Seacoast Health Implements New Medical Device Integration Solution

December 30, 2016 - Southcoast Health has improved their health IT infrastrastructure by deploying Excel Medical’s BedComm platform to facilitate medical device data integration between the organization’s operating anesthesia monitors to its Epic electronic health record (EHR) system.

The Massachusetts-based healthcare organization was faced with the challenge of making use of the valuable patient data available to them and chose to deploy Excel’s BedComm across it’s three acute-care hospitals and surgery center.

Southcoast Health had recently deployed their Epic EHR system which drove IT decision-makers to seek a technology that would gather key monitoring data from operating room anesthesia machines and deliver that data into the Epic EHR interface.

Southcoast Health wanted to implement a technology that allowed them to give the patient their full attention and not have to worry about documentation.

"As a healthcare system, we are first and foremost patient-centric and patient safety centered," said Scott LaRosa, Director of Clinical Systems for Southcoast Health. "BedComm delivers multiple areas of value for us. Above all, it ensures that crucial data is where, and when, the anesthesia team needs it. This is fundamental to better decision-making and ultimately delivering better patient care."

Dan Bazinet, Director of Clinical Engineering and Technology at Southcoast Health added, "Ultimately, the technology gives our anesthesia staff the time and ability to focus fully on the patient during surgery versus on documentation or other interruptions."

BedComm streamlines clinical workflow so clinicians can spend more time caring for patients and less time transcribing and manually inputting data.

The data collected from medical devices such as heart monitors and ventilators needs to be managed, integrated, and standardized into each patient’s EHR so healthcare providers can easily access it.

Synced medical devices provide invaluable real-time, reliable data to EHRs that improves patient safety and quality of care.

Excel’s Bedcomm offers Southcoast Health complete medical device integration which includes,

1. Bedside device integration: Technology that automates the collection and documentation of patient vital signs and other bedside monitor data, reducing errors and giving clinicians access to the most accurate and timely patient data.
2. Mobile vitals capture (MVC): BedComm MVC improves clinical workflows and documentation, and provides clinicians timely access to patients' current vital signs. Excel's BedComm MVC combined with its CarePanel technology collect and integrate a hospital's vital signs monitors' data from medical surgical areas and deliver them to the EHR. This is accomplished by wirelessly transmitting the vital sign data across the hospital's existing wireless network using positive patient identification.
3. Digital cardiac reports: Digitizes cardiac rhythm strips and alarm documentation across the clinical enterprise and integrates into the EHR. Makes reports instantly available in the EHR for clinician review, while eliminating the laborious paper drive documentation process seen in most hospitals today.
4. Cardiac monitor access:  Integrates Excel's BedMasterEx client application with the EHR giving clinicians access to patient monitoring waveforms, vital signs, and alarms with one click of a button.

Bedcomm allows Seacoast Health to leverage their IT infrastructure investments by integrating with existing networks, wireless, and mobile devices.

Seacoast Health is invested in utilizing technology to improve patient care and enhance clinical operations. According to Seacoast Health, by implementing Bedcomm to integrate medical device data with their EHR system, they are addressing one of their biggest technical challenges.

"We are excited to be working with Southcoast Health," said Lance Burton, General Manager of Excel Medical. "They are known to be a gold standard healthcare system, particularly in terms of patient safety and patient care. The results they're already experiencing from implementing our BedComm technology are just the beginning of remarkable things ahead as we continue our work together."

Dig Deeper:

• Why Application Programming Interfaces Are Key for Healthcare
• Medical Device Integration, IoT Pose Cybersecurity Risks