St. Joseph’s is one of six national finalists for the American Hospital Association’s “Most Wired Innovator Award”.
The Visensia® Early Detection Monitoring System, which interprets information transmitted wirelessly from electronic patient wristbands, led to St Joseph Mercy Oakland hospital being named a finalist for the “2014 Most Wired Innovator Award”.
“We are honoured to be recognised among such an elite group of ‘wired’ innovators in the nation”, said St. Joseph Mercy Oakland President and CEO Jack Weiner.
The 443-bed hospital has also been honoured in a separate category as a “Most Wired” hospital by the organisation two years in a row.
The hospital opened the eight-story, $145 million South Patient Tower in May, a building where Visensia® and other new health care technologies are integrated.
The hospital’s patient wristbands, called ViSi Mobile devices, continuously monitor patient blood pressure, heart rate, pulse oximetry, respiratory rate and skin temperature. The devices can be worn in the shower and even dropped without breaking.
The Visensia® system, uses an algorithm to evaluate the patient data and provide a score, with one to three being normal and three to five being a critical situation, said Robert Jones, the hospital’s director of information technology. The data can be viewed on monitors at nursing stations.
Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety Fabian Fregoli said Visensia® was first launched in a pilot program at the hospital four years ago and then expanded. Data from about 20,000 patients in the time since shows a 34.5 percent reduction in mortality rates and 37.5 percent decline in “code blue” calls in the medical-surgical unit and nearly half a day reduction in length of patient stay.
The patients benefit from the technology without having to interact with it. That really does set us apart from other organisation said Fregoli, who also works as the hospital’s chief informatics officer.
About St Joseph Mercy Oakland
St. Joseph Mercy Oakland (SJMO) is a 443-bed comprehensive, community and teaching hospital and a long-time leader in health care in Oakland County. The hospital is located on the west side of Woodward, just north of Square Lake Road in Pontiac, Michigan. It is a member of the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, a subsidiary of Trinity Health, the country’s fourth largest Catholic health care system. A member of the Pontiac community for more than 80 years, SJMO’s $54.5 million renovation and expansion of its west wing demonstrate its commitment to meeting the needs of the community. Our new, two-story, 50,000-square-foot Surgical Pavilion enables us to combine advanced technology with compassionate care to create a unique healing environment. For more information about health services offered at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, please visit stjoesoakland.org