ECRI Institute's(R) 2010 Health Devices(TM) Achievement Award -- Call for Entries

5th Annual Award Will Recognize Excellence in Health Technology Management

Deadline:  June 1, 2010

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), an independent, nonprofit organization that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, is now accepting submissions to its fifth annual Health Devices Achievement Award program. The award honors healthcare facilities for achieving excellence in health technology management. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2010, and entries are accepted online at www.ecri.org/hdaward. 

"Our member hospitals consistently undertake important initiatives to improve patient safety, improve healthcare quality, and reduce costs. Our goal is to not only honor their outstanding work, but to broadly share their best practices and lessons learned," says James P. Keller, Jr., vice president, health technology evaluation and safety, ECRI Institute. 

ECRI Institute will recognize top finalists on the ECRI Institute Web site before the announcement of the top honoree. Visit the ECRI Institute 2010 Health Devices Achievement Award Web site after the judging period to read about the finalists' exceptional initiatives. 

The overall winner of ECRI Institute's 2010 Health Devices Achievement Award will receive a plaque honoring its accomplishment and will be featured in ECRI Institute's Health Devices Journal©. Finalists and the overall winner may also be highlighted in other Health Devices System promotions.

Last year's winner, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center of Lebanon, NH, submitted "A Multidisciplinary Approach to Improving Patient Safety in the Adult Medical/Surgical Population through Earlier Detection of Patient Deterioration Using Surveillance Monitoring." The entry described a medical technology initiative designed to decrease failure to rescue (FTR) events—instances of severe patient harm (such as death or disability) that occur because a serious deterioration in the patient's condition is not detected in time.  

"The award from ECRI Institute is a tremendous honor and a great recognition for the many people who have played a role in the deployment of this new technology," says George Blike, M.D., quality and patient safety officer for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center."  

Past winners of the Health Devices Achievement Award include:

• 2008 – Children's Hospital, Omaha, NE
• 2007 – Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX
• 2006 – Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI  

Submission Requirements 

Individual or team applicants must be current members of ECRI Institute's Health Devices System™, HDGold™, or SELECTplus™. Initiatives may relate to any health technology management endeavor, including patient safety, technology selection and service, hazard and recall management, staff training, or accreditation.

Applicants should submit a 1,000- to 2,000-word essay to ECRI Institute describing an initiative(s) undertaken at their facility that demonstrates excellence in the field of health technology management.

Please include:

• A description of the initiative(s).
• The motivation behind the initiative(s).
• Methodology used.
• The impact of the initiative, including outcomes and cost savings (as applicable).

Submissions should also include the institution's name, the name of the individual or department(s) initiating the program, and contact information (name, title, phone number, and e-mail address) for the person submitting the nomination.  

Submit online at www.ecri.org/hdaward, via e-mail at [email protected], fax to (610) 834-1275, or mail to: ECRI Institute, 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19462, USA.  Finalists will be asked to provide a high-resolution organization logo for inclusion on the ECRI Institute Web site. Submissions will not be returned. ECRI Institute may use the content from any of the submissions in its publications, online services, and products and promotions. 

About ECRI Institute

ECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to uncover the best approaches to improving patient care. As pioneers in this science for 40 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. ECRI Institute is designated a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization and an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO, listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, strives to achieve the highest levels of safety and quality in healthcare by collecting and analyzing patient safety information and sharing lessons learned and best practices. For more information, please visit www.ecri.org.  

SOURCE ECRI Institute