Surgical errors occur more than 4,000 times a year in the U.S. 1; at least 39 and 20 times per week, respectively, surgeons leave foreign objects, such towels and sponges, inside their patients, perform the wrong surgery, or operate on the wrong body part.2 A game-changing data interaction tool debuting at HIMSS14 gives healthcare providers a new solution to address these challenges.
Developed by The Garage, AiR is one of the world’s first hands-free, fully integrated and interactive solutions designed to prevent wrong-site/wrong-side surgery and related surgical errors. Built on the Microsoft Kinect® platform, AiR increases patient satisfaction, improves OR efficiency, generates better outcomes, and enables healthcare teams to deliver quality and safety at the highest levels.
The Garage will showcase AiR in booth 4008 at the 2014 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, February 24-27, at the Orange County Convention Center, West Building in Orlando. HIMSS14 brings together 37,000+ healthcare IT professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors from around the world.
AiR introduces an intuitive patient safety product by integrating voice command, gestures and clinical data. The patent-pending, patient safety-centric solution provides scrubbed surgical teams with easy, hands-free voice and gesture access to pertinent patient records and surgical details, as well as the ability to zoom in or out of images (such as DiCom) without ever touching a surface. The product’s other key features and functions include seamless integration with backend EMR/surgery scheduling program to pre-populate data; visual surgical site marking using extensive mapping; real-time audits (AiR’s camera functionality documents and verifies the surgical site and procedure, “Time Out” process, and surgical findings); in-surgery dictation; real-time reports via a web-based interface; and click and touch capabilities. AiR can be prominently displayed in the OR to allow for all staff to view the patient screen, increasing accountability and communication. Offering the best in class ROI, the product is affordable and very easy to install.
“AiR is a game-changer in the patient safety and OR efficiency marketplace,” said The Garage Founder and CEO Pranam Ben. “Everyone benefits: surgical teams can conduct procedures with ease and confidence, while healthcare organizations protect patients, comply with industry regulations, and reduce the potential risks and costs associated with wrong-site/wrong-side surgeries and related surgical ‘never events’.”
Representatives from several Florida-based surgical centers where AiR is now deployed highlighted its benefits. "This technology works, and it has tremendous potential to significantly improve surgical processes,” commented Dr. Amit Varma with Clermont Surgical and Ambulatory Center. "AiR provides a much needed true 'Time-Out' audit, focusing on the safety of the patient and in turn improving surgical care,” said Jackie Donahue, manager of Beth Israel Surgical Center in Pompano Beach. "It helps our staff adhere to the highest quality and safety practices,” added Ivan Reyes, CEO of Broward Medical Center in Pompano Beach. “I anticipate AiR will also increase our patient satisfaction numbers.”
AiR’s patient safety module is the first area of focus for The Garage as it rolls out its innovative product. Other healthcare applications for the solution include clinical analysis; interactive training; care interventions; health education; and patient entertainment. The Garage will also showcase several other health IT innovations at HIMSS14.