ECRI Institute's OR Integration: Best Practices for a Safe and Effective Implementation web conference on May 28, 2008, will help hospitals understand how to implement an integrated OR through optimal planning, equipment selection, and system configuration.

The conference will offer guidance on how to choose and implement an operating room integration system that will meet your facility's needs and answer whether you need an integrated OR.

"Advanced AV equipment is becoming increasingly common in operating rooms and the number of available options has exploded," says Nate Pinkney, Senior Project Engineer, Health Devices, ECRI Institute. "At the same time, today's technology is more complicated than in the past. There are more varieties of equipment, more standards and more purchasing considerations."

Expert speakers from ECRI Institute and leading hospitals will help participants learn about primary applications of OR integration technology, hardware and software components of integration configurations, critical differences in video resolution and the costs and planning involved in OR construction or renovation.

"Many hospitals are struggling to master this complex equipment area and costly mistakes are being made," says Pinkney, who will be speaking on the webcast. "Regardless of whether a hospital is planning to integrate an OR at this time, the conference should help guide construction planning, equipment purchases and instillation."

The speakers also include James Keller, MS, Moderator, Vice President, Health Technology Evaluation and Safety, ECRI Institute and Duane Mariotti, BSEE, Clinical Systems Engineer, Kaiser Permanente Clinical Technology.

To learn more or to register for this Web conference, visit www.ecri.org/webconference, or contact ECRI Institute by telephone at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5889

About ECRI Institute (formerly ECRI): a nonprofit organization which dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to uncover the best approaches to improving patient care. As pioneers in this science for 40 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. ECRI Institute is designated a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization and an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.