A Conversation About Baxter’s Role in Healthcare Connectivity
In healthcare, connectivity refers to the sharing and integration of data across devices, systems and healthcare institutions.
Device connectivity enables a secure and efficient flow of data between medical devices and healthcare systems, for improved documentation, communication, research, and more.
A connected hospital environment can help address challenges that clinicians face today by streamlining workflows, improving efficiency, and getting the right data and insights to care teams. This allows healthcare professionals to more easily coordinate care, make informed decisions, and ultimately spend more time with patients. A care setting with a strong foundation of connected devices can also more easily apply advanced technology like artificial intelligence (AI) to further help improve the clinician and patient experience.
The following Q&A is based on a webinar hosted in 2024 by DeviceTalks – a medtech industry events platform – featuring a discussion with Baxter’s Chris Gutmann, Vice President of Enterprise Technology and Athar Mirza, Vice President of Global Infusion Systems on Baxter’s approach to connectivity, with infusion systems as a case study.
Q: How do you describe connectivity in healthcare?
Athar: The definition of connectivity has evolved and will continue to evolve. Ten years ago, this term in our industry implied whether a device was connected wirelessly to an internet network. We’ve now advanced to a state where connectivity in healthcare helps care teams with access to timely, meaningful and actionable data.
Q: How has Baxter leveraged connectivity in its devices so far?
Chris: There are currently 1.5M+ Baxter connected medical devices supporting patient care globally.i This is a strong foundation that we’re excited to build on, but we’re not connecting just for the sake of it. Baxter is purposefully looking at platforms that help address challenges our customers face, particularly: 1) interoperability and simplification of clinical workflows, 2) aid in care communication and coordination, 3) generating impactful insights and 4) streamlining product updates.
Q: What’s one example of how connectivity is incorporated into a Baxter product?
Athar: Let’s take infusion systems as an example. Most infusion pumps on the market have physical stickered barcodes on them to help a clinician associate a specific pump with a specific medication. The shortcoming with this process is that stickers can fade or peel off and can be hard to scan. As we sourced feedback from customers, Baxter decided to streamline the association process by creating an on-screen, digital barcode. With this adaptation, healthcare providers can more easily scan and confirm an association between the pump, the medication to be infused and the patient.
Q: How does Baxter incorporate customer and clinician needs into its innovation plans?
Chris: In my former role, I was a Baxter customer – and actually a customer of Athar’s, who would frequently hear from me! When I reflect on this, I see that the relationship I built with Athar is a testament to the value Baxter sees in truly listening to customer needs. That said, the voice of the customer is loud in our product development processes -- we have regular customer meetings and open communication to gather feedback. We work side-by-side with hospitals when solving problems to gain insights into how customers are managing equipment and how Baxter can help improve existing practices.
Q: How does Baxter support customers in the implementation and maintenance of connected devices?
Athar: We have a large, renowned team of clinicians, project managers and technical team members that we deploy for implementations. There is a lot of discussion and preparation required as a hospital pursues a new implementation or integration, and we pride ourselves on working closely with our customers to tailor a plan specific to the support that they need. We also work closely with customers post-implementation to ensure we’re hitting success metrics.
Q: How does Baxter plan to leverage connectivity in the future?
Chris: It’s estimated that ninety-seven percent of healthcare data is underutilized.ii This is a huge opportunity to better compile data into actionable insights for healthcare providers. One of the ways we are working on doing this with our infusion systems portfolio is by developing near real-time data flows to provide more information that can assist caregivers in decision making at the bedside while simultaneously streaming information into larger data sets for translational research to help optimize future care.