The Surveillance Analytics Core (SAC) is a multidisciplinary group with over 20 years of collaborative expertise in systems design, analysis, implementation, and management. The SAC is part of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) Analytics Institute, with close ties to the Value Institute and Department of Anesthesiology.
Our approach to system design incorporates proven tactics from many disciplines, including:
- Systems engineering
- Human factors and cognitive systems engineering
- Human-centered design
- Process improvement, emphasizing multidisciplinary collaborative design sessions
- Clinical knowledge elicitation
- Participatory prototyping
- Performance measurement
We have worked with a broad base of healthcare staff, collaborating with frontline clinical teams, executive-level sponsors, and learners across the spectrum (residents and fellows, medical school, engineering, and business students).
The SAC continues to focus on designing, analyzing, and improving patient safety systems (especially those that allow for serious but treatable event recovery and rescue), driven by the recognition that despite decades of safety work in healthcare, preventable patient safety events remain the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
SAC background
The work of the SAC builds on decades of patient safety systems innovation at Dartmouth.
2015 to 2020: Failure to Rescue (FTR) Learning Laboratory
- $4M AHRQ-funded research with 4 cores.
- System-wide, multidisciplinary design approach.
- Key FTR event intervention implementation and roadmap.
- A Systems Approach to Design and Implementation of Patient Assessment Tools in the Inpatient Setting, Susan P. McGrath, PhD, Irina Perreard, PhD, Joshua Ramos, Krystal M. McGovern, MSN, RN, MBA, CCRN, Todd MacKenzie, PhD, George T. Blike, MD, MHCDS.
- Surveillance Monitoring Management for General Use Units: Strategy, Design, and Implementation, Susan P. McGrath, PhD, Andreas H. Taenzer, MD, FAAP, Nancy Karon, George T. Blike, MD, MHCDS.
2006 to 2012: Inpatient surveillance development
- Remote triage concept applied to inpatient pulse oximetry-based monitoring.
- Landmark study of surveillance impact led by George T. Blike, MD, MHCDS.
- Expansion to 200+ med/surgery beds, including pediatrics.
- Impact of Pulse Oximetry Surveillance on Rescue Event and Intensive Care Unit Transfers, Andreas H. Taenzer, MD, FAAP, Joshua B. Pyke, BE, Susan P. McGrath, PhD, George T. Blike, MD, MHCDS.
- Assessment of Continuous Acoustic Respiratory Rate Monitoring as an Addition to a Pulse Oximetry-based Patient Surveillance System, Susan P. McGrath, PhD, Joshua Pyke, Andreas H. Taenzer, MD, MS.
2011: Systems development and analysis capability
- System-wide performance improvement function developed by Susan P. McGrath, PhD, sponsored by George T. Blike, MD, MHCDS.
- Patient monitoring governance led by Susan McGrath, PhD.
- Surveillance system analysis and research.
- The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, October 2015, Volume 41, Number 10: Building a Foundation of Continuous Improvement in a Rapidly Changing Environment: The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Value Institute Experience, Susan P. McGrath, PhD, George T. Blike, MD.
2000 to 2011: McGrath lab at Dartmouth College
- ARTEMIS surveillance and remote triage concept.
- Photoplethysmography analysis for state monitoring.
- Collaboration among Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center colleagues (G. Blike, J. Rosen, J. Buckey, W. Harris, A. Taenzer).
- Pulse Oximeter Plethysmographic Waveform Changes in Awake, Spontaneously Breathing, Hypovolemic Volunteers, Susan P. McGrath, PhD, Kathy L. Ryan, Suzanne M. Wendelken, Caroline A. Rickards, Victor A. Convertino.
- Identifying Airway Obstructions Using Photoplethysmography (PPG), Bethany R. Knorr-Chung, Susan P. McGrath, PhD, George T. Blike, MD, MHCDS
Read about our project highlights
Comments or questions?
Please contact Susan McGrath, PhD