Fletcher Allen, a Vermont university hospital and medical center, serves all of
Vermont and the northern New York region. Located in Burlington, Fletcher Allen is a regional, academic healthcare center and teaching hospital in alliance with the University of Vermont.
Pizzagalli Foundation Donates $1 Million to Fletcher Allen
Mike Noble
Marketing and Communications
802-847-2886
Immediate: February 4, 2010
Gift will be used to install a video-on-demand patient education system
BURLINGTON, VT – Fletcher Allen announced today it has received a $1 million gift from the Pizzagalli Foundation of South Burlington, VT. The Pizzagalli Foundation is a philanthropic organization established by the founders of the Pizzagalli Construction Co. to support area institutions.
“We are deeply honored that the Pizzagallis - Jim, Angelo and Remo - have chosen to make this gift to Fletcher Allen,” said Melinda Estes, M.D., president and chief executive officer. “This generosity from a local family to our academic medical center is greatly appreciated and will help us improve care by providing our patients and their families with access to educational programming that will increase their understanding of common health problems, Fletcher Allen services and follow-up care.”
“The Pizzagalli Foundation wanted to recognize the outstanding work of Dr. Estes and her leadership team to put Fletcher Allen on a sound operating basis,” said James Pizzagalli, foundation trustee. “Fletcher Allen has made enormous contributions to the welfare of our community.”
An interactive, video-on-demand patient education system was identified by a team of employees assembled to look at ways the organization could enhance its patient care experience.
“This type of system is a great patient satisfier in organizations where it has been installed,” Dr. Estes continued. “We are pleased that with this generous gift from the Pizzagallis, we will be able to purchase and implement this system, moving forward with this recommendation from employees.”
One of the leaders of that employee team was Norman Ward, M.D., medical director, Case Management at Fletcher Allen. “The opportunity to offer excellent medical education to our patients at the bedside whenever and as often as they wish represents a huge opportunity to provide them with the information they need in order to have the best possible recovery,” said Dr. Ward.
Studies have shown that patients who benefit from a combination of improved discharge education and follow-up programs can reduce their chance of readmission by approximately 40%. The lowering of readmission rates is a nationwide quality initiative among hospitals this year.
Each patient will have his or her own video screen and controls. The system is web-based and user-friendly. Patients will be able to order educational programs any time of the day or night. This ensures that patients see material related to their disease and recovery when they are most receptive to viewing the information. There is also the capability to automatically document in the patient’s electronic medical record that a patient has viewed a program. This feature of the system is planned for implementation in the future.
Last year, Fletcher Allen implemented an electronic health record across its inpatient areas, converting traditional medical charts, treatment notes, medication lists and prescription orders from paper files to a single electronic record housed on a computer-based software application.
The new video on-demand patient education system also will provide some of the comforts of home by offering video-on-demand movies, popular television channels, and relaxation programming, in addition to information regarding their illness and care.
Currently, many patient rooms have one wall-mounted conventional television set that must be shared when both beds are occupied. While some patient education programming is available on this system, it is only available at specific times, similar to a daily TV broadcast schedule. This schedule can conflict with patient treatment and test schedules, as well as family visiting times.
Aceso Interactive, of Charlestown, MA, has been selected as the vendor. Installation of the system should be complete by summer 2010.
About Fletcher Allen
Fletcher Allen Health Care, together with our partners at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is Vermont’s academic medical center. Our mission is to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve by integrating patient care, education and research in a caring environment. Fletcher Allen serves as a regional referral center -- providing advanced care to approximately one million people in Vermont and northern New York -- and as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties. With more than 30 patient care sites and 100 outreach clinics, programs and services throughout the region, Fletcher Allen is committed to being a national model for the delivery of high-quality academic health care for a rural region. For more information about Fletcher Allen, visit our Web site at http://www.fletcherallen.org/.
