Healthcare IT News - October 2008 - (Page 22)

22 Healthcare IT News ■ October 2008 hoSpItalS & IdNs www.HealthcareITNews.com Leapfrog Group picks top hospitals across the country organization raises the bar on what it takes to be best. By PaTTy eNraDo, Contributing Editor WASHINGTON – The Leapfrog Group released last month its list of 2008 Top Hospitals, an achievement measured by the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, the industry standard for evaluating hospital patient safety. The number of top hospitals 26 hospitals and seven children’s hospitals - selected for 2008 is down from last year as a result of the Leapfrog Group adding more requirements and progress reports on other patient-safety areas, in addition to the four critical areas it already evaluates, said CEO Leah Binder. “We are lifting the bar, upping the standards, by requiring hospi- “We really believe it is tals to achieve our requiretime for every hospital to ment of CPOE,” she said. have CPOE,” Binder said. To comply, hospitals The Leapfrog Group also must not only have a CPOE added these requirements: system in place but test ■ Participation in other their system using Leapfrog Group’s CPOE Evaluation public reporting initiatives; ■ Adherence to Leapfrog’s Tool. Leapfrog Group then Leah Binder scores the test results to ensure “Never Events” policy; ■ Efficiency of resources used for that the CPOE system flags common, serious prescribing errors for coronary artery bypass graft, perproviders. cutaneous coronary interventions, acute myocardial infarction and pneumonia The standard four critical areas that hospitals must address are: ■ Do physicians enter prescriptions and other orders into computers linked to medication error prevention software? And are those systems tested to assure that users are warned about serious prescribing errors? leaPfrog see page 26 DaTa Continued from page 21 [ power to give ] Created from the integration of unique design and the ability to listen to those who care. Giving excellent patient care means giving your all, without delay and without worry. As the care provider team, you asked for equipment that gives its all too. That's why I'm introducing Cynergy, by CompuCaddy. A lightweight cart heavy on performance, Cynergy combines effortless mobility with the most advanced power system in the industry. Call me at 800-264-4734 to see why Cynergy is a cart I'm proud to stand behind. Greg Likins CEO and Founder CompuCaddy www.compucaddy.com e l Connect: CoMPuCaddy 1008 for evaluating hospital units and individual clinicians in 12 areas of patient care, including cardiovascular, oncological, surgical and obstetric excellence; care of the septic and critically ill patient; care of common severe illnesses; care of the patient with specific needs; patient safety and process control; hospitalacquired infections; patient experience; hospital complications; and efficiency and throughput. Before implementing Amalga, the hospital was unable to integrate data from multiple systems to evaluate performance. Amalga will provide one view into all data collected by the hospital, enabling El Camino to identify areas of improvement, measure progress against annual goals and drive improvements in group and individual performance. In a d d i t i o n , Steve Shihadeh, El Camino will use Amalga to monitor admitted patients in real time to identify gaps in quality of care. For example, the application will assist bedside clinicians with improving clinical care and prevent gaps in care for such specific diseases as pneumonia and heart disease. The hospital also will use the Amalga software to improve operations and throughput when it moves into a new acute care facility in July 2009. “El Camino Hospital holds itself to the highest standards in patient safety and quality of care and has recognized that improvement in these areas means investing in flexible, innovative and intelligent health solutions,” said Steve Shihadeh, vice president of Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group. Amalga will allow El Camino Hospital to take a holistic approach to managing data, making better decisions and managing population flow.” The nonprofit El Camino is known for pioneering programs in cardiac treatment, radiation oncology and noninvasive surgery, and also as an innovator in the use of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and point-of-care technologies. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e Connect: data 1008 l http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.compucaddy.com http://www.compucaddy.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=10059 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=10084

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Healthcare IT News - October 2008 Contents Seattle's Slate Board 2.0 MGMA Newsmaker IT Battles Infection Beyond Adoption Excellence in Maine Carrot and Stick HP Layoffs Mobile Workstations Automating Offices

Healthcare IT News - October 2008

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