Shands Jacksonville has devoted more than $3 million to become the first academic medical center in the U.S. to combine GE’s Centricity™ perioperative system and its anesthesia software. The result is improved safety for patients and greater efficiency in the operating room.
“The benefits are far-reaching, with patient safety as a priority. All of the patient’s data in the electronic records is now available immediately and in real time,” said Robert Redfern, M.D., a University of Florida associate professor of anesthesiology at Shands Jacksonville.
Until recently, a patient might see five or six different physicians before entering the operating room. Each one would ask the patient the same questions. The Centricity perioperative program is the only clinical information system that integrates data across the surgical process. The anesthesia software allows physicians to instantly access patient history and test results, while the surgical software helps the physician schedule, manage materials and evaluate true costs of each patient case through real time tracking and cost analysis.
An added advantage for anesthesiologists is that the vital signs are no longer charted on paper. They are monitored and recorded through the computer system. The anesthesiologist can observe the computer as it generates flowchart information and task data taken during surgery. This keeps the anesthesiologist from having to stay in the operating room to physically record the patient’s data.
“Now all of the physicians entrusted with a patient’s care during a surgical procedure are on the same page at the same time,” said Hernando DeSoto, M.D., a UF associate professor of anesthesiology and medical director of Perioperative Services at Shands Jacksonville.