Welch Allyn, Cerner to deliver connected solution for patient data management

Welch Allyn, a leading medical diagnostic device company that specializes in helping clinicians improve patient outcomes, and Cerner Corporation, a company dedicated to contributing to the systemic change of health and care delivery, have collaborated to deliver a connected solution that can help clinicians overcome common issues like inaccuracy, poor data management and inefficient workflow. The companies will showcase their solution next week at the 2013 Medica International Trade Fair and Congress in Düsseldorf, Germany, where they will demonstrate the real-time transfer of patient data from the Welch Allyn Connex^® Vital Signs Monitor (VSM) into an electronic health record (EHR), using Cerner's CareAware VitalsLink^®. Trained personnel at the Welch Allyn booth in Hall 09 / E15 will capture and document vital signs data of attendees who visit its booth during show hours in order to demonstrate this connected solution.

"Next week at Medica we'll be using our Connex VSM to demonstrate how our work with Cerner helps improve the process of documenting patient vital signs and streamline data management," said Hisham Hout, senior vice president, Europe, Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Sub-continent at Welch Allyn. "Strategic efforts like the one we've established with Cerner, are derived from clinicians' demands to help them mitigate risks like data transmission errors, time spent on documenting vital signs and patient safety. We think our connected solution can provide a cure for what is ailing healthcare today, and we're demonstrating that at Medica."

By connecting the Welch Allyn Connex VSM to Cerner's CareAware VitalsLink platform to capture and document vital signs of attendees at Medica, the companies will demonstrate how patient data can be transmitted immediately to an electronic health record (EHR) as it is measured. This all-in-one solution enables improvements in patient safety and clinical decision making to help reduce risk for facilities.

The system provides clinicians in general care settings with immediate access to accurate vital signs anytime, anywhere. Further, the Welch Allyn Connex VSM is Cerner Workflow Certified, which ensures it can perform in the context of the clinical workflow.

Connex^® Vital Signs Monitor 6000 Series

The Connex VSM is a full-color, touch-screen device that acts as three devices in one—providing comprehensive patient documentation on a single display. This documentation includes automatic measurements such as heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and pulse oximetry; manual parameters such as respiration, height, weight and pain level; and modifiers such as body position, O₂ therapy details and others. The Connex VSM also gives the clinician the ability to control alarms, patient data and monitoring in a customized manner for each patient, and they can document this data right on the device—eliminating the need to locate a PC and transcribe it later.

The Connex VSM also enables two-way wireless communication from the bedside. It associates ID numbers to names to help clinicians properly identify patients and allows them to customize which ID fields are required and how they're displayed, including simultaneous display of multiple forms of ID. The wireless technology is built right into the system allowing the monitor to work with current wireless networks to deliver up-to-date patient demographics.

"Healthcare providers are under constant pressure to save time, screen and diagnose accurately, and treat patients quickly without compromising care," added Hout. "Hand-written vitals and transcription errors complicate matters further. Our goal is to deliver products that significantly reduce these pressures so practitioners can be more productive and provide more comprehensive care. By working with Cerner to document electronic patient vital signs quickly, easily and accurately, providers can spend more time on their most important task—enhancing patient care."