ECRI Institute's 2012 Health Devices Achievement Award - Call for Entries

7^th Annual Award Will Recognize Excellence in Health Technology Management

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), an independent, nonprofit organization that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, is now accepting submissions to its seventh annual Health Devices Achievement Award program. The award honors healthcare facilities for achieving excellence in health technology management.

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"Our member hospitals consistently undertake important initiatives to improve patient safety, improve healthcare quality, and reduce costs. Our goal with this award is to not only honor outstanding work, but to broadly share their best practices and lessons learned," says James P. Keller, Jr., vice president, health technology evaluation and safety, ECRI Institute.

The deadline for submissions for this year's award is June 1, 2012. Entries are accepted online at https://www.ecri.org/hdaward.

Initiatives may relate to any health technology management endeavor, including the following:

• Patient safety
• Technology selection and service
• Resource allocation
• Hazard and recall management
• Staff training
• Accreditation

The winner of ECRI Institute's 2012 Health Devices Achievement Award will receive a plaque honoring its accomplishment and will be featured in ECRI Institute's Health Devices journal and in other promotional outlets. Last year's winner, Grande Ronde Hospital, La Grande, OR, submitted descriptions of its groundbreaking telemedicine initiative.

"We are so honored to receive this recognition from ECRI Institute," said Douglas Romer, Executive Director, Patient Care Services, Grande Ronde Hospital. "It's great to be recognized for the work our team has done with our Telemedicine Program. The true reward, though, is what these multi-specialty programs have meant for our patients," Romer said. "People in our rural community have had to travel great distances and incur significant expense to access specialty medical care. With telemedicine, our patients are able to receive that care right here at Grande Ronde Hospital, surrounded by their families and other local support systems."

Previous winners of the Health Devices Achievement Award include:

2011 - Grande Ronde Hospital, La Grande, OR
2010 - Kaiser Permanente, Irvine, CA
2009 - Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, New Lebanon, NH
2008 - Children's Hospital, Omaha, NE
2007 - Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX
2006 - Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI

Applicants must represent a healthcare facility that is a current member of one of the following: Health Devices System, Health Devices Online, HDgold, or SELECTplus. Submit online at https://www.ecri.org/hdaward, via e-mail at [email protected], fax to (610) 834-1275, or mail to: ECRI Institute, 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 19462, USA.

About ECRI Institute

ECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best to enable improved patient care. As pioneers in this science for more than 40 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. Strict conflict-of-interest guidelines ensure objectivity. ECRI Institute is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO is listed as a federally-certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources. Find ECRI Institute on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ECRIInstitute) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ECRI_Institute). For more information, visit https://www.ecri.org.

SOURCE ECRI Institute