Case Studies

Automatic Tracking in a High Volume ED

Featured at HIMSS 2007, this case study is presented by Linda Laskowski-Jones, RN, Vice President of Emergency, Trauma & Aeromedical Service at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, DE. Increasing patient volumes challenged Christiana’s emergency departments’ ability to deliver care efficiently and to be prepared for mass-casualty events. New automation technologies offered the potential to increase capacity by wirelessly tracking all patient movement and their interactions with staff and mobile medical equipment. Ranked among the top 25 busiest EDs in the nation, Christiana Care Health System redesigned existing workflows and overcame staff concerns to integrate an automatic patient tracking system at Christiana Hospital.

Lectures

ED Auto Tracking- After 7 Yrs Would We Do It Again

Featured at HIMSS 2011, this lecture is presented by Carl Chudnofsky, MD, Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine at Albert Einstein Medical Center. The objective of the presentation is to confirm how the implementation of automatic tracking improves patient flow and operating performance in a busy urban ED. Dr. Chudnofsky discusses the role of automatic tracking software in translating positioning data into clinical and operational contexts to support caregivers. He identifies key success factors in planning for automation of clinical work flows and presents lessons learned after 7 years of experience with automatic tracking. Key features include ROI data, including in 2010 having generated $14.8 million in revenue due to reductions in LWOT and diversions. Other emergency department impacts are reviewed. For additional information on this site as well as other locations and department impact, please email info@awarepoint.com.

Patient and Equipment Tracking in the Perioperative Setting

Featured at the 2009 HIMSS annual conference, Providence Health and Services Oregon Regional Manager of Surgery Information Systems, Deborah Bahlman RN, MS, presented an overview of the implementation of the awareSurgical system in the surgical services departments at Providence St. Vincent and Providence Portland Medical Centers. Among the ROI benefits achieved were an increase of 49 add-on cases per month, a 82% reduction in phone calls and decreased OR turnaround times.

Workflow Visibility and Automation in the ED

Featured at the HiMSS09 annual conference, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network Chief Medical Informatics Officer, L. Albert Villarin Jr, MD FACEP, presented an overview of the implementation of the awareED system in the emergency department/level 1 trauma center of Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. Among the ROI benefits achieved were reduced patient length-of-stay, patient walkouts, ambulance diversions and increased patient satisfaction. The initial year impact has been estimated at over $8.2 million in incremental reimbursement.

Introduction to Real-time Locating Solutions

This lecture is presented by Cory Wagner, Director of Product Strategy and Design, Awarepoint. Mr. Wagner explains various RTLS Technologies using evaluation criteria such as: precision, accuracy, latency, scalability, coverage, cost, and tag design.

Manage Patient Flow Better at Your Door… Your ED

Featured at HiMSS08, this lecture is presented by L. Albert Villarin, MD, FACEP, Chief Medical Informatics Officer of Albert Einstein Health Network in Philadelphia, PA. The objective is to understand how a leading academic medical center has improved patient flow and improved the operating performance, clinical efficiency and patient safety of their emergency department through the implementation of an automatic tracking communication system. Dr. Villarin also explains the role of automatic tracking software to translate the positioning data into clinical and operational contexts that can support caregivers and better manage patient flow. He revealed how the emergency department can support enterprise-wide patient flow improvements through the integration of automatic tracking communications with hospital information systems.

Creating the Transparent OR with Automatic Patient Tracking

Featured at the HiMSS09 annual conference, Lehigh Valley Health Network Vice President of Orthopedic and Perioperative Services, Brian Leader, presented an overview of the implementation of the awareSurgical system in the perioperative services department at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Advancements in OR Workflow Automation

Featured at the OR Business Management Conference in 2008, this lecture is presented by Deborah Tuke Bahlman, RN, MS, Regional Manager, Surgery Information Systems of Providence Health System in Portland, OR. Ms. Bahlman presents a profile of Providence Health in Oregon as an early adopter of perioperative workflow technology which includes their initial vision for the department, their challenges and the integration of the automatic patient and asset tracking technology.

Research

Quantifying the Economic Impact of Communication Inefficiencies in US Hospitals (2009)

Published by the Center for Health Information and Decision Systems, this research estimates the cost of communication inefficiencies in US hospitals at over $12 billion annually representing more than half of the average hospital margin. Solutions identified in the research include location-based technologies that would help staff identify caregivers’ locations at all times and shared communication systems that would allow nurses to identify an attending physician. The study estimates that a typical 500-bed facility stands to recoup $4 million with improved caregiver communication.

National Health Statistics Report: Ambulatory Surgery in the United States (2009)

National research published annually, this year’s survey was published in January 2009. This report presents the most current (2006) nationally representative data on visits to hospital and freestanding surgery centers in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected hospital, patient and visit characteristics.

National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey 2008

National research published annually, this year’s survey was published in August 2008. This report presents the most current (2006) nationally representative data on visits to hospital emergency departments in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected hospital, patient and visit characteristics.

Press Ganey Emergency Department Pulse Report 2008

Based on emergency department patient perceptions of care in the calendar year 2007, this annual study includes statistics on such patient satisfaction subjects as emergency room wait times, patient care status and interactions between patients and emergency care providers to name a few. The current report represents the experiences of 1,524,726 patients treated at 1,656 emergency departments nationwide between January 1 and December 31, 2007.