OSF HealthCare expands use of DeviceWise to enhance safety for people with medical implants
OSF HealthCare has signed an agreement to deploy DeviceWise™ across its hospitals, providing care teams with rapid access to critical information that helps protect patients with implanted medical devices during surgical and procedural care.
As advances in medicine continue to improve patient outcomes, more patients arrive at health care facilities with implanted devices, such as pacemakers, neurostimulators, infusion pumps and other technologies. At the same time, many instruments commonly used in surgical and procedural settings can generate electromagnetic fields that may interfere with these implants, creating potential safety risks.
DeviceWise addresses this challenge by providing clinicians with immediate access to device-specific guidance. Through a simple web-based application, users can select the type and model of an implanted device and quickly receive recommendations for patient management, along with facility-specific instructions, manufacturer contact information and other relevant resources.
The Ministrywide rollout reflects the commitment OSF HealthCare has to leveraging innovation to improve patient safety and support frontline caregivers with practical tools that fit seamlessly into clinical workflows.
“DeviceWise grew from a simple but important question: How can we make critical information easier for caregivers to access when they need it most?” said Becky Buchen, senior vice president, OSF Innovation and Transformation. “The answer came from the ingenuity of OSF Mission Partners who understood the challenge firsthand. Through the support of OSF Innovation Studio, those ideas were transformed into a scalable solution that can help clinicians make informed decisions and enhance safety for patients with implanted devices.”
The technology behind DeviceWise originated from innovation developed by surgery nurses Jill Teubel, MSN, BSN, RN, and Mary Marvin, APRN, MSN, RN, and was supported through OSF Innovation Studio’s ecosystem for advancing new ideas and startup ventures. OpenSurg Inc., the parent company, has licensed the intellectual property owned by OSF HealthCare to commercialize the technology.
OpenSurg CEO Jim Weldy says of reaching the milestone, “Getting this contract signed is a great capstone to this entire effort. It’s a meaningful juncture to reflect on all it has taken to get to this point: initial concept from frontline OSF nurses, prototype build through OSF Innovation, proof of value in reducing cancellations and costs, rolling it out across all OSF hospitals, company launch, intellectual property licensing, commercial productization of the concept, and now getting through the rigorous contracting process.”
The announcement also follows a significant intellectual property milestone. The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently granted a patent for CaseChat™, an innovation related to surgical and procedural workflows. OSF HealthCare owns the patent for the original product, DeviceTable, and underlying intellectual property. OpenSurg holds an exclusive license to further develop and commercialize the technology.
CaseChat represents a future product opportunity and remains under development.
“Every improvement that helps our teams identify risks and access information more efficiently has the potential to make a meaningful difference for patients,” says Sherri Greenwood, DNP, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, vice president of Surgical & Procedural Services for OSF HealthCare. “Deploying DeviceWise across OSF HealthCare strengthens our ability to support caregivers with timely, reliable information and reinforces our commitment to delivering safe, high-quality care throughout every stage of the patient experience. Greenwood adds, “Having this information at our fingertips prevents potential delays in our patients’ care.”
Weldy says, “OpenSurg is working on ways to bring more of those efficiencies to other hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers around the country, so patients everywhere can benefit!”
OpenSurg is also a participant in the current gBETA Distillery Labs accelerator cohort, a program supported by OSF HealthCare that helps emerging companies accelerate growth and bring innovative solutions to market.
The deployment of DeviceWise across OSF HealthCare hospitals will begin this summer with implementation occurring throughout the Ministry.
