Becker's Hospital Review

42 CIO / HEALTH IT 1 in 4 outpatient providers are thinking of replacing EHR, survey finds By Jackie Drees M ore than one-third (39 percent) of outpatient providers are consider- ing replacing various technology solutions within the next year and a half, ac- cording to a Reaction Data report. Reaction Data surveyed 153 ambulatory care providers across the U.S. for its Outpatient EHR Replacement report. ree survey insights: 1. When asked what solutions participants were considering replacing, respondents said: • 27 percent: EHR • 18 percent: Patient engagement • 12 percent: Revenue cycle management • 12 percent: Population health 2. When asked why providers are looking for new solutions, participants said: • 33 percent: Current solutions not fitting needs • 20 percent: Other systems in market of- fer better value • 19 percent: Negative experience with service model and support on current system • 18 percent: Lack of new functionality released • 5 percent: Price • 5 percent: Organization is aligning with another entity 3. When asked what areas to consider when looking for a new solution, respon- dents said product's ease of use (25 per- cent), product's features and functionality (23 percent) and product's interoperability and integration (21 percent). n Drone delivers kidney for transplant at U of Maryland By Jackie Drees A n unmanned aircraft system transported a donor kidney for the first time to Baltimore-based University of Maryland Medical Center for a transplantation surgery. The drone flew 2.8 miles from a location in southwest Baltimore April 19 to deliver the donor organ, which came from Maryland, to the University of Maryland Medical Center, a health system spokesperson told Becker's Hos- pital Review. The drone was custom-built to monitor the organ in real time while in the air and to send updates to personnel handling the transplant. The kidney was delivered to a 44-year-old woman who had spent eight years on dialysis before undergoing transplant surgery. "We had to create a new system that was still within the regulatory structure of the [Federal Aviation Administration], but also capable of carrying the ad- ditional weight of the organ, cameras and organ tracking, communications and safety systems over an urban, densely populated area — for a longer dis- tance and with more endurance," Matthew Scassero, director of University of Maryland's UAS test site in California, Md., said in a news release. The flight was a collaboration between University of Maryland Medical Cen- ter, UMD School of Medicine, UMD aviation and engineering experts and Living Legacy Foundation, an organ and tissue donation nonprofit organiza- tion. Prior to the April 19 delivery, the team developed and tested the drone system by transporting saline, blood tubes and other materials as well as a healthy, but nonviable, human kidney. n Yale New Haven tests driverless hospital shuttles By Andrea Park A shuttle between Connecticut-based Yale New Haven Hospital's two main campuses and parking facilities could be completely driverless within just a few years, if the city's application to a state pilot program is approved, the New Haven Register reported. Yale New Haven, the New Haven Parking Authority and the city have report- edly teamed up to propose the introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on a 1.7-mile route between the hospital's 20 York St. and St. Raphael cam- puses and the Air Rights Garage. The proposal will be submitted by the end of May to Connecticut's Fully Autonomous Vehicle Testing Pilot Program, which was established in 2017 to encourage the testing and implementa- tion of AVs across the state. If approved, the study will cost the city $40,000 to $50,000, Doug Hausladen, director of the city's Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking, and acting director of the NHPA, estimated. The hospital shuttles would be 16-foot-long, battery-operated vehicles ca- pable of autonomous operation, though, during the testing period, a driver will be on board. The shuttles can carry eight seated passengers and up to eight more standing riders, travel at an average speed of 15 miles per hour and are wheelchair accessible. Each vehicle will cost between $200,000 and $250,000, according to the New Haven Independent. n

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