I read a statistic in an article recently that according to a 2008 survey in the New England Journal of Medicine, only 4% of physicians reported having an extensive, fully functional electronic records system and 13% had a basic system.  What a difference a few short years will make in technological advancements under new government policy.  It's a whole new era and this is NOT your father's hospital.  The hospital in the near future WON'T have clipboards attached to patient beds with hand scribbled notes on them. X-ray records will no longer be warehoused in oversized manilla envelopes. The federal government has committed $34 billion of taxpayer money to these hospitals of the future, and by 2012, new legislation will require hospitals to go paperless. Health providers that aren't digital enough by 2015 will start losing Medicare dollars.

The proposed Obama plan for reformed health care brings forth many challenges and to delay initiation into change will be a set-back for hospitals.  It's necessary for hospitals to exercise extreme care in fiscal planning and ensure they have the right people and resources in place.

Enter Trident Health Resources, Inc. and it's launch of  Vivo, a real-time data system solution for hospitals, designed within the Operating Room environment.  Imagine a one-stop  system platform that integrates with existing equipment to smooth entry to a paperless environment.  Vivo offers flexibility for virtually every single electronic need, including the interface to:

• Ensure security and HIPAA compliance.
• Update charts
• Provide Real time tracking with precision event recording that readily interfaces with electronic operating room equipment.
  
• Discover and harness patient care information for analysis and clinical studies
• Offer compatibility with recognized Hospital Information Systems (HIS) and surgical databases for reliable record transfer.
  
• Handle the routines: check lab results, order prescriptions, send and receive email, check doctors' orders, record progress notes, code records for insurance, automate billing, manage inventory of supplies
• Contains modules for Anesthesia, Autotransfusion, Nursing, Perfusion, Surgeon and Critical Care Units.
  
  · No embellishments
  · No exaggeration
  · No stretching
  
  
  And it is available exclusively through  

Trident offers solutions specific to and also beyond Open Heart technological solutions with Vivo.  Your program may benefit from a no-obligation needs assessment and analysis from Trident. The time is now to evaluate what you need for your hospital to comply with federal requirements.  Allow Trident Health Resources, Inc. to review options for you.  Call us directly, or email us at marketing@tridenthealth.com to request information about Vivo. We'll get back with you promptly.

If you need perfusion staffing, equipment or supplies, we respond within 24 hours.  Call us TODAY.

The October and November issues of Heartbeat traced the early history of heart-lung perfusion, with a focus on the founders and inventors who developed the technology and methods in open heart surgery via the heart-lung machine.  This month's feature article explores the evolution of the professional standards for perfusionists. 

In the early days of open heart surgery, perfusionists were trained on the job and they came from a variety of backgrounds within the medical field, such as nursing, biology or chemistry, and those who worked as lab technicians, paramedics, and medical secretaries. It wasn't until around 1967 or 1968 that several universities began to offer degree programs.  The earliest programs started in Ohio, New York, Oregon and California.  Before then, (early 1960s), perfusionists literally were guided by surgeons in their training on the heart-lung pump to turn a knob to the right to make it go faster, to the left, to go slower (Source: Southern Hospitals, 1975, p. 33).

It was in 1972, the American Society of Extra-Corporeal Technologists (AmSECT) began a program of certification for perfusionists. In 1975, this program was turned over to a new agency established to conduct certification as an independent activity: the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion (ABCP). The ABCP also adopted minimum standards for training programs as developed by AmSECT and began evaluation and accreditation activities. The following year, the AMA recognized perfusionists as a medical profession.  The Standards (Essentials) and Guidelines for an Accredited Educational Program for the Perfusionist were adopted in 1980, and accreditation of programs began in 1981. The Standards were revised most recently in 2005.

Source: American Medical Association