ECRI Institute Releases Free Top 10 Technology Watch List for the Hospital C-Suite

Each year, hospital leaders are bombarded with new technologies whose makers claim to improve outcomes and control costs. And with that comes mounting pressure from clinicians, vendors, and patients to adopt technologies or infrastructure changes that could profoundly impact the way healthcare providers deliver care and spend money.
 
Given that, how can hospital leaders make the right decisions when there is so much technology and a weak reimbursement climate? The short answer is evidence and informed judgment.
 
ECRI Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to researching the best approaches to patient care, announces the release of its 2014 Top 10 Hospital C-Suite Watch List, an evidence-based, straight-talk reference guide on upcoming noteworthy health technologies or health systems issues. It is available as a no-cost public service.

This is not a list of must-haves, but rather a must think carefully about list, says Diane Robertson, director of the health technology assessment information service for ECRI Institute. We dont profess to have all the answers, but the unbiased evidence that we present about these 10 technologies and infrastructure issues will get healthcare leaders off to a steady start on their often rocky journey of acquiring new technologies or making system-wide changes in 2014 and beyond.
 
Each of the 10 summaries in this years list feature key recommendations designed to help leaders decide if they should adopt a specific technology or invest in new infrastructure early, later, or not at all, and the implications for doing so.

Technologies and infrastructure issues on this years list include:

Copper surfaces in ICUs for preventing hospital-acquired infections
Computer-assisted sedation systems
Catheter-based renal denervation for treatment-resistant hypertension
Emergency departments designed just for elderly patients
Wearable powered exoskeleton rehabilitation for individuals with paraplegia
Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound for cancer pain
NanoKnife® system to treat cancer
Real-time MRI adaptive radiation therapy
Intelligent pills to improve medication adherence and prevent readmissions
  
With this Watch List, healthcare leaders can learn more about potential game changers and use it as guidance when devising strategic growth plans for their facilities, says Robert Maliff, director of applied solutions for ECRI Institute.

This years Watch List draws upon ECRI Institutes more than 45 years of experience evaluating the safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of health technologies. It reflects the unbiased, independent judgment of the Institutes multidisciplinary staff of clinical and technical researchers, engineers, risk management specialists, and healthcare planners and consultants.

ECRI Institutes 2014 Top 10 Hospital C-Suite Watch List is available for download at www.ecri.org/2014watchlist (registration required).

Source: ECRI Institute