First Comprehensive National Patient Safety System for Product and Safety Alerts Launched by Mitretek Systems

1/13/2004

From: Ann Magee of Mitretek Systems, 877-727-6276 or ann.magee@mitretek.org; http://rasmas.mitretek.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 -- Mitretek Systems, a nonprofit research and engineering corporation that operates in the public interest, today announced the launch of the Risk and Safety Management Alert System (RASMAS). RASMAS, a web-based subscription service, provides immediate improvement in patient safety by replacing the ineffective and inefficient processes currently used by most healthcare organizations to handle product and safety alerts.

Each year, healthcare organizations receive thousands of product and safety alerts. These alerts lack consistent terminology and format and, when coupled with the inefficient paper-based processes used in most healthcare organizations, this results in critical patient safety exposure.

A bronchoscope recall issued in the current inefficient manner led to the death of two patients and severe illness in hundreds of others at the Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2001. Working closely with Johns Hopkins, Mitretek developed RASMAS to improve the content and readability of alerts and safety notices, create more efficient workflow processes, provide management oversight tools and information, satisfy audit and reporting requirements, and ultimately reduce staffing costs.

"RASMAS is the culmination of a three-year effort by Mitretek. We have developed a national system to improve patient safety by streamlining how healthcare organizations respond to the thousands of product alerts and safety notices that are sent to them each year," said Dr. Lydia Thomas, president and CEO of Mitretek Systems. "The RASMAS Subscription Service provides improved, easy- to-use alert information, delivered to the right person, at the right place, at the right time. Because we've designed this as a web-based tool, we've negated the costly and complicated implementation, training and support typical in healthcare information technology solutions."

"While RASMAS has greatly reduced the labor requirements of dealing with alerts and recalls, more importantly we believe it will reduce medical errors by quickly identifying alerts and communicating them to the proper staff. RASMAS delivered results within the first week of its implementation at Hopkins," said Wayne Sparkes, senior projects administrator at Johns Hopkins.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has endorsed RASMAS as a comprehensive solution that will provide significant patient safety impact for our nation's healthcare providers.

About Mitretek Systems

Mitretek Systems is a nonprofit scientific research and systems engineering organization that works in the public interest to solve complex technological problems in the areas of criminal justice, environment, health, homeland security, transportation, and telecommunications. Within the healthcare arena, Mitretek performs information technology and operations consulting, evaluation and design as well as strategic, clinical services and facilities planning. For more information about Mitretek, contact Corporation Communications, 703-610-1953 or corpcomm@mitretek.org.