Sentara Healthcare has been committed to innovation since the founding of the Retreat for the Sick in 1888. We constantly evaluate new technologies and best practices to transform care and ensure an extraordinary patient experience.
Our culture encourages new ideas, pilot projects and rapid cycle testing. Innovation helps Sentara fulfill its mission to improve health every day, whether we're saving the lives of critically ill and injured patients, helping patients manage diabetes and hypertension or using telemedicine to keep you safe at home.
Here are just a few examples of Sentara innovations that have transformed the way we deliver care
eICU®
Sentara eICU launched the nation's first remote monitoring program for hospital ICU beds in 2000, adding virtual eyes and ears to busy care teams on the floors. Real time telemetry, high-resolution cameras and live conversation at the bedside help spot trouble early and intervene quickly. Sentara eICU is credited with an overall 25% reduction in ICU mortality, meaning more critically ill patients get better and go home.
Copper-infused Surfaces
Sentara's infection prevention protocols are among the best in the nation, but we wanted a new edge against hospital-acquired infections. After conducting the world's largest clinical trial of hospital products infused with ionized copper, we deployed this innovative use of the ancient germicide in our bed sheets and towels, patient gowns, overbed tables, side rails and countertops to provide a constant 99% effective germ-killing process in addition to thorough cleaning. The result? Fewer infections, shorter stays, and better outcomes.
TeleHealth
- Sentara Home Health was an early adopter of telehealth technology to monitor patients' conditions and triage home visits. We now use tablet-based technology to improve patient engagement. Sentara To Home is a partnership between Sentara hospitals and Sentara Home Health to help hospital patients recover at home with daily visits from nurses and remote video visits with hospitalist physicians.
- Sentara is an early investor in MDLive, a 24-hour remote visit platform.
- Sentara Virtual Care offers experienced nurse practitioners who conduct virtual visits from the comfort and privacy of patients' homes and offices.
- Array Behavioral Health is a virtual psychiatry group who helps speed disposition of behavioral health patients in emergency departments.
- TeleStroke helps neurologists quickly diagnose and intervene with strokes or other neurological crises.
Remote medicine is part of the future of health care. Sentara is on the leading edge.
The Sentara mobile app, Optima Health mobile app and Sentara MyChart
Sentara pioneered electronic medical records in Hampton Roads. The Sentara eCare Health Network consolidates patient records from multiple sites of care, eliminates costly duplication, helps prevent medication errors and connects patients with their providers through Sentara MyChart. More recently, the Sentara and Optima Health mobile apps provide patients with immediate access from the palms of their hands through their smart phones. Sentara is using the latest communication technologies to create lasting, real-time relationships with patients throughout their lives and across the continuum of care.
Clinical Process Improvement (CPI)
CPI teams and high-performance teams (HPTs) work across the Sentara system to improve patient outcomes by addressing deep vein thrombosis, ventilator-associated pneumonia, sepsis and ER wait times among other key clinical goals. Teams have also worked to improve hospice and palliative care utilization and control post-surgical pain without opioids. We are constantly examining new ways to improve the patient experience, deploy emerging best practices and standardize care, so all patients receive the same level of compassionate, quality care using the latest techniques and technologies.
Learn More About Sentara's Commitment to Quality and Patient Safety