Owensboro Medical Health System Converts System-wide to Masimo Pulse Oximetry to Improve Patient Monitoring Capabilities

IRVINE, Calif., March 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Owensboro Medical Health System, a HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award™ recipient, and Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI), the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry™ and Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, today jointly announced the completion of Owensboro Medical Health System's system-wide conversion to Masimo pulse oximetry technology.  The conversion ensures that Owensboro patients will be monitored using the most technologically and clinically-advanced pulse oximetry and Pulse CO-Oximetry technologies available—providing real-time results for vital measurements that help clinicians to more rapidly assess, diagnose, and treat patients.

"The decision to convert our entire network to Masimo pulse oximetry technology came down to three goals: improving the accuracy, quality, and safety of our patient monitoring capabilities," said Mike Sisley, Manager of Respiratory Care at Owensboro Medical Health System. "It became very clear during the evaluation process that only Masimo allowed us to accomplish all three, and yet, at a cost savings.  And with critical measurements like noninvasive hemoglobin, we saw firsthand how Masimo could help us to advance patient care."

The system-wide conversion standardizes all of Owensboro's sites of care, including over 400 hospital beds, to Masimo technology, which involved upgrading the hospital's multiparameter patient monitors, pulse oximeters, and sensors.  Masimo offers the only upgradeable pulse oximetry technology platform—Masimo Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry—that allows hospitals to add breakthrough noninvasive blood constituent measurement capabilities that previously required invasive procedures.  The ability to continuously and noninvasively measure total hemoglobin (SpHb®), oxygen content (SpOC™), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO®), methemoglobin (SpMet®), PVI®, and acoustic respiration rate (RRa™), in addition to Masimo SET 'gold standard' Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion oxyhemoglobin (SpO2), perfusion index (PI), and pulse rate (PR) measurements enables monitoring of multiple physiological parameters simultaneously—to help clinicians detect life-threatening conditions and help guide treatment options.

According to Masimo Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs, Michael O'Reilly, MD, "Owensboro Medical Health System's decision to convert to Masimo technology will help clinicians to more accurately and closely monitor patients in greater clinical detail.  The noninvasive and continuous measurement of key physiological parameters facilitates identification of abnormalities that may provide an earlier warning of declining health status."

About Owensboro Medical Health System

Owensboro Medical Health System serves an 11-county region in Western Kentucky and Southern Indiana. The hospital received the HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award in 2009, placing it among the top five percent of hospitals in the nation for quality. OMHS is a full-service hospital, employing a workforce of nearly 3,200. OMHS also operates the HealthPark, a medical-based fitness center and a number of ancillary services, clinics and diagnostic centers. Regional clinics include MultiCare locations in Madisonville and Beaver Dam (KY) and Tell City (IN). OMHS also provides care through the Clinic at Walmart, in Owensboro, Henderson (KY) and Newburgh (IN). 

About Masimo

Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) develops innovative monitoring technologies that significantly improve patient care—helping solve "unsolvable" problems.  In 1995, the company debuted Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, known as Masimo SET®, which virtually eliminated false alarms and increased pulse oximetry's ability to detect life-threatening events.  More than 100 independent and objective studies demonstrate Masimo SET provides the most reliable SpO2 and pulse rate measurements even under the most challenging clinical conditions, including patient motion and low peripheral perfusion.  In 2005, Masimo introduced Masimo Rainbow SET® Pulse CO-Oximetry™, allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures, including total hemoglobin (SpHb™), oxygen content (SpOC™), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO®), methemoglobin (SpMet®), and PVI®, in addition to SpO2, pulse rate, and perfusion index (PI).  In 2009, Masimo introduced Masimo Rainbow SET® Acoustic Monitoring™, the first-ever noninvasive and continuous monitoring of acoustic respiration rate (RRa).  Masimo's Rainbow platform offers a breakthrough in patient safety by helping clinicians detect life-threatening conditions and helping guide treatment options.  Founded in 1989, Masimo has the mission of "Improving Patient Outcomes and Reducing Cost of Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications." Additional information about Masimo and its products may be found at www.masimo.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in connection with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks and uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control and could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors, including, but not limited to: risks related to our belief that Masimo Patient SafetyNet will provide an effective early warning system of a patient's deteriorating physiological condition in real-time for all patients to enable timely rescue and increase patient safety, risks related to our belief that Masimo SET and Masimo Rainbow SET measurements and alarms will provide sufficient sensitivity and specificity to detect physiological abnormalities and potentially life-threatening conditions in real-time for all patients, risks related to our assumptions regarding the repeatability of clinical results, as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we do not know whether our expectations will prove correct. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. We do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these forward-looking statements or the "Risk Factors" contained in our most recent reports filed with the SEC, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable securities laws.

Masimo, SET, Signal Extraction Technology, Improving Outcomes and Reducing Cost of Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications, Rainbow, SpHb, SpOC, SpCO, SpMet, PVI, RRa, Radical-7, Rad-87, Rad-57, Rad-9, Rad-8, Rad-5, Pulse CO-Oximetry and Pulse CO-Oximeter are trademarks or registered trademarks of Masimo Corporation.

SOURCE Masimo Corporation