OPEN Incorporated, makers of the SafetyPAD suite of technology products for Emergency Medical Services, provided Boston EMS its new Web Services API (Application Programming Interface).
Using the SafetyPAD API, Boston EMS is now automatically importing data for all patients transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) directly into their industry-leading electronic hospital management system.
“It was a pleasure working with Boston EMS and SafetyPAD to create a secure clinical data exchange,” said Dr. Larry A. Nathanson, M.D., a board certified emergency physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “Our requests were listened to and quickly and expertly incorporated into the system. The interface rapidly integrates pre-hospital information to our ED Information System and helps ensure continuity of care for some of our most vulnerable patients. The system uses secure, encrypted communication protocols to protect confidentiality and employs familiar industry standards so that other medical centers can easily create their own interface.” Dr. Nathanson, Director of Emergency Medical Informatics for the Department of Emergency Medicine, led the efforts on behalf of BIDMC. Dr. Nathanson is the architect and programmer of the “ED Dashboard,” the ED information system that is used at BIDMC.
“This is a perfect example of how our clients utilize SafetyPAD’s advanced technology to help ensure a patient receives the quality of care they deserve,” noted Scott Streicher, Director of Operations for OPEN Incorporated.
Leveraging OPEN’s API, information obtained and entered into the SafetyPAD platform by Paramedics and EMTs in the field is sent to BIDMC’s ‘ED Dashboard’. ER staff has immediate access to view the report completed by Boston EMS’ field personnel. The complete report is available, enabling authorized personnel to view all of the treatments, patient history, medications and other critical data to help ensure a continuum of care.
“We’ve been working closely with local hospitals to provide seamless access to EMS reports in their existing systems,” said Josh Austin, OPEN’s Director of IT. “These interfaces give medical staff timely access to information that is often only available in reports written by the providers that were on the scene. I see this as true pioneering by everyone involved in this effort.”
The collaboration between Boston EMS and BIDMC staff helps to ensure the critical data documented in SafetyPAD pre-hospital reports can be accessed by ER personnel more quickly.
More information can be found at www.safetypad.com.
