Q&A: Wireless patient monitoring has mothers dancing for joy

Patient monitoring is starting even before the patient arrives, with Novii, mothers can sit, walk and even dance their way through labor while fetal heart rate is monitored wirelessly.

This wireless patient monitoring device gives mothers free range to move around during labor, a welcome change from being tied to a fetal monitor. In an exclusive interview with Clinical Innovation & Technology, Tammy Noll, General Manager of GE Healthcare’s Maternal Infant Care, explains how Novii and patient monitoring is moving from the stone age to the digital age.

Clinical Innovation & Technology: Can you explain the development of Novii’s wireless monitor?
Tammy Noll: This market hasn’t seen a change in how baby and moms are monitored in decades. It's ripe for disruption and ready for change, especially as the number of high body mass index (BMI) moms is increasing. With 41 percent of mothers now being categorized as high BMI, these current monitors are not accurate or effective. So it starts there first, there’s a problem to solve and because of the changing demographics of mothers, that problem has gotten bigger. Monica approached this by first coming out with a smaller wired device using ECG technology, more accurate than ultrasounds, and from that they developed the Monica Novii. With GE acquirement of Monica Heatlhcare, GE became the primary distributor of the wireless and Bluetooth enabled device that has mothers dancing their way through labor.

Is Novii an interoperative technology? How is all this data handled and stored?
Novii works by having a bedside maternal and fetal monitor to measure the fetal and maternal heart rate and uterine contractions. Transducers are placed on the mother to produce that signal and that wireless piece is what Monica has developed. The information is then transferred to the maternal and fetal monitor via Bluetooth.

The data is stored as a part of the electronic maternal patient’s health record through the maternal and fetal monitor. That fetal strip of information is stored for up to 20 years, and while most customers are ok with just that, the information can be sent to the electronic health record system. Essentially then, information can be viewed and stored in a computer.

Are there any security risks with the transfer of data? How does HIPAA work into Novii's framework?
Novii interacts with the GE equipment and central station, both having been updated on the latest security measures. No concerns with HIPAA, information is secure stored and confidential. Being stored within the hospital system and following each hospitals protocol ensures the safety of patient information.

How does Novii utilize wireless patient monitoring to improve patient care?
A couple studies previously published further explain the benefit to having mothers be able to move during labor and that’s exactly what Novii is able to do. Previous monitoring devices, especially in high BMI mothers, requires belts around the mother with constant readjusting if the mother just reaches for a glass of water. The constant movement affects the accuracy of the fetal heart rate signals, and even loses the signal, causing concern for the fetus, because if something were to go wrong,, than an inaccurate measure could mean trouble. Novii has no repositioning and no adjustment needed because the device is secure. The ECG technology improves the fetal heart rate signal more accurately and predictably. Without all the wires and bulky equipment, mothers are able to move, take showers and dance while still projecting accurate fetal measures. The increase in patient comfort and satisfaction is a definite benefit for Novii. Novii also is able to save hospitals money. In our U.S. analytics a hospital that has 3,000 births a year can save $430,000 with the reduction of nurse time, internal device usage and lowered rates of C-sections.

Could Novii technology be implemented in other aspects of healthcare?
Take the ICU for example, there’s so many wires there you can sometimes hardly see the patient. The future is definitely to go wireless and this format to eliminate all the chaos and also to pick up the signal more regularly and accurately.