BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced a key milestone in the continued growth and use of the OxiNet™ III remote respiratory monitoring system in U.S. hospitals. With the recent system installation at the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville, FL, the Nellcor™ OxiNet III system currently monitors 10,000 beds and is integrated into more than 450 U.S. hospitals, including the Mayo Clinic campus in Rochester, MN, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX), St. Anthony Central Hospital (Denver, CO) and Sumner Regional Medical Center (Gallatin, TN). The OxiNet III remote monitoring system enhances the safety of patients throughout the hospital, enabling continuous monitoring of patients’ oxygen saturation levels via the trusted Nellcor OxiMax™ product platform, even when the clinician is not at the bedside.

"Today, higher acuity and more critically ill patients are being cared for on the general care floor and there is a great need for tools that allow clinicians to provide more intensive monitoring throughout the lower acuity areas of the hospital," said Douglas M. Hansell, M.D., Chief Medical Officer & Vice President, Covidien, Respiratory & Monitoring Solutions. "Innovative technologies help support smart, safe, efficient medicine, but in order to truly become integrated into patient care that technology must be proven. The OxiNet(tm) III remote monitoring system is a central component of Covidien's integrated suite of critical care respiratory products that promote safe, efficacious and efficient patient care."

Without equipment that allows continuous patient monitoring, spot-checking patients’ oxygen saturation levels can mean that some respiratory episodes are missed. The OxiNet III system links up to 24 pulse oximeters to a central station, creating a remote respiratory monitoring system. If a patient’s oxygen level dips below the accepted level, clinicians are alerted via visual and audible alarms at the central station and/or by pager alerts. Lower nurse-to-patient ratios, patient medical conditions and other complicating factors often make monitoring outside the highest acuity areas of the hospital challenging. OxiNet III monitoring technology supports continuous monitoring and enhances patient safety when the clinician cannot always be in the patient’s room.

“We have infants on the general care floor who need to be in isolation, making it very difficult for us to hear pulse oximeter alarms,” said Kim Kermeen, Director of Respiratory, Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, TN. “With the OxiNet III system, we can monitor patients’ respiratory status from the nursing station, thereby ensuring their safety.”

“For more than two decades, the Nellcor OxiNet III system has allowed clinicians to continuously track patients’ oxygen saturation in a variety of difficult-to-monitor care settings,” said Chris Lowery, General Manager and Vice President, Patient Monitoring, Covidien. “The clinical value and reliability of OxiNet III remote respiratory monitoring, coupled with the capabilities of our other respiratory care product offerings, enables Covidien to continue to provide hospitals with solutions that improve patient safety, medical efficacy and healthcare efficiency.”

About Covidien

Covidien is a leading global healthcare products company that creates innovative medical solutions for better patient outcomes and delivers value through clinical leadership and excellence. Covidien manufactures, distributes and services a diverse range of industry-leading product lines in four segments: Medical Devices, Imaging Solutions, Pharmaceutical Products and Medical Supplies. With 2008 revenue of nearly $10 billion, Covidien has more than 41,000 employees worldwide in 59 countries, and its products are sold in over 140 countries. Please visit www.covidien.com to learn more about our business.