28 June 2010
University of Tennessee Medical Center Chooses GE Perioperative
University of Tennessee Medical Center (Knoxville, Tenn.) selects GE Healthcare Centricity(R) Perioperative solution for 27 operating rooms and 10 ancillary rooms at the Level I Trauma Center and academic medical center.
BARRINGTON, Ill. – June 28, 2010 – GE Healthcare, a leading provider of healthcare information technology, today announced the successful implementation of its Centricity® Perioperative solution at the University of Tennessee (UT) Medical Center (Knoxville, Tenn.). The solution covers a total of 27 operating rooms and 10 ancillary rooms at the Level I Trauma Center and academic medical center. The implementation included Centricity Perioperative Suite for Nursing Documentation and Centricity Perioperative Anesthesia Information System.
"An anesthesia information management system is essential in order to improve anesthesia record keeping, expedite quality assurance and outcomes measurements, enhance business analysis, document compliance with national standards and to reduce medicolegal exposure,” said Dr. J.L. Epps, Department of Anesthesiology chair, UT Medical Center, Knoxville. “Most importantly, this can enhance the quality of care for our patients. As an anesthesiologist, that is my primary goal."
Gary Scott, UT Medical Center’s vice president of perioperative services added, “We were looking for a complete Perioperative solution that provided ease-of-use, full documentation including the latest patient safety features. GE is just the right fit.”
Centricity Perioperative, a comprehensive clinical and business solution, provides a bridge to support patient centric workflow by creating a link to patient information shared by clinicians and anesthesiologists. Making synchronized nursing and anesthesia information available at all points of the care cycle, it enables clinicians to make key clinical decisions and document each step more accurately and efficiently. Interfacing with the hospital’s clinical information system enhances enables the provider to enhance patient safety and improves patient data throughput, mitigating historical interoperability challenges between hospital solutions such as allergy and lab data.
“Throughout the past year, we’ve seen a surge in hospitals that are choosing Centricity products for their perioperative needs,” observed Laurent Rotival, vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare IT. “The University of Tennessee Medical Center has made a wise choice, one that will pull all the perioperative data their clinicians want to one spot, when they need it and where they need it. We’re thrilled to have UT Medical Center as our newest academic partner.”
“The use of our EMR has resulted in charting that is much more complete and accurate, and the prompts even allow for “on the job” education and quality improvement,” said Robert M. Craft, MD, professor, vice-chair and residency program director at the medical center’s Department of Anesthesia. “Being able to access nearly everything pertaining to quality patient care in one location is quite a revelation.” The Centricity solution supports communication, data and workflow beginning with pre-admission testing through post anesthesia, including comprehensive resource management. Centricity Tracker responds to the alerts and triggers inherent to the clinical documentation record. This replaces the infamous white board, commonly used to manage communication between anesthesia and operating room staff.
Efficiencies gained from the implementation of Centricity pre-admission testing clinic have enabled the medical center to increase the number of patients benefitting from pre-surgical evaluation. The surgical requirements and outcomes determined from diagnosis and procedure codes noted in clinical documentation assist with projecting the case mix index.
The University of Tennessee Medical Center has a rich history in the community of providing patient-centered care and remaining at the forefront of research, technology and treatments. UT Medical Center attributes its well-respected standing within the community to the exceptional people that dedicate themselves to patient care excellence. The hospital serves as a referral center for Eastern Tennessee, Southeast Kentucky and Western North Carolina. It also was the region's first Primary Certified Stroke Center and recently opened the region's dedicated Heart Hospital, the only facility of its kind in the Knoxville region with physicians, staff and services dedicated solely for the care of cardiovascular disease.
ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.
Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality and efficiency around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $16 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.
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