Philips updates patient monitor alarms to reduce noise and improve experience

THE NETHERLANDS — Royal Philips, a Dutch multinational company, has obtained 510(k) clearance for its latest IntelliVue patient monitoring software.

This clearance includes the long-awaited release of numerous new solutions, including the award-winning Philips Sounds alarm bundle, in the United States and more than 200 other countries.

The IntelliVue alarm evolution required a large investment in research to gather and integrate feedback from care professionals and patients in alarm-heavy environments.

Philips and SenSound collaborated to soften and round the alarm tones, as well as adjust the warning intervals, to more gently signal status or request action with a more peaceful – yet still impactful – collection of alarms.

 These modifications are intended to improve the patient and caregiver experience, and Philips’ new patient monitoring sounds have been shown to lower alert noise by up to 66%.

This discovery comes after several years of advancements in healthcare technology, which continue to propel patient monitoring technologies into the future; nonetheless, alarm sounds have stayed similar, if not unmodified, for many years.

Since noise in hospitals has had an impact on the quality of life and health of patients, their families, and care providers, patient monitors account for up to 82% of alarm tones, with up to 350 alarms per patient per day in the average ICU.

While alarms are useful for gaining attention, the sheer quantity of them can exhaust caregivers and lead to patient and family distress.

To assist drive alarm management methods toward a more serene healing environment for patients and caregivers alike, Philips used this novel approach to acute patient monitor alarm sounds by engaging with physicians and world-class sound specialists.

According to Christoph Pedain, Business Leader, Hospital Patient Monitoring, Philips, while alarms in acute care settings must be functional, they must also be sensible, informative, and respectful of the surroundings and the people in them.

He went on to note that during the process, they solicited feedback from care professionals, administrators, patients, and their families who are often exposed to these alarms, and they used powerful data to improve the overall experience.

Andreas Walden, Usability Leader of Hospital Patient Monitoring at Philips, stated that alarm handling in the hospital setting is complex and diverse, and even the smallest modification will have a significant impact.

He went on to say that when they think about medical alarms in general, they make sure they are heard, immediate action is taken, and can be distinguished from other sounds, such as the alert that a nurse on a 12-hour shift should hear every day or what a sick patient hears without becoming afraid.

 The capacity to address those problems marks the beginning of altering the hospital’s whole soundscape.

With over one million IntelliVue patient monitors in operation, the evolution of their monitor sounds has the potential to improve and transform the soundscape in healthcare facilities globally, thereby advancing the healing environment for both patients and hospital staff.

 The latest IntelliVue software version, which includes the Philips Visual Patient Avatar, is now available in the United States and over 200 other countries.

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