Palmetto Health Richland Hospital Becomes First in South Carolina to Noninvasively, Wirelessly Monitor Patients Using State-of-the-Art Masimo Patient SafetyNet™ System

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Palmetto Health Richland in Columbia—South Carolina's largest and most comprehensive healthcare resource, and Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI) today jointly announced South Carolina's first installation of Masimo Patient SafetyNet, an advanced remote monitoring and wireless clinician notification system designed to facilitate appropriate early clinical response, preempt sentinel events, and avoid unnecessary intensive care unit (ICU) transfers while helping hospitals to meet Joint Commission, Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF), and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) clinical practice guidelines for patient safety.

Preventable patient deaths and injuries associated with failure to rescue events are one of today's most common medical errors.(1)  But today, hospitals have a new tool helping them to prevent failure to rescue events and improve patient safety.  The Patient SafetyNet system allows clinicians at Palmetto Health-Richland to noninvasively, continuously, and remotely monitor multiple physiological measurements—including arterial oxygen saturation, perfusion index, and pulse rate—for up to 80 patients simultaneously from a central location, facilitating early detection of physiological abnormalities that prompts earlier intervention. In a recently-published landmark study, Patient SafetyNet was shown to help decrease distress codes and rescue activations by 65% and intensive care unit (ICU) transfers by 48%—saving 135 ICU days annually.(2)  

According to Leah Inman, RT, Director of Respiratory Care at Palmetto Health Richland, "We are always looking to improve the quality of care for our patients and the Patient SafetyNet system is another way for us to do this."  

When a patient is in distress, specific, detailed physiological data is immediately transmitted to assigned clinicians, enabling them to intervene before the situation becomes critical and requires more acute levels of care. This is particularly important for post-surgical patients who are at increased risk of injury or death resulting from the respiratory depression effects of medications used for sedation and pain management.  

Masimo Founder and CEO, Joe Kiani, stated, "Palmetto Health is a shining example of caring high-tech healthcare.  With a long-standing tradition of deploying the latest technology and treatment protocols for quality patient care, they have been recognized as one of the '99 Most Wired Hospitals' and rewarded with the highest level of patient satisfaction in the nation.  Their recent implementation of Patient SafetyNet adds another layer of patient safety and dimension of care in their efforts to improve the human condition."

(1) "The Sixth Annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study" April 2009.  Available online here.

(2) Taenzer, Andreas H.; Pyke, Joshua B.; McGrath, Susan P.; Blike, George T. "Impact of Pulse Oximetry Surveillance on Rescue Events and Intensive Care Unit Transfers: A Before-and-After Concurrence Study." Anesthesiology, February 2010, Vol. 112, Issue 2.  Available online here.

About Palmetto Health

Palmetto Health is the region's largest, most comprehensive, locally owned, not-for-profit health care resource. The 1,138-bed system in Columbia, South Carolina, is composed of four outstanding hospitals: Palmetto Health Richland and Baptist in Columbia, and the Heart Hospital and Children's Hospital in Columbia.  Palmetto Health leads the region in the number and volume of inpatient and outpatient services provided—providing care for 70 percent of the residents of Richland County and more than 55 percent of the healthcare for the combined Richland/Lexington county area.  Palmetto Health Children's Hospital—South Carolina's first free-standing children's hospital— treats more than 80,000 children each year. It has central South Carolina's only Children's Emergency Center and offers more than 30 subspecialties to meet the unique healthcare needs of children.  Palmetto Health Heart Hospital is South Carolina's only freestanding hospital dedicated solely to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease with 124 all-private inpatient beds. Utilizing superior technology to perform high-risk surgeries, Palmetto Health Heart Hospital's commitment to quality care and unmatched quality measures results in consistent outcomes—including low overall complication and mortality rates and the highest patient satisfaction ratings in the nation. Visit www.palmettohealth.org for more information.

About Masimo

Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) is the global leader in innovative noninvasive monitoring technologies that significantly improve patient care—helping solve "unsolvable" problems.  In 1995, the company debuted Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, known as Masimo SET®, which virtually eliminated false alarms and increased pulse oximetry's ability to detect life-threatening events.  More than 100 independent and objective studies demonstrate Masimo SET provides the most reliable SpO2 and pulse rate measurements even under the most challenging clinical conditions, including patient motion and low peripheral perfusion.  In 2005, Masimo introduced rainbow® SET Pulse CO-Oximetry™ technology, allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures, including total hemoglobin (SpHb®), oxygen content (SpOC™), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO®), methemoglobin (SpMet®), and Pleth Variability Index (PVI®), in addition to SpO2, pulse rate, and perfusion index (PI).  In 2008, Masimo introduced Patient SafetyNet™, a remote monitoring and wireless clinician notification system designed to help hospitals avoid preventable deaths and injuries associated with failure to rescue events.  In 2009, Masimo introduced rainbow Acoustic Monitoring™, the first-ever noninvasive and continuous monitoring of acoustic respiration rate (RRa™).  Masimo's rainbow SET technology platform offers a breakthrough in patient safety by helping clinicians detect life-threatening conditions and helping guide treatment options.  In 2010, Masimo acquired SEDLine®, a pioneer in the development of innovative brain function monitoring technology and devices.  Masimo SET and Masimo rainbow SET technologies can be also found in over 100 multiparameter patient monitors from over 50 medical device manufacturers around the world.  Founded in 1989, Masimo has the mission of "Improving Patient Outcome and Reducing Cost of Care … by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications®." Additional information about Masimo and its products may be found at www.masimo.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in connection with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks and uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control and could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors, including, but not limited to: risks related to our belief that Masimo Patient SafetyNet will provide an effective early warning system of a patient's deteriorating physiological condition in real-time for all patients to enable timely rescue and increase patient safety, risks related to our belief that Masimo SET and Masimo Rainbow SET measurements and alarms will provide sufficient sensitivity and specificity to detect physiological abnormalities and potentially life-threatening conditions in real-time for all patients, risks related to our assumptions regarding the repeatability of clinical results, as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we do not know whether our expectations will prove correct. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. We do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these forward-looking statements or the "Risk Factors" contained in our most recent reports filed with the SEC, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable securities laws.

Masimo, SET, Signal Extraction Technology, Improving Patient Outcome and Reducing Cost of Care... by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications, rainbow, SpHb, SpOC, SpCO, SpMet, PVI, rainbow Acoustic Monitoring, RRa, Radical-7, Rad-87, Rad-57,Rad-8, Rad-5,Pulse CO-Oximetry, Pulse CO-Oximeter, and SEDLine  are trademarks or registered trademarks of Masimo Corporation.

SOURCE Masimo Corporation