Project IMPACT fixes flaws hampering data collection
The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) is trying to overcome hurdles that the group hopes will increase participation by clinicians in Project IMPACT, its wide-ranging database of ICU patients and their medical problems at hospitals around the country.
SCCM officials are concerned about logistical problems that have prevented the three-year-old project from attracting a larger number of participating providers, according to Meg Wilson, Project IMPACT’s general manager.
The system could be doing better in generating a larger body of data from the nation’s hospitals, Wilson says. Officials blame software problems that have prevented network computers at many institutions from "talking with each other."
However, participation from interested physicians and nurses has been stymied by a lack of administration support at many hospitals, she says.
The effort does involve designating a hospital employee at a cost to collect and enter meticulous amounts of clinical data for transmission to a central data repository, Wilson says. "Unfortunately, cost-cutting hospitals have other priorities at the moment."
To support the effort, SCCM has developed a tool in the form of a letter available on its Web site that clinicians can download and use to underscore the importance of the project with administrators.
The letter cites evidence of Project IMPACT’s recent accomplishments, and promotes the database’s value in improving patient outcomes. It also cites cost comparisons and potential financial savings.
By next year, the group hopes to have a new database software system that will help speed up data entry and communicate freely with virtually all computer systems.
(Editor’s note: To download a copy of the form letter and obtain additional information, contact the SCCM Web site at: www.sccm.org.)
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