In 2007, Stephen L. Clark, M.D. et al published a pioneering study defining a checklist of six EFM features to guide clinical management of oxytocin. Later, in a 2014 study, they looked at the impact of that checklist-based protocol on newborn outcome in 14,398 inductions. The use of an oxytocin checklist was associated with significant reductions in both neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions and primary cesarean births in this study.
It’s no wonder, then, that checklists such as this, have emerged to play a central role in obstetrical patient safety. Today labor & delivery nurses around the world spend hours completing repetitive calculations, counting contractions and accelerations, decelerations and other important statistics over miles of tracings.
PeriGen launches PeriCALM® CheckList™
PeriGen’s newest innovation simplifies the process of using EFM-based checklists by automatically counting and summarizing specific fetal heart rate patterns and other factors that are routinely tracked when administering oxytocin and displaying color-coded trends as well as a live status indicator on the toolbar.
The displays of the PeriCALM CheckList provide quick visual cues when checklist criteria are present and if they are persistent. PeriCALM CheckList criteria are customized to the preferences and practices specific to the hospital or health system.
“We know that following an oxytocin management checklist is associated with better outcomes for both baby and mother. We also know that compliance with such protocols is far from optimal. Noncompliance can be harmful and very costly for hospitals,” said Emily Hamilton, M.D.C.M., PeriGen’s Senior Vice President of Clinical Research who led the development of both PeriCALM Patterns and PeriCALM CheckList.
“PeriCALM CheckList gives continuous and consistent assessment of checklist criteria. Nurses are freed from time-consuming repetitive calculations and can quickly focus their attention on oxytocin management and direct patient care.”
For more information and to schedule a demonstration of PeriCALM CheckList, click here.
