Aurora Research Institute wins $1.5 million DOD grant to develop patient-centered electronic decision-making tool
Milwaukee – The Aurora Research Institute, a division of Aurora Health Care, has won a $1.5 million U.S. Dept. of Defense grant to study an advanced electronic health record system that proactively alerts nurses to health risks facing individual patients. This knowledge-based nursing initiative is led by principal investigator, Mary Hook PhD, and her team.
The patient-centered tool interprets patient data entered by the nurse and then alerts the nurse of issues that may require special attention. The alerts also advise the nurse on what interventions to use based on up-to-date evidence-based practices. For example, the system will automatically indicate if a patient is a fall risk or is experiencing delirium vs. dementia.
In standard electronic health record systems, the care provider must determine if an intervention may be needed and then scroll through the electronic health record to find the appropriate decision-making tool. Also the information in the decision-making tool may not be based on best-practices developed from peer-reviewed medical research, but on standards based on “this is how we’ve always done it.”
The military and Aurora Health Care share an interest in leveraging this new electronic health record technology to improve patient outcomes and enhance nurse training.
The new technology allows nurses, particularly those new to the profession, the ability to work at a higher level. For example, while an experienced nurse may know by instinct when a patient has delirium and not dementia, a new nurse may not. Embedded data on evidence-based practices allows the system to provide immediate and accurate information to the caregiver.
Initial results suggest the tool is improving patient outcomes and shortening hospital stays, which can lower costs for the patient and hospital.
Aurora Health Care is a not-for-profit Wisconsin based health care provider and a national leader in efforts to improve the quality of care. Aurora provides care at sites in more than 90 communities throughout eastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
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