MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- Based on its recent analysis of the diabetic retinopathy screening market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Welch Allyn, Inc., a leading medical diagnostic device company that is a division of Hill-Rom (NYSE: HRC), with the 2016 North America Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Leadership. Welch Allyn's RetinaVue™ Network consists of future-proof medical diagnostic technology and services designed to help primary healthcare providers eradicate the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults—diabetic retinopathy (DR). RetinaVue is a complete turnkey solution comprised of HIPAA-compliant RetinaVue Network Software, the RetinaVue 100 Imager, and a remote team of board-certified retina specialists at RetinaVue P.C.
There are 44 million people (12.9%) living with diabetes in North America today and by 2020 it will be 60 million (14.7%). DR is the leading cause of blindness among working age adults. Yet, DR is one of the most preventable blinding diseases in the world; with early detection and treatment, 95% of vision loss cases can be prevented. Unfortunately, only half of the patients comply with annual diabetic retinal exam (DRE) referrals to the eye specialist—which is why diabetic retinopathy is still a leading cause of blindness. Low DRE compliance rates also reduce quality of care metrics and could reduce financial incentives associated with those metrics.
To make retinal exams more convenient for physicians and patients, Welch Allyn obtained rights to RetinaVue software applications and extended a management relationship with RetinaVue P.C. when it acquired the original developers, Hubble Telemedical. Furthermore, Welch Allyn developed the RetinaVue 100 Imager—the world's most advanced handheld, non-mydriatic fundus camera—which costs three times less than traditional desktop fundus cameras.
Any primary healthcare staff member can quickly capture high-quality fundus images on the RetinaVue 100 Imager after a free, brief training provided by Welch Allyn. The images receive an image-quality score between 0 and 100 and a color code (red, yellow, and green) to help clinicians determine if the image is viable for clinical assessment by the retina specialists at RetinaVue P.C.
The RetinaVue 100 Imager is designed to work exclusively with RetinaVue Network Software and requires a software license and a contract for diagnostic interpretation services with either RetinaVue P.C. or your affiliated ophthalmologist(s). Every RetinaVue software subscription includes access to new and historical retinal reports on the clinic portal, where users can receive, store, and manage retinal reports as well as review statistics on exam volume, diagnoses, and image quality.
Clinics are not charged for images deemed unreadable, and there is no minimum monthly charge for services. Additionally, an industry-standard HL7 interface is available for integration into commercial electronic medical record platforms.
All Welch Allyn-supplied fundus cameras come with a minimum one-year warranty. When customers need to return their devices for service, the company sends them a refurbished device for use until their device is serviced. Welch Allyn tracks and analyzes customer feedback, report turnaround times, and image quality metrics to ensure that healthcare providers receive consistently high service.
Significantly, the RetinaVue software applications are vendor-neutral, enabling their use with any fundus camera. Due to its breakthrough camera technology, high-quality images, and industry-leading turnaround times, Welch Allyn is fully deserving of Frost & Sullivan's 2016 North America Customer Value Leadership Award in the diabetic retinopathy screening market.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on enhancing their return on investment that customers make in its services or products.
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