Press Release
December 5, 2007
Contact: Rogers Ramsey
(973) 972-6273
ramseyro@umdnj.edu
UMDNJ’s University Hospital STAT-MI Service Featured in Time Magazine
First in the United States to Use Wireless Technology That Puts the
Patient’s Heart in the Doctor’s Hand
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NEWARK — The STAT-MI Project at University Hospital in Newark received national attention when recognized in the December 3, 2007 issue of Time Magazine in an article titled, The Year in Medicine From A to Z for 2007. The article highlights a variety of notable advances in medical breakthroughs.
“This national attention is tremendously exciting,” said Darlene L. Cox, MS, RN, CHE, President & CEO of University Hospital. “Our physicians make enormous contributions to the hospital each and every day along with our nurses and staff to ensure that our patients receive the compassionate and high quality of care. This recognition is a medical testimony that our patients are in excellent hands.”
The STAT-MI Trial was launched on May 1, 2006 at University Hospital to study the application of new wireless handheld technologies for the rapid triage of patients with myocardial infarction (heart attack). In this model, patients with signs and/or symptoms of a myocardial infarction have a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) completed by emergency personnel during the initial evaluation at the scene of the call.
The ECG is then instantly transmitted from the monitor to a cellular phone via Bluetooth technology and also immediately sent to receiving stations in the Emergency Room and Cardiac Catheterization Lab at University Hospital. The receiving station in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab then instantaneously converts the file to PDF format and using NotifyLink sends the ECG to the cardiologist on-call for analysis. All of these electronic events occur automatically requiring no human intervention. The cardiologist, wherever they are, uses a PDA/Smartphone to view the transmitted ECG, communicate with EMS personnel and triage the patient directly to the cardiac catheterization laboratory while the patient is still enroute to the hospital via the EMS ambulance. The total duration of time from initial ECG acquisition in the field to availability for view on the Smartphone is approximately four minutes.
“We are pleased to receive this acknowledgment in Time Magazine,” said Marc Klapholz, MD, FACC, FASCAI, chief of cardiology at University Hospital. “Improving treatment for acute heart attack patients, by getting them to the cardiac catheterization laboratory as quickly as possible so their coronary artery can be opened with angioplasty, remains one of the most important goals in all of medicine. We are glad that we have been able to implement a new paradigm through a novel application of wireless technology that enhances the quality of care for heart attack patients. The entire cardiac team at The University Hospital is very gratified with the success of this program and in being able to offer our patients the best possible treatment options.”
University Hospital is the principal teaching hospital for New Jersey Medical School. Located in the Central Ward of Newark, the hospital offers the highest quality of care across many medical specialties.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.
