Hillrom

Hillrom is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., and was formerly a part of Hillenbrand Industries until that company split its medical equipment division from their casket business in 2008.[5]  Their headquarters are in Chicago, IL.[5]

John Groetelaars is the President and CEO.[6] In 2019, Hill-Rom rebranded itself as Hillrom.[4] The rebranding emphasized the company’s transition from its history of developing hospital beds and medical devices to a focus on digital health products and software that support connected care across the healthcare continuum for the digital health market.[4][7][8]

In September 2015, Hillrom bought Welch Allyn Inc.[6] Hillrom continued to use the Welch Allyn brand name for some of its patient monitoring and diagnostic equipment.[6]

In 2018, Hillrom updated its hospital bed model to include EarlySense’s vital-sign bed sensors to monitor patients’ heart and respiratory rates.[9] The built-in sensors sit under the mattress and are not attached to the patient.[9] They check vital signs 100 times a minute and alert nurses to any possible issues.[9]

Hillrom's headquarters are in Chicago, IL., with operations throughout the US,  Europe and Asia.[10]

In April 2019, Hillrom acquired Voalte.[6] The acquisition gave Hillrom control of a connected care system that supplies voice, alarm, and text communications for 220,000 clinicians at different healthcare organizations.[11][12] Voalte became a cornerstone of Hillrom’s Care Communications product line.[6] Before its rebrand, Hillrom also developed and produced medical equipment under the names of its previous acquisitions: Welch Allyn, Mortara, Trumpf Medical, Allen Medical, and Liko.[6] Another acquisition, Aspen Surgical, was sold in 2019.[13]

In January 2020, Hillrom acquired Excel Medical Electronics, a clinical communications software company.[14] Excel Medical expanded Hillrom’s digital health offerings with predictive analytics and software that assimilates real-time patient data.[15]

Hillrom’s Centrella bed won the 2017 Stanley Caplan User Centered Design Award.[16] Hillrom developed the bed after studying patients in 29 hospital units.[16] In June 2020, Hillrom released its extended care solution for vital signs monitoring.[17] The Welch Allyn Spot Vital Signs 4400 device connects to the Hillrom Connex app to relay patient data securely to physicians through a phone.[17]

Hillrom development teams practice contextual inquiry and an immersion process.[18] This development process requires them to spend time in environments and situations in order to understand the reality of clinical practice, workflow, and patient experience.[18]

In 2020, Hillrom adapted its respiratory health device MetaNeb to help treat COVID-19 patients.[19] MetaNeb is typically used on patients with pneumonia.[19] It attaches to a ventilator and helps to clear the lungs from mucus secretions.[19] In April 2020, Atlanta’s Emory University reported the successful use of MetaNeb with coronavirus patients on ventilators.[19]

Care Communications: Hillrom provides a secure communications platform that connects healthcare professionals with patients.[20] The platform uses voice calls, alarm notifications, and text alerts.[12]

Patient Support Systems: Hillrom offers different products to support patient care, such as smart beds and patient lifts.[21][22]

Front Line Care: This includes a diverse range of products used by frontline care providers to diagnose and manage patient health issues, such as ventilators and vital signs monitoring systems.[17]

Surgical Solutions: The company provides a line of surgical products, including surgical and examination lights,[23] gyn/uro/pal products,[24] surgical tables,[25] and orthopedic and spine products.