H&HN recognizes nine organizations with two classes of awards. For the Innovator Awards, a joint project with Accenture, CHIME and McKesson Corp., a panel of 23 hospital and information technology leaders evaluated essays describing a specific IT project and named three winners and three finalists. For the second annual Supply Chain Innovator Awards, a joint project with Materials Management in Health Care and the Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management, a panel of seven materials management leaders judged essays on projects demonstrating innovation in the supply chain using IT. One winner and two finalists were named. For both awards, the essays must describe the project, provide a business objective and list key obstacles and solutions. The essays were judged on the project’s transportability and achievement of the stated business objective; creativity and uniqueness of concept; impact on the organization; scope of the solution; stage of implementation; and technical creativity.
2007 Innovator Award Winners
Columbus Regional Hospital I Columbus, Ind. I www.crh.org
The wireless nurse call system at Columbus Regional Hospital eliminates third-party contacts by providing direct access to nursing staff for patients, physicians and ancillary departments through the use of portable handheld phones. The highly integrated system incorporates the wireless phone system with RFID tagging to provide real-time location of staff and a bed management system that immediately notifies environmental services and the dietary department of a patient discharge. The end result is enhanced patient care and satisfaction by addressing patient needs in a more timely fashion. Employee satisfaction has improved as a direct result of improved communication among the patient care team.
Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network I Allentown, Pa. I www.lvhhn.org
To achieve universal CPOE compliance by the end of 2006, Lehigh Valley Hospital needed to address parenteral nutrition, required by about 4 percent of the organization’s patients daily. PN ordering is complex—numerous ingredients may be needed and are mixed based on patient weight and medical condition. A multidisciplinary team developed an online ordering system that makes use of drop-down boxes, required fields, and alerts and warnings. Implementation of the Web-based system enabled Lehigh Valley to achieve universal CPOE utilization. Legibility and transcription errors have been eliminated and mathematical errors reduced by about 50 percent.
University Hospitals I Cleveland I www.uhhospitals.org
University Hospitals integrated more than 15 data resources, containing information for more than 700,000 patients, into one physician portal. This secure tool provides physicians with point-of-care wireless access to clinical information, addresses HIPAA compliance requirements for mobile computing and creates a potential for cost reductions through decreases in errors, adverse events and redundant ordering. Patients ultimately receive better care as clinical data is available to clinicians at all locations.
2007 Innovator Award Finalists
Mountain States Health Alliance I Johnson City, Tenn. I www.msha.com
Mountain States Health Alliance needed a solution to address emergency department overcrowding and improve patient satisfaction. The solution: post ED wait times online for the public. This initiative was facilitated through implementation of an ED patient-tracking system. The Web team worked with information systems analysts responsible for implementing the tracking system; together, they developed a product that posts up-to-the-minute wait times at all five facilities. For nonurgent cases, patients can check the Web site to determine which emergency department has the shortest wait time.
Texas Health Resources I Arlington, Texas I www.texashealth.org
Interactive training, skills assessment and progress monitoring are the keys for a successful electronic health record at Texas Health Resources. The courses are Web-based and employ an intuitive navigation tool for ease of use. Content was created under the rapid development model, resulting in cost savings of 30 percent. The modular content is more easily updated, resulting in long-term cost savings as well.
Texas Health Resources I Arlington, Texas I www.texashealth.org
To obtain financial and productivity information from a single source, Texas Health Resources put together an interactive financial portal offering in-depth information for its leadership. Monthly departmental and productivity reports are accessible through the online portal, eliminating costly and labor-intensive collection, printing and distributing of the data. Automatic notification of updates and posts is sent via e-mail and the previous day’s financial data is available by 10 a.m. each day.
2007 Supply Chain Innovator Award Winner
Health Quest I Poughkeepsie, N.Y. I www.health-quest.org
With a 92 percent occupancy rate over a 24-month period, Health Quest requires point-of-care clinical equipment for timely and effective patient treatment. To combat the incidence of missing equipment, as well as equipment in the wrong place or in poor condition, the organization implemented real-time tracking through its enterprisewide, multifrequency wireless system using transducers and tags. A significant result was seen in the pilot program when, after four months, the time a nurse spent searching for equipment per shift was cut in half.
2007 Supply Chain Innovator Award Finalists
Kaleida Health I Buffalo, N.Y. I www.kaleidahealth.org
Kaleida Health initiated projects to manage its materials, notably through automated replenishment and an expired-inventory project. Ideally, each supply item is replenished through a clinical documentation process of bar coding. When patients receive treatment, the nurse responsible for the room scans the bar codes of products used. By keeping track of the inventory in real-time and in-house, rather than through outside agencies, Kaleida Health has saved more than $50,000.
Norton Healthcare I Louisville, Ky. I www.nortonhealthcare.com
In an effort to streamline product and vendor additions, changes and deletions, and replace the paper process, Norton Healthcare created a Web application to automatically update these items. The Web application is available to all employees and, after approval is obtained through an automated e-mail system, all relevant systems are updated.
This article 1st appeared in the July 2007 issue of HHN Magazine.
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