Hospital Infection Control Dramatically Improved Through TheraDoc's Real-Time Surveillance and Decision Support

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SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2003--

Infection Control Assistant(TM) Automatically Delivers Data

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Essential to Quickly Identifying, Quantifying and Controlling

Hospital- and Community-Acquired Infections

TheraDoc Inc.(R), a medical informatics company specializing in therapeutic decision-support, has launched its Web-based Infection Control Assistant. The integrated software automates hospital-wide surveillance for infection-related events and "pushes" critical, real-time patient data to infection control professionals (ICPs). Through TheraDoc's technology, ICPs no longer need to painstakingly compile and enter data by hand, dramatically improving infection control and patient safety while reducing costs -- all critical quality-of-care initiatives pursued by leading healthcare institutions today.

The Infection Control Assistant (ICA) works in conjunction with TheraDoc's premier product, the Antibiotic Assistant. These modules integrate with a hospital's information and ancillary systems to survey patient population data stored in multiple electronic sources including medical records, ADT, pharmacy, laboratory and radiology. The Infection Control Assistant is uniquely capable of reasoning across these databases, automatically identifying and examining relevant patient data to signal ICPs about the development of unique community- or hospital-acquired infections.

Predetermined changes in a patient's status trigger the software's intelligent alerting capabilities, which immediately notify ICPs of a potential problem through an electronic device of their choice -- PDA, pager, fax or e-mail. Simultaneously, the Infection Control Assistant presents ICPs with all data relevant to the event via Internet-connected devices, including tablets, laptops and PCs. Hyperlinks allow immediate access to patient records and the documentation that led TheraDoc's inference engines to suspect an infectious event, including lab results and radiological studies. In addition, the Infection Control Assistant provides a comprehensive initial analysis of the outbreak, which ICPs can then utilize to establish baseline infection rates and identify patterns of infections occurring within the institution or the surrounding community.

"This clinical decision-support module ensures that the critical information needed to identify, quantify and control infections is automatically presented as actionable information within the daily workflow," stated Stanley Pestotnik, TheraDoc's co-founder and CEO. "We have worked closely with ICPs to understand their specific needs and have designed a system that allows them to quickly analyze and respond to potentially life-threatening infections as early as possible."

TheraDoc's Cindy Nielson, Pharm.D. and ICA project manager, notes, "ICPs no longer have to search through several disparate systems, losing valuable time locating, retrieving and organizing information. Additionally, after reviewing the comprehensive information placed at their fingertips, they can initiate control measures to contain the infection and prevent its spread without leaving the Infection Control Assistant."

Great Plains Regional Medical Center, a not-for-profit, 116-bed community hospital in North Platte, Neb., recently installed the Antibiotic Assistant and Infection Control Assistant. Infection control nurse Teresa Nowak reports, "TheraDoc's real-time reporting has allowed me to significantly control and reduce infections. In the past, I have had to manually analyze information a month or two behind." Nowak fully expects that the comprehensive capabilities of the Infection Control Assistant will enable her to better initiate the management of -- and thus further reduce -- outbreaks of nosocomial infections at GPRMC.

Module Provides Targeted Surveillance

As it continuously monitors patient populations and procedures that experience increased incidences of infection, the customizable software allows ICPs to conduct targeted surveillance of specific microbes, infection sites, special populations (transplant patients), special procedure patients (dialysis) and specific devices (ventilator-associated pneumonia). It also tracks cultures by patient, hospital department or specimen type.

While the Infection Control Assistant provides improved infection control capabilities throughout a hospital, the intensive care unit (ICU) will most dramatically benefit. Nowak notes, "The Infection Control Assistant allows me to identify current surgical site infection rates on a monthly basis, for all surgeons and all procedures. Previously, this process was performed on a yearly basis for each surgeon and only on one designated procedure."

Online Antibiogram Enables In-Depth Analysis of In-House Organisms

Another prominent feature of the Infection Control Assistant is its ability to create an institution-based antibiogram for both community- and hospital-acquired organisms. Clinicians can access the Web-based antibiograms in real-time to select an organism and conduct an analysis of antibiotics tested and levels of susceptibility. The antibiogram is automatically updated monthly to enable the reduction of institution-specific resistant strains of organisms.

Software Enables Compliance with Mandatory Reporting Requirements

A hospital-acquired infection, which JCAHO has established as a sentinel event, requires specific reporting and investigative activities to determine the cause of the event and to prevent similar events in the future. TheraDoc's software generates site-specific clinical and administrative reports that help meet institutional and state requirements for reporting nosocomial infections. In addition, the Infection Control Assistant continually monitors for notifiable diseases, automatically alerts ICPs when it locates evidence and generates a variety of reports that meet state health department requirements.

The Infection Control Assistant's comprehensive capabilities substantially support the ICPs' decision-making process by providing essential information needed to significantly accelerate clinical intervention, thus improving patient care and reducing mortality rates and health costs. Early adopters of TheraDoc's new Infection Control Assistant include Mayo Foundation in Jacksonville, Fla., PeaceHealth and Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

About TheraDoc

TheraDoc is a medical informatics company specializing in therapeutic, real-time decision support that improves the quality, safety, and efficiency of patient care in large and small healthcare organizations. Integrated with disparate information systems or electronic medical records, TheraDoc's technology helps clinicians manage multiple processes of care across multiple conditions and diseases.

Founded in 1999, TheraDoc designs, develops and supports a suite of clinical decision support technologies. TheraDoc's founders and core medical informatics team are internationally recognized for their pioneering work in medical expert systems. Their experience in clinical decision support design and development spans two decades.

On the Net: TheraDoc's site: www.TheraDoc.com