AWARDS HISTORY
Mary's Center
Development of a ChatBot to engage clients in HIV/STI awareness
In 2022 Mary’s Center awarded a grant to pilot a culturally sensitive, bilingual AI chatbot for use with participants seeking our HIV/STI services, which will allow for 24/7 accessibility to requesting a sexual health consultation. The benefits of an AI chatbot over more basic chatbots will allow Mary’s Center to use more advanced technologies to tailor our services to the participant. Additionally, we will be able to adapt the technology over time as we learn more about what participants are requesting. In order to create a chatbot that is both culturally and linguistically sensitive, we plan to leverage deep learning and natural language processing through a comprehensive testing process reflective of the diverse communities we serve.
The Mize Award: The Smithsonian Institution
Utilization of Archaeological Technology to Develop Insights Regarding Bone Health
An award was granted to the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History for the project Human Bone Density in 17th Century America. This study will use DEXA scan imaging technology to analyze the bone health and general health of the early settlers of Jamestown, VA and St. Mary's, Maryland.Douglas W. Owsley, Smithsonian Curator in the Anthropology section has started on this project that could enhance knowledge in health care in a way that could further stimulate today's ongoing study of bone health in a positive way.
Zamorano University
The ITHC has funded Zamorano University Food Analysis projects since 2010. The hope is that as an agricultural college the diet of the surrounding population could be influenced in a positive manner. The purpose of an agricultural college is not only to produce food, but to produce food that is healthful. The work of the students and professors has supported this mission each year since.
The Crudem Foundation
Medical records constitute a critical foundation of healthcare institutions and have the potential to improve access to information and quality of patient care. Ready access to reliable, up to date and accurate patient histories support timely diagnoses, appropriate therapies, and treatment plans. The majority of developed countries use electronic medical records (EMR) to ensure optimum efficiency and effectiveness.
Novel EMR implementations for low resource countries, such as Haiti, despite the considerable benefits, such systems are a luxury for most institutions in low resource countries.
Implementation of Electronic Medical Records in Haiti
Hôpital Sacré Coeur (“HSC”) in Milot recognizes the critical importance of EMR and has committed to upgrading its medical records system to an EMR model in order to provide their regional patient population with excellent, quality healthcare. That need is underscored by the steady annual increase in transaction volume: in 2019, Hôpital Sacré Coeur completed more than 590,000 patient transactions. Thankfully, HSC has both the infrastructure, staff competency and technical resources to entertain the inclusion of EMR in the hospital.
The Institute for Technology in Health Care supports The Crudem vision and is pleased to assist in The Crudem Foundation's continuation of this effort in 2022 with Phase 2 with the training of superusers --- individuals who will serve as onsite trainers and supervisors for the hospital staff. Haiti Health Promise U.S. Medical Director, James Morgan, MD, Hôpital Sacré 2 Coeur Chief Medical Officer and Chief of Pediatrics, Michele Hanna, MD, Chief of Pharmacy, Marcelle Etienne, and Hôpital Sacré Coeur Communications Center Director, Emmanel Jeannite comprise the onsite superuser team. The three-month superuser training program under the auspices of Mekom staff included onsite and virtual (Zoom) group meetings supplemented with instructional manuals and displays in French and English. A comprehensive user guide detailed step by step instructions for all aspects of the EMR processes and troubleshooting.
On Monday, October 19, 2015 the Cytopathology Laboratory at Hôpital Sacré-Coeur opened. Haitian women scored a life-changing victory. Thirty-seven Pap Smears were collected that day. They were prepared and stained. On Wednesday, October 21, all 37 Pap Smears had been read by Dr. Santos and the reports printed out. On Thursday, October 22nd, all 37 patients were notified of their results via a system devised by the clinical staff at Hôpital Sacré-Coeur. The following day some of those with abnormal reports had been seen, biopsied and were awaiting final disposition of their cases. One woman was unable to comprehend how such an important test, which had taken her two years to have performed, could have the results ready in only 3 days.
“The Institute for Technology in Health Care has changed this dreadful reality for the better. Because of your generous support, Hôpital Sacré-Coeur in Milot has been able to equip a small pathology lab and acquire the services of Dr. Rene Santos, a Cuban born Pathologist and the only specialist of his kind in all of Northern Haiti --- a region with a population of more than 2 million people..."
This capacity is a really significant step for the women of Haiti, not only for the lives which will be saved, but for the relief of the anxiety and mental anguish that these women endure in fear of this dread disease. This reality was brought home by the pinched, anxious face of one of those notified that her result was abnormal. She happened to be a nurse on the Hôpital Sacré-Coeur staff and she raced to the door of the Operating Room, where an OB-Gyn team was working, with fearful questions about her fate. The fact that the surgery team was able to answer her questions, examine her and perform a biopsy that same day is almost unbelievable to those who know from past experience what a time consuming ordeal this usually is for the patient.”
The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI)
The ITHC approached AAMI to establish the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation Foundation / Institute for Technology in Health Care Clinical Solutions Award was established in 2005. This is an award that recognizes career achievement in the field of Clinical Engineering.
The AAMI Foundation & Institute for Technology in Health Care’s Clinical Solution Award honors a healthcare technology professional or group that has applied innovative clinical engineering practices or principles to solve one or more significant clinical patient care problems or challenges facing a patient population, community or group.
2022 Winner: Christopher Bonafide, MD, MSCE, Director of the Patient Safety Learning Laboratory (PSLL), and his team of dedicated professionals.
AAMI presents to Christopher Bonafide, MD, MSCE, Director of the Patient Safety Learning Laboratory (PSLL), and his team of dedicated professionals.
PSLL leaders James Won, PhD, SaraDeMauro, MD, MSCE, and Melissa McLoone, RN, BSN, joined Bonafide in researching alarm fatigue within hospital settings. The PSLL team played a vital role in advancing the quality of patient monitoring, leading a groundbreaking redesign of alert systems for children in acute care wards at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. These lessons are now being reapplied in the pediatric home-care setting, with a focus on re-engineering monitoring systems for parents and their children.
“Despite the myriad of challenges posed during the pandemic, our team continued working tirelessly to improve the safety of physiologic monitor systems for children and reduce alarm fatigue in the nurses and families caring for them,” said the four PSLL leaders. “Our successes would not have been possible without the incredible collaboration with the nurses and physicians on the front lines, the guidance from administrators who recognized the importance of our work within the organization, and the financial support of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.”
American Academy for HIV Medicine (AAHIVM)
AAHIVM/ITHC HIV Practice Award was established as an annual award in 2011, with the first awards given by the American Academy for HIV Medicine (AAHIVM) in 2012. Recipients are nominated for the award and an AAHIVM committee selects recipients. Some of the awards have been given for use of social media to educate at-risk populations, telemedicine to expand clinical reach in urban, rural, and prison populations, and in focusing electronic health software on the needs of clinicians specializing in treating HIV positive patients. While the ITHC funds the awards, it has no involvement in the selection process.
2022 Winner: Dr. Hillary Liss and Dr. Jennifer Jones-Vanderleest
The American Academy of HIV Medicine and the Institute for Technology in Health Care have awarded the 2022 Cesar Augusto Caceres Award for Technology in HIV Practice to Dr. Hillary Liss and Dr. Jennifer Jones-Vanderleest of Seattle, Washington. Drs. Liss and Jones-Vanderleest are being recognized for an innovative telemedicine partnership between the Madison Clinic, a Ryan White clinic at Harborview Medical Center/University of Washington in Seattle, WA, and Public Health-Seattle and King County Jail (KCJ) Health Services, found to improve care of incarcerated individuals with HIV.
Providing direct patient care since January 2019 via weekly telemedicine sessions, Drs. Liss and Jones-Vanderleest, situated at the Madison Clinic and the jail medical clinics respectively, collaboratively see incarcerated patients, often involving HIV case managers at both sites. This is paired with a weekly videoconference that brings together a multidisciplinary team of medical, public health, community low-barrier clinic, social work/release planner, and community-based organization representatives to assist with adherence, outreach, linkage/engagement/retention in care, and transitions to community or prison.
“It is an honor to be recognized by the Academy and ITHC,” said Drs. Jones-Vanderleest and Liss. “We are committed to developing creative approaches to better serve incarcerated people with HIV, and we look forward to collaborating with others who work with this vulnerable population.”
People with HIV are incarcerated at disproportionate rates in U.S. jails, with many missed opportunities for diagnosis, treatment, linkage to care, and help with transition to the community. Prior to the establishment of this program, incarcerated people who required specialty HIV care needed to be transported in the custody of jail officers to an outside facility which involved a number of challenges including: the stigma of being transported from jail, confidentiality concerns, short jail stays that precluded an opportunity to arrange and attend appointments, and the cost of patient transport and associated staffing, which limited the number of patients who could be brought to the outside clinic.
In 2019 The Institute for Technology partnered with the Medical Society of the District of Columbia Foundation (MSDC) for the MSDC project "A Study of Technology’s Impact on the Wellbeing of Physicians in the District of Columbia "the goal was to provide the foundation for the MSDC to create or assist in the creation of treatment programs for the benefit of DC’s physicians, its hospitals, private groups or other practices suffering from burnout
MSDC encourages its members to adopt the best practices identified in the data and promote national policies for other states and practices to adopt them as well. The Healthy Physician Program was initiated.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 highlighted the great need for programs focusing on physician well-being. The ITHC is pleased to have renewed the award for expansion of the program and data analysis to assess the program benefits.
The Conway School of Nursing, Catholic University of America
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has brought the need for Telehealth services to the forefront previously limited to rural healthcare settings. The ITHC gave a 2020 Award to the Conway School of Nursing to initiate a telehealth course of study for nursing students. Renewal grants have been awarded each year to expand this critical area of nursing education and preparedness to serve in the profession.
"The overarching purpose of this project is to prepare undergraduate BSN and graduate nurse practitioner [NP] students to expertly utilize and advance telehealth as a provider platform in academic and professional practice. A unique focus on the ever-present problem of access-to-care underpins this effort and aligns with the values of the University and the Conway School of Nursing. Today, telehealth is instantly changing the dynamics of provider-patient engagement. The COVID-19 pandemic has rightly peaked the healthcare industry’s interest in this relatively new technology because telehealth effectively disregards the traditional challenges of providing healthcare access to patients living in remote/isolated locations. The faculty at the CSON believe that patient demographics should not result in denying access to health services. Academia must therefore develop creative and useful strategies to educate graduate and undergraduate students to deliver nursing services to patients and families living in remote or isolated locations. Simulation scenarios will be developed to address use of telehealth in multiple locations (home, schools, skilled nursing facilities, long term care facilities, work sites, and primary care clinics) and multiple communication modes (videoconferencing, store and forward, mHealth, and remote monitoring). Clinical scenarios will include BSN-NP intra-professional collaboration and will be disseminated on the Education Hub. "
The Friends of Barnabas (FOB)
Implemented an electronic medical record (EMR) via a rugged backpack Pad for their medical mission work in Honduras. The software allows FOB to track trends, document outcomes, track education impact, and update policies and procedures according to issues identified from data. Ultimately, the software will make both clinic settings more efficient and it will also increase the standard of care offered to patients.” The project was approved and the first year of the subscription was funded.
Follow-up confirmed that they were able to begin the program much earlier than anticipated and began utilizing the software.
Friends of Barnabas also implemented a volunteer training program with Navega Training and Consulting to develop an online training module for its Mountain Medical Team volunteers. Td experience.”
Physicians for Responsible Medicine
Effect of a Dietary Intervention on Insulin Requirements in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) compares the effects conferred by a low-fat, plant-based dietary intervention and a conventional portion-controlled diet on insulin requirements in T1D, to inspire investigators to reimagine technology as a conduit for research on therapeutics that enable the alleviation of intractable health care challenges.
Hope for Haiti
There is both a shortage of affordable medical providers, as well as available lab testing in Les Cayes, the third largest city in Haiti. Often people, especially women, will put off seeking lab testing until they have an understanding of where to get testing, and the money to pay for testing. Delayed healthcare can cause minor and preventative conditions to advance into chronic, complex and even fatal conditions. Hope for Haiti (HFH) seeks a three-year partnership with ITHC to use technology to improve the care of healthcare delivery to people by increasing the biomedical equipment and supplies available, as well as professional development for Haitian laboratory technicians and laboratory interns at HFH’s Infirmary St Etienne (ISE) in Les Cayes, Haiti. With increased knowledge and medical materials to provide subsidized lab testing, HFH will help people living in the Greater South of Haiti by improving the general health of the population, and concentrating particularly on women’s health through increased access to
specialized testing.