Avera Health Increases Labor & Delivery Patient Safety with new PeriWatch® Decision Support System

Avera Health now uses real-time trend analysis for the mothers and babies in its care

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Jul 10, 2018, 07:33 ET

CARY, N.C., July 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PeriGen, an innovator of perinatal early warning systems, today announced that hospitals within the Avera Health system, based in Sioux Falls, SD, are implementing PeriGen's PeriWatch labor analysis software in their birthing units.

The first Avera locations to go live on PeriWatch – Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center in Sioux Falls; Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton, SD; and Avera St. Luke's Hospital in Aberdeen, SD – are adding the full suite of PeriGen's patient safety tools, including PeriWatch® Cues™, the only fetal surveillance solution that is both cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and validated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The software incorporates artificial intelligence to help clinicians interpret fetal heart rate patterns and provides a consistent, objective and standardized assessment to enhance care collaboration.

Avera regional hospitals in Pierre and Mitchell, SD, as well as community hospitals in Milbank and Parkston, SD; Estherville, Iowa; and O'Neill, Neb., will also implement PeriWatch.

"PeriWatch offers analytics as well as mobile capabilities for providers. The documentation is thorough and combined with clinical judgment, it can help identify issues earlier," said Kimberlee McKay, MD, Clinical Vice President of Avera's OB/GYN Service Line. "It offers our rural hospitals a direct connection to the tertiary care center in Sioux Falls, and an immediate second opinion on a fetal monitoring strip."

Avera Health has 18 birthing locations in South Dakota, Minnesota, northwest Iowa and Nebraska, and excels at delivering quality care close to home, employing best practices and the latest technology for improving outcomes and patient safety.

PeriWatch labor analysis modules provide comprehensive, patented, FDA-cleared clinical decision support for the Avera Health labor & delivery team. The software uses patented algorithms to help clinicians interpret fetal heart rate patterns and provides a consistent, objective and standardized assessment of the data as a basis for collaborative care at the bedside. The tool has been cited as invaluable in facilitating communication among nurses and physicians.

"National studies show that more than half of the bad outcomes in childbirth are preventable and often relate to delayed recognition of troubling signs," said PeriGen CEO Matthew Sappern. "Responsibly, Avera wants its clinicians across the spectrum of its facilities to have the very best opportunities and controls to intervene in a timely fashion, and the PeriGen platform provides just that."

ABOUT AVERA HEALTH
Avera Health is an integrated health system based in Sioux Falls, SD, serving South Dakota and surrounding areas of Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota. Avera employs 17,500 at 330 locations that include 33 hospitals, 210 primary and specialty care clinics, and 40 senior living facilities in addition to home care and hospice, sports and wellness facilities, home medical equipment outlets and more. Avera offers 60 medical specialties with signature patient care programs including oncology, bone marrow transplant, cardiology, abdominal organ transplant, orthopedics, gastroenterology, women's and children's services, and behavioral health. As a health care ministry, Avera carries on the legacy of the Benedictine and Presentation Sisters, delivering care in an environment guided by values of compassion, hospitality and stewardship. Learn more at Avera.org.

ABOUT PERIGEN, INC.
PeriGen offers innovative perinatal software solutions that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance clinical efficiency and standardization of care during childbirth. Led by skilled OB practitioners and IT visionaries, PeriGen has created the PeriWatch platform to provide consistent analysis and efficient display of complex data in real-time to promote better human recognition and communication about impending problems during labor. With PeriWatch clinicians can spend more time on direct patient care and less time on manual calculations and data manipulation. To learn more, visit www.perigen.com; follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook; or call 984.208.4250 or email.

Media Contact:

Heather Caouette
Amendola Communications for PeriGen
Phone: 508-579-3894
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE PeriGen