The Office of Civil Rights in the HHS has created a tool for emergency response planners to help determine how to do their job and comply with the HIPAA privacy rule. The decision support tool walks you through a series of questions to determine when and how individually identifiable health information can be released. Here's […]
After considering the outcomes from Katrina, JCAHO has drafted a new standard to test hospital's emergency responses. These changes are based on numerous trips to the devastated areas to look at initial responses, and to assist with reopening facilities. The lessons learned on the potential impacts that disaster situations can have on local health care […]
According to this story, systems integrator NetXperts has developed a satellite based communications system called Remote CLOUD to bring hospital communications back online in the event of a disaster that renders local phone or Internet communications inoperable.
Disaster planners, businesses and hospitals are interested because
the device enables its small command and control keyboard to use the
satellite […]
Here's a review of the Kyocera KR1 mobile EV-DO router. Slide a carrier's high speed EV-DO CDMA card into this device, and it will broadcast a WiFi hotspot providing wireless network connectivity. Verizon has great wireless broadband coverage in the U.S. and a router like this would be applicable for ambulances, covering triage areas in […]
A recent study by Press Ganey reports that the average length of stay (LOS) in U.S. emergency departments is 3.7 hours. The study was completed in 2005 and shows considerable variations between states. The shortest ED LOS was in Iowa (138.3 minutes) and Nebraska (146.1 minutes), while Maryland (246.9 minutes) and Arizona (297.3 minutes) reported […]
Under a trial funded by a $3.1 million grant from the NIH, Brigham and Women's Hospital is using 10 waist packs (that sounds so much better than “fanny packs” doesn't it?) that patients will wear containing sensors, transmitters, and
tracking gear. The packs will allow medical staff to constantly monitor
patients' heart rates and blood-oxygen levels while […]
In response to a 30% increase in emergency room volume since 1999 (up to 36,000 visits), Baylor is spending $9.2 million to expand the ED. Space the emergency department will go from 11,300 to 23,300 square feet, including adding 7 patient rooms and a CT scanner to the department. Their own CT, whoa.
Trustee magazine has a more detailed story on the study done by Reed Construction Data/RSMeans Business Solutions. One finding of the study is that building trends have shifted since the boom started in 2000.
Renovations are becoming a more popular
option for hospital upgrades, comprising an approximately $6 billion
market in 2005. But that doesn’t mean organizations […]
The emergency nursing team at Christianna Care Health System received the above award for their implementation and utilization of PTCS' Amelior EDTracker emergency department information system.
In 2004, the emergency nursing team at Christiana Care, led by
Laskowski-Jones, managed the planning, implementation and execution of
the Amelior EDTracker automatic tracking system for their emergency
department. The system was […]
We are in the midst of the largest hospital building boom in the US since World War II. New construction and renovations are reshaping the health care delivery system in response to new technology, research on the impact of hospital design on patient safety, and patient demographics. Pictured at right is the new UCLA Westwood […]
