At the 5th Annual World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit, the winners of this year’s Innovation Awards were announced. The annual summit convened hundreds of medical professionals, hospital administrators, medical technology executives, and patient advocates to discuss the challenges and innovative processes and procedures that will help eliminate the more than 200,000 preventable patient deaths that occur in US hospitals, and millions more worldwide, annually.

The three 2016 Innovation Award winners were selected from among more than 100 innovative products and processes submitted by inventors and entrepreneurs, all focused on helping to eliminate preventable patient deaths. The winner of the first-place, $50,000 prize, is ReavillMED, LLC, for its infusion inserted central lines procedure. The second prize of $25,000 was awarded to eBroselow, LLC, for SafeDose Scan. The third prize of $10,000 was awarded to WISER Systems, LLC, who submitted its Systematic Expert Risk Assessment of Suicide (SERAS™) product and process.

Joe Kiani, Founder of the Patient Safety Movement, expressed his gratitude for the hard work and ingenuity that continues to drive so much innovation in the field of patient safety: “Congratulations to all of our winners and many thanks to all participants who submitted their lifesaving devices and procedures.”

The three award-winning innovations are:

First-Prize Winner: ReavillMED, LLC — Infusion Inserted Central Lines Procedure

ReavillMED makes central lines simpler, safer, and quicker to insert. The Infusion Inserted Central Lines Procedure converts a routine IV start in the arm into a long-term PICC (central line) with the simple IV push of fluid in 30 seconds. This eliminates the risks of pneumothorax, guide wire loss, and neck arterial puncture, while almost completely eliminating the risk of infection. With this procedure, current and often more difficult protocols, such as the severe sepsis protocol, can be done in minutes instead of hours, and all done using one needle. Creators Matt and Dulie Reavill stated, “Thank you to the Patient Safety Movement. Thank you for the recognition. It’s an honor to be selected with nine other great technologies we felt were as equally as good. It’s an honor and our responsibility to go on and go carry forward the patient safety movement. The movement started when our father died in 1994 and we’ve been carrying it forward with a solution we think will change the world.”

Second-Prize Winner: eBroselow, LLC — SafeDose Scan

The ability to rapidly and safely administer potentially lifesaving and life ending medications to an acutely ill or injured child is one of the greatest challenges for clinicians. Getting the dose, concentration, volume, and dilution correct 100 percent of the time for every drug, weight, and indication would require the around-the-clock presence of a pediatric pharmacist. eBroselow’s SafeDose Scan solves this problem by offering a mobile, offline “virtual pediatric pharmacist” that never makes a mistake, is immune to stress, and fits in the palm of your hand. The technology leverages the universal medication NDC barcode as an access point to eliminate potential math and memorization errors at the point of care. In receiving the award, James Broselow, CEO of eBroselow, said, “Thank you to Joe and his incredible team at the Patient Safety Movement. I’ve never been involved with a group of people who are so like-minded in wanting to accomplish something so meaningful. The biggest reward is just being part of this group.”

Third-Prize Winner: WISER Systems, LLC — Systematic Expert Risk Assessment of Suicide (SERAS™)

Every other day someone commits suicide in a hospital, and 12 times as many make non-fatal attempts. SERAS™ is a neural-network-based expert system decision-support tool that replicates the critical thinking of experienced clinicians in weighing risk factors to assess a patient’s risk of suicide in the following 72 hours. The patient completes the tablet-based questionnaire in less than one minute. The process is web-based and enables consistent, systematic, and high-quality assessments across multiple clinical sites and providers. SERAS™ assists non-mental health frontline providers in the evaluation of imminent suicide risk and suggests best-practice interventions. Dr. Isabelle Dejardins, CEO of WISER Systems, noted in receiving the award, “Suicide is a silent killer. It is easy to feel helpless in the face of suicide. Collectively, we can no longer afford to. We believe that suicide is preventable. This award validates our vision and inspires us to continue this journey with more dedication than ever. We are extremely grateful and we are committed to zero by 2020.”

Video and summaries of the 2017 World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit will be posted soon at www.patientsafetymovement.org.

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