/ en Sat, 26 Apr 2025 07:39:04 -0500 Tue, 18 Apr 23 07:51:43 -0500 /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2023-04-18-how-or-black-boxes-are-helping-improve-safety <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <p><img alt="How OR 'Black Boxes' Are Helping to Improve Safety. An OR Black Box next to a mirror reflection an operating room during a surgery." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="80ce39d3-d8e5-4752-95a8-1c3164469d19" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/How-OR-Black-Boxes-Are-Helping-to-Improve-Safety.png" width="1200" height="675"></p> <p>When Teodor Grantcharov, M.D., Ph.D., joined Stanford Medicine last April as professor of surgery, he brought with him a valuable skill set in safety improvement research.</p> <p>In 2006, after moving to the University of Toronto, he began working with a team of engineers, designers and researchers on a “black box” for the operating room (OR). The concept was fashioned after the black boxes found in aircraft that record flight data and cockpit conversations and allow airlines to improve safety by predicting and mitigating risks.</p> <p>A few years later, the team installed the first prototype at a Toronto hospital.</p> <h2><span>Bringing 'Black Box' Technology to the OR</span></h2> <p>“I was inspired by aviation and what made aviation the safest form of transportation,” Grantcharov said in a <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2022/09/black-box-surgery.html" target="_blank" title="Stanford Medicine News Center: ‘Black boxes’ in Stanford Hospital operating rooms aid training and safety">Stanford Medicine report</a>.</p> <p>Today, the OR Black Box made by Surgical Safety Technologies Inc. in Toronto, which Grantcharov founded, is used in select ORs at Stanford Medicine and in a couple dozen hospitals in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe. The system comprises sensors and software and interacts with video, audio, patient vital signs and data captured from medical devices.</p> <p>The technology is used primarily in ORs to analyze what goes on in the environment with the aim of improving systems to reduce medical errors and enhance safety and efficiency.</p> <h2><span>Enhancing Communications</span></h2> <p>Duke University Hospital is using black boxes in two ORs to study and improve patient positioning for surgery to reduce the possibility of skin and nerve injuries. The hospital also is exploring how the technology can be used to enhance communication among nurses during surgical procedures to see that key tasks are completed, such as confirming that surgical instruments and medical devices are ready for a procedure.</p> <p>The technology also has helped Duke administrators find ways to improve systems for sending and tracking specimens, Rebecca McKenzie, assistant vice president for perioperative services, recently told <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/surgery-technology-data-black-boxes-a8bc483b" target="_blank" title="The Wall Street Journal: Hospital ‘Black Boxes’ Put Surgical Practices Under the Microscope">The Wall Street Journal</a>. The protocol for specimens, such as tissue removed and sent to a pathology lab, was revised to give clearer directions for each step in the process of handling a specimen and verify that it reaches the proper lab.</p> <p>Teams also use information from the system to increase OR efficiency and productivity by reducing OR turnaround time.</p> <h2><span>Defining What Works</span></h2> <p>The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, which began using the OR Black Box in 2020, now uses five of the systems for a more detailed look at what practices characterize high-performing OR teams. Giving teams the ability to watch themselves provides powerful education and training opportunities, notes William Daniel, the medical center’s chief quality officer.</p> <p>Although some clinicians initially were apprehensive about the possibility of the data being used for punitive purposes, they were reassured about how the data would be collected and used, giving way to acceptance as part of the hospital’s culture.</p> <p>Mayo Clinic’s Rochester, Minnesota, facility has been working with the OR Black Box since 2021 and now uses it in three of its ORs to improve teamwork and identify ways to optimize the clinical environment.</p> <p>The systems identified that some key pieces of equipment were taking too long to obtain at critical moments, Sean Cleary, M.D., a surgical oncologist at Mayo Clinic, recently told <a href="https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/patient-safety-outcomes/the-opportunities-are-limitless-how-or-black-boxes-are-changing-the-way-hospitals-operate.html" target="_blank" title="Becker's Clinical Leadership & Infection Control: 'The opportunities are limitless': How OR 'black boxes' are changing the way hospitals operate">Becker’s Hospital Review</a>. The solution: moving equipment closer to the working field to make it easier to access.</p> <h2><span>4 Things to Know about the OR Black Box</span></h2> <h3><span>1</span> <span>|</span> It’s designed to help improve systems, not assign blame.</h3> <p>The system’s algorithms blur faces and bodies so that medical personnel can’t be identified. Aggregate data are deidentified and anonymized so users can learn from the information now and in the future, and audiovisual data is deleted after 30 days to protect confidentiality of patients and providers.</p> <h3><span>2</span> <span>|</span> It has many uses.</h3> <p>Duke University Hospitals plans to add more black boxes in the future and will prioritize robotic rooms while exploring uses in trauma bays and thoracic surgery.</p> <h3><span>3</span> <span>|</span> It blends with the OR environment.</h3> <p>The system is not a physical box but a system of sensors and data recorders. It was designed not to require human input and to work unobtrusively in the OR space.</p> <h3><span>4</span> <span>|</span> It provides an opportunity to enhance clinician dialogue.</h3> <p>Holding regular quality-improvement meetings can bring together OR professionals to review and discuss data obtained from the system.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/center" title="Visit the AHA Center for Health Innovation landing page."><img alt="AHA Center for Health Innovation logo" data-entity- data-entity-uuid="7ade6b12-de98-4d0b-965f-a7c99d9463c5" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-aha-innovation-center-color-sm.jpg" type="file" class="align-center"></a></p> <a href="/center/form/innovation-subscription"><img alt data-entity-type data-entity-uuid src="/sites/default/files/2019-04/Market_Scan_Call_Out_360x300.png"></a></div> </div> </div> .field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } Tue, 18 Apr 2023 07:51:43 -0500 Internal Communications <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <h2>Introduction</h2> <p>We want to welcome you as you take on another part of the Health Equity Transformation journey. Now that you have received your HETA profile, the fun work of organizational change begins. We have heard from many hospitals and health systems that the greatest challenge is moving forward beyond the proclamation that equity is essential to patient safety and equitable hospital organizations. We have developed this action planner tool to support you in moving across the transformation continuum.</p> <p>Once you have studied and discussed your profile, you will find the links to the appropriate levers that correspond with advancing to your next position on the continuum. As part of this process, you are invited to participate in a community of learners on the equity journey in hospitals and health care systems. Sharing your innovative policies and practices, learnings, questions and accomplishments are some of the features of the Equity Roadmap Journey Community.</p> <p>As your hospital travels across the continuum we have outlined primary deliverables of each position on the continuum below:</p> <p><img alt="Tranformation Continuum. Primary Deliverables: Exploring—Strategic Planning: Develop strategic plans. Committing—Implementation Planning: Develop implementation plan of strategy. Immersing—Leadership Accountability: CEO and management teams integrate learning DEI framework as Standard Operating Procedures. Affirming—Institutionalization: Policies and practices are assessed and monitored for sustaining DEI progress toward goals. 5. Transforming—Investing in the Community Ecosystem: Collaborate with a wide range of representative stakeholders to promote DEI in the communities hospital serves." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9e838e87-ac4c-4fd3-824a-36613b15c142" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/TAP-Transformation-Continuum_0.png" width="2875" height="824"></p> <p>Action Planning is a critical step in collectively advancing equity and dismantling structural barriers (e.g., racism, sexism, ageism, etc.) in hospitals and health care systems. This process is designed to support hospitals at every stage of the journey. Some hospitals are just beginning, developing a strategic plan and looking for data to collect, while others have institutionalized equity through policy and practice. Some are collaborating with a wide range of community stakeholders to advance health equity in their ecosystem. Regardless of your starting point, AHA invites you to use the Action Planners to mobilize your leadership, governing body, staff and community toward institutional change. Discover opportunities to change policy and practices that will institutionalize equity in your organization.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/system/files/media/file/2022/01/equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-transforming.pdf" target="_blank" title="Click here to download the complete Systematic and Shared Accountability: Transforming Transformation Action Planner PDF."><img alt="Systematic and Shared Accountability: Transforming Transformation Action Planner page 1." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="41f5984d-7ade-4ffb-b25f-66364796f539" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Page-1-equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-transforming.png" width="3971" height="3069"></a></p> </div> </div> </div> Fri, 21 Jan 2022 16:36:35 -0600 Internal Communications <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <h2>Introduction</h2> <p>We want to welcome you as you take on another part of the Health Equity Transformation journey. Now that you have received your HETA profile, the fun work of organizational change begins. We have heard from many hospitals and health systems that the greatest challenge is moving forward beyond the proclamation that equity is essential to patient safety and equitable hospital organizations. We have developed this action planner tool to support you in moving across the transformation continuum.</p> <p>Once you have studied and discussed your profile, you will find the links to the appropriate levers that correspond with advancing to your next position on the continuum. As part of this process, you are invited to participate in a community of learners on the equity journey in hospitals and health care systems. Sharing your innovative policies and practices, learnings, questions and accomplishments are some of the features of the Equity Roadmap Journey Community.</p> <p>As your hospital travels across the continuum we have outlined primary deliverables of each position on the continuum below:</p> <p><img alt="Tranformation Continuum. Primary Deliverables: Exploring—Strategic Planning: Develop strategic plans. Committing—Implementation Planning: Develop implementation plan of strategy. Immersing—Leadership Accountability: CEO and management teams integrate learning DEI framework as Standard Operating Procedures. Affirming—Institutionalization: Policies and practices are assessed and monitored for sustaining DEI progress toward goals. 5. Transforming—Investing in the Community Ecosystem: Collaborate with a wide range of representative stakeholders to promote DEI in the communities hospital serves." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9e838e87-ac4c-4fd3-824a-36613b15c142" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/TAP-Transformation-Continuum_0.png" width="2875" height="824"></p> <p>Action Planning is a critical step in collectively advancing equity and dismantling structural barriers (e.g., racism, sexism, ageism, etc.) in hospitals and health care systems. This process is designed to support hospitals at every stage of the journey. Some hospitals are just beginning, developing a strategic plan and looking for data to collect, while others have institutionalized equity through policy and practice. Some are collaborating with a wide range of community stakeholders to advance health equity in their ecosystem. Regardless of your starting point, AHA invites you to use the Action Planners to mobilize your leadership, governing body, staff and community toward institutional change. Discover opportunities to change policy and practices that will institutionalize equity in your organization.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/system/files/media/file/2022/01/equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-affirming.pdf" target="_blank" title="Click here to download the complete Systematic and Shared Accountability: Affirming Transformation Action Planner PDF."><img alt="Systematic and Shared Accountability: Affirming Transformation Action Planner page 1." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ef7d5f4b-76e4-4c1b-a986-c95a08e8c91c" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Page-1-equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-affirming.png" width="4180" height="3230"></a></p> </div> </div> </div> Fri, 21 Jan 2022 16:29:11 -0600 Internal Communications <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <h2>Introduction</h2> <p>We want to welcome you as you take on another part of the Health Equity Transformation journey. Now that you have received your HETA profile, the fun work of organizational change begins. We have heard from many hospitals and health systems that the greatest challenge is moving forward beyond the proclamation that equity is essential to patient safety and equitable hospital organizations. We have developed this action planner tool to support you in moving across the transformation continuum.</p> <p>Once you have studied and discussed your profile, you will find the links to the appropriate levers that correspond with advancing to your next position on the continuum. As part of this process, you are invited to participate in a community of learners on the equity journey in hospitals and health care systems. Sharing your innovative policies and practices, learnings, questions and accomplishments are some of the features of the Equity Roadmap Journey Community.</p> <p>As your hospital travels across the continuum we have outlined primary deliverables of each position on the continuum below:</p> <p><img alt="Tranformation Continuum. Primary Deliverables: Exploring—Strategic Planning: Develop strategic plans. Committing—Implementation Planning: Develop implementation plan of strategy. Immersing—Leadership Accountability: CEO and management teams integrate learning DEI framework as Standard Operating Procedures. Affirming—Institutionalization: Policies and practices are assessed and monitored for sustaining DEI progress toward goals. 5. Transforming—Investing in the Community Ecosystem: Collaborate with a wide range of representative stakeholders to promote DEI in the communities hospital serves." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9e838e87-ac4c-4fd3-824a-36613b15c142" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/TAP-Transformation-Continuum_0.png" width="2875" height="824"></p> <p>Action Planning is a critical step in collectively advancing equity and dismantling structural barriers (e.g., racism, sexism, ageism, etc.) in hospitals and health care systems. This process is designed to support hospitals at every stage of the journey. Some hospitals are just beginning, developing a strategic plan and looking for data to collect, while others have institutionalized equity through policy and practice. Some are collaborating with a wide range of community stakeholders to advance health equity in their ecosystem. Regardless of your starting point, AHA invites you to use the Action Planners to mobilize your leadership, governing body, staff and community toward institutional change. Discover opportunities to change policy and practices that will institutionalize equity in your organization.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/system/files/media/file/2022/01/equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-immersing.pdf" target="_blank" title="Click here to download the complete Systematic and Shared Accountability: Immersing Transformation Action Planner PDF."><img alt="Systematic and Shared Accountability: Immersing Transformation Action Planner page 1." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="24e126ec-aa50-4a69-a4e0-811353371691" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Page-1-equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-immersing.png" width="3300" height="2550"></a></p> </div> </div> </div> Fri, 21 Jan 2022 16:18:21 -0600 Internal Communications <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <h2>Introduction</h2> <p>We want to welcome you as you take on another part of the Health Equity Transformation journey. Now that you have received your HETA profile, the fun work of organizational change begins. We have heard from many hospitals and health systems that the greatest challenge is moving forward beyond the proclamation that equity is essential to patient safety and equitable hospital organizations. We have developed this action planner tool to support you in moving across the transformation continuum.</p> <p>Once you have studied and discussed your profile, you will find the links to the appropriate levers that correspond with advancing to your next position on the continuum. As part of this process, you are invited to participate in a community of learners on the equity journey in hospitals and health care systems. Sharing your innovative policies and practices, learnings, questions and accomplishments are some of the features of the Equity Roadmap Journey Community.</p> <p>As your hospital travels across the continuum we have outlined primary deliverables of each position on the continuum below:</p> <p><img alt="Tranformation Continuum. Primary Deliverables: Exploring—Strategic Planning: Develop strategic plans. Committing—Implementation Planning: Develop implementation plan of strategy. Immersing—Leadership Accountability: CEO and management teams integrate learning DEI framework as Standard Operating Procedures. Affirming—Institutionalization: Policies and practices are assessed and monitored for sustaining DEI progress toward goals. 5. Transforming—Investing in the Community Ecosystem: Collaborate with a wide range of representative stakeholders to promote DEI in the communities hospital serves." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9e838e87-ac4c-4fd3-824a-36613b15c142" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/TAP-Transformation-Continuum_0.png" width="2875" height="824"></p> <p>Action Planning is a critical step in collectively advancing equity and dismantling structural barriers (e.g., racism, sexism, ageism, etc.) in hospitals and health care systems. This process is designed to support hospitals at every stage of the journey. Some hospitals are just beginning, developing a strategic plan and looking for data to collect, while others have institutionalized equity through policy and practice. Some are collaborating with a wide range of community stakeholders to advance health equity in their ecosystem. Regardless of your starting point, AHA invites you to use the Action Planners to mobilize your leadership, governing body, staff and community toward institutional change. Discover opportunities to change policy and practices that will institutionalize equity in your organization.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/system/files/media/file/2022/01/equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-committing.pdf" target="_blank" title="Click here to download the complete Systematic and Shared Accountability: Committing Transformation Action Planner PDF."><img alt="Systematic and Shared Accountability: Committing Transformation Action Planner page 1." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="64c82dc0-201a-4574-8494-4e782cb4a241" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Page-1-equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-committing.png" width="3806" height="2941"></a></p> </div> </div> </div> Fri, 21 Jan 2022 16:10:18 -0600 Internal Communications <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <h2>Introduction</h2> <p>We want to welcome you as you take on another part of the Health Equity Transformation journey. Now that you have received your HETA profile, the fun work of organizational change begins. We have heard from many hospitals and health systems that the greatest challenge is moving forward beyond the proclamation that equity is essential to patient safety and equitable hospital organizations. We have developed this action planner tool to support you in moving across the transformation continuum.</p> <p>Once you have studied and discussed your profile, you will find the links to the appropriate levers that correspond with advancing to your next position on the continuum. As part of this process, you are invited to participate in a community of learners on the equity journey in hospitals and health care systems. Sharing your innovative policies and practices, learnings, questions and accomplishments are some of the features of the Equity Roadmap Journey Community.</p> <p>As your hospital travels across the continuum we have outlined primary deliverables of each position on the continuum below:</p> <p><img alt="Tranformation Continuum. Primary Deliverables: Exploring—Strategic Planning: Develop strategic plans. Committing—Implementation Planning: Develop implementation plan of strategy. Immersing—Leadership Accountability: CEO and management teams integrate learning DEI framework as Standard Operating Procedures. Affirming—Institutionalization: Policies and practices are assessed and monitored for sustaining DEI progress toward goals. 5. Transforming—Investing in the Community Ecosystem: Collaborate with a wide range of representative stakeholders to promote DEI in the communities hospital serves." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9e838e87-ac4c-4fd3-824a-36613b15c142" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/TAP-Transformation-Continuum_0.png" width="2875" height="824"></p> <p>Action Planning is a critical step in collectively advancing equity and dismantling structural barriers (e.g., racism, sexism, ageism, etc.) in hospitals and health care systems. This process is designed to support hospitals at every stage of the journey. Some hospitals are just beginning, developing a strategic plan and looking for data to collect, while others have institutionalized equity through policy and practice. Some are collaborating with a wide range of community stakeholders to advance health equity in their ecosystem. Regardless of your starting point, AHA invites you to use the Action Planners to mobilize your leadership, governing body, staff and community toward institutional change. Discover opportunities to change policy and practices that will institutionalize equity in your organization.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/system/files/media/file/2022/01/equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-exploring.pdf" target="_blank" title="Click here to download the complete Systematic and Shared Accountability: Exploring Transformation Action Planner PDF."><img alt="Systematic and Shared Accountability: Exploring Transformation Action Planner page 1." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="14c84611-74d9-4fbc-8d89-7df598d365e0" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Page-1-equity-roadmap-tap-accountability-exploring.png" width="3300" height="2550"></a></p> </div> </div> </div> Fri, 21 Jan 2022 15:54:43 -0600 Internal Communications