International Circuit
Medical Technology Manufacturer Dräger Leads The Way With Ground-Breaking Tech Innovations In Patient Care
German medical technology manufacturer Dräger has launched a number of connected medical device solutions based on the latest industry standard Service-oriented device connectivity (SDC). Th ese solutions are positioned in the global healthcare industry, which are positioned to transform the landscape of patient care around the world. The company’s technologies based on SDC principles enable bi-directional communication between multiple medical devices, automating the transfer of medical data along each point of patient treatment.
Among Dräger’s recent IT solutions are the Clinical Assistance Package, Data Analytics and Mobile Patient Watch, and most notably, the fi rst SDC compatible anaesthesia device, Atlan. All of these applications were designed to increase the efficiency of sharing patient data, and are prompting the wider healthcare sector to consider the potential for a future of connected technology in medicine. Dräger IT based medical care solutions are at the centre of reducing the probability of human error in patient care processes, and revolutionising the quality and safety of patient care.
Dräger’s SDC solutions can help healthcare facilities incorporate more streamlined, safer, and comprehensive treatment in their delivery of patient care, explains Jens Altmann, Head of Business Unit IT and Systems. Considering the amount of fractional information required to make correct instant care decisions, Altmann highlights how “Pulling data from diff erent sources needs to be compiled in a short amount of time in order to be responsive to medical emergencies.” Instead, he explains, “With SDC data at your fingertips from diff erent sources, this improves safety, clinical outcome, and the possibility to drive up therapy to better levels.”
Studies have shown that caregivers need to be relieved of tiring routine tasks and that their skills are better applied for improved therapy decisions. Combined data retrieved through SDC devices leads to more meaningful and useful medical information for treatment. “Diff erent data leverages better patient decisions, which in turn also positively impact workfl ow and the cost of managing care,” Altmann asserts.
Emphasising the need for more relevant alarm management, Altmann says, “Today all systems are meant to alarm when certain settings are activated, but their incorrect operation creates alarm fatigue among caregivers, caused by constant noise levels – and they may not attend to real alarms for life-threatening scenarios.” With SDC, it is possible to route and manage alarms diff erently, streamlining healthcare providers’ workfl ows and processes, which in turn optimises patient care and safety.
In a healthcare facility the reality is that there are devices and machinery from a variety of different manufacturers. “Basic demographic patient information is then manually inputted and transferred from device to device – a process which is prone to human error and can result in incorrect decisions, sometimes dire,” says Altmann. SDC alternatively provides a standardised way to collect and share data across a variety of medical equipment. Dräger’s connectivity solutions, then, are at the centre of fostering and nurturing care-focused medical facilities.
Dräger’s additional new interoperability options based on SDC recently introduced to the market are changing the future of healthcare in foundational ways. Altmann describes promising examples of connected devices for lung recruitment manoeuvres that eliminate the use of multiple screens so specialists can focus their attention on performing medical procedures.
Beginning with selected hospitals in 2019 across Europe, Altmann explains, “Connected technology is signifi cantly diff erent to what we’ve previously experienced in healthcare, opening a new era in medical technology. Th e Atlan anaesthesia device can “talk to” patient monitors (and vice versa), and is fully integrated and time-synchronised, transmitting and receiving patient data simultaneously and securely, enabling the reduction of errors in medical care.-Gulf News
