Amity Business School

Americas largest industry, health care, is struggling to contain cost and improve service and quality. Thousands of facilities, private and public, attempt to do it. Not all are as successful as Indiana Heart Hospital

REASONS!! REASONS!!! REASONS!!!

2006 Prentice Hall, Inc.

1 51

Amity Business School

The Problem

Heart disease is the number-one killer in the United States, and in a cardiac crisis each minute matters. Indiana Heart Hospital (IHH) is a relatively new cardiac digital hospital that wants to save lives by radically cutting the time it takes to treat a heart attack. In addition, this for-profit hospital must make sufficient profit for its investors. Decisions are being made constantly by physicians, nurses, administrators, and other employees. Some decisions must be made very quickly, so the necessary data and information must be available at the right time and place in seconds. Also, the hospital must be managed efficiently.

2006 Prentice Hall, Inc.

2 52

Amity Business School

The Solution
IHH is the first wholly digital hospital in the United States. At the heart of the hospital information system, there are 28 terabytes(in 2011; today more) of data stored in a network of IBM Shark storage servers. The Shark servers enable the storage of both historical and real-time data. When a patient arrives at the hospital, his or her medical records can be on a screen in 10 seconds, so a quick decision can be made on what treatment or tests the patient needs. The results of any new test are immediately added to the patients medical record.

2006 Prentice Hall, Inc.

3 53

Amity Business School

Of the various software tools used for planning and analysis, especially in the financial area, IHH uses software solutions provided by mezzia.com. The software also enables improved collaboration and provides support for financial and operational decisions. The data and software tools are accessible to all authorized staff. All doctors, for example, have pocket-size wireless tablet devices for data access, entry, and communication. The digital systems enable doctors to type in and send orders to the pharmacy or to testing laboratories using electronic templates. All records are digital, including X-ray films.

2006 Prentice Hall, Inc.

4 54

Amity Business School

The hospital communications and collaboration systems (Centricity, from GE Healthcare) eliminate delays in the supply chain. Doctors and other employees can consult each other, make quicker joint decisions, and locate experts quickly when needed (even outside the hospital). Centricity runs across 60 Compaq servers with Windows NT and 600 laptops and other devices. Some data can be accessed by touch screens to increase speed. In addition, there is a computer next to each patient room. Medications are tracked by more than 200 wireless barcode scanners.

2006 Prentice Hall, Inc.

5 55

Amity Business School

New devices and technologies are added all of the time (e.g., sensors for vital sign monitoring). The inputs from such devices go directly to the patients electronic chart (near the bed) as well as to the medical records. The electronic chart enables nurses to enter patient status in real time and also verify the output of the automatic vital signs monitoring. The doctors also enter data into the system when visiting the patientsno more scribbled notes in the hospital. An example of digital applications is the use of digital pens that overcome the problem of doctors with poor handwriting (see logitech.com).

2006 Prentice Hall, Inc.

6 56

Amity Business School

The Results All of this enables nurses to stay longer with patients, increasing their safety. The digitization contributes to a 40 percent reduction in the length of stay at the hospital, 75 percent reduction in medical errors, and significant increase in the number of patients treated in the hospital (which helps profitability). Also, all computer transactions create an audit trail that increases accountability. In addition, having more consistent data to analyze promotes best practices that make the hospital more efficient and patients safer and healthier. Finally, the system helps the hospital to comply with government regulations.

Sources: Compiled from Nash (2011), and Mezzia.com (2011).

2006 Prentice Hall, Inc.

7 57