Press Release: July 2006

Contact: Steve Ebben
248-551-2667
steve.ebben@beaumontservices.com

William Beaumont Hospital Recognized For Excellence In Health Technology Management

ECRI (www.ecri.org), the nation’s leading independent, nonprofit health technology research agency, awarded Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan, the first annual Health Devices Achievement Award for excellence in health technology management. The Health Devices Achievement Award recognizes an outstanding initiative undertaken by an ECRI member healthcare facility that improves patient safety, reduces costs, or otherwise facilitates better strategic management of health technology.

The award-winning application is an exceptional example of how well-focused technology management can lead to better patient care. Beaumont’s Technology Usability Center application, “Strategic Management of Healthcare Technology: A Study of Human Factors in the Use of Wireless Telemetry and Communications Systems,” describes the deployment of a new communication system to help reduce response times to telemetry monitoring alarms. In judging this submission, ECRI staff and members of the Health Devices Group’s external advisory board were particularly impressed with how the initiative improved internal communication between clinical staff, increased staff productivity, streamlined the process, and ultimately enhanced patient safety by improving the alarm response time from 9.5 minutes to 39 seconds—a 93% improvement. “

We want to honor our member hospitals’ commitment to achieving the highest standards of safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness in healthcare,” says James P. Keller, Jr., vice president, health technology evaluation and safety. “William Beaumont Hospital demonstrated this commitment by presenting tangible results that had a great impact overall.” "

Our telemetry team is honored to be recognized by ECRI. It was truly the collaborative effort between clinical and human factors engineers, biomedical technicians, nurses and cardiology staff that impacted patient care," says Kim Bonzheim, Beaumont, Royal Oak director of noninvasive cardiology and team leader. "Our project demonstrates Beaumont Hospital's ongoing commitment to enhancing patient safety through the appropriate use of technology."

The winner was announced at the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation conference during a special reception held on Sunday, June 25, 2006, in Washington, D.C. Representatives from Beaumont Hospital accepted a plaque honoring the accomplishment. Additionally, the winner will be featured in ECRI’s Health Devices journal and on the ECRI Web site.

Health Devices is provided to members of ECRI's Health Devices System, Health Devices Gold, and SELECTplus™ programs. For more than 35 years, Health Devices has featured comparative, brand-name Evaluations of medical devices and systems based on extensive laboratory testing and clinical studies. ECRI’s Evaluations focus on the safety, performance, efficacy, and human factors design of specific medical devices and technologies. Along with ECRI’s test results and ratings, published Evaluations include a technology overview, guidance on selecting appropriate devices and using them safely, and discussions of relevant topics, such as cost containment, equipment management, and adherence to standards. Health Devices also features in-depth Guidance articles on healthcare technology management topics.

The Beaumont Technology Usability Center is a multidisciplinary team of healthcare experts affiliated with Beaumont Hospitals. Beaumont is comprised of two Michigan hospitals – including a 1,061-bed tertiary care, teaching, research and referral center in Royal Oak and a 254-bed acute care community teaching hospital in Troy. Beaumont also includes six community-based medical centers, rehabilitation, primary and specialty care clinics, four nursing centers, home care and hospice.

The Technology Usability Center’s mission is to advance excellence in healthcare by improving medical technology and its use. BTUC works with manufacturer design teams seeking product evaluations on usability testing, risk assessment/operations improvement, clinical trial protocols and prototype development services.

For more information, contact ECRI by mail at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1298, USA; by telephone at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5891; by e-mail at communications@ecri.org; by fax at (610) 834-1275; or by visiting www.ecri.org. ECRI’s European office can be contacted at info@ecri.org.uk; ECRI’s Asia-Pacific office can be contacted at asiapacific@ecri.org; and ECRI’s Middle Eastern office can be contacted at middleeast@ecri.org.