Philips Electronics launches new line of neonatal blood pressure solutions

Today Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) launched its newest line of neonatal blood pressure solutions. As the global leader in neonatal monitoring, Philips designed the new line of neonatal cuffs, air hoses, and upgrade kits specifically to prevent tragic misconnection errors that can cause harm to the most vulnerable of patients. Available globally, the solutions are compliant with neonatal connection regulations that became effective in the European Union in December 2009.

The new tubing and catheter standards are part of a larger global focus on patient safety.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), medical errors affect one in every 10 patients around the world.  While the exact number of preventable medical errors is unknown, these mistakes result in many avoidable deaths and additional healthcare costs.  

In order to improve patient safety, the WHO identified "nine effective solutions" that healthcare providers must implement in order to reduce such errors.  Avoiding catheter and tubing misconnections is number seven on that list which also includes surgery on the wrong body part and foreign objects left in a patient after surgery.

"Opportunities for misconnection errors between medical devices must be eliminated to ensure patient safety," said David Russell, vice president and general manager, Perinatal Care, for Philips Healthcare.  "This innovative neonatal blood pressure solution, which replaces the standard, tapered male-female Luer connectors currently in use, is designed to be incompatible with other medical devices, such as feeding tubes, catheters, IV tubing, and needleless IV ports, thereby preventing misconnections that can cause patient harm."

In addition to being color-coded and graphically labeled, the full line of hoses and neonatal cuffs are available in sizes one through five, ensuring a comfortable fit for the entire neonatal/infant patient population. Intuitive and easy-to-use, the solutions empower clinicians to deliver the highest standard of care.

Upgrade kits are also available allowing Philips customers to easily extend the life of existing equipment while still meeting newly introduced safety requirements.