The Hospital Operations Management portfolio will help Yankee improve operational efficiencies for their care deliveries process.

ANDOVER, Mass – November 6, 2013 – GE Healthcare and Yankee Alliance announced an exclusive, 3-year purchasing agreement to offer GE’s Hospital Operations Management (HOM) portfolio to Yankee Alliance’s 164 acute care facilities in the Eastern U.S. The portfolio will include products and solutions that address patient flow and logistics; safety and compliance, and asset management.

The HOM portfolio helps hospitals eliminate operational inefficiencies in their care delivery process. It replaces disparate operational systems with a single control system that functions in a similar manner to an air traffic control system – acquiring, organizing and presenting data from multiple sources in a way that focuses the user on relevant performance characteristics and supplies the necessary information to keep operations running smoothly – across the enterprise.

“Hospital Operations Management is about improving asset availability, lowering operating expenditure, and improving efficiency and safety of patient care,” said Craig Shoukimas, Vice President Contracting.  “At Yankee Alliance, we are focused on finding innovative ways for our members to lower costs while maintaining clinical quality. Advanced technology solutions enable our members to harness data to make improvements to issues like bed management, asset distribution, and transport, to name a few. We’re giving our members the necessary tools and data in order to make informed decisions and provide optimum patient care.”

Ellis Medicine, located in Schenectady, New York, was the first Yankee Alliance member hospital to adopt GE’s HOM portfolio. Their first stage of integrating HOM focused on combining process change with real-time tracking technology to improve mobile asset management, particularly for IV pumps. At first, GE committed to enabling $475,000 in cost savings over three years, and has since exceeded expectations, with Ellis seeing $1.1 million in savings – more than double the projected return. The remarkable success has prompted Ellis to explore other operational areas, such as improving patient flow and hand hygiene compliance.

“We wanted to bring a sophisticated technology in-house and explore asset management to see how it would affect our hospital,” said Paul Milton, executive vice president and chief operating officer – Ellis Medicine. “Because of HOM, our nurses now know exactly where any IV pump is at any time, just by logging onto a computer. The technology along with the new distribution processes mean that the pumps are returned to circulation sooner. Overall, HOM has enabled our hospital to reduce operating costs while improving the overall quality and efficiency of patient care.”

Ellis Medicine is one of many healthcare organizations in the U.S. that has adopted HOM to address asset management and patient flow needs, and HOM’s use of real-time data plus exceptional technology and software helps hospitals address those needs. The use of data and analytics also illustrates GE’s commitment to advancing the Industrial Internet, a term coined by GE that refers to the integration of complex machinery with networked sensors and software. 

“We’re excited to work with Yankee Alliance members and help them incorporate the HOM portfolio across their acute care facilities. At GE, we believe the use of people, processes, and technology will help hospitals improve operational outcomes and achieve frictionless patient experiences,” said Fran Dirksmeier, General Manager, Global Asset Management, GE Healthcare Global Services.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services to meet the demand for increased access, enhanced quality and more affordable healthcare around the world. GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter - great people and technologies taking on tough challenges. From medical imaging, software & IT, patient monitoring and diagnostics to drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and performance improvement solutions, GE Healthcare helps medical professionals deliver great healthcare to their patients.

Media Contacts
For more information please contact; Amy Campbell, Senior Vice President, Administration, Yankee Alliance, (978) 470-2000 or at acampbell@yankeealliance.com.

Britta Kons
Director of Global Service Communications
GE Healthcare
Britta.Kons@ge.com
(203) 400-1892