IT plays important role in 100K Lives Campaign

Health Management Technology, Feb, 2005

To save 100,000 lives in U.S. hospitals during the next 18 months and beyond, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Mass., has kicked off the 100,000 Lives Campaign to get 1,000 hospitals to adopt at least one of the following six safety measures--including IT steps--by July 2006:

* deploy "rapid response teams" to examine patients at the first sign of trouble. This will require hospitals to implement three technology steps: capturing electronic data/ clinical documentation, clinical surveillance technology and real-time process analysis/measurement;

* prevent adverse drug events by using technologies such as e-prescribing, real-time interaction-checking software and bar-coded medication administration;

* deliver evidence-based care to heart attack patients;

* prevent IV line infections;

* prevent surgical site infections;

* prevent pneumonia in intensive care units.

"Ultimately, measurement is the key underpinning of this campaign," said Jerod Loeb, executive vice president for research at the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, "and clearly, measurement relies on technology."