MedicalCue is set to change newborn healthcare.
Each day, more than 1,100 babies born in the United States require assistance breathing, and in these cases, a few seconds can make the difference between a healthy child and one with irreversible brain injury. Meet MedicalCue, which has developed NeoCue, a bedside device that guides clinicians step-by-step through neonatal resuscitation to help ensure they are providing the care that is needed in those few crucial seconds.
Every Step You Take: Full documentation to support nurses
Much like a “GPS for care,” MedicalCue’s technology provides dynamic, real-time reference information needed during the complex steps of newborn resuscitation. To make the process easier, the system offers both visual and audio information to clinicians and automates tasks, such as documentation and time keeping.
As MedicalCue continues to improve and expand its device, it also is growing its team and adding educational components, as an ambassador to educate healthcare providers and mothers regarding vital, but little-known, issues in childbirth.
Every Single Day: Ongoing testing leads to device improvements
Since MedicalCue launched NeoCue in late 2015, the startup has steadily improved the device with additional features. This year it released its second major software revision that supports the 2017 national standard of care by the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Neonatal Resuscitation Program.
Another new tool helps nurses and obstetricians in monitoring umbilical cord clamping by helping determine the timing of the procedure. The current practice is to immediately cut the umbilical cord, but recent guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends delaying, as babies gain 50 percent of additional blood in just two to three minutes.
This extra supply is important because when the baby takes a breath, it inflates the lungs, which takes a significant volume of blood. If the cord is clamped too soon, there isn’t as much blood to go around; the newborn’s body struggles to get enough to the brain, and the baby can have trouble breathing. Healthcare providers can make a significant difference in the baby’s life by waiting to perform this procedure, and NeoCue can help document the appropriate care.
The startup is now preparing to launch pilot programs in four hospitals across California.
Knowledge is power
MedicalCue has also been working to raise awareness for both mothers and healthcare providers on the importance of getting a newborn to breathe during the critical “golden minute” to avoid brain injury, and why neonatal resuscitation should be treated as a time-critical emergency.
In addition, MedicalCue is developing an informational piece with five questions for expectant mothers that includes data on why a health practitioner should delay umbilical cord clamping. “Most new mothers wouldn’t have any reason to understand the importance of a delay, so this helps educate them and empower them,” said Peter David, MedicalCue CEO.
Building the Team
To supplement its growth, MedicalCue recently hired Marie Alexander as chief operating officer. “Marie is a very talented, seasoned technology executive whose experience will be pivotal in helping advance our mission and build our company,” Peter said.
With nearly 30 years of experience in the technology sector, Marie’s area of expertise has been coming into organizations that need to build up a company to support an existing product.
She has helped build companies in a wide range of industries that include electronic data interchange, customer relationship management, IT intelligence and location services. Most recently, she served as CEO of Avaago, a gaming company, and has acted as a CEO and an advisor to a healthcare company.
In addition to her corporate work, Marie sits on the Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only organization comprised of elite CIOs, CTOs and technology executives.
Marie was immediately drawn to the startup for two reasons. From an intellectual point of view, she saw the potential for how the device can evolve to improve upon the processes at hospitals and be used as a meaningful resource for research to improve the quality of care. And, she appreciated it from an emotional stand point, when learning how those first 60 seconds in a baby’s life can be crucial for lifetime overall health.
“I am truly honored to part of this team because of our potential to save lives,” said Marie. “I am looking forward to taking my experience in using technology to build companies and apply it to something that is meaningful and intellectually stimulating in a field that has long appealed to me.”