Welch Allyn is supporting the drive to improve patient safety and reduce error rates with the addition of electronic Early Warning Score (EWS) functionality to its Connex® Vital Signs Monitor (CVSM).

With National Early Warning Score (NEWS) Guidelines being adopted nationwide, this premium functionality will be provided at no extra charge for customers purchasing new CVSM devices for a limited period.

With documentation error rates using paper observation charts as high as 54.4%  the the Connex® Scoring App™ can help to drastically reduce inaccuracies on patient charts - improving safety and clinical outcomes.

The Connex® Scoring App™ calculates early warning scores in line with NEWS Guidelines and can be interfaced with all leading electronic medical record systems. – eliminating paper charting all together if desired.

The App however is not limited to just NEWS, it can be customised to any early warning scoring system. This allows Trusts who use modified early warning scores to decide which parameters should be scored, what the clinical boundaries for each parameter are, and even set 'required action' messages for the caregiver. Another example of Welch Allyn’s commitment to offering maximum flexibility and cost effective operation to customers.

 With patient safety and care a top priority within the NHS, healthcare professionals need access to user-friendly tools which combine flexibility and accuracy, and help ensure best practice, points out  Jan McMeekin, Regional Manager at Welch Allyn.

 ‘Hospitals are trying to balance budgets without compromising patient care – and the pressures can only intensify,’ she says. ‘Our new Connex® Scoring App™ gives them an incredibly powerful tool, reducing the need for manual note-taking and calculations, and helping them meet the NEWS Guidelines.’

Building on Welch Allyn’s trademark combination of innovation, reliability and flexibility in meeting the needs of frontline medical staff, which stretches back almost 100 years, the new App combines straightforward operation with easy to understand and interpret data.

Results are calculated instantly, ensuring that clinicians are kept immediately informed, urgent and potentially lifesaving decisions on patient care can be swiftly made and delays minimised, while the CVSM’s optional remote monitoring allows up to 48 patients to be simultaneously tracked, even when a clinician is off-site.

Using a fully customisable colour coding system, clinicians can instantly see which individual patient parameters are outside the expected range and where to focus their attention. In line with the NEWS Guidelines, the CVSM customer scoring App also provides an aggregate score and customised message informing the user what action needs to be taken.

In addition to providing an overall score, the App also flags up red flag issues where one or more individual scores suggest cause for concern, and is also fully configurable by the customer, allowing additional measurements to be recorded and assessed.

Electronic Early Warning Scores can help improve reliability and speed over paper-based systems, which frees up hospital staff to spend additional time with patients and also provides a clear audit trail, essential should hospital record-keeping subsequently be called into question.

‘With public scrutiny focused on patient care as never before, we believe that the App has the potential to become an essential tool for frontline medical staff, offering timely, accurate and potentially life-saving information,’ says Jan McMeekin.

[1] Early warning system determination accuracy and action plan compliance, 2012, Barts Health Munro, PA & Padala, A.