Continuous monitoring of physiological vital signs is a complex data intensive environment with patients routinely having 15-30 parameters measured using multiple monitoring devices. This wealth of data is central to the care of critically ill patients with neurologic, cardiac, and pulmonary disorders. While new monitoring tools continue to be introduced into clinical care, the manner in which data are collected, recorded, and analyzed has fundamentally not changed in the last 25 years. The overall goal of this project is to develop an innovative software system and component library that integrates data from disparate medical monitoring devices. Through open-systems communication, the proposed software system can liberate physiologic data for all stakeholders. In Phase I, full prototypes will be developed for the following modules: (1) medical device server that will act as a platform for generic medical device communication programs (2) medical device library that consists of an expandable set of communication programs that speak with the monitoring devices used at a patients bedside and (3) Administrator Graphic User Interface for the medical device server that will be intuitive and user friendly. This project provides the basis for an enhanced system that will contribute to the optimal use of physiologic data to improve patient care while decreasing cost expenditures related to redundant monitoring and information technology systems.
