Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.5-6 Unit Details (floor-plan view): This screen provides a graphical view of an intensive care unit. Each bed is presented as
a square, using a simplified floor-plan view. Colors are used to indicate the selected attribute of the patient or bed. For example, the above
screen indicates available beds in green, and occupied beds in red. The gray beds (which are flashing) are those with pending discharges,
and the black bed is closed or inactive. Many other color-coded options are available via the pull-down selector. These include patient and
bed attributes such as gender, monitored bed, negative-pressure room, and service (e.g., cardiology, surgery, and orthopedics).
Demonstrated return on investment
(ROI)
system. (The specific dollars saved are still to be
determined.)
Since its installation in April 2001, the system has more
than paid for itself through achievement of the following
indicators obtained from actual observations at Hartford
Hospital.
$200,000 annual expense avoidance by reducing the
number of Bed Manager FTEs needed
A 50% decrease in the number of phone calls per bed
assignment/patient placement
A 75-90% decrease in the overall time needed for
the patient-placement process
A 50% decrease in the number of paper forms used
A 25% increase in throughput by alerting bed
managers to discharges sooner of those that are
reported to bed managers
A 40-minute decrease in the length of the end-of-
shift admission coordinator reports
The hospital expects to save ''thousands of dollars
per day'' by implementing the BMD outpatient alert
Case study #2: PIVIT
-
performance indicator virtual
instrument toolkit
Most of the information management examples pre-
sented in the chapter are part of an application suite
called PIVIT. The name is an acronym for ''Perfor-
mance Indicator Virtual Instrument Toolkit.'' PIVIT is an
easy-to-use data acquisition and analysis product. PIVIT
was developed specifically in response to the wide array
of information and analysis needs throughout the health
care setting.
Figure 5.5-10
illustrates the main menu of
PIVIT.
PIVITapplies virtual instrument technology to assess,
analyze, and forecast clinical, operational, and financial
performance indicators. Some examples include appli-
cations that profile institutional indicators (e.g., patient
