Medical device companies are teaming up to provide hospital equipment that lets doctors know when devices are alarmed, or where to find them if they’re lost.
One of those companies is EQ2 LLC, creator of a computerized workflow system that was put to the test during five days of real-time integration and interoperability testing at the IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) Connectathon, held in Cleveland from Jan. 26 to Jan. 29.
EQ2 was the only computerized maintenance and management (CMMS) vendor at the event. Its hospital equipment management software (HEMS) successfully connected with equipment from 15 vendors. Neutral IHE observers judged how well HEMS operated in concert with products from medical equipment manufacturers, integrators, software providers and public health vendors. Those products included “smart” cardiopulmonary devices from Bernoulli Cardiopulmonary Corp., a smart infusion pump from B. Brain, Smiths Medical Devices of various kinds, and Hospira’s IV Clinical Integration Solution.
Also on display at the Connectathon were GUARD’s RFID Solutions devices, which enable a hospital to employ a Real-Time-Locating-System (RTLS) for its medical devices.
“EQ2 prepared for the Connectathon, and our success in passing all submitted tests in several IHE Profiles is a testimony to our technical ability,” said Vishal Malhotra, EQ2’s Director of Technical Development. “To me, the Connectathon’s real value was being able to work with the other great technical teams assembled on real world, interoperability work flow. This is the same workflow that will go-live at hospitals worldwide so this experience is invaluable to all companies.”
That’s what Connectathon is about – companies coming together to test for standards-based interoperability.
“It’s now within reach for a multi-hospital organization to instantly know where their medical devices are, whether the device is attached to a patient, is in an alarm state, whether it requires a critical update or is under a pending safety alert, how often it is used and what it costs to support it,” said Jim Smith, President of EQ2.
“Along with the FDA’s new federal UDI (Unique Device Identification) Law, the IHE Standards will enable healthcare to align disparate devices and systems into an efficient, safe and effective patient care delivery system. No more bunkered devices and systems – interoperability and standard messaging will rule,” he said.
EQ2 has been providing CMMS solutions to hospitals, from single locations to large campuses and geographically distributed institutions, since 1994.
