Published: July 03, 2009 08:35 am      

Bassett chosen as first test of health technology

The Daily Star

Four patient rooms at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital will be outfitted this autumn with pioneering technology to create “Smart Patient Rooms” with a “Patient- Safety Forecaster,” the chief administrator at the Cooperstown facility said Monday.

Bassett is the first hospital in the nation to work on this collaboration. The modifications are part of a project with GE Healthcare and the Healthcare Association of New York State.

The project aims to reduce medical errors, keep patients safe and reduce costs, GE Healthcare officials said.

``It’s a big challenge, but it’s stimulating and energizing,’’ said Dr. William Streck, Bassett Healthcare president and chief executive officer. ``It is exciting for our staff.’’

Streck said patient safety is critical to health care quality and is an urgent industry- wide need.

``Bassett Healthcare is proud to partner in developing and testing these new technologies aimed at keeping patients safer,” Streck said. ``If you can do better, why not?’’

According to the Institute of Medicine, medical error is the eighth-leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 44,000 to 100,000 preventable deaths per year, a media release from GE Healthcare said.

Of about $37.6 billion annually, $17 billion are associated with preventable errors, the institute said.

“Reducing medical errors requires a new understanding of the patient’s hospital experience and the development of innovative, discrete technologies that mitigate safety risks,” Dr. Deepak Pillai, program manager, GE Healthcare, said in the release.

“This collaboration brings together the technologies and data necessary to help keep patients safe. The result will be a solution that helps caregivers avoid preventable events and enhance patient care.”

The collaboration was formalized in March, said Jeff Terry, managing principal at GE Healthcare Solutions in Dallas. The test period will continue until the system works, said Terry, and within 12 months, other hospitals will join the project. GE Healthcare doesn’t reveal its project costs, he said.

GE’s Global Research Center in Niskayuna and its partners are developing technologies, including the Smart Patient Room and the Patient-Safety Forecaster. What the technologies do

GE Healthcare described the technologies in a media release when the collaborative project was announced June 23 as such:

Smart Patient Room technology initially will focus on three common patient safety risks — hand hygiene, patient falls and clinical-rounds adherence. The room will include technologies, such as optical sensors, to track the movement of clinicians and equipment, report time between events and read bar codes.

For example, the system will monitor not only when hand washings occur but when hand washings should have occurred. As the first technology to do both, the company said, the system will help address this often overlooked element of patient safety. Data collected will be used to compare the treatment that’s given with recommended clinical protocol.

Health care providers can use this information to manage their workflow, improve delivery of care and help ensure patient safety.

The Patient-Safety Forecaster is designed to help organizations predict the benefits of various quality and safety measures and track the impact of improvements by linking behaviors, patient outcomes and cost. The initiative will combine HANYS’ expertise in health care data analysis with GE’s forecasting technologies and tools, providing a forward-looking estimate of the magnitude and cost of quality.

``We can reduce medical errors,’’ Terry said. ``We can improve patient safety.’’

GE Healthcare provides medical technologies and services, is headquartered in the United Kingdom and is part of General Electric Co.

HANYS, in Rensselaer, represents more than 550 nonprofit and public hospitals, nursing homes and other organizations. The affiliated HANYS Solutions is recognized nationally for providing operational, analytical and educational tools to improve performance and efficiency.

Streck said Maryjane Wurth of HANYS put GE Healthcare and Bassett in touch about the project. ``GE is extremely creative ... it’s a good combination,’’ Streck said. ``They have the technology; we have the real-life experience.’’

Bassett was selected through HANYS’ connections with GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, said Terry. An important factor in the collaboration among the three institutions was a shared drive to enhance patient safety, he said.

Bassett staff is working with GE Global Research Center on development, Terry said. Bassett was chosen because of its employed physician model, which can embrace innovation, and its information technology platform, Terry said.

Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital is an 180-bed, acute-care inpatient teaching facility. The hospital maintains an academic program with Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.

Bassett Healthcare, four affiliated hospital and other centers, clinics and offices provide services in eight counties, covering 5,000 square miles.

Michael Ilnicki, vice president and chief executive officer of HANYS Solutions, said Bassett is a leader in the state, and possibly the nation, in quality and patient-safety initiatives. HANYS is preparing to publish a study on hospital- acquired conditions such as pneumonia, he said, and participating in the GE Healthcare project is another avenue to improve patient safety.

``It is about the greater good — improving patient care not just for New York but for all hospitals,’’ Ilnicki said. ``Frankly, we can do a better job.’’

Streck said the plan is to install technology to create four Smart Patient Rooms; however, the benefit may extend to care in other rooms as staff members are trained. The system will study hand-washing, ``rounds’’ or visits by medical personnel and patient falls.

Bassett hasn’t applied financial assets to the project because GE Healthcare provides the technology, he said, but hundreds of Bassett staff hours already have been spent on the project.

Terry said technological and project details will be disclosed to patients, and the tools won’t interfere with patient care.