Each year, ECRI Institute presents its annual Health Devices Achievement Award to the member facility that has carried out the most exceptional initiative to improve patient safety, reduce costs, or otherwise facilitate better strategic management of health technology.
In the May issue of TechNation, we spotlighted Texas Children’s Hospital upon its receipt of the 10th Annual Health Devices Achievement Award for its alarm management initiative. In this article, ECRI Institute recognizes the four additional organizations that were selected as Achievement Award finalists. The technology management initiatives described by these organizations (listed below in alphabetical order) earned honorable praise from the award selection committee.
Assessing the Cost-Effectiveness of Approaches for Reducing Retained Surgical Items – Banner Health’s Success Story
Banner Health (Phoenix, Arizona) was selected as a finalist for its efforts to:
- Reduce all serious reportable events (SREs) related to surgery, including the number of retained surgical items (RSIs), such as surgical sponges inadvertently left inside the patient during a procedure.
- Determine the conditions under which radio-frequency identification (RFID) sponge-detection technology would, and would not, be a cost-effective adjunct to the organization’s program for reducing the number of RSIs.
Banner Health had instituted a Safe Surgery Program in its many hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers with the goal of reducing all SREs related to surgery. These include wrong-site, wrong-patient, and wrong-procedure events, as well as RSIs. Concern existed, however, about whether the program by itself would be sufficient to reduce the rate of RSIs. The organization was considering investing in a technological solution – an RFID sponge-detection system – to help reduce those risks.
To plot the best path forward, the Banner Health team designed methods to assess the effectiveness of the Safe Surgery Program and to calculate the cost-effectiveness of an RFID system. The researchers assessed several scenarios, determining the conditions under which it would, and would not, make financial sense to purchase an RFID system. Overall, the team found that its Safe Surgery Program reduced the rate of retained sponges to a point where the addition of RFID technology would not have been cost-effective.
Learn more about Banner Health at www.bannerhealth.com.
Implementing Alarm Default Changes to Improve Patient Care and Patient and Staff Satisfaction – Boston Medical Center’s Ongoing Initiative
Boston Medical Center (Boston, Massachusetts) was selected for its low-cost, high-impact processes for improving the management of telemetry monitoring alarms.
With significant improvements already achieved in how the hospital manages cardiac telemetry patients, Boston Medical Center needed to establish a method for evaluating, testing, and implementing additional alarm management improvements in a consistent manner. The organization’s Clinical Alarm Task Force instituted a procedure that involves rigorous process management, data analysis, clinical trials, education, and governance.
Boston Medical Center’s ongoing efforts to improve the management of telemetry patients have resulted in fewer alarms, better information contained within the system (e.g., alarm histories), and improved communication between the nurses and the medical staff, as they work together to manage the patient in a more comprehensive manner. The experience also has helped the organization compile a list of essential components for managing telemetry alarm default changes, which it shared in its award submission.
Learn more about Boston Medical Center at www.bmc.org.
A Cooperative Approach to Reducing Supply Costs – Cooper University Health Care’s Program to Engage End Users in the Purchasing Process
Cooper University Health Care (Camden, New Jersey) was selected as a finalist for demonstrating how forging a partnership between the Supply Chain and Process Improvement functions could help reduce supply costs and lay the groundwork for future cost management initiatives.
Faced with the challenge of reducing costs in the cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology laboratories by $1 million for the upcoming year – without eliminating any of the existing device vendors from the current technology mix – the organization used Lean and Six Sigma methodologies and tools to meet its goals. The organization brought together all stakeholders for a well-planned, one-day event to review the current landscape, to identify solutions, and to agree on the path forward.
With full commitment obtained from all involved parties, the organization was able to negotiate savings that exceeded its goal. Furthermore, the partnership established between the Supply Chain and Process Improvement departments helped increase end-user engagement in the purchasing process, which the organization believes will help it maintain the safety, quality, and appropriateness of the products it purchases.
Learn more about Cooper University Health Care at www.cooperhealth.org.
Harnessing Data for Medical Equipment Replacement Planning – University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s “Fleet” Program
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was selected for its data-driven approach to planning for medical equipment replacement. UPMC instituted its “Fleet” program, as the initiative is called, to identify outdated, unsupported, or technologically deficient equipment in need of replacement across the enterprise.
Central to the Fleet process is the calculation of a Replacement Priority Value (RPV) for the equipment in UPMC’s inventory. The RPV allows comparisons to be made and priorities to be set based on a quantitative analysis. The organization calculates the RPV through a weighted formula using data extracted from an in-house-developed computerized maintenance management system. Factors considered in the analysis include the age of the equipment, its expected useful life, and its lifetime maintenance cost.
UPMC calculates that the capital and expense savings realized directly through the Fleet initiative have totaled over $10.2 million in the five years since the program was initiated. Additional benefits that UPMC ascribes to the Fleet program are that it has:
- Allowed the organization to consolidate equipment demands and clinical requirements across the enterprise to facilitate the standardization of both equipment and operations
- Helped the organization identify, purchase, and deploy equipment that interfaces directly to the electronic medical record system, increasing user throughput and efficiency
- Facilitated quick responses to regulatory “recall” equipment and platform upgrades across the enterprise
- Created opportunities for reallocating existing resources
Learn more about University of Pittsburgh Medical Center at www.upmc.com.
This article is excerpted from ECRI Institute’s membership website. The full article features additional information on the award winners. For details about the annual award, visit www.ecri.org/Pages/Health-Devices-Award_Winners.aspx; call 610-825-6000; or email communications@ecri.org.