October 8, 2008 – To evaluate patient safety and quality care benefits of medical devices that share data with EMRs, HIMSS Analytics and the American College of Clinical Engineering have agreed to jointly conduct an ongoing research study of medical devices in American hospitals.
As part of this research process, HIMSS Analytics will be creating benchmark reports for hospitals that complete the survey so that these organizations can more clearly compare their operations to peer hospitals. This information can be used to review and defend allocations for both operating and capital budgets for the clinical engineering/biomedical operations.
According to the agreement, “the two organizations agree to collaborate in developing and conducting a census survey of mutually agreed-upon questions directed at hospital corporations regarding the collection of IT application information in US hospitals, initially those above 150 beds.”
“We partnered with ACCE and its membership of clinical engineers so that both of our organizations can review and better understand the impact of these interfaced medical devices in the delivery of patient care,” said Mike Davis, executive vice president for HIMSS Analytics. “The data that we gather will provide a beneficial snapshot of how healthcare providers are integrating intelligent medical devices into the EMR environments to optimize patient care delivery.”
“Clinical engineers and other healthcare technology managers are trying to grasp the magnitude of integrating their medical systems with EMR and other IT-based systems,” said Jennifer Jackson, president, ACCE. “These peer-based results will inform our members about current integration trends and how they relate to our capital and operational programs. Our organization is really looking forward to working with HIMSS Analytics on this unique program that will benefit all those interested in medical system integration.”
For more information: www.himss.org