DuPont Hospital for Children partners with Spacelabs Medical
The Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., has advanced its vision for a "connected hospital" through a new partnership with Spacelabs Medical, a global leader in patient monitoring systems.  The agreement calls for Spacelabs systems to be installed enterprise-wide in three phases, with the goal of giving clinicians easy access to all patient information at the point of care.  The first phase of the contract, a replacement of all critical care monitors, is estimated at $3 million.  Phases II and III, still to be determined, will be based on the hospital's future needs.

Phase I installation begins this fall in the emergency department where patient monitors will be installed in successive care areas every two weeks, with completion expected by the end of the year.  Phase II, installation of patient monitor systems in all medical/surgical units, including outpatient high-acuity areas, will begin later in 2005 and continue through summer 2006. Phase III, scheduled to be piloted during Phases I-II, features installation of critical care documentation tools that interface with the hospital's Cerner Millennium information system. Full installation of Phase III is expected to be completed by fall 2006.

A special Monitor Evaluation Task Force established by the hospital evaluated potential partners for more than two years, seeking a company with open architecture technology that could capture and transfer physiologic information easily as children are transferred to different care areas throughout the hospital.  "We serve thousands of critically ill children from throughout the world and sought a company we could count on for best-in-class, user-friendly technology, responsive customer service and high-level support.  Spacelabs was the clear winner," said Stephen T. Lawless, MD, MBA, chief knowledge and quality officer for Nemours.
 
Through Spacelabs' ICS WinDNA feature, duPont clinicians will be able to access laboratory reports, patient charts, internet, intranet and other Windows applications right on the patient monitor display, reducing the need for additional computers in patient areas.
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