Enterprise-wide patient monitoring improves care efficiency and lowers costs

The Mid America Heart Institute (MAHI), located at Saint Luke's Hospital and a member of the Saint Luke's-Shawnee Mission Health System (SLSMHS) in Kansas City, Missouri, has implemented a revolutionary enterprise-wide patient monitoring solution via a network that connects multiple hospitals to provide real-time patient monitoring--a lifeline of patient data. The underlying technical infrastructure creates the foundation necessary to link metropolitan and rural facilities with instant acute care patient information. The result is an electronic extension of the MAHI and its proven care expertise to several hospitals throughout the region. This approach has yielded MAHI/SLSMHS numerous efficiencies, including reduced costs and standardized monitoring quality across the enterprise. In the process, they have garnered some unanticipated benefits: unique marketing exposure and a new way to build alliances with other hospitals.