The importance of an established brand in frontline care.
By Pete Mercer
Welch Allyn is a recognizable, respected brand in the healthcare arena, with deep ties to clinicians and physicians starting medical school.
“Welch Allyn has an enormous brand equity with providers because of that familiarity and trust, going all the way back to the experiences they first had in med school and then the experiences they have with the products later in their careers,” said, Alisa Salibra, the Vice President of Global Marketing for Frontline Care at Baxter. In a recent podcast, host and Repertoire publisher Scott Adams sat down with Salibra to discuss the recent acquisition of Hillrom by Baxter and the future of frontline care.
Baxter recognizes that Welch Allyn truly means something to those working on the frontlines of healthcare, and because of that brand equity, will continue to use the Welch Allyn name in the frontline care portfolio. That portfolio has four key pillars: intelligent diagnostics, connected monitoring, cardiology, and respiratory health, which are the four key areas of how the organization manages their major business.
Across the whole of frontline care, Baxter is continuing to work on driving innovation and progress through all four of those segments. “Our goals really focus around enabling earlier diagnosis through innovation, advancing the ways that we help clinicians predict deterioration, helping to deliver workflow efficiencies, and then helping to manage patients where they are most comfortable – at home,” said Salibra.
Looking to the future of frontline care
As for where Welch Allyn as a brand is headed, Salibra says that they are really excited for the future of the business. By embracing technologies like artificial intelligence in the diagnostics portfolios, the company plans to offer autonomous AI software as a diagnostic service, combined with products like the RetinaVue 700 imager, which will help to advance options for detection of diabetic retinopathy.
No matter what happens, Baxter’s strategy and appreciation for their channel partners will not change. Salibra said, “Distributors were a really important element to Welch Allyn, they remained important to Hillrom, and they are important to Baxter as a key element of how we reach our customers every day in frontline care. From an operational perspective, distributors are very important to our reach.”
Sidebar:
Baxter’s frontline care pillars:
- Intelligent diagnostics
- Connected monitoring
- Cardiology
- Respiratory