Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), the leading healthcare communications company, today announced that several customers were selected to speak at the 2017 HIMSS Conference and Exhibition, Feb. 20−22, in Orlando. During these sessions at HIMSS17, clinical and technology leaders from Canada and the U.S. will share how enterprise communication, intelligent alarm management, secure text messaging, and real-time rounding improve the clinical workflows and the healthcare experience for patients, families and hospital staff.

Vocera arrives at HIMSS17 with strong momentum after recently announcing the company’s largest contract with the U.S. Department of Defense and the acquisition of Extension Healthcare. That energy will continue at HIMSS17 with live product demonstrations and five Vocera customers sharing their success stories at the international health IT event.

  • Integrated Smartphone Apps and Their Impact on Clinical Communication
    Monday, Feb. 20; 10:30−11:30 a.m. EST
    Dr. Sean Spina, Pharmacy Clinical Coordinator
    Vancouver Island Health Authority

    Research led by Dr. Spina showed when the Vocera secure texting application was used for routine alerts, the average physician response time improved from 5.5 minutes to 3 minutes. In addition, the number of physicians reporting interruptions in patient care fell from 77 to 32 percent. Discuss the impact of smartphones in clinical communication in this participant-driven YourTurn LIVE! session.
  • Innovation in Hospital Communication
    Tuesday, Feb. 21; 1−2 p.m. EST
    Tom Stafford, Vice President and CIO
    Halifax Health

    Halifax Health has integrated the Vocera Communication Platform with several clinical systems, including the hospital’s electronic health records and patient flow systems. Integration with Meditech enables discharge notifications to be sent automatically to the right care team members via their smartphone or hands-free Vocera Badge as soon as a physician order is entered into the EHR. After the integration, Halifax Health reported an 8 percent decrease in the time it takes to discharge a patient on the oncology unit.
  • A NICU Journey in Intelligent Alarm Management
    Tuesday, Feb. 21; 2:30−2:50 p.m. EST
    Greg Walkup, IT Director
    Sentara Princess Ann Hospital

    Clinical and IT teams at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital worked closely together to find a solution to ease interruptions in care caused by ancillary alarm notifications. The result of the collaboration was interoperability between the Vocera alarm management and the hospital’s real-time location system. Within 30 days of integrating the two systems, the hospital reported a 54% reduction in secondary alarms in the neonatal intensive care unit, significantly reducing alarm fatigue among nurses.
  • Using Wireless Text Messaging for Communication During Neonatal Resuscitation Events
    Wednesday, Feb. 22; 10−11 a.m. EST
    Colleen Driscoll, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
    University of Maryland Medical Center

    Dr. Driscoll will detail how text messaging has helped reduce overhead paging and create a quieter patient care environment. She will also discuss how the combination of texting and intelligent alerts provides fast, reliable and compliant communication between care teams, improving response times and patient safety.
  • Using Multidisciplinary Teamwork and Technology to Enhance Patient Experience
    Wednesday, Feb. 22; 1−2 p.m. EST
    Sue Murphy, Chief Experience and Innovation Officer
    University of Chicago Medicine

    The University of Chicago Medicine is improving patient engagement and experience by combining nurse leader rounding with patient follow-up calls. A leader of innovation, Sue Murphy will outline how Vocera technology helps standardize and manage these best practices during and after a hospital stay while providing real-time data to identify patients at risk and opportunities for process improvement.

In addition to these presentations, HIMSS17 attendees are invited to visit the Vocera Booth (#1261) to learn more about the Vocera Communication Platform and how it integrates with more than 120 clinical systems. Vocera technology will also be in action at the Intelligent Health Pavilion in Kiosk 8361-11. More information about this enterprise system and these educational sessions is available on the Vocera website. Regular updates and news from HIMSS17 will be featured on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Vocera

Vocera Communications, Inc. offers the most robust clinical communications system in healthcare. Vocera delivers secure, integrated and intelligent communication solutions that enable care teams to collaborate more efficiently by delivering the right information, to the right person, on the right device, in the right location, at the right time. Vocera solutions provide hands-free voice communication, secure text messaging, patient engagement tools, and integrated clinical workflow with EHRs, nurse call systems and physiologic monitors. These solutions help improve operational efficiency, quality of care, safety and satisfaction across the continuum of care. In addition to technology solutions, Vocera drives thought leadership and new standards in care to elevate patient, family, nurse and physician experiences via the company's research collaborative, the Experience Innovation Network. Vocera is led by President and CEO Brent Lang and is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices in San Francisco, Tennessee, Indiana, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Robert J. Zollars is the Chairman of the Board. For more information, visitwww.vocera.com and @VoceraComm on Twitter.

The Vocera logo is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. Vocera® is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. registered in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks appearing in this release are the property of their respective owners.