Healthcare Industry News: central station
News Release - April 28, 2008
Nihon Kohden America, Inc. Announces FDA 510K Clearance of the Prefense(TM) Early Detection and Notification System(TM)
IRVINE, Calif.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Nihon Kohden America, Inc. has announced that its Prefense Early Detection and Notification System has received 510K clearance from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, paving the way for immediate release to customers.Prefense, the world’s first Early Detection and Notification System is designed to protect hospital patients from medical harm and enhance the efficiency of Rapid Response Teams. Prefense is unique as it allows hospital patients to freely ambulate while measuring heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and respiration—4 of the 7 critical parameters that trigger a Rapid Response Team.
As the 5 Million Lives Campaign has demonstrated, every patient in the hospital qualifies as a high risk patient, not just those in conventionally monitored areas such as critical care or telemetry. Yet traditionally, and primarily due to cost and staffing issues, continuous monitoring and observation takes place only in monitoring units. That creates significant risk exposure among the large number of patients in Med/Surg wards, where many of the 15 million instances of medical harm occur each year.
Nihon Kohden America believes that many of these events could be prevented with the Prefense system. It consists of a new, low acuity central station interface that is simple, easy to use and cost-effective, combined with the company’s NTX wireless telemetry transmitters. Future versions will also include pagers for nurses, Rapid Response Team members and other care givers in need of notification. Prefense is the only solution that seamlessly integrates the mobility of Nihon Kohden America’s NTX, the advance warning capabilities of continuous trend analysis and the proven effectiveness of Rapid Response Teams.
Mike Dashefsky, VP Patient Monitoring Business Unit explains how Prefense can help to save lives and improve quality in traditionally unmonitored areas. “For the past 18 months, Nihon Kohden has been focusing on innovative ways to help hospitals save lives and avoid costs. Our Prefense Early Detection and Notification System is the next logical evolution of our commitment. Our technology supports the Rapid Response Teams and the 5 Million Lives Campaign by closing the time a patient’s condition starts to deteriorate and the time the clinicians are notified. Quicker intervention will help hospitals avoid incidents of medical harm and the costly ICU admissions that follow and help hospitals align their quality initiatives with the new CMS regulations.”
He adds, “While other companies are trying to focus in this area, nobody has a system as robust as the combination of the NTX and Prefense Early Detection and Notification System. This technology forms the heart and soul of Defensive Monitoring™ designed to protect patients from harm.”
About Nihon Kohden America
Nihon Kohden America was founded in 1979 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Nihon Kohden Corporation, Japan (founded in 1951). Nihon Kohden America is a market leader in Patient Monitoring, Sleep Assessment, Neurology and Cardiology instrumentation. Our products are distributed to hospitals, physician’s practices, mobile services, and outpatient and surgery centers throughout North America. More information about Nihon Kohden America can be found at www.nkusa.com.
Source: Nihon Kohden
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