California Hospital Fast Tracks Technology to Reap Patient Safety Benefits

 Careful planning allows a public hospital in California to reap patient safety and financial benefits from technology on the fast track

 

By Kermit Randa, MHA, FACHE, CPHIMS

 It takes a significant time to bring in new information technology systems at most hospitals.The wheels can move slowly as hospitals attempt to get new technology approved, purchased—and finally implemented. As such, these providers have a difficult time moving to the front of the IT adoption line, even though the patient safety and efficiency advantages would certainly be welcomed by the patient communities that they serve. Many times, public hospitals have even more barriers to overcome to gain access to leading edge technology to benefit their community.

Leaders at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., however, decided to turn this seeming disadvantage into a distinct advantage as they brought in a new electronic anesthesiology information management system, an advanced technology that has become an important part of their healthcare organization’s enterprise-wide electronic health record (EHR).

Certainly, as a public hospital with limited funding for new technology, Santa Clara leaders acknowledged the importance of taking a very deliberative, measured approach to investing in information technology. After all, with a mission that includes acting as a patient safety net for community members with no medical coverage or ability to pay, the hospital could not afford to go down the wrong path.

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