Read this article about Westchester Medical Center, one of our finalists, in the category Best Achievement of Operational Excellence in Healthcare, selected by the independent judging panel, for the 2019 Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Industry Awards program. Click here to read articles on other finalists.

Located in Valhalla, New York, Westchester Medical Center is the Hudson Valley region's advanced medical care and referral hospital. Spanning every adult and pediatric medical specialty Westchester Medical Center (WMC), the 895-bed regional medical system serving New York’s Hudson Valley region and beyond, encompassing a regional academic medical center, children’s hospital, community hospital, two inpatient behavioral health centers, homecare and numerous outpatient health and related services serves as a lifeline to the more than 3.5 million people.

Westchester Medical Center has the highest case-mix index in the U.S., caring for the most severely ill or injured patients in the nation. And as such, WMC places a strong focus on delivering the most advanced services in the region and identifying clinical and operational improvements to help transform the delivery of care. In October of 2015, WMCHealth unveiled a technology-driven eHealth program. The eHealth program represents an initial $7 million investment in technology, infrastructure, staff and additional resources in the well-being of Hudson Valley residents by WMCHealth. At the core of WMCHealth’s eHealth initiative is the network’s 5,500-square-foot eHealth operations center, which features 20 multimedia stations equipped with the latest telehealth patient monitoring technologies.

This hub is staffed 24-7 by highly-trained physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals who serve, remotely, as a complement to – and not a replacement fort – the dedicated care teams for WMCHealth patients in network hospitals, nursing homes, and physician offices. Using the eHealth Center’s state-of-the-art telehealth technology, expertly-trained medical staff are able to accurately monitor patients in a centralized location. Vital signs, medications, blood test results, X-rays and other pertinent information from bedside monitors is sent to the eHealth control center. These electronic ICU (eICU) patients are monitored through the use of special, two-way video cameras which allow the eHealth team to consult directly with bedside doctors, nurses, family members and patients.

Since its inception, the eHealth center has focused on identifying opportunities to promote better patient outcomes and improve operational efficiencies through the identification, implementation and adherence to best practices. Two such initiatives that have had a direct impact on patient outcomes and operational efficiency are described herein. The first initiative demonstrates the impact of utilizing the eICU to implement best practices to help reduce stress ulcer prophylaxis. Consensus Best Practice Adherence contributes significantly to the safety and clinical outcomes of patients that meet consensus criteria to receive stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) and/or Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis. As per 2017 Q3 data, WMC ranked first in Composite Best Practice Compliance nationally when compared to all other eICU supported tertiary/ quaternary academic teaching hospital systems in the US.

The second initiative identifies the impact of utilizing the eICU to implement and maintain compliance in lung protective ventilation. Lung Protective Ventilation (LPV) strategies contribute significantly to the safety and clinical outcomes of patients in need for mechanical ventilation. Through systematic monitoring of LPV parameters by the eICU staff, collaborative discussion, and adjustment of LPV parameters through eICU-to-ICU interactions significant improvements in LPV adherence have been realized.