Stanford launches study to improve pediatric safety, quality care

Packard Hospital receives $1M in money and technology to advance bioinformatics research

More than $1 million has been given by both Hewlett-Packard and the HP Foundation to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. The money will be used to enhance the quality of life of critically ill young patients and their families — and to embark on a research project that hopes to achieve more efficient, safer and personalized patient care that can be emulated by hospitals around the country.

The grants have two components — the one from HP for $580,000 will give more than 500 pieces of high-performance HP equipment — ranging from laptops and printers to desktop PCs and monitors to support the hospital in inpatient and outpatient areas. This includes an extensive and more advanced patient record system and also giving laptops to children and their parents so each can keep in touch with school and work from Packard Hospital. Even critically ill young patients who are restricted to their room because of weakened immune systems will get laptops.

HP contributed $500,000 for research on patient safety led by Dr. Paul Sharok, a Stanford pediatrician who works on quality management and patient safety. He will be accompanied by Atul Butte, M.D., a pediatrician working on personalized care and Brad Poussaint, Lucile Packard Children's vice president for performance, excellence and quality improvements.

Together they will examine the nuances of patient safety, and the troubling similarities among patients with different disorders who encounter safety and other problems. They will look at clinical and epidemiological data, as well as other research, to help identify the common factors troubling children. Once the findings are discovered, the cure for these problems can be applied to other patients at Stanford and around the country, according to Ann Rose, a spokeswoman for the Packard Foundation for Children's Health at Stanford.

Patient safety is defined as adverse events affecting patients that could lead to complications, injury or even the death of a patient. These "events" are measured per 1,000 patient days, according to Jose Gordon, a spokesman for the foundation.

"We are trying to enhance patient care," Rose said. "The concept here is that looking at the quality, safety and bioinformatics together will give us greater access to a wider array of factors that could be affecting patients. We want to end up modifying the care and improving the outcome."

The grant will be used to expand a small research team that will come up with results that could help future patient care, according to Gordon.

—By Diana Diamond

Diana Diamond is the editor of the Healthcare Journal. You can reach her at diana@healthjournalnorcal.com.