FEATURE: St. Jude CMO speaks to connecting pacemaker data to EHRs
BOSTON--St. Jude Medical announced the European CE Mark approval of its Accent RF pacemaker and Anthem RF cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker at the 30th annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS).
The Accent and Anthem product family features RF telemetry that enables secure, wireless communication between the implanted device and the programmer used by the clinician, allowing an integrated system of pacing devices with wireless telemetry from implant through follow up, according to the company. Follow-up appointments can be performed in the office or via remote monitoring with the patient at home. Also, the patient and pacemaker data can be integrated directly into the patient's EHR.
"This approval is part of St. Jude's long-term strategy to improve connectivity, by providing physicians with enhanced information that assists in patient care," Mark Carlson, MD, chief medical officer (CMO) at St. Jude, told Cardiovascular Business News. "Physicians can be updated about the patient's condition with real-time data through the Medical Merlin@home transmitter system, a small module that can be placed either at their bedside in their home."
The patient must remain within range of the module while it reads his or her device. The data is automatically uploaded to St. Jude's Merlin.net, where the physician or nurse can retrieve the data, Carlson explained.
"The caregiver can receive information about the patient's device or the patient's medical condition from either the hospital or a remote location with internet access," he said. "If the patient has had an episode of arrhythmia or atrial fibrillation, the caregiver can find out about it that day, as opposed to obtaining that information every three to six months."
Data from Merlin.net can be integrated into any EHR product that HL7 compatible, Carlson added.
The Accent and Anthem product family features RF telemetry that enables secure, wireless communication between the implanted device and the programmer used by the clinician, allowing an integrated system of pacing devices with wireless telemetry from implant through follow up, according to the company. Follow-up appointments can be performed in the office or via remote monitoring with the patient at home. Also, the patient and pacemaker data can be integrated directly into the patient's EHR.
"This approval is part of St. Jude's long-term strategy to improve connectivity, by providing physicians with enhanced information that assists in patient care," Mark Carlson, MD, chief medical officer (CMO) at St. Jude, told Cardiovascular Business News. "Physicians can be updated about the patient's condition with real-time data through the Medical Merlin@home transmitter system, a small module that can be placed either at their bedside in their home."
The patient must remain within range of the module while it reads his or her device. The data is automatically uploaded to St. Jude's Merlin.net, where the physician or nurse can retrieve the data, Carlson explained.
"The caregiver can receive information about the patient's device or the patient's medical condition from either the hospital or a remote location with internet access," he said. "If the patient has had an episode of arrhythmia or atrial fibrillation, the caregiver can find out about it that day, as opposed to obtaining that information every three to six months."
Data from Merlin.net can be integrated into any EHR product that HL7 compatible, Carlson added.