CHIME Innovator of the Year Combines Creativity with Compassion to Help Pediatric Patients

SAN DIEGO, CA, Oct. 31, 2018 – Compassionate care is a hallmark in healthcare, and compassion is what motivated the informatics team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, to develop an innovative approach to help pediatric burn victims through their recovery. Under the leadership of Chief Research Information Officer Simon Lin, they collaborated with the Center for Pediatric Trauma Research and the Pediatric Burn Unit at Nationwide Children’s to develop and pilot test a virtual reality app that immerses young patients in a game while clinicians remove and replace dressings.

Preliminary results show a dramatic reduction in reported pain scores compared to controls – a reduction achieved without altering pain medication. This creative use of technology, which is now being tested in a larger study, earned Lin the 2018 College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) Innovator of the Year Award. The award was given today at the 2018 CHIME Fall CIO Forum in San Diego.

Burn patients already are in distress from the pain that can occur during dressing changes, Lin said. Watching the process may intensify children’s trauma. The game, which requires patients to wear a headset, distracts them while the headset shields their view of the clinical activities going on around them. Patients can passively watch the game or they can actively engage in it using breathing controls that substitute for hand consoles.

“Simon’s virtual reality app is a perfect example of patient-centered care,” said CHIME Board Chair Cletis Earle, senior vice president and CIO at Kaleida Health. “They developed a tool that children will respond to – a game – and worked with clinicians to make sure it fits within their work flow. The result is a better experience for the patient with no added burden for clinicians. This is a win for everybody.”

The app itself has been well received, based on study results: 96 percent of patients reported satisfaction with the game; 100 percent of parents were satisfied; and 83 percent of physicians reported that virtual reality is helpful. Lin and his group are now conducting a larger study that stratifies children into three groups: active participants, passive watchers and a control group that will receive standard care. The long-term goal is to be able to reduce or eliminate the use of pain medications such as opioids in this patient population by using innovation.   

The Innovator of the Year Award is given annually to a CHIME member whose creative application of IT and innovative solutions brings value to his or her organization “It is an honor to be chosen by CHIME for the innovator award,” Lin said. “This has been a very rewarding project, and getting recognition CHIME makes it that much more rewarding.” 

About CHIME

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,800 members in 51 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business partners and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.

Contact
Candace Stuart
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