Spaulding Medical
Cardiac Care to Avert False Alarms

With more than a million Americans getting hospitalized for heart failure every year, it’s natural for any individual above the age of 40 to feel a sense of vulnerability. As this dark cloud of a potential heart attack hovers over their minds, even a minor chest pain is likely to send them scrambling to a hospital. In the aftermath of the customary call to 911, this prospective heart patient might have to endure the long-winded process of filling out forms, getting a blood test, and meeting a physician, only for the ECG to reveal that the chest pain was stemming from gastritis-triggered heartburn or a tendon strain. Despite the false alarm, the patient would be dealt financial implications. Also, family members would have needlessly hit the panic button, presuming their loved one suffered a heart attack.

Now, picture a scenario in which the aforementioned patient had access to Spaulding Medical’s hand-held ECG device, capable of streaming, acquiring, and recording a ten-second ECG, and sending results of that ECG to physicians across the world. Since the device runs real-time algorithms, to provide immediate, computer-interpreted ECG results to the user, the patient could effectively avoid an unnecessary trip to the hospital, and save thousands of dollars.

Spaulding Medical, a private spin-off of Spaulding Clinical Research, made its foray into the cardiovascular-medtech space after observing the state of the industry, and the inferior cardiac care/healthcare standards. With technology moving “points of care” outside the confines of hospitals, Spaulding Medical came into existence with the vision to leverage technology, to make high-quality cardiac care both affordable and acceptable, by anyone, anywhere, anytime.

It all started when Amanda Baltz, CEO, Spaulding Medical, along with her compatriots, wanted to be done with the cardiac legacy systems of the ‘80s and ‘90s. “Since those big-boxed hardware solutions were either too bulky or expensive, it was impossible to get quality cardiac-monitoring information outside the four walls of a hospital. We felt it was time to design and develop cardiac device and software technology, to improve the state of available cardiac data,” says Amanda.

We are making the ECG solution truly portable, and our technology is extremely simple to use and requires minimal training

Take the example of this skilled nursing facility in the state of Michigan. Before using Spaulding Medical’s CardioVascular devices and solutions, they were forced to call for an ECG manually, wait for the truck to show up, and send patients with chest pain to an emergency room. “Within 90 days of integrating our ECG solutions in their facility, they avoided ten unnecessary hospital re-admissions. That has major economic and patient implications to the overall cost— be it a nursing home, hospital, or any other remote facility,” explains Amanda. She adds that Spaulding Medical’s mantra revolves around both navigating an emergency situation, as well as preventative screening measures, in an effective and economical way.

Since the ECG device uses applications that run on iOS, Android, or Windows, the captured data is sent to the cloud and portal pages, which can be accessed by physicians, or insurance agents, who need access to the patient’s history, at a later date. To its customers, Spaulding Medical’s message is clear: “We are making the ECG solution truly portable, and our technology is extremely simple to use and requires minimal training”.

With over 100+ years of combined healthcare expertise, especially in cardiac diagnostics, the proficient team at Spaulding Medical believes they are well-positioned to usher in the next generation of cardiac technology. To add to its existing repertoire of products, the organization will release a host of new cardiovascular devices and software solutions in 2019, which includes the patented 12-Lead ECG and webECG Management System.