SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PatientSafe Solutions, a leader in smart point-of-care mobile solutions, today announced it has partnered with Meritus Medical Center to implement the PatientTouch™ platform throughout the hospital. PatientTouch enhances an existing electronic medical record installation with an interoperable, PatientSafe Solutions-developed hardware and software solution that enhances patient safety, reduces waste, and improves staff productivity and satisfaction. PatientSafe and Meritus Medical Center are currently rolling out PatientTouch across the hospital’s 272-bed hospital facility in Hagerstown, Maryland.
PatientTouch delivers significant benefits for healthcare organizations by deploying smart, mobile technology tools at the point of care. The platform runs on a PatientSafe Solutions-designed, developed, and supported device that pairs Apple iOS hardware with enhancements including a high-performance barcode scanner, full-shift battery, and ruggedized, hospital-grade jacket. PatientTouch leverages an existing EMR system to eliminate harm, reduce waste, and improve productivity through a set of intuitive, dynamic software applications. Specific capabilities include performing barcode positive patient identification (PPID), streamlining data entry, promoting improved collaboration across physically separated care teams, fostering improved care quality and more meaningful clinician-patient relationships through increased face-to-face interaction, and more.
A 272-bed, not-for-profit hospital facility in Hagerstown, MD, Meritus Medical Center faced a number of challenges in maximizing the value and leveraging the full capabilities of its existing Meditech EMR implementation. The hospital sought to implement a technology that could safeguard patient safety and streamline care coordination across multiple departments, including acute care, special care nursery, Level III trauma, oncology, and stroke units, among others. It also sought to demonstrate Meaningful Use Stage 2 compliance without sacrificing the resources already committed to its existing EMR implementation. With PatientTouch, Meritus Medical Center will now be able to harmonize nursing communications, tasks, and functions on a single platform through its entire facility, and will also have the updated features necessary for Meaningful Use Stage 2 certification.
“We want to provide the best technologies available to support our nursing staff and allow them to do what they love, and do best: deliver safe, high-touch, high-quality care throughout the patient experience,” said Jake Dorst, vice president and chief information officer at Meritus Medical Center. “The PatientTouch platform enhances the experience for both patients and staff without bogging them down. It integrates easily with our Meditech EMR and allows our staff members to leverage that resource throughout the hospital. The enhanced features in PatientTouch also provide a pathway for the hospital to attest for Meaningful Use Stage 2 compliance right now, as opposed to implementing a brand new EMR solution.”
The implementation at Meritus Medical Center also marks the first deployment of PatientTouch’s oncology-specific applications, which include features and capabilities specifically designed for oncology nurses and physicians. In particular, the ability to define chemotherapeutic-agent-specific reminders improves safety and efficiency by prompting the nurse to assess specific patient responses at specific times, to optimally monitor for potential adverse events. The assessed responses are then automatically documented and associated with the administration, and are immediately available to the physician and other caregivers.
According to the Center for Disease Control’s National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, in 2011, more than half of office-based physicians used a partial or full electronic medical record (EMR) system. However, two of the most commonly cited complaints about EMR adoption were clinical workflow disruption and changing regulations that make legacy systems quickly outdated.
“The smart point-of-care mobile solutions provided through the PatientTouch platform deliver measurable safety and quality improvements by making care team workflows easier and more productive,” said Joe Condurso, PatientSafe Solutions’ president and chief executive officer. “With its deep dedication to safety, quality care, and the patient experience, Meritus Medical Center is an ideal partner for us. We are thrilled to work with it to maximize the value of its Meditech EMR and implement innovations that reflect the mobile nature of today’s clinical workforce.”
About PatientSafe Solutions
PatientSafe Solutions, based in San Diego, California, is leading the way in smart point-of-care mobile solutions and innovating technologies for the future of accountable care. Its flagship product, the PatientTouch™ platform, delivers measureable safety and quality improvement by making care team workflows easier and more productive. PatientSafe Solutions was named one of Wall Street Journal’s Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies in 2011 and 2012, ranked #2 in Wall Street Journal’s Top 10 Venture-Backed Healthcare Companies in 2012, and chosen by Forbes as one of the top Three Health Technology Companies To Watch in 2012. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.patientsafesolutions.com or stop by booth #3681 at this year’s HIMSS13 Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana this week.