St. Jude Medical Advances its Remote Patient Monitoring System in the UK with Mobile Notifications

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), a global medical device company, today announced the launch of its Merlin.net™ Patient Care Network (PCN) version 5.0. The Merlin.net network is a telehealth, or remote monitoring, system that captures information about heart rhythms, device therapy and device performance, from a patient’s implantable cardiac device and allows the data to be sent directly to a clinic or hospital’s records. This update features enhancements to the Internet-based repository of patient and implantable device data that provide physicians easier access to important alerts.

One new feature is the Mobile DirectAlerts™ notification, which is a secure physician notification system for important patient and device alerts. A physician-designated alert is sent automatically to a physician’s mobile device when a patient has an alert-triggering event. Once a physician receives the alert, he or she can quickly link directly to the patient’s alert transmission, creating faster and more convenient access to pertinent patient reports when physicians are out of the office.

With the new Mobile DirectAlert feature, it is no longer necessary to login to a computer to find and access patient records following an alert, thus allowing for a quicker reaction time to potential clinical issues. The Mobile DirectAlerts notifications are compatible with multiple mobile devices, including the iPhone®, Android™, iPad® and Blackberry®.

"This mobile device technology allows physicians like me to access relevant patient information in a quick, timely and secure manner. This can include contact details, alert triggers and electrocardiograms. This is a great example of how innovative thinking combined with existing telecommunications technology can help the physician stay close to the patient when this is most needed,” said Dr. Francis D Murgatroyd, Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at King's College Hospital in London.

The new software update also adds the Auto EHRDirect™ Export feature, an automated connection from the Merlin.net PCN directly to the clinic or hospital’s electronic health record (EHR) system. The EHRDirect Export capability uses the IDCO profile (Implantable Device Cardiac Observation), an industry standard for the transfer of information from an interrogated implantable cardiac device to information management systems.

Initial results from a recent Department of Health (DH) study indicate that telehealth technologies have the ability to reduce mortality, reduce the need for admissions to the hospital, and reduce the amount of days in the hospital. The study, which followed more than 3,000 patients with conditions such as heart failure and diabetes, asked the question “Does the use of technology as a remote intervention make a difference?” Early indications demonstrate that it does; in addition to a mortality rate reduction of almost 45%, emergency hospital admissions could also be reduced by 20% and bed days by 14%.

“We designed the Merlin.net PCN updates to make patient and device data as accessible and convenient as possible for physicians managing patients with complex cardiac conditions such as heart failure,” said Paul Turner, vice president of UK, Ireland, Canada Middle East and South Africa for St. Jude Medical. “Findings in the recent DH study indicate that more than three million people in the UK can benefit from telehealth. We are very pleased to play our part in offering our own remote care solution, and delivering our patient-benefitting technologies throughout the UK.”

About the Merlin.net Patient Care Network (PCN)

Implantable cardiac devices are designed to capture and record information about patient heart rhythms, device therapy and device performance that is vital to patient care.

With immediate access to patient information through the secure Merlin.net PCN website, physicians can remotely monitor and assess patient device data and determine the level of care needed. Alert notification delivery times can be customized to fit in with physician determined clinic hours, including any after-hours processes the clinic might provide.

The data transferred to the Merlin.net PCN is fully encrypted. In addition, BSI Management Systems, an international standards testing, registration and certification organization, has awarded St. Jude Medical the information security certification ISO/IEC 27001:2005. This ISO certification, a stringent worldwide information security standard, recognizes that St. Jude Medical's Merlin.net PCN has established processes and standards that maintain the strictest levels of confidentiality, integrity and availability for its customers. The Merlin.net PCN was the first medical device data network to be recognized with this certification.

About St. Jude Medical

St. Jude Medical develops medical technology and services that focus on putting more control into the hands of those who treat cardiac, neurological and chronic pain patients worldwide. The company is dedicated to advancing the practice of medicine by reducing risk wherever possible and contributing to successful outcomes for every patient. St. Jude Medical is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. and has four major focus areas that include: cardiac rhythm management, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular and neuromodulation. For more information, please visit sjm.com.

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