ANDOVER, Mass. & MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Healthcare and Capsule Tech, Inc. today announced a relationship to help speed the access of clinical information to caregivers. The companies will align GE Healthcare’s CARESCAPE™ portfolio of patient monitors with Capsule’s Enterprise Device Connectivity Solution and Mobile Vitals PlusTM applications. Capsule’s leading connectivity solution improves medical device information flow throughout the hospital – from critical care, to the OR, ED and med-surg units. Under the terms of the arrangement, GE Healthcare will resell Capsule’s products.
A recent study determined that error rates for vital signs captured on plain paper and then entered into an electronic medical record (EMR) were 4.4 percent.1 By improving connectivity between patient monitors, biomedical devices and hospital information systems, data can flow directly into EMRs, which may reduce documentation errors and enhance patient safety. As an initial step in the relationship, hospitals can now leverage GE Healthcare’s vital signs monitors with Capsule’s Mobile Vitals Plus application, which helps caregivers capture vital signs for multiple patients, validate these clinical measurements at the point of care and automatically send them to the EMR. Mobile Vitals Plus connectivity with GE Healthcare’s monitors and EMRs can help clinicians make efficient clinical decisions, supporting quality of care. The new connectivity offering will be demonstrated at the HIMSS11 annual conference February 20 to February 24 in Orlando, Fla.
“This long-term GE Healthcare-Capsule relationship brings together leaders in patient monitoring and connectivity, to deliver on the CARESCAPE vision of helping caregivers make informed clinical decisions quickly, supporting quality patient care,” said David Ataide, vice president and general manager of Patient Care Solutions, GE Healthcare. “With a shared fundamental belief about the importance of connectivity, GE Healthcare and Capsule are aligned to deliver patient-centric information, when and where it is needed. We are committed to automating the flow of data from patient monitors and other medical devices to the EMR, to help nurses and physicians spend more time caring for the patient.”
The Capsule relationship enables GE Healthcare to provide an enterprise device connectivity solution, throughout the hospital, both inside and outside the GE Healthcare offering, to automatically transmit relevant clinical information to a broad range of EMRs. The GE Healthcare CARESCAPE portfolio of integrated products encompasses advancements in patient monitoring, as well as IT, wireless and networking solutions. It helps deliver actionable clinical intelligence at the desired time and place, providing caregivers with a comprehensive view of clinical information.
“We are excited to work with GE Healthcare as their connectivity solution of choice,” said Arnaud Houette, CEO of Capsule Tech, Inc. “The CARESCAPE portfolio of monitoring products addresses the reality that hospitals today are complex, fast-moving and require integrated, near-real time information. Our FDA-cleared solution, which supports more than 500 devices, enhances the efficiency of transmitting patient information through the care environment, helping address the needs of both higher and lower acuity environments. This new GE Healthcare relationship may allow hospital staff to better manage their time, so they can focus their primary attention on predicting, diagnosing and treating patient conditions earlier.”
About Capsule:
For more than 13 years, Capsule has been a world leading, award-winning provider of solutions for medical device connectivity. The company has established itself as a market leader through its FDA 510(k) cleared software and medical grade hardware products, its expertise in device protocols and firmware, and through its strong relationships with major medical device manufacturers and HIS companies. Capsule's solutions are proven, with over 650 installations at leading healthcare facilities worldwide and its technology is secure, with the largest installed library of biomedical devices. And, with the introduction of the Capsule Neuron™ platform and Enterprise Connectivity Solution, Capsule will continue to be a leader, by working with our partners to develop and implement solutions that meet the short and long term patient safety needs of hospitals today. For more information about Capsule, visit the company's Web site at http://www.capsuletech.com/ or contact the U.S. Marketing & Public Relations department at 978-482-2337.
About GE Healthcare:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.
Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.
For our latest news, please visit http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com
References
1 Connected Care: Reducing Errors through Automated Vital Signs Data Upload. LB. Smith, et al. Computers Informatics Nursing, Vol. 27, No. 5, 2009.