Hill-Rom's Welch Allyn Home® Portfolio Debuts at All Kinney Drugs Locations

CHICAGO, May 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Hill-Rom (NYSE: HRC) announced its Welch Allyn Home® Blood Pressure Monitors and Digital Scale are now available at all Kinney Drugs locations in New York and Vermont. The Welch Allyn Home portfolio is designed to bring the Welch Allyn clinical grade technology that doctors know and trust into the hands of consumers at home.

The Welch Allyn Home portfolio includes three devices: a digital scale and two blood pressure monitors. Easy to operate with simple, one-button activation for fast readings, each device connects to the Welch Allyn Home smartphone app. The free app allows patients to measure blood pressure and weight, record and track measurements, and share results with both healthcare providers and loved ones. In a recent survey of physicians¹, 95 percent of participating doctors indicated they would recommend a Welch Allyn blood pressure device over comparably priced options.

"We are very pleased to bring this important blood pressure measurement option directly to consumers through our new commercial relationship with Kinney Drugs," said Alton Shader, president of Hill-Rom's Front Line Care business, which includes Welch Allyn.

Recent changes in American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology hypertension guidelines² suggest that a diagnosis of high blood pressure -- at 130/80 mm Hg rather than the current standard of 140/90 mm Hg -- should be treated early with lifestyle changes and in some patients with medication. These guidelines underscore the added importance for patients to take multiple readings daily, including at home.

According to Dr. Shannon Miller, PharmD, director, Patient Outcomes & Pharmacy Technology Optimization, Kinney Drugs, "Forty-six percent of patients in the United States do not currently have their blood pressure under control, and multiple readings can provide a pattern to prescribers, as opposed to one or two readings every year in a doctor's office. Clinician-connected remote patient monitoring has been proven to help get patients to their target blood pressure, which is why we are proud to work with Hill-Rom on this new initiative."

Kinney Drugs is the first brick and mortar retailer in the U.S. to offer Welch Allyn Home products to consumers. The Welch Allyn Home products are featured in Kinney Drugs' medical device section in every pharmacy, along with extensive information about hypertension, the importance of home blood pressure monitoring and best practices on taking a blood pressure reading.

As one of the top national fundraisers for the American Heart Association's Wear Red Day, Kinney Drugs has been very involved in helping patients "know their numbers" – blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and body weight/BMI. Welch Allyn Home devices make it easier for Kinney's pharmacy patients to monitor their health quickly and accurately – and share those readings with their healthcare providers and caregivers through smart technology. Kinney Drugs Pharmacists are excited to be the first in the country to offer these devices. It's one more way that the employee-owned pharmacy chain helps its patients improve their health outcomes.

To learn more about Welch Allyn Home devices, please visit www.WelchAllynHome.com. To learn more about Kinney Drugs, please visit www.KinneyDrugs.com.

¹ Welch Allyn Hypertension Management Physician Research Summary, April 2016.
²American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. 2017 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update

About Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.
Hill-Rom is a leading global medical technology company whose products, services and more than 10,000 employees worldwide help people get better care inside and outside the hospital. Our innovations in five core areas – Advancing Mobility, Wound Care and Prevention, Patient Monitoring and Diagnostics, Surgical Safety and Efficiency, and Respiratory Health – improve clinical and economic outcomes and ensure caregivers in more than 100 countries have the products they need to protect their patients, speed up recoveries and manage conditions. Every day, around the world, we enhance outcomes for patients and their caregivers. Learn more at hill-rom.com.

About Kinney Drugs
Founded in Gouverneur, NY, in 1903, today the independent, employee-owned company operates nearly 100 stores throughout New York and Vermont. Kinney Drugs is part of the KPH Healthcare Services family of companies, a national provider of pharmaceutical and healthcare services with complementary businesses in both the retail and commercial segments of the industry. KPH is comprised of four divisions: (1) Kinney Drugs, a chain of nearly 100 full-service drug stores located throughout Upstate New York and Vermont; (2) Health Direct Institutional Pharmacy Services, which serves long-term care and alternative care needs; (3) ProAct, Inc., a pharmacy benefit management company with sales offices throughout the country and a mail-order pharmacy; and (4) Noble Health Services, a specialty pharmacy that dispenses medications used to treat complex and chronic diseases. KPH Healthcare Services is an employee-owned company with more than 3,900 employees that provides the highest quality pharmacy and healthcare services. Every aspect of KPH's business is guided by the values of excellence, moral responsibility, and community spirit.

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SOURCE Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.