HSHS Upgrades Anesthesia Software Selects CyberMed HN24 for the Job

The HSHS hospital system was running legacy software and had made a system-wide decision to upgrade their EMR software to Epic. The transition provided HSHS with an opportunity to upgrade their Operating Rooms as well, specifically with regards to their anesthesia machines. Previously, there was no live charting by anesthesiologists during surgical procedures, which was much more labor intensive for their anesthesiologists and also meant all data needed to be manually entered into patient records. The move to Epic meant the implementation of Epic’s anesthesia application alleviated these two issues. HSHS needed to find computers that were compliant with Epic anesthesia requirements, had the processing power to run all necessary applications, and could withstand the day to day cleaning and disinfecting necessary to prevent the spread of germs and disease. Lastly, they needed a solution that could be easily mounted and integrated with their anesthesiology machines to reduce clutter.

After careful consideration, the Central Illinois and Southern Illinois divisions chose the CyberMed HN24 to implement in all of their ORs. HSHS initially looked at Tier 1 solutions, but were pushed by end users to choose a medical grade PC because of the need for regular disinfecting. Cybernet’s IP65 rating and antimicrobial casing were the perfect solution for their needs. The 24” display was another crucial component to being Epic compliant. The larger display allowed for the Epic dashboard to be displayed properly, meaning all critical information was easy to read and process. The all-in-one design meant a smaller footprint in the OR and the flexibility to use an antimicrobial mouse or the built-in touchscreen. When coupled with VESA mount capability, deployment of these powerful PCs would be much easier without taking up valuable space in the OR. The CyberMed HN24 will be rolled out in phases throughout all of the hospitals in the Central and Southern Illinois divisions. As the Tier 1 computers being used in Wisconsin need to be replaced, those hospitals will also be switched over to Cybernet units.

Go live at HSHS has been done in phases. St. Elizabeth hospital was the first hospital in the network to be fully deployed and operational with the new Cybernet units. Getting the CyberMed HN24 installed and running was a smooth process. With the exception of some network and mapping obstacles that needed to be overcome, the transition to Epic has been a success. Feedback from end users has been extremely positive. Live charting is done during procedures and information is automatically updated in patient records in Epic EMR. This has streamlined processes and has helped to improve both patient care, patient privacy and patient safety. What might be even more impressive is that St. Elizabeth has already started getting requests from doctors and other end users to upgrade other equipment with Cybernet models. Roll out will continue throughout the next several months in Illinois, with Wisconsin to follow.