Connected practices

CEBU, Philippines - How many of us were prescribed the wrong medication because of an interchanged diagnosis due to namesakes seeking treatment in the same hospital? How many have seen what it’s like to travel over four hours to a city health facility for emergency cases, only to end up at the desk filling up information sheets first before our patient could be attended to?  I bet most of us, at one moment, have experienced what it’s like to wait over two hours for our turn to a regular checkup, basic treatment or testing by some medical specialist.

Welch Allyn Singapore Pte. Ltd. sales director Robin Tan says that we could have saved precious time, energy and resources had electronic health record systems have just been improved, and connected through meaningful innovations that boost patient safety and productivity; our health centers utilizing devices that promote increased infection control, thereby improving quality of life among people.

“Welch Allyn strengthens its presence in the Philippines through a strong partnership with Berovan, our distributor, to raise awareness that maximizing latest innovations in the delivery of healthcare makes way for enhanced workflow and cost savings, aside from improved patient safety,” Tan explained.

Nearly a century old, Welch Allyn, with headquarters in New York, is into medical diagnostic products. It is recognized for its breakthrough medical devices like blood pressure cuffs and its digitally-enabled patient vital signs monitoring system, as well as diagnostic cardio products, aside from traditional core products.

Welch Allyn has a broad range of connected device solutions seen to improve office workflow by quickly, accurately and electronically capturing, saving and storing patient diagnostic information to a clinic or a hospital’s Electronic Health Record system.

“Getting connected through certain mobile applications, for example, boosts productivity and enables better clinical decisions. Since Filipinos are techno-savvy, they have to be made aware that a patient need not come, from an eight-hour drive, to submit to an ECG test at a diagnostic center or a hospital. A product kit, with the help of digital applications, would enable a caregiver to put on the device on the patient. Should there be flaws, a beep in the alarm system would tell the caregiver he is not using the device correctly. Since only an internist and a cardiologist can read ECG reports, these can be emailed to them for proper analysis, and not necessarily requiring the patient’s appearance,” he added.

John Christopher A. Escaño, business manager of Berovan Marketing Inc., pointed out that they are on a, sort of, roadshow right now to raise awareness on portable products from Welch Allyn that help enhance clinical decisions. “Our tools improve accuracy, efficiency, and patient care, most especially at the emergency rooms where immediate care is of high demand. Since it’s a busy area, we would like to provide frontliners with tools and devices that keep patients safer, improve data accuracy to eliminate transcription errors and lost diagnostic data.”

Eliminating duplication in patient data recording and several manual printing, proper scanning and filing steps are an essential in an efficient clinical workflow.

Meanwhile, Escaño’s colleague at Berovan, Marcie Sarcon, added that products and solutions are provided by Welch Allyn to frontline settings in patient care to eliminate bottlenecks and focus on seeing more patients, performing more procedures, and providing better on-site care.

Software applications

It was further learned that Welch Allyn has partnered with over 60 EHR vendors to provide software interface solutions that enable the electronic transfer of patient data between the medical device and the patient record.

Collaboration to provide rigorous connectivity workflow and implementation testing processes and guidelines allow the consumers to enjoy enhanced functionality and integration standards for Welch Allyn-connected devices; superior customer experience when installing and operating a Welch Allyn-connected device with a certified EHR partner; and ease of implementation and interoperability when clients combine certified partner solutions with Welch Allyn devices.

Sample product

FlexiPort cuff standardization technology is an innovative, easy-to-use connection technology that helps control costs. The single-point FlexiPort connection is a practical innovation that enables virtually any device to work with Welch Allyn FlexiPort blood pressure cuffs - without the hassle of traditional cuff tubes and connectors.

FlexiPort technology is available on three unique cuff styles to cover every area of the hospital: reusable, disposable, and the new single-patient FlexiPort EcoCuff.

Traditional single-patient-use cuff solutions can be expensive, wasteful, and difficult to implement. The innovative EcoCuff design gives consumers the benefits of switching to single-patient use, helping reduce risk of cross-contamination, while controlling costs and the volume of hospital waste.