Hospitals Firsts: NJ on the Cutting Edge

New Jersey hospitals continue to be the first to implement new technologies and are working to stay on the cutting edge of care in the digital age.

By Jim Pytell, Managing Editor On Aug 9, 2024

When Johnson & Johnson relocated to New Brunswick in 1886, it spurred what grew to become the greatest concentration of life sciences companies on the globe – ultimately leading to New Jersey being called the “medicine chest of the world.”

Today, thanks to its life sciences companies and world class healthcare systems, the Garden State remains a world leader in discovering and developing new medicines, therapies, diagnostics and technologies that improve the quality of patient’s lives around the world.

Discovery & Implementation

“At Virtua Health, we have a dedicated team of clinicians, researchers, and operations and technology team members who monitor the latest developments and trends in healthcare technology, as well as the current technology we already own,” says Tom Gordon, senior vice president and chief information officer at Virtua Health. “We also collaborate with local and national healthcare systems, industry partners, and other healthcare organizations to identify and evaluate new technologies that can potentially improve patient outcomes, quality of care, and operational efficiency.”

Jason Kreitner, MHA, FACHE senior vice president & chief operating officer at Hackensack University Medical Center echoes these sentiments, adding that his hospital identifies new technologies through internal research, industry partnerships, conferences, and clinician feedback, and then evaluates the findings based on clinical need, cost-benefit, safety, efficacy, and workflow integration.

“We then integrate new technologies through pilot programs, staff training, workflow optimization, and ongoing monitoring,” Kreitner says. “This ensures seamless integration and optimal impact on patient care.”

One example of a new technology that both Hackensack University Medical Center and Virtua Health were among the first to implement at their respective hospitals is the cutting edge da Vinci 5 surgical robot. This new technology offers enhanced precision, next-generation 3D imaging, and force-sensing capabilities, potentially leading to improved surgical outcomes and faster recovery times for patients.

“The da Vinci 5 will allow us to take robotic surgery to the next level,” says Michael D. Stifelman, chair of urology and director of robotic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center (the hospital was selected as an early adopter and was one of the first 14 hospitals worldwide to use the da Vinci 5). “We have been early adopters of the latest robotic technology for many years, and our goal has always been to offer our patients the highest quality surgical care that exceeds national standards.”

“Robotic-assisted surgery can offer many benefits over other forms of surgery, including greater precision, faster recovery, and less pain. The da Vinci 5 incorporates an array of technological advancements, which will propel robotic surgery’s advantages to an even higher level,” adds general surgeon Craig Zaretsky, MD, chair of Virtua’s Department of Surgery, which became the first hospital in South Jersey to begin using the da Vinci in June.

Evolution of Care in the Digital Age

As technology continues to grow exponentially, the ways in which healthcare itself is delivered is evolving.

For example, Virtua Health’s “Hospital at Home” program, which Gordon calls the first of its kind in New Jersey, affords patients hospital level care in their home.

“For patients who meet the program’s requirements, we set up technology that supports their care from the comfort of home. On the technical side, analysts built a virtual hospital unit and created screening lists that helped care coordinators monitor which patients would be a good fit for home recovery. While we initially focused on COVID-19 patients, we have since expanded our screening criteria to include more than 60 other diagnoses suitable for home monitoring and treatment,” Gordon says. 

The program includes a Wi-Fi-enabled “cradle” as part of the standard setup for a patient’s at-home treatment, which connects nurses to Virtua’s network even if a patient doesn’t have a home Wi-Fi connection. The cradles, an adaptation developed for other places where patients receive care outside of hospitals and clinics, enable nurses to sign in directly to their hospital’s system, giving them all the tools available to their peers who are physically present on the wards. This connection also allows for device integrations, such as IV pumps that automatically update patients’ drug libraries as they complete infusions.

Additionally, Saint Peter’s University Hospital will be launching a robotic process automation system that takes information from the patient’s electronic medical record and enters it automatically into the web-based Perinatal Risk Assessment (PRA) system, which is a state required prenatal reporting system. 

“Saint Peter’s will be the only hospital in the state to launch this system,” says Jordan Tannenbaum, MD, MBA, MPH, PgC healthcare informatics, vice president/chief information officer and chief medical officer and a CHIME Certified Healthcare Chief Information Officer (CHCIO) at Saint Peter’s Healthcare System. “It will serve as a benefit to patients in promoting early and accurate identification of prenatal risk factors. The robotic process automation system captures more than 300 required elements and enters them automatically into the PRA website.”

Training Innovations

It is not just firsthand patient care that is reaping the benefits of innovation, as Valley Hospital recently became the first hospital in New Jersey to begin using a new adult manikin called HAL S5301. Hal is a high-fidelity, full-body manikin with the ability to mimic human functions.

According to the hospital, Hal features AI-driven conversational speech, which allows for life-like conversations between provider and patient, and the ability to follow limited assessment-driven voice commands, including lift arm, look left, look right, squeeze hand, and close and open eyes.

Designed for training purposes to represent a potential patient, Hal can emulate high-risk conditions, such as stroke, by displaying facial droop and extremity motor function deficit. Hal can also exhibit seizure-like activity, which presents with gaze and tonic-clonic extremity movement, seen when muscles stiffen and jerk.

“Hal’s significant capabilities complement traditional high-fidelity simulator functionality, presenting staff with an interactive training experience,” explains James Warin, MPA, NRP, MICP, CHSE, simulation operations specialist for The Valley Hospital. “This functionality creates training scenarios of varying levels of complexity, depending on the desired goals and objectives.”

Fostering an Innovative Environment for the Future

Creating an environment ripe for innovation is critical to stay on the cutting edge of healthcare technology. One way that Hackensack Meridian Health has done this is by including its entire team in the innovation process.

“One of our most successful innovation programs, The Bear’s Den, is a team member think tank designed to encourage the more than 34,000 team members across the entire Hackensack Meridian Network to bring forth their best ideas to consistently improve care delivery and enhance patient satisfaction,” says Kreitner, who likens the program to “Shark Tank for healthcare.”

Gordon adds that it is important to maintain a culture of learning, collaboration, and excellence. “We invest in our staff’s professional development and education, providing them with the resources and opportunities to learn about and use new technologies,” he says.

As for the future, the hospitals interviewed for this story all agree that technology will greatly influence their respective strategies over the next 5-10 years.

This includes integrating AI and machine learning to enhance diagnostics, personalize treatment plans, and improve operational efficiency. There will also be continued adoption of minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgical techniques that aim to minimize patient discomfort and accelerate recovery times, as well further development of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring solutions to expand access to care and improve patient convenience. Gordon adds that technologies such as big data, analytics, and cloud computing will also be leveraged to better optimize data and information management. 

“By embracing these technological advancements, we aim to deliver a more personalized, efficient, and accessible healthcare experience for our patients,” Kreitner says.

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