Lutheran Medical Center in New York Invests in State-of-the-Art Masimo Patient SafetyNet(TM) System to Help Keep Patients Safer

February 25, 2010
System Noninvasively Monitors Physiology of up to 80 Patients on Four Floors -- Helping Clinicians Improve Safety, Speed Recoveries, Increase Efficiencies, and Reduce the Cost of Care
IRVINE, Calif., Feb 25, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York andMasimo (Nasdaq: MASI), the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM) and Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, today announced the installation of the Masimo Patient SafetyNet system, an advanced noninvasive remote monitoring and wireless clinician notification system designed to help hospitals avoid preventable patient deaths and injuries associated with failure to rescue events -- one of today's most common medical errors.(1)

Masimo Patient SafetyNet allows clinicians at Lutheran Medical Center to noninvasively, continuously, and remotely monitor multiple physiological parameters -- including arterial oxygen saturation, respiration rate, hemoglobin levels, and pulse rate -- and have changes that signal early patient distress or deterioration automatically sent via pager to a qualified caregiver. Earlier detection may facilitate earlier interventions, which has been shown to help improve outcomes. In a recently-published landmark study at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the Masimo Patient SafetyNet system was shown to help decrease distress codes and activations by 65%, and intensive care unit (ICU) transfers by 48% -- resulting in an annualized savings of 135 ICU days.(2)

"Patient SafetyNet provides the peace of mind that comes from knowing that it is always watching over our patients -- continuously monitoring their physiology when we can't be at the bedside to do it," said Helen Buckel, RN, Nurse Manager, Lutheran Medical Center. "Even when we leave the room, we know that little finger sensor the patient wears is doing an enormous job. The moment the patient encounters trouble or a life-threatening event occurs, the system immediately alerts us, so precious seconds aren't wasted and lifesaving help is just a beat away."

When a patient is in distress, specific, detailed physiological data is sent directly to assigned clinicians, enabling them to intervene before the situation becomes critical and requires more acute levels of care. This is particularly important for post-surgical patients who are at increased risk of injury or death resulting from the respiratory depression effects of medications used for sedation and pain management.

Masimo Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs, Michael O'Reilly, MD, stated, "Each year healthy patients admitted for routine procedures become failure to rescue statistics because an adverse event was not recognized in time to save them. Masimo Patient SafetyNet significantly expands the patient monitoring capabilities available to Lutheran clinicians, helping to improve patient outcomes and decrease costs -- two things every hospital wants and needs."

(1) "The Sixth Annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study" April 2009. http://www.healthgrades.com/media/DMS/pdf/PatientSafetyInAmericanHospitalsStudy2009.pdf

(2) Taenzer, Andreas H.; Pyke, Joshua B.; McGrath, Susan P.; Blike, George T. "Impact of Pulse Oximetry Surveillance on Rescue Events and Intensive Care Unit Transfers: A Before-and-After Concurrence Study." Anesthesiology, February 2010, Vol. 112, Issue 2. http://journals.lww.com/anesthesiology/Abstract/publishahead/Impact_of_Pulse_Oximetry_Surveillance_on_Rescue.99692.aspx

About Lutheran Medical Center

A Level I Trauma Center and Stroke Center, Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) has cared for Brooklyn communities since 1883. As a full service 476-bed teaching hospital, LMC is the hub of Lutheran HealthCare, a network of primary, acute and long-term care centers in southwest Brooklyn. The LMC Surgical Weight Loss Institute is the only program in Brooklyn to be designated as a Center of Excellence by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery while also holding a Level 1 Accreditation from the American College of Surgeons. Learn more about LMC and its commitment to patient care excellence, community service, health education and research online at www.LutheranMedicalCenter.com.

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(R), 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(R) Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM), allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures, including total hemoglobin (SpHb(TM)), oxygen content (SpOC(TM)), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO(R)), methemoglobin (SpMet(R)), and PVI(R), in addition to SpO2, pulse rate, and perfusion index (PI). In 2009, Masimo introduced Masimo Rainbow SET(R) Acoustic Monitoring(TM), the first-ever noninvasive and continuous monitoring of acoustic respiration rate (RRa). Masimo's Rainbow platform offers a breakthrough in patient safety by helping clinicians detect life-threatening conditions and helping guide treatment options. 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.

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 belief that Masimo Patient SafetyNet will provide an effective early warning system of a patient's deteriorating physiological condition in real-time for all patients to enable timely rescue and increase patient safety, risks related to our belief that Masimo SET and Masimo Rainbow SET measurements and alarms will provide sufficient sensitivity and specificity to detect physiological abnormalities and potentially life-threatening conditions in real-time for all patients, risks related to our assumptions regarding the repeatability of clinical results, as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), 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 most recent reports filed with the SEC, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable securities laws.

    Media Contacts:
    Dana Banks                        Nicole Hyland
    Masimo Corporation                Lutheran Medical Center
    (949) 297-7348                    (718) 630-7414
    dbanks@masimo.com                 nhyland@lmcmc.com


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, RRa, 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 Corporation