Fetal Monitor Communicates With Electronic Medical Records

A fetal monitoring solution integrates fetal and maternal waveform data into the electronic medical records (EMRs) of the mother and the child to help clinicians make informed decisions.

The Cerner FetaLink solution is a fully integrated maternity solution that provides real-time access to critical information about a woman's pregnancy and the health of her baby, improving patient safety, reducing medical errors associated with illegible handwriting and transcription inaccuracies. The solution stores and displays waveforms and annotations, which can be viewed in real-time by care providers in inpatient or outpatient settings; clinicians can also compare waveform data from different visits during a woman's pregnancy, or even waveform data from the same patient's previous pregnancies to determine whether current observations for a patient are within the normal range for their pregnancy. The FetaLink also electronically documents and provides a graphical display of the relationship between fetal heart rates and contraction data in the EMR. The Cerner FetaLink Solution is a product of Cerner (Kansas City, MO, USA), and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"The Cerner FetaLink solution allows us to capture critical data about a woman's pregnancy within the electronic health record so clinicians can make informed decisions to protect the health of the baby and mother," said Joan Hicks, chief information officer at UAB Hospital. "The ability for providers to view this critical data in real-time not only in the hospital, but also in a clinic or remotely from the physician's home, will help us provide better care to expectant mothers."

Fetal monitoring, also known as cardiotocography (CTG) is a means of recording the fetal heartbeat and the mothers uterine contractions during pregnancy, typically in the third trimester, and is typically used to identify signs of fetal distress.

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