LEBANON, NH – A new study by clinicians at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center shows that the use of a remote monitoring technology coupled with a clinician notification system can boost patient outcomes as well as reduce costs.

Clinicians at DMHC have been involved in a yearlong study of Irvine, Calif.-based Masimo's Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry, which measures blood constituents and fluid responsiveness, coupled with Masimo's Patient SafetyNet, a monitoring system that wirelessly links at-risk patients to clinicians.

George T. Blike, medical director of patient safety at DHMC, and his team found that implementation of Masimo's Rainbow SET and Patient SafetyNet led to a 70 percent reduction in rescue calls and a 48 percent reduction in ICU transfers. The reduction in ICU transfers helped to free up an estimated 163 ICU-days annually for DHMC's 36-bed post-surgical unit, thereby increasing ICU access for more critically ill patients.

Clinicians say there is a measurable cost advantage associated with Masimo Patient SafetyNet's ability to assist clinicians in the earlier identification of patient distress.

"The data tracked in this 12-month study demonstrates that routine patient monitoring on the general care floor using Masimo Rainbow SET and the Patient SafetyNet system, with its ability to measure oxygen saturation continuously and directly page a nurse when problems are identified, was associated with statistically significant reductions in the need for urgent and emergent interventions," said Blike.

"Initial analysis shows we reduced the need for ICU transfers and, we believe, the cost of care through early detection and intervention of physiologic abnormalities. These results are such that we have expanded implementation of the system to two additional post-surgical units," he said.