Siemens Healthineers, Tarrytown, NY, and Hill-Rom, Batesville, Ind, have signed a comarketing agreement to provide a suite of point-of-care diagnostic instruments for diabetes that are also designed to satisfy value-based quality measures in a single visit.

The integrated offering incorporates the Siemens DCA Vantage analyzer for HbA1c testing, the Clinitek Status+ urine chemistry analyzer for kidney checks, and Hill-Rom’s Welch Allyn RetinaVue network and imaging technology for teleretinal exams.

The patient-centered solution from Siemens and Hill-Rom offers physicians more control over patient care by accomplishing testing and treatment during a single visit. The solution’s improved workflow may reduce costs and eliminate inconvenient follow-up visits, leading to higher patient satisfaction and compliance with care regimens.

“A patient’s quality of life declines significantly when chronic diseases remain untreated, which is why testing for comorbidties is so important,” says Mike Sampson, senior vice president for point-of-care diagnostics, North America, at Siemens Healthineers. “Our new commercial relationship with Hill-Rom will provide holistic, easy-to-implement solutions that aid in combating diabetes and related comorbidities while satisfying value-based quality care measures.

“With operator-friendly analyzers that generate lab-quality results in minutes, and capabilities to integrate test results with electronic health records, physicians can make immediate treatment decisions and improve long-term outcomes,” Sampson adds.

Siemens contributes to the joint offering with point-of-care solutions that aid in combating chronic diseases before they become critical. The DCA Vantage analyzer monitors a patient’s glycemic control in minutes by performing HbA1c testing that is categorized as waived-complexity under the requirements of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). With the Clinitek Status+ urine chemistry analyzer, healthcare providers can perform a kidney check in 60 seconds, with CLIA-waived albumin:creatinine ratio testing. Hill-Rom’s Welch Allyn RetinaVue network enables physicians to perform in-office diabetic retinal exams, capturing images in seconds with nonmydriatic cameras. The images are transmitted through HIPAA-compliant software for interpretation by a nationwide team of board-certified ophthalmologists.

“Hill-Rom and Siemens Healthineers share a common vision to put patients on a better path to healthcare by providing solutions that allow our customers to transform care delivery with greater efficiency and effectiveness,” says Alton Shader, president of Hill-Rom’s front line care business, which includes Welch Allyn. “We have a tremendous opportunity in front of us and we are excited to activate this vision.”

For more information, visit Siemens Healthineers and Hill-Rom.