IBM Case Studies WHEN CHANGE BRINGS OPPORTUNITY: How Merge’s cardiology solutions helped Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare provide high-quality, consistent care.

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	WHEN CHANGE BRINGS OPPORTUNITY: How Merge’s cardiology solutions helped Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare provide high-quality, consistent care. IBM

WHEN CHANGE BRINGS OPPORTUNITY: How Merge’s cardiology solutions helped Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare provide high-quality, consistent care.

IBM

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
Applicable Industries	Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions	Logistics & Transportation Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Remote Asset Management Remote Patient Monitoring
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration
Challenge	The 2013 merger between Edward Hospital & Health Services and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare created one of the largest health systems in Illinois. As is often the case with this type of amalgamation, executives of the newly named Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare faced numerous integration challenges and had to determine the best way to maximize each organization’s strengths. One of the challenges was deciding on a cardiology system. Before the merger, both hospitals used Merge’s cardiology solutions, Merge Cardio™ and Merge Hemo™, for a single web-based view of each patient’s complete record. The decision to continue using these products was an easy one, says Jeff Hanson, manager of imaging informatics at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare, since users at both locations are delighted with their performance. Read More
About Customer	Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare is one of the largest integrated health systems in Illinois, created by the merger of Edward Hospital and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare. The health system does approximately 33,000 cardiology studies per year—22,000 examinations at the Edward campus and 11,000 at the Elmhurst campus. They use Merge Hemo and Merge Cardio for every study. The health system also uses Merge Healthcare’s zero-download diagnostic viewer, iConnect® Access, which allows physicians to access all of a patient’s images within the electronic medical record (EMR) workflow without downloading any software. They can also view the images on any browser-based device. Read More
Solution	The cardiac cath lab technicians use the Merge Hemo system for every inventory case and to chart and monitor patients. With Merge Hemo, Edward-Elmhurst can use a single server for multiple facilities and departments, and automate their cath lab process into a digital patient record. Among the many valuable features are an easy-to-use touch screen interface, templates that automatically populate known data fields, and the ability to experience real-time patient monitoring. The data from Merge Hemo gets transferred to Merge Cardio, where cardiologists complete their final report for exams. With Merge Cardio, they can access and manage their patients’ digital records from a centralized, web-based system, which saves time and leads to more accurate, complete and faster results. Merge Cardio also integrates patient information from different sources and allows cardiologists to generate a report that can be distributed in a single session. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems

Applicable Industries

Healthcare & Hospitals

Applicable Functions

Logistics & Transportation

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Remote Asset Management

Remote Patient Monitoring

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Challenge

The 2013 merger between Edward Hospital & Health Services and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare created one of the largest health systems in Illinois. As is often the case with this type of amalgamation, executives of the newly named Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare faced numerous integration challenges and had to determine the best way to maximize each organization’s strengths. One of the challenges was deciding on a cardiology system. Before the merger, both hospitals used Merge’s cardiology solutions, Merge Cardio™ and Merge Hemo™, for a single web-based view of each patient’s complete record. The decision to continue using these products was an easy one, says Jeff Hanson, manager of imaging informatics at Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare, since users at both locations are delighted with their performance.

About Customer

Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare is one of the largest integrated health systems in Illinois, created by the merger of Edward Hospital and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare. The health system does approximately 33,000 cardiology studies per year—22,000 examinations at the Edward campus and 11,000 at the Elmhurst campus. They use Merge Hemo and Merge Cardio for every study. The health system also uses Merge Healthcare’s zero-download diagnostic viewer, iConnect® Access, which allows physicians to access all of a patient’s images within the electronic medical record (EMR) workflow without downloading any software. They can also view the images on any browser-based device.

Solution

The cardiac cath lab technicians use the Merge Hemo system for every inventory case and to chart and monitor patients. With Merge Hemo, Edward-Elmhurst can use a single server for multiple facilities and departments, and automate their cath lab process into a digital patient record. Among the many valuable features are an easy-to-use touch screen interface, templates that automatically populate known data fields, and the ability to experience real-time patient monitoring. The data from Merge Hemo gets transferred to Merge Cardio, where cardiologists complete their final report for exams. With Merge Cardio, they can access and manage their patients’ digital records from a centralized, web-based system, which saves time and leads to more accurate, complete and faster results. Merge Cardio also integrates patient information from different sources and allows cardiologists to generate a report that can be distributed in a single session.

Impact #1	Automating the cath lab process into a digital patient record across the entire system
Impact #2	Accessing and managing patients’ digital records from a centralized, web-based system, saving time and leading to more accurate, complete and faster results
Impact #3	Significant improvements pertaining to echocardiograms, better controls for video clips, and faster speeds when downloading cases

Impact #1

Automating the cath lab process into a digital patient record across the entire system

Impact #2

Accessing and managing patients’ digital records from a centralized, web-based system, saving time and leading to more accurate, complete and faster results

Impact #3

Significant improvements pertaining to echocardiograms, better controls for video clips, and faster speeds when downloading cases

Benefit #1	The combined Edward-Elmhurst health system does approximately 33,000 cardiology studies per year—22,000 examinations at the Edward campus and 11,000 at the Elmhurst campus.

Benefit #1

The combined Edward-Elmhurst health system does approximately 33,000 cardiology studies per year—22,000 examinations at the Edward campus and 11,000 at the Elmhurst campus.

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Overview

WHEN CHANGE BRINGS OPPORTUNITY: How Merge’s cardiology solutions helped Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare provide high-quality, consistent care.

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit