Government Relations Update BWH Showcases Technology, Safety
Top state and federal health care policy shapers came to BWH in the fall for first-hand looks at how the hospital uses groundbreaking technology for patient safety, medical error reduction, direct care, medication delivery and Magnetic Resonance Image-guided surgery.
In October, BWH President Gary Gottlieb and Paula Johnson, MD, executive director of the Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology and chief of the Division of Women's Health, welcomed Timothy Murphy, secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and several state health officials with a broad overview of BWH. Peter Black, MD, chairman of Neurosurgery, demonstrated MR capabilities for them, and Robert Goldszer, MD, MBA, associate chief medical officer, demonstrated eMAR and CPOE in the Tower.
In September, Institute of Medicine (IOM) President Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD, the former dean of Harvard School of Public Health and provost of Harvard University, brought a delegation of top U.S. House and Senate staff to BWH to see why BWH leads the nation in applying technology to reduce medical errors and improve quality of care. Andy Whittemore, MD, chief medical officer, welcomed the delegation with an overview of the hospital's $10 million investment in eMAR and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) before providing the visitors with a close look at eMAR and CPOE during tours of the Emergency Department, inpatient units, Pharmacy, the NICU and STRATUS.