Siemens Healthineers, Norwood, Mass, has signed an exclusive comarketing agreement with Welch Allyn, Skaneateles Falls, NY, to offer a comprehensive point-of-care product portfolio for diabetes management.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will combine product offerings to market a suite of point-of-care diagnostic instruments for diabetes care. The instruments are intended to enable primary healthcare providers in the United States to bridge gaps in diabetes care and satisfy value-based quality measures in a single office visit.

To assess provider performance and evaluate whether healthcare providers are taking steps to improve patient outcomes, more than 90% of US payors currently use such value-based quality measures as the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, or the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Providing comprehensive care for diabetes is an essential performance criterion within these quality measures. Consequently, healthcare providers are now placing increasing emphasis on offering patient-centered diabetes care solutions that lead to better health outcomes at the point of care.

The agreement between Siemens and Welch Allyn will enable the partners to promote a single complete solution to physician offices seeking to satisfy essential comprehensive diabetes management measures.

The suite of products includes two instruments from Siemens: the Clinitek Status Plus urine chemistry analyzer for albumin:creatine ratio testing, and the DCA Vantage analyzer for HbA1c testing. The suite also includes Welch Allyn’s RetinaVue network for in-office diabetic retinal exams, which uses HIPAA-compliant software to transmit point-of-care images to a team of board-certified ophthalmologists for interpretation.

The Siemens point-of-care portfolio consists of easy-to-use solutions and tests that aid in combating chronic diseases and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, kidney disease, and stroke. With the addition of the Welch Allyn RetinaVue network, the suite of products will enable physicians to meet HEDIS quality measures for diabetes care in a single patient visit, improving both patient satisfaction and compliance.

To learn more, visit Siemens Healthineers and Welch Allyn.