Medica International Trade Fair and Congress—Welch Allyn, a leading global provider of medical diagnostic devices headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y., will showcase solutions that can help cure some of the healthcare industry’s largest afflictions—patient safety and staff productivity—at the 2012 Medica International Trade Fair and Congress in Düsseldorf, Germany. The company offers several connected devices designed to provide remedies to common healthcare issues like inaccuracy, poor data management and inefficient workflow. The company will validate its cures by using Welch Allyn devices and data management systems to “assess the health of Medica.” Trained personnel at the company’s booth in Hall 9, E15, will capture and document vital signs data of attendees who visit its booth during show hours and will publish the aggregate results after the event. The final report will create a picture of the overall health of Medica attendees.

“This week at Medica we’ll be using our devices to demonstrate how they can improve the process of capturing patients’ vital signs and streamline data management,” said Pascal Gand, vice president, Europe and Middle East Sales and Marketing at Welch Allyn. “The technology we build into our products is derived from clinicians’ demands. Our customers often cite problems like data transmission errors, time spent on documenting vital signs and patient safety as threats to their patients and their workflow. We think our solutions can provide a cure for what is ailing healthcare, and we’re putting those to the test at Medica.”

By using the Welch Allyn Connex^® Electronic Vitals Documentation (EVD) System to capture and document vital signs of attendees at Medica, the company will demonstrate how patient data can be transmitted immediately to an electronic medical record (EMR) as it is measured. This all-in-one solution enables improvements in patient safety and clinical decision making and helps to reduce risk for facilities. The system provides clinicians in general care settings with immediate access to accurate vital signs anytime, anywhere. Included in the Connex EVD System is the Welch Allyn Connex^® Vital Signs Monitor (VSM), 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, which the company will gather from Medica attendees. It can also capture manual parameters such as respiration, height, weight and pain level and modifiers such as body position, O₂ therapy details and others. The Connex VSM can be set up in spot-checking, monitoring or triage mode to accommodate healthcare facilities’ needs.

The new Welch Allyn FlexiPort^® EcoCuff™, a single-patient-use, disposable blood pressure cuff that helps to reduce costs, cross-contamination and environmental impact, will be used to measure attendees’ blood pressure. Designed to have 60 percent less environmental impact than a traditional blood pressure cuff, the EcoCuff uses less material; is made with 100 percent polypropylene material; and does not contain harmful chemicals such as BPA, DEHP, Latex or PVC. And, as part of the FlexiPort line of blood pressure cuffs, the EcoCuff uses a single-point connection that enables virtually any device to work with the cuff without the need for traditional tubes and connectors.

Welch Allyn will also showcase its new iExaminer™ at Medica 2012. The new product integrates the advanced eye exam technology of the Welch Allyn PanOptic™ Ophthalmoscope with a hardware adapter for the iPhone™ and an iPhone application to make remote eye imaging possible and help improve patient knowledge and compliance, another ill facing the healthcare industry. The PanOptic features patented optical technology that creates a viewing area of the fundus and retinal nerve in an undilated pupil that is 5 times larger than that of a traditional ophthalmoscope and increases magnification by 26 percent to more easily see retinal details. Now available in select international markets, the iExaminer rapidly captures and transmits the retinal images created by the PanOptic for easy, cost-effective eyeground image documentation and allows physicians to save images to a patient file, as well as e-mail and print the images to share with patients and colleagues.

“If patient information is missing or incorrect it can compromise decision-making and puts not only the patient at risk, but the facility as well,” added Gand. “With Welch Allyn solutions, like the Connex EVD System and iExaminer, healthcare providers are able to spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients, ultimately leading to increased staff and patient satisfaction and improved care, all which ultimately improve a facility’s bottom line.”

About Welch Allyn

Welch Allyn is a leading global healthcare company that offers a complete range of digital and connected diagnostic solutions that help reduce risk and enhance workflow in a variety of clinical settings. Founded in 1915 and headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, NY (USA), Welch Allyn is a family-owned business that employs nearly 2,700 employees in 26 different countries. The company specializes in helping doctors, nurses and other frontline practitioners across the globe enhance care by developing innovative products, breakthrough technologies and cutting-edge solutions that improve patient outcomes, safety and satisfaction. 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.