Masimo also receives the AARC Zenith Award for Equipment and Service
Excellence at the 54th Annual International Respiratory Congress in Anaheim
IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI),
the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry and Measure-Through-Motion and Low-Perfusion
pulse oximetry, announced that the clinical benefit of its remote monitoring
and clinician notification system, Masimo Patient SafetyNet, was featured in a
presentation titled Global Perspectives of Facility-Prolonged Mechanical
Ventilation Care at the American Association of Respiratory Care (AARC) 54th
Annual International Congress in Anaheim, California, on December 15, 2008.
Gene Gantt, RRT and Manager of Business Development for Linde Respiratory
Support Services (RSS), a leader in post-acute respiratory care, presented how
weaning patients off ventilator care in a post-acute care setting provides
improved outcomes and reduced costs. According to Mr. Gantt, a major challenge
to weaning patients off ventilator care in the post-acute environment was a
safe and easy-to-use patient surveillance system that could help clinicians
preempt adverse events. Mr. Gantt reported that the integration of the Masimo
Patient SafetyNet system into Linde's Knoxville, TN facility protocol has been
a significant factor in successfully implementing their weaning protocol and
achieving a 75% wean rate with an average length-of-stay of only 40 days. The
initiative has been so successful at improving the quality of life for
patients and reducing the overall cost of care that Linde-RSS has decided to
expand use of the Patient SafetyNet system to both their Memphis and
Chattanooga facilities, as well.
"Using the Masimo Patient SafetyNet System not only raised the bar in
terms of the quality of care that could be delivered in a post-acute
setting--proving to be the right thing to do for patient safety -- it is also
paying for itself through clinical efficiency," Mr. Gantt explained. "Since
our clinicians are no longer wasting their time chasing false oximetry alarms,
they are freed up to focus on patient care."
In addition to the Patient SafetyNet presentation and the continued
excitement generated by Masimo's noninvasive and continuous hemoglobin
monitoring technology (SpHb), the company announced that it received the
AARC's prestigious Zenith Award. More than 400 companies were eligible for
one of five 2008 Zenith Award honors presented. The Zenith Award is AARC's top
industry recognition honoring respiratory care equipment and pharmaceutical
manufacturers for quality and service excellence. Award recipients are chosen
via special ballot by the association's membership of more than 44,000
respiratory care professionals based upon the quality of its equipment and/or
supplies, the accessibility and helpfulness of its sales personnel, as well as
the company's responsiveness, service record, truth in advertising, and
overall support of the respiratory care profession.
Masimo Founder and CEO, Joe E. Kiani, stated, "We are delighted to see the
results of Linde RSS's use of Masimo SET and Patient SafetyNet and are honored
that AARC members have chosen to recognize Masimo for the superior
performance, service, and integrity that Masimo provides to the clinical
community. Respiratory clinicians were among the first to embrace the
performance of Masimo SET pulse oximeters 10 years ago, but they often faced
challenges in gaining access to Masimo's pulse oximetry technology. It is
gratifying to see that despite the challenges, so many hospitals and
clinicians now have access to Masimo SET and the benefits that our technology
brings to their day-to-day patient care. It is our pleasure to serve the
respiratory care profession in their mission in caring for the critically
ill."
About Masimo
Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) develops innovative monitoring technologies that
significantly improve patient care--helping solve "unsolvable" problems. In
1995, the company debuted Measure-Through-Motion-and-Low-Perfusion pulse
oximetry, known as Masimo SET, which virtually eliminated false alarms and
increased pulse oximetry's ability to detect life-threatening events. More
than 100 independent and objective studies demonstrate Masimo SET provides the
most reliable SpO2 and pulse rate measurements even under the most challenging
clinical conditions, including patient motion and low peripheral perfusion.
In 2005, Masimo introduced Masimo Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry, a
breakthrough noninvasive blood constituent monitoring platform that can
measure many blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures.
Masimo Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry continuously and noninvasively measures
total hemoglobin (SpHbTM), oxygen content (SpOCTM), carboxyhemoglobin
(SpCO(R)), methemoglobin (SpMet(R)), and PVITM, in addition to oxyhemoglobin
(SpO2), pulse rate (PR), and perfusion index (PI), allowing early detection
and treatment of potentially life-threatening conditions. Founded in 1989,
Masimo has the mission of "Improving Patient Outcomes and Reducing Cost of
Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications."
Additional information about Masimo and its products may be found at
www.masimo.com.
About the AARC
The American Association for Respiratory Care, headquartered in Dallas,
Texas, is a professional association of respiratory therapists that focuses
primarily on respiratory therapy education and research. The organization's
goals are to ensure that respiratory patients receive safe and effective care
from qualified professionals as well as supporting respiratory health care
providers. The association continues to advocate on behalf of pulmonary
patients for appropriate access to respiratory services provided by qualified
professionals. Further information about the AARC may be found at
www.AARC.org.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, in connection with the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current
expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks and
uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are
beyond our control and could cause our actual results to differ materially and
adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements as a result
of various risk factors, including, but not limited to: risks related to our
assumption that this award will serve to increase market acceptance and
adoption of Masimo technologies and products or substantially increase
revenues, as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of
our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 27,
2008, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on October 29,
2008, which may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking
statements are reasonable, we do not know whether our expectations will prove
correct. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are
expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.
You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of today's date. We do not undertake any
obligation to update, amend or clarify these forward-looking statements or the
"Risk Factors" contained in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal
quarter ended September 27, 2008, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable
securities laws.
Masimo, SET, Signal Extraction Technology, Improving Outcomes and Reducing
Cost of Care by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications,
Rainbow, SpHb, SpOC, SpCO, SpMet, PVI, Radical-7, Rad-87, Rad-57,Rad-9, Rad-8,
Rad-5,Pulse CO-Oximetry and Pulse CO-Oximeter are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Masimo Corporation.
SOURCE: Masimo
CONTACT:
Dana Banks of Masimo Corporation, +1-949-297-7348
Web Site: http://www.AARC.org
http://www.masimo.com