Article preview from Medtech Insight - July, 2012
The ability to create and maintain a data stream of information that flows from medical devices into electronic health records (EHRs) is starting to become an important priority for some of the nation’s hospitals. The development is a natural outgrowth of the movement toward having a viable EHR for every patient, as well as the understanding that quality of care can be enhanced if those EHRs are fed the type of data that comes from devices such as ventilators, infusion pumps, anesthesia machines, and products that measure patient vital signs. That need is creating a new, niche market for companies that offer connectivity solutions, and at some point, these changes are predicted to alter the way hospitals choose which medical devices to purchase.
Article preview from Medtech Insight - July, 2012
As health care information technology (HIT) continues to push its way through hospitals, physician offices and all other areas where medicine is practiced, the mantra of the tech revolution has quickly become “connectivity.” The goal of reducing costs and improving quality of care has been established, and virtually every project that is undertaken is designed to achieve that end by making sure every piece of data surrounding a patient has the ability to be funneled through, or into, all the major hospital operating systems, including the all important electronic health record (EHR). As a result, a niche market is growing around the companies that can connect medical devices to that data stream and help providers keep up with the escalating HIT compliance standards being tied to reimbursement.
The current focus is on patient care devices (PCDs), or point-of-care devices, which includes things such as infusion pumps, ventilators, physiological monitors, anesthesia machines, and any product that captures patient vital signs in the hospital setting. Although some of the companies that compete in this emerging area have been in business for a while, the field itself is relatively new and lacks a single standard method of connecting medical devices to hospital data systems.
The emergence of this new field was one of the major points of discussion at HIMSS12, the 2012 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference and exhibition, held earlier this year in Las Vegas, NV. Observers noted that hospitals are in a learn-as-you-go period, and three basic alternatives have emerged for getting data from a medical device into a hospital information system and an EHR: relying on the device manufacturer; using an EHR vendor; or contracting with a third-party company to facilitate the data flow. The latter choice is turning out to be an early option with appeal to hospitals, and there is a growing list of companies staking a claim to this market, including Accent on Integration Inc. (AOI), Capsule Tech Inc., Cardiopulmonary/BOC Group PLC, CareTrends, iSirona, and Nuvon Inc.
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