Medtronic has released its patient monitoring and clinical decision support (CDS) platform Vital Sync in the US. The system is designed to simplify time-intensive patient care processes and help clinicians prevent or mitigate harmful and costly adverse events, according to a company media alert.

The platform combines remote monitoring software with wireless monitoring devices and a series of customizable CDS mobile applications to improve clinical protocol implementation and management of patients on medical-surgical floors and in the ICU.

The Vital Sync CDS solution gathers patient physiological data directly from a variety of wireless and bedside devices, manufactured by Medtronic and third-parties. Analytics are continuously and automatically calculated, with customized alerts and notifications to help clinicians know as soon as possible if a patient is deteriorating. Respiratory therapy and nursing teams can remotely access patient data to make insightful assessments for more effective and earlier interventions. Patient data is accessed through the Vital Sync virtual patient monitoring platform.

The solution also offers the following customizable tools (additional CDS apps are in development):

  • Vital Sync Physiological Patch (a lightweight wireless device applied to the chest area): Continuously collects and transmits physiological data, including heart rate, respiration rate, single-lead ECG and body position, to monitor vitals, facilitate pressure ulcer prevention protocols and help identify patient deterioration.
  • Vital Sync Weaning Readiness and SBT Monitoring App: Allows clinicians to continuously monitor and receive alerts indicating when a mechanically ventilated patient is ready to begin a weaning trial based on established clinical protocols. It also remotely tracks a patient’s breathing pattern and other vitals through a spontaneous breathing trial so that clinicians can intervene if a patient falls outside predefined thresholds.
  • Vital Sync Early Warning Score App: Applies automated calculations based on published evidence for an early warning score to help give clinicians an earlier indication of patient deterioration. The app can detect subtle changes in patient deterioration using multiple parameters—enabling clinical intervention before a single parameter device would recognize a problem.

Watch the video here.