Healthcare IT News - July 2008 - (Page 12)

12 Healthcare IT News July 2008 ■ www.HealthcareITNews.com NEWSBRIEFS SEattlE ChIldREN’S INStallS 64-SlICE Ct SCaNNER Seattle Children’s Hospital has deployed a 64-slice GE Discovery VCT PET/CT scanner to diagnose cancerous cells in early stages of development. Children’s is the first pediatric facility to use this system and is developing pediatric-specific protocols to provide optimal diagnostic information. The combination of the new technology and tailored pediatric protocols enables Children’s radiologists to more accurately diagnose conditions and pinpoint treatment areas, while protecting children from excessive diagnostic radiation exposure. Where in the body is that sponge? By BerNIe MoNegaIN, Editor BOSTON – Using barcodes and computers to count sponges in the hospital operating room can reduce the chance of errors by a factor of 3 to 1, concludes a new study conducted at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Atul Gawande, MD, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Caprice Greenberg, MD, published their findings in the Annals of Surgery. “Leaving surgical sponges inside patients happens more often than people think, “ said Gawande. “Surgical teams have been seeking a solution to this problem for decades and this trial of a computer-assisted method of counting surgical sponges gives us reason to and the cashier at the believe a viable, provsupermarket are not en cost-effective solucounting by hand, he tion has at last been noted. found.” “A n y b o d y t h a t Bill Adams, CEO of Surgeon Medical, counts anything is based in Temecula, doing it with a comCalif., whose compaputer – probably for ny offers a barcoded 15 years now,” he Atul Gawande, MD approach to countsaid. ing surgical sponges, agrees. In most hospital operating The guy at the loading dock SpoNgeS see page 13 ShaRp hEalthCaRE CutS data BaCkup tImE IN halF Sharp Healthcare, a San Diego-based integrated healthcare delivery system, has slashed backup time in half since deploying CommVault Data Protection. Sharp has more than 14,000 employees, 2,600 physicians on staff and 1,500 physicians in affiliated medical groups. It has approximately 20 TBs of data on nearly 600 file servers. “Our team used to spend more than four hours a night watching backups and now other staffers monitor backups in minutes ” said Gil Tuquero, manager of distributed systems support for Sharp. HOSPITALS UNPLUGGED As clinicians become more mobile, hospitals are going to in-building wireless systems. By BerNIe MoNegaIN, Editor Remote Hub Units ■ Intelligent service modules ■ Add services incrementally ■ Non-disruptive changes CaRdINal SummIt to FoCuS oN hoSpItal INFECtIoNS Cardinal Health executives are preparing for a summit on hospital-acquired infections. The Chasing Zero Summit is slated for Sept. 8-10 in Washington D.C. The event focuses on the leadership and operational issues the healthcare industry faces as it pushes for a zero-tolerance approach to hospital-acquired infections, or HAIs. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006, is among the featured speakers. u.S. hospitals with wireless networks Implementing WPAN-enabled PDA units, RFID wands and other wireless technologies can help fewer nurses and doctors serve a growing number of patients, reports Kalorama Information. 80 % 25 % NEW tECh gIvES aRmy hoSpItal oR BooSt Evans Army Community Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo., has installed three visualization and equipment management systems in its operating rooms. Hospital officials say the technology will boost the hospital’s minimally invasive surgery capabilities. Beaverton, Ore.-based CompView Medical installed the NuBOOM systems. The technology integrates visual and information routing, switching, documentation and display capabilities. NuBOOM provides electronics and equipment storage space in a single location, reducing operating room clutter and improving organizational capabilities. More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: HoSPItaLS 0708 2003 2010 (projected) SOuRCE: KAlORAMA INFORMATION e l Connect: GraPHS 0708 S DOCTORS, nurses and other clinicians add increasing numbers of wireless devices to their repertoire, and patients and visitors, too have expectations about using their cell phones and laptops anywhere, anytime, an increasing number of hospitals across the country are building in-hospital wireless networks. At Florida Hospital in Orlando, the switch has begun. The largest Protestant health system in the country with 16,000 staff members and more than 2,000 beds, Florida Hospital has installed a wireless network in three of its seven hospitals. None of the networks are hospital-wide yet, said Todd Frantz, associate chief technology officer. “We plan The demand for wireless access is to grow systems growing at hospitals everywhere. a The diagram above, provided by MobileAccess, shows how an in-hospital wireless network is installed. over time,” he said. Florida Hospital installed a MobileAccess Universal Wireless Network, provided by Vienna, Va.-based MobileAccess. “We specifically went to MobileAccess architecture because it was modular,” Frantz said. Florida Hospital plans to deploy wireless networks to the rest of its hospitals, too, and is in the midst of assessing costs and timelines. “This is not a solve-it-over-the-weekend kind of problem,” Frantz said. WIreLeSS see page 15 Surgical nurses to develop EHR standards By BerNIe MoNegaIN, Editor DENVER l The operating room has distinct needs for a standard EHR, surgical nurses say. – The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses is developing an electronic Standardized Perioperative Record. The initiative is designed to create a standardized record that will be integrated into perioperative information systems. “This innovative initiative to create an electronic standard- ized, evidence-based data collection system will, ultimately, improve the quality of patient care during the surgical experience,” said AORN executive director Linda Groah. As Groah sees it, the record will incorporate AORN’s standardized nursing vocabulary, the Perioperative Nursing Data Set, and align with clinical standards, accreditation specifications and regulatory requirements to promote compliance and consistent patient care. “As the recognized authority for safe operating room practices and the definitive source of perioperative guiding principles, AORN is uniquely positioned to lead the creation of a truly comprehensive standardized patient record,” said Carol Petersen, RN, aorN see page 14 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9547

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Healthcare IT News - July 2008 Contents IT’s Financial Link eRx Power SOA Q&A Bent on Wireless Digital Switch IT Legacy Change Agent Panasonic 'Book' Taking a Shift Computer Types

Healthcare IT News - July 2008

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