, staff productivity and the comfort and safety of everyone in the facility."
- here is the release