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VA picks Picis for anesthesia record keeping

By Mike Miliard , Executive Editor

Picis has been awarded a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contract to implement an anesthesia record keeping (ARK) system in the Stars & Stripes Healthcare Network, a Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) serving Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia.
 
Known as VISN 4, this group of VA medical centers selected Picis Preop Manager, Anesthesia Manager and PACU Manager to streamline clinician workflow, anesthesia documentation and continuity of care before, during and after surgical cases. Picis Critical Care Manager is already being deployed in VISN 4’s intensive care units (ICU).
 
By selecting Picis for anesthesia and the ICU, VISN 4 healthcare providers will have easy access to complete patient care records – spanning surgical care and the ICU –  in one application and on one common, central database.
 
Picis Anesthesia Manager and PACU Manager help clinicians manage large volumes of data in the operating room by assembling important data and providing a complete overview of a patient's status at any point in time. By automating the intraoperative and postoperative anesthesia documentation, including patient vital signs and physiologic data, these solutions are designed to provide a more complete, accurate and legible record that enhances accountability and increases clinician efficiency.

Combined with Picis Critical Care Manager, the result is a care guidance system that enables clinicians to treat high-acuity patients using comprehensive care information available where and when they need it.
 
After a search for anesthesia information systems, the VISN 4 selection team chose the Picis perioperative solution, part of the Picis CareSuite of high-acuity solutions, to meet the ARK and post anesthesia care unit (PACU) documentation needs of its eight medical centers.

This is the second independent award that Picis has received from VISN 4 this year. In April, the VISN 4 selection committee chose Picis Critical Care Manager for its ICU Clinical Information System (CIS) needs. This recent award builds on VISN 4’s Picis foundation and extends its partnership with Picis across perioperative and critical care. Picis Anesthesia Manager will replace two existing legacy systems and paper record-keeping processes throughout the VISN 4 network.
 
“We are grateful for the opportunity to serve as a core technology within the VA healthcare community, and believe it reflects our commitment to and history of helping hospitals automate documentation and optimize high-acuity care for our veterans,” said Todd Cozzens, CEO of Picis. “The caregivers of the Veterans Health Administration are some of the most competent and dedicated in the world, and we’re pleased to provide them with state-of-the-art solutions to help to raise their already high standards of care. We believe the integration of our anesthesia and critical care information solutions with the VA’s electronic medical records (EMR) gives the VA medical centers seamless data availability and specialized functionality for high-acuity care.”
 
This award also marks the eighth major VISN-level award in the last 19 months for Picis. The Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia VA medical centers in VISN 4 are among 42 VA medical centers in 11 networks across the country that use Picis’ specialized solutions to automate the clinical documentation and business functions in the OR and ICU, including 32 ARK clients. The VISN 4 medical centers deploying the Picis anesthesia and PACU solution as part of this contract are:


  • James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center, Altoona, Pa.
  • Erie VA Medical Center, Erie, Pa.
  • Lebanon VA Medical Center, Lebanon, Pa.
  • Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Philadelphia
  • Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
  • Wilmington VA Medical Center, Wilmington, Del.
  • Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center, Clarksburg, W.Va.
  • VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh

 
Picis’ growing relationship within the VA, says Cozzens, relates in part to its proven interoperability with the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) and DSS DataBridge, helping to eliminate silos of data, reduce redundant documentation and facilitate clinicians’ access to data.