Royal Philips Electronics has introduced ProtocolWatch, an application for its IntelliVue patient monitors that analyses patient monitoring data using evidence-based care protocols. It gives guidance for patient care on the patient monitor screen, thus providing clinical decision support at the bedside.
ProtocolWatch brings the care guidelines developed by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) to the Philips IntelliVue patient monitoring platform. The SSC protocol defines the physiological parameters that indicate the onset of severe sepsis. Since ProtocolWatch is built into the patient monitor, it can use the patient’s vital signs to help clinicians screen for this deadly condition.
David Russell, Philips Medical Systems’s vice president for marketing, points out that physicians have overwhelming amounts of raw data to deal with. “Medical technology can provide endless numbers of datapoints. But beyond merely providing that accumulation of data, at Philips we’re designing clinical decision support systems to provide clinicians a clearer picture of what’s happening with a patient, turning data into clear, pertinent information and even providing guidance through clinical protocols,” says Russell.
