Vocera offers next-generation version of communication badge

Vocera Communications has introduced what it calls a next-generation version of its communication badge, called the Smartbadge.

Vocera is a vendor of wearable communication badges for clinicians intended to help them communicate more easily with each other,

The company’s new hands-free badge has a 2.4-inch touchscreen that enables clinicians to receive and read notifications from other providers with more context about the patient. The previous version of its badge had a small screen that was not a touchscreen.



With the larger screen, clinicians receiving an alert from another provider can see the patient room number, name, age, date of birth and vital signs, as well as viewing contact lists, and being able to read and send messages from the badge.

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Audio is improved, according to the vendor; a “panic button” helps a provider quickly get assistance from others, and users can pull up a keyboard on the larger screen.

Tom Stafford, vice president and CIO at Halifax Health has seen the new version. “I am impressed by how the Smartbadge is still small and lightweight even with a larger notification screen, which is also now a touchscreen.”

The badge enables users to reach the right person by name, role or group and it integrates with more than 140 clinical information systems and physiologic monitors.

Another badge feature is designed to help users under high stress or emotional exhaustion to click on “call a Code Lavender,” which will send an alert to a multi-disciplinary group to provide physical, spiritual or emotional support for the user, patients or families.