Columbus Hospital LTACH Pushes to the Forefront on New Hospital

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Zoraya E. Lee-Hamlin
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For Immediate Release
Columbus Hospital LTACH Pushes to the Forefront on New Hospital Technologies
Columbus Launches Biomedical Informatics Center Designed to Deliver Super-Informed Data
NEWARK, NJ, October 5, 2011 ~ One year later, after its grand opening ceremony last year
on October 5, 2010, Columbus Hospital LTACH is leading the way in innovative
technologies making their hospital one of the most advanced in the area.
Photo caption: From left to right, Joe Kurtz,
RN – Wound Care Nurse Manager, Vineela
Reddy Yannamreddy – Senior Biomedical
Informatics Analyst, Lana DeLaCruz, RN, BSN
– Nurse Manager and Chiral Patel- Biomedical
Informatics Analyst as they view reports from
Electronic Medical Record System /Patient
information System produced by the new
Biomedical Informatics Center.
Recently, Columbus launched the Biomedical Informatics Center, which studies behavior
related to clinical treatment decisions and develops computational methods and uses them to
generate knowledge. The highly touted center uses a powerful Health Information
Management system to analyze patient’s health information data. “Essentially, we identify,
plan and develop current and future hospital needs that enhances clinical data results. We
also determine the system’s effectiveness in detecting problems, defining priorities,
identifying innovative solutions and allocating resources to improve healthcare outcomes,”
said Vineela Reddy Yannamreddy, Sr. Biomedical Informatics Analyst. “The end result is
we are able to make better patient decisions in real-time.”
The hospital’s integrated disciplinary teams monitor and provide specific diagnostics
information to physicians, patients and their families. “Our patients receive well thought out
healthcare and rigorous interventions very quickly. In other words, medical treatments are
monitored scientifically utilizing custom software models and algorithms to obtain favorable
results for complex chronically critically ill patients —everyone wins,” states Matthew
Hamilton, President & CEO, Columbus Hospital LTACH.
Columbus Hospital LTACH is the largest freestanding multi-specialty Long Term Acute Care Hospital in New Jersey, with a total
capacity of 63 acute care beds, including a quintessential mix of High Observation and three dialysis beds. The construction and planning
of the hospital created approximately 200 jobs and resulted in approximately 400 plus permanent professional jobs when it opened last
year in July. In addition, the hospital has revitalized the local community by employing residents directly from the neighborhood,
purchasing services from dozens of local businesses and is the host of the Community Block Watch Association.
Columbus Hospital LTACH provides an extended range of critical care services for medically complex patients. Clinically, Columbus’
focus is on patients with serious medical conditions who require intense specialized treatment for an extended period of recovery time,
ideally, for an average length of stay of 25 days or more. Columbus Hospital LTACH is designed to provide comprehensive and
technologically advanced medical care to patients suffering from catastrophic illnesses and cataclysmic trauma. The specialty hospital
model provides for a high acuity population for patients who have not responded to treatment in traditional general hospitals. With that in
mind, Columbus’ clinical pathway delivery methodology was shaped to respond to the highest levels of acuity. The LTACH is the most
productive and advantageous post-discharge vehicle that a general hospital has at its disposal to reduce its costs.
The most profound benefit is the fact that the LTACH is designed to accept those long-stay patients who drive up a general hospitals’
average length of stay. The new Biomedical Informatics Center makes Columbus one of the most advanced LTACH’s in New
Jersey. Those general hospitals with a persistent high length-of-stay problem are the ones benefitting from the services of
Columbus Hospital LTACH.
495 N. 13th Street, Newark, New Jersey 07107 Tel: 973-587-7777 fax 973-587-7830