Patient-Nurse 'Alarm Fatigue' Significantly Increases... Daewoong Pharmaceutical Obtains Korea's First ECG Insurance Reimbursement

thynC ECG Monitoring System: Half the Price,
One-Fifth the Weight Compared to Philips
Enhanced Convenience for Patients and Nurses...
Hospital Efficiency Also Improved

The Think real-time electrocardiogram monitoring system exhibited at Daewoong Pharmaceutical's 'Press Conference for the Acquisition of the First Domestic Insurance Fee for Real-time Hospitalized Patient Monitoring System Think ECG Monitoring' held on the 3rd at JW Marriott Hotel in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jeong Donghoon

"Beep-beep-beep"?the patient monitoring system alarm sounds incessantly. More often than alarms signaling a patient's critical condition, these are 'false alarms' triggered when patches peel off as patients toss and turn due to the discomfort caused by the numerous patches and bulky devices used for electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement. Because of this, medical staff often complain of 'alarm fatigue.' This alarm fatigue can lead to medical accidents when healthcare workers turn off alarms or fail to respond promptly. Equipment that can free medical staff from such fatigue is expected to be introduced.

On the 3rd, Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Seeas Technology held a press conference titled "thynC Real-time Inpatient Monitoring System: First Domestic ECG Monitoring Insurance Reimbursement Acquisition" at the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square in Seoul. The product 'MobiCare' (developed by Seeas Technology), which has now secured insurance reimbursement, is expected to be widely used from tertiary general hospitals to secondary general hospitals by significantly improving the discomfort of existing ECG measurement devices while lowering costs.

Professor Hong-ui Lim of the Cardiology Department at Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital, who spoke at the event, said, "The Philips system, which has been widely used, attaches five patches to the patient's body, and whenever the patient moves, the wires rub, causing 'signal noise.'" He added, "In contrast, thynC uses two wireless patches weighing less than 100g, greatly reducing signal noise and loss rates." Professor Lim conducted an experiment comparing arrhythmia detection rates and signal quality (signal noise and loss rates) between the Philips system and thynC on 80 patients. He judged that this system could reduce medical staff's false alarm fatigue.

Professor Lim also predicted that the introduction of thynC would improve hospital efficiency. He said, "More than 60% of nurses' work involves checking patients' vitals and entering data into management systems. The thynC system reduces such inefficiencies and provides a real-time monitoring system, helping nurses focus more on patient care."

Professor Lim Hong-ui of the Department of Cardiology at Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital is explaining the clinical results of Think. Photo by Daewoong Pharmaceutical

thynC, Acquiring ECG Insurance Reimbursement, Expands Ecosystem to Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar

thynC, developed by Daewoong Pharmaceutical, is a wearable biosensor service that measures patients' vital signs such as ECG, body temperature, oxygen saturation, and blood pressure, analyzes them using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, and delivers the results to medical staff. The thynC system is expanding its ecosystem by integrating various healthcare devices from different companies, including the wearable ECG device 'MobiCare' (Seeas Technology), continuous glucose monitor 'FreeStyle Libre' (Abbott), and ring-type continuous blood pressure monitor 'CartBP' (Sky Labs), which is the product that recently obtained insurance reimbursement.

Jo Byung-ha, Head of Marketing Division at Daewoong Pharmaceutical, who presented Daewoong's digital healthcare vision, said, "The past approach was to visit hospitals for tests and treatment when sick, but now it is evolving toward predicting and managing diseases in advance using accumulated health data." He added, "Daewoong Pharmaceutical is introducing and disseminating innovative data-driven health management solutions in line with this change, aiming to realize personalized health management and contribute to public health improvement."

Lee Young-shin, CEO of Seeas Technology, who attended the media briefing, emphasized, "thynC especially enhances patient safety by detecting cardiac arrest, sepsis, falls, and providing early warnings for immediate response. In the current situation of shortages of residents and nurses, it will play an important role in improving efficiency and quality of patient care in medical settings."

Lee Young-shin, CEO of Sears Technology, is explaining Think at a press conference. Photo by Daewoong Pharmaceutical

Daewoong Pharmaceutical plans to link Sky Labs' ring-type continuous blood pressure monitor 'CartBP' to thynC within the first half of this year, leveraging the recent insurance reimbursement acquisition of Seeas Technology's thynC. Through this, they aim to further expand digital healthcare technology and accelerate the establishment of a smart medical environment.

Regarding the insurance reimbursement acquisition of thynC, Daewoong Pharmaceutical CEO Chang-jae Lee stated, "Last year, South Korea entered a super-aged society with over 20% of the population aged 65 or older. As life expectancy increases, not only disease treatment but also routine management, prevention, and prediction have become very important." He added, "Based on digital healthcare innovation, we will build a comprehensive healthcare ecosystem encompassing data-driven disease prediction, prevention, treatment, and post-care, thereby enhancing personalized health management and the quality of medical services to contribute to public health."