Stryker launches Sync Badge for hands-free communication in healthcare

  The Sync Badge allows care team members to use voice commands to seamlessly connect with the entire care team across units and roles, helping drive fast and reliable communication.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK), a global leader in medical technologies, announced the launch of the Sync Badge, a hands-free, wearable device designed to enhance communication and collaboration in the fast-paced environment of hands-on patient care.

The Sync Badge allows care team members to use voice commands to seamlessly connect with the entire care team across units and roles, helping drive fast and reliable communication. As nursing shortages continue⁽¹⁾ and healthcare environments remain unpredictable and demanding, the Sync Badge can help simplify workflows and connect care teams to essential people and information.

"We strive to support the safety and wellbeing of care team members by designing intuitive solutions to help make their lives easier," said Scott Sagehorn, vice president and general manager of Stryker's Acute Care business. "The Sync Badge bridges gaps to ensure care team members remain hands-on where they're needed most – with their patients."

The Sync Badge offers advanced features that help enhance efficiency and communication in dynamic, hands-on patient care environments, including:

• Hands-free communication with wake word: Care team members can wake up the Sync Badge by saying, "Okay Vocera," and use voice commands to reach contacts by name, role, group or extension. The Sync Badge can also be used to urgently broadcast to team members for assistance or to assemble a rapid response group.
• Dedicated panic button: In an emergency, team members can request help quickly by pressing the dedicated panic button. Security and safety personnel can see the staff member's name and location, hear what's happening and communicate directly if the situation allows.
• Do Not Disturb (DND) mode and urgent call breakthrough: To enable focus on critical patient care tasks, care team members can enter DND mode for 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes – or an undefined duration. Escalation paths can be configured so a normal-priority call will automatically route to another user, or an urgent call can break through.
• Integration with connected devices and software platforms: Care team members are able to receive alarms and critical lab results or STAT order notifications directly on the Sync Badge.* Through integration with Stryker's Vocera Engage middleware, the Sync Badge can receive information from the EHR, nurse call, patient monitoring systems, medical devices, scheduling systems, connected beds, stretchers and more.