PITTSBURGH and STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Stamford Hospital, a 305-bed teaching facility in Stamford, Conn., will soon be one of the first hospitals in the country to provide innovative technology from SmartRoom® in every room so that care is safer for patients and simpler to provide for clinicians.  

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Launched three years ago at UPMC and jointly funded by IBM, the SmartRoom solution uses real-time location tracking devices and other technology to bring patient information from the electronic medical record (EMR) and other data sources to a flat-screen monitor at the patient's bedside. The information, including problem lists, allergies, medications and lab results, is tailored to meet the needs of specific caregivers at a particular time, reducing the effort required to find and sort relevant information in the EMR.

The solution enables nurses and aides to easily document patient vital signs and completion of certain tasks through a touch screen monitor, thus ensuring that the medical record is updated as patient care is provided. SmartRoom also allows patients to identify doctors, nurses and other caregivers as they enter the room, where their names and roles are automatically displayed on a monitor visible to the patient. Patients also can see daily schedules for tests and other procedures, view educational videos and obtain email and photos from family and friends.  

"As a hospital with a long commitment to patient-centered care, Stamford is excited about the potential for SmartRoom technology to improve quality and safety for our patients, to more closely involve them as partners in their care, and to simplify documentation and other daily tasks for our caregivers," said Brian Grissler, President and CEO of Stamford Hospital.

"SmartRoom's solution will complement the investments that Stamford has already made in its EMR by bringing the right patient information to clinicians when and where they need it most, at the bedside," said Michael Boroch, CEO of SmartRoom. "SmartRoom helps hospitals deliver care more reliably and makes the right way the easy way to provide patient care."

As part of the contract, IBM will provide installation, systems integration, real-time location services (RTLS) design, and other services and software.

A wholly owned unit of UPMC, SmartRoom designed and tested its solutions at 20-hospital UPMC, one of the country's leading academic medical centers and one of America's "best hospitals" on the U.S. News & World Report honor roll. UPMC Montefiore is the first UPMC facility to deploy the technology hospital-wide and is expected to complete that effort by early next year.

For more information, visit www.smartroomsolutions.com.

About Stamford Hospital

Stamford Hospital is a not-for-profit provider of comprehensive healthcare services in lower Fairfield County and the region. The mission of Stamford Hospital is to provide, together with its physicians, a broad range of high quality health and wellness services focused on the needs of our communities. Stamford Hospital is a member of the Planetree Alliance, a group of hospitals nationwide focused on patient-centered care. Stamford Hospital is affiliated with New York Presbyterian Health System and is a major teaching affiliate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. www.stamfordhospital.org.

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SOURCE UPMC

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