A patient arrives in the emergency room unconscious. As a team of doctors and nurses surround the patient, a resident or doctor pulls out his palm pilot to look up the patient’s latest blood-test results and recent medical history, saving time and ensuring accuracy.
Thanks to such applications of information technology, Duke University Hospital System has landed a spot on Hospitals and Health Networks magazine’s list of the 100 “most wired” hospitals of 2005.
The annual study, which incorporates information from 1,255 institutions, rates hospitals in five areas: customer service, quality, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues.
Researchers say this ranking may be indicative of larger safety practices in the hospital. According to an analysis published this year, heightened use of technology in hospitals decreases mortality rate by an average of 7.2 percent.
In the most “wired” hospitals, the Hospitals and Health Networks study found a stronger correlation between the amount of medication ordered and that delivered to the patient.
“The rapid recognition of potential problems [as a result of technological advances] can significantly improve the course of care and speed of a patient’s recovery,” said Associate Chief Information Officer Rafael Rodriguez.
Since the deployment of wireless internet access in 1996, DUHS facilities have implemented various technology-related initiatives. Last year, all first-year medical residents received personalized digital assistants, which are now used to access patient lists, laboratory results, patient alerts, e-mail and schedule changes.
Other relatively new efforts DUHS administrators are applying include increased use of graphs and other mediums to communicate more effectively with patients.
“Beyond the specific data points, we also provide graphical displays to show trends, something that had to be done mentally or by hand before,” Rodriguez said.
Widespread use of laptop computers has become nearly as popular as PDAs among physicians, both young and old.
“As we deploy new applications, we expose them using seminars and other informatics for continuing medical education among all employees,” Rodriguez said. “Certainly, the future of medicine at DUHS hospitals will emphasize more than ever that medicine is a continuous learning experience in many ways.”
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