Microsoft Unveils Tool to Track Hospital Infections

This past weekend at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2008 meeting, Microsoft has unveiled a new system to track in-hospital sepsis cases. Though currently designed to mitigate sepsis infections, the modular system, developed to be integrated with various bedside medical devices, is promised to expand its abilities to deal with the whole range of other nosocomial infections.

The first module of this platform available is the Patient Safety Screening Tool for Sepsis offering. Sepsis is a deadly infection that strikes an estimated 750,000 people annually in the United States alone. Microsoft’s Patient Safety Screening Tool for Sepsis is being supported and delivered by Microsoft partner Accent on Integration (AOI), a leading systems integrator focused on the healthcare market, with clinical direction from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Built entirely on the Microsoft platform, the solution leverages Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 and Microsoft InfoPath (Office 2007 version).
With highly adaptable code that can be modified to any customer environment, the PSST for Sepsis is designed to provide rapid implementation with minimal configuration. The solution’s first focus is on tracking sepsis, the 10th leading killer worldwide, but will have the ability to track many other diseases…
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is taking proactive steps against sepsis. VUMC is currently conducting a pilot project in which Microsoft’s PSST for Sepsis is assisting with the early detection of the disease. The solution relies on integration with bedside medical equipment data as well as lab and registration data, so that clinical workflow items can be automated to prevent the rise of sepsis. At VUMC, all this information can be communicated to the PSST through an innovative remote patient-monitoring solution called Vigilance from Acuitec.

Press release: Microsoft Introduces Patient Safety Screening Tool to Stop Spread of in-Hospital Infections …