NEW ORLEANS – In an effort to better serve its patients and the environment, Ochsner Health System announced it has installed GE Healthcare’s ecoFLOW anesthesia platform across its system, impacting more than 90,000 procedures involving anesthesia each year.
Anesthesia is the medical practice of rendering patients safely unconscious or free from pain and discomfort during invasive procedures. It is most commonly delivered using an anesthesia machine that combines the delivery of anesthesia medications, breathing support for patients and advanced physiologic monitoring into one platform.
Ochsner Health System reps said GE’s ecoFLOW system offers groundbreaking new technology that helps clinicians with anesthesia care for patients, improves value delivered to make care more affordable for patients and substantially reduces the release of anesthesia compounds that may be harmful to the environment when the flow of waste gases is reduced.
As pioneers in safety and quality improvement, the Ochsner Anesthesia team implemented this advanced technology using real-time data from each individual patient to precisely administer the amount of anesthesia gas needed.
“The ecoFLOW system allows us to deliver standardized environmentally responsible anesthetic care in all facilities across the Ochsner Health System,” said Dr. Armin Schubert, System Chair of Anesthesiology and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Ochsner Medical Center New Orleans. “I am excited about the capability ecoFLOW gives us to use previously inaccessible vital patient data to improve safety and care coordination, particularly for those who are critically ill.”
Efficiencies created by the ecoFLOW system help clinicians reduce the flow of costly anesthetic gases so clinicians can target only the amount needed by each patient without wastefully releasing excess waste gases into the atmosphere, Ochsner Health System reps said. Use of ecoFLOW technology has made care more affordable for Ochsner patients, eliminating an estimated $ 350,000 in unnecessary annual cost.
Healthcare organizations across the United States account for approximately 8% of the greenhouse emissions[i] and perform approximately 50 million procedures annually[ii]. It is estimated that 80 – 90% of these emissions could be reduced through better control of anesthesia gases.[iii]
Julie Dietz, general manager of Perioperative Solutions at GE Healthcare, said “We applaud Ochsner for taking a lead on environmentally-friendly patient care initiatives. They are demonstrating that patient care can improve, care can become more affordable, while at the same time reducing potential harm to the environment when waste gases are reduced.”
Ochsner Health System is Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, healthcare system with 28 owned, managed and affiliated hospitals and more than 60 health centers. Ochsner is the only Louisiana hospital recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Hospital” across six specialty categories caring for patients from all 50 states and more than 80 countries worldwide each year. Ochsner employs more than 17,000 employees and over 1,000 physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties, and conducts more than 1,000 clinical research studies.
[i] American Society of Anesthesiologists
[ii] National Center for Biotechnology Information
[iii] National Center for Biotechnology Information
