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Norfolk, Va.- November 21, 2002 - Sentara Healthcare was ranked 20th and recognized among the top 100 organizations nationwide for technical innovations for use of it's highly advanced Intensive Care life-saving monitoring system, eICU® . The eICU® technology, developed by VISICU, provides remote Intensive Care patient management.
InfoWorld Media Group, publisher of InfoWorld Magazine, announced the recipients of its annual InfoWorld 100 awards, which recognize the innovative use of technology by corporate information technology (IT) organizations. InfoWorld Media Group delivers in-depth analysis of enterprise technology and strategies to arrive at vital business solutions .
Sentara was the first in the nation to deploy the VISICU eICU® technology, which uses telemedicine combined with videoconferencing, smart alerts, and integrated information technologies to allow intensive- and critical-care nurses to provide constant remote surveillance and care to 50 patients in five ICUs across three Sentara hospitals. As a result, hospital ICU mortality rates have dropped 25 percent and length of stay of ICU patients has been reduced by 17 percent. Implementation of the eICU® took five months and cost more than $1 million dollars. The first two ICU's connected to the eICU® realized a positive return on investment calculated at $3 million annualized net financial benefit after deducting program costs.
"The eICU® project reaffirms that technology coupled with a culture of process improvement will create opportunities to dramatically improve quality of care, improve the quality of the clinician's work life and enhance financial performance" says Bert Reese,
Sentara Chief Information Officer. "The lessons learned must be exploited in other environments of care" The InfoWorld 100 exemplifies the best of corporate IT. The companies that make the Top 100 list are achieving great success by putting the latest enterprise technology to use. Chosen and ranked by InfoWorld's senior editors, these 100 organizations represent 2002's greatest achievements in companies spanning 11 industries. The InfoWorld 100 was chosen based on their ability to leverage the latest technology to bolster business efforts, maximize return on investment, streamline business processes, reduce costs, save resources, improve customer service and create new streams of revenue.
Additional winners in the healthcare segment, along with their ranking include:
2. Providence Health System; enterprise application integration
20. Sentara Healthcare; telemedicine
55. Alfred I. Dupont Hospital for Children; wireless networking
63. Cigna; portal
77. Visiting Nurse Associations of America; Web site
82. Oncology Therapeutics Network; data management
92. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey; project management
Sentara Healthcare, a premier not-for-profit health care provider in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, is comprised of 6 acute care hospitals, a hospital for extended recovery, 2 outpatient care campuses, 7 nursing centers, 3 assisted living centers, and 25 primary care practices. Sentara also offers a full range of health coverage plans, home health and hospice services, physical therapy and rehabilitation services, mobile diagnostic vans, and air and ground medical transport services, including Nightingale--the region's only air ambulance service. Sentara was ranked the number one integrated health care network in the United States in 2001 by Modern Healthcare magazine and is the only health care system in the nation to be named in the top 10 for five consecutive years.
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