Blue Mountain Health System Integrates THE OBSERVER Technology From Prairie Dog Tech to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Infections

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Demonstrating its ongoing commitment to patient safety, Blue Mountain Health System (BMHS) in Lehighton, Pennsylvania has now fully integrated THE OBSERVER technology from Prairie Dog Tech, LLC (www.prairiedogtech.com). THE OBSERVER is a system for actively monitoring the cleaning, storage, and use of endoscopes. The system ensures 100% compliance with safety best practices and is Prairie Dog Tech's innovation answer to the challenge of preventing the growth and spread of infections within the health care setting.

"In our efforts to continually provide the safest and highest quality of care Blue Mountain Health System has committed to using 'The Observer' technology each and every time an endoscope is processed to ensure our patients have an additional layer of protection from a health care acquired infection," says Dorothy Patzek, Vice President of Nursing/CNO.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 25 is dealing with one or more hospital-acquired infections (HAI) on any given day. Children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems are at the greatest risk of contracting these infections, as well as experiencing poor outcomes.

The hospitals of the Blue Mountain Health System have been rated as having below average HAI for their healthcare-acquired infection rates for infections and complications by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  BMHS saw the opportunity to integrate THE OBSERVER process and immediately jumped on it.  Since incorporating THE OBSERVER system, the health system's hospitals have seen an even more impressive infection control rate in post-surgical infections.

In the last few years reusable endoscopes have come under scrutiny as a source of deadly infections. Investigations at Cedars-Sinai and the UCLA Ronald Regan Medical Center revealed that inadequate cleaning of these devices was to blame and the manufacturer was largely responsible for this oversight. Across the country, hundreds of infections and at least three deaths resulted from contaminated equipment – although the actual numbers are impossible to know.

The Prairie Dog Tech team saw this news as an opportunity to solve a real-world problem, save lives and make hospitals safer, all without adding unnecessary overhead or additional processes. THE OBSERVER system is an innovative solution to the challenges of maintaining the processes and procedures of cleaning, storing, and using endoscopes.  An independent and hands-free solution, the system automatically captures, organizes, and reports real-time data on every activity in a scopes lifecycle.  A companion mobile app enables instant notification should any activities fall outside of the hospital's established parameters.

THE OBSERVER mobile app features an intuitive dashboard to show where every device is in the cleaning cycle. Administrators have continuous access to data via the app, including the complete history of every scope device in the inventory. Doctors and nursing staff can instantly see whether a device is clean and ready for use before a procedure begins. 

The goal is to deploy this solution in every health care facility in the world, significantly reducing the rate of healthcare-acquired infections. Making this technology accessible and practical in the developing world is an especially important objective, as these regions have the most to gain by improving health care conditions.

About Blue Mountain Health System

The Blue Mountain Health System consists of two community-based hospitals – the Gnaden Huetten Campus in Lehighton, PA and the Palmerton Campus in Palmerton, PA – as well as The Summit Nursing and Rehabilitation Center also in Lehighton, PA.   The health system's mission is to promote, maintain, and restore the good health of all the people in the communities it serves through partnerships for excellence in health care service delivery.

About Prairie Dog Tech, LLC

Founded in 2015, Philadelphia-based Prairie Dog Tech developed THE OBSERVER system as an essential tool for every endoscopy unit. David Bassion Jr, explained, "Our system is Always on Call. It never sleeps, never has a bad day, and never forgets the hospital's commitment to infection control."

Contact:

David Bassion, Jr.
215-558-4975 
[email protected]

SOURCE Blue Mountain Health System