Douglas Keene, MD, started healthcare informatics company Recordation in an attempt to solve data capture challenges.
As an anesthesiologist and certified informaticist, Dr. Keene is immensely passionate about technology. He developed and coded Recordation to tame and improve data capture in anesthesia.
Dr. Keene said, "[Anesthesiologists] get a lot of information coming at [them] from different angles and it all comes at the same time." And for the last century, the method to capture that data has been the same, pen and paper.
Dr. Keene said, "We're still writing things down on paper and that's something I find really hard to fathom."
Using traditional methods, anesthesiologists observe a variety of different instruments, collect the information in their head and document it on paper. The process continues throughout the procedure but ultimately delivers a fractured and incomplete picture of a patient's state.
Recordation and other anesthesia data capturing systems are working to change the deeply rooted process.
Recordation captures patient data electronically and in real time. Anesthesiologists can monitor this information and process several different pieces of information at the same time. Instead of recording data on the minute or every five minutes, Recordation records up to the second and can provide data trends. The software also compiles raw data and allows for in-depth analysis.
For example, Recordation can present trends when documenting and tracking beats per minute. If a patient was holding steadily at 55 bpm for 5 minutes but then spikes to 72 bpm, Recordation will track and present that and physicians can figure out what happened to cause the change. Then after several procedures, anesthesiologists can see large trends-based outcome data on their procedures and effectiveness.
"The data is sitting in front of us," Dr. Keene said. "Instead of us having to look at it and figure it out, this is showing it to us in a better way, so we can make better decisions on anesthesia care."
Dr. Keene piloted Recordation five years ago. A hospital in Massachusetts allowed him to pilot test the software and after working to refine it, he officially launched Recordation at the American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting in Boston, Oct. 21 to Oct. 25.
Price of new technology is a large barrier to entry for many small hospitals and anesthesia practice groups, but Dr. Keene wants to change that.
"It's our goal," he says, "to be the people's anesthesia recording system -- affordable, cost efficient and helpful."
To learn more about Recordation, click here.