CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- LiveData Inc. announced that the company's OR-Dashboard has been installed into a new integrated OR system at the Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare Facility in Miami, providing the cornerstone for advances in both workflow efficiency and patient safety. KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America, Inc., led the technology installation, which includes the KARL STORZ OR1® integration platform, and LiveData OR-Dashboard with Active Time Out.

The new system is being deployed in all nine fully integrated OR1surgical suites at the Bruce W. Carter VA Medical Center in Miami, and will go “live” on June 3. Four of the nine ORs are used for general surgical application, while the others are intended primarily for cardiothoracic procedures, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and two for cystoscopy.

Each state-of-the-art operating room incorporates a range of products and systems to integrate virtually all clinical processes in the OR, enhancing overall workflow and focus on patient-centered diagnosis and treatment.

“Like any other group of professionals, surgical teams operate most effectively when workflow is efficient and information is reliable,” said Dr. Seth A. Spector, Chief of Surgery, Miami VA Healthcare System. “The new technologies deployed at our Miami facility represent the best-of-breed approach to team communications and workflow. These new ORs will contribute greatly to the advancement of patient safety in particular, and OR outcomes in general.”

LiveData is a leader in real-time data integration and display technology. KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America is a provider of endoscopy and operating room integration solutions. KARL STORZ OR1 and LiveData OR-Dashboard integrate to bring hospitals a truly patient-centric operating room, where the surgical team can focus more fully and effectively on the patient.

As a joint solution, the technologies combine comprehensive real-time data from nursing, surgery, and anesthesia systems with the surgical video, PACS images, and lab reports. Images and data are displayed side by side on large wall-mounted screens providing every member of the OR team with clear and immediate access to critical information about the patient, procedure, and equipment.

By automatically gathering and displaying real-time data from disparate sources, OR-Dashboard supports the VA National Center for Patient Safety Directive 2010-023: Ensuring Correct Surgery; reinforces consistent adherence to safety protocols; and helps eliminate “never events,” which are errors generally considered so threatening to patient safety that they should never happen. One of the most important features of OR-Dashboard is Active Time Out (ATO), a patient safety application that engages the entire OR team in the Surgical Safety Checklist. Easy and convenient, ATO automatically shows all relevant information with each checklist item, enables the circulating nurse to review and document compliance at the point of care, and automatically records and timestamps all checklist responses.

“Active Time Out helps establish a culture of safety with emphasis on open team communication. It encourages discussion of the procedure’s game plan,” said LiveData CEO Jeff Robbins. “Hospitals using ATO tell me that one of its most important benefits is the fact that it institutes a measurable process.”

“Using these integrated technologies helps ensure that surgical teams have the right information at the right time, improving patient safety and easing communication among team members,” said Christy Gaudet, Director of OR1 Marketing, KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America. “Promoting OR workflow efficiency and productivity helps hospitals capitalize on existing IT investments, while streamlining interaction with other parts of the hospital to improve OR and PACU workflow.

KARL STORZ OR1 integrated operating rooms provide centralized control of essential surgical equipment and systems, managing endoscopic and peripheral devices. OR1 systems is the audio and video control backbone of the OR, as well as the communication and documentation bridge for all video flow into and out of the OR. Building on over 13 years of proven medical integration design, each room offers future-proof infrastructures, and a user-friendly design to optimize workflow.

About KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America

KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America, Inc., is an affiliate of KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG, an international leader for more than 65 years in reusable endoscope technology, encompassing all endoscopic specialties. Based in Tuttlingen, Germany, KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG is a family-owned company that designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets all its products with an emphasis on visionary design, precision craftsmanship, and clinical effectiveness. For more information, call (800) 421-0837 or visit the company’s Web site at www.karlstorz.com.

LiveData is a leading innovator in real-time data integration and display technology. The company’s patents-pending solutions gather data from any number of sources, coordinate it with team workflow, and present it as meaningful information on easy-to-read, graphic displays. Leading medical institutions, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, have selected LiveData OR-Dashboard to improve patient safety, team communication, and perioperative efficiency. Founded in 1991, LiveData is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and serves customers in healthcare, electric power and utilities, and manufacturing industries, as well as state and local governments. For more information, visit www.livedata.com.