From the March 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

Our mission is not only to treat disease, but also to proactively help keep the people we serve healthy. Adventist Health White Memorial is deeply entrenched in the community, visiting schools, holding health fairs, and sponsoring career days, for example.

Recently, Adventist Health White Memorial set a goal to rank among the top 10% of all performing hospitals by the year 2020. That commitment to quality and community is evident throughout the hospital. In pediatric medicine, we strive every day to improve outcomes for the smallest patients. The safe, effective use of imaging is one of the many ways we are enhancing care in pediatrics. Today’s sophisticated technologies allow us to treat more patients faster, safer, better and affordably.


Battling sepsis in the NICU
Adventist Health White Memorial NICU is a Level 3 NICU – the highest level – meaning the clinical team has the capability of providing medical care to even the smallest of babies. On average, our NICU team is responsible for caring for up to 60 premature infants every month. One of the most critical situations we face in the NICU is dealing with sepsis or bad infections in preemies. And, unfortunately, a significant number of premature infants develop sepsis. Time is of the essence; it is imperative to get antibiotics into those infants within 30 minutes to an hour. In fact, the one factor that has decreased deaths in children has been the rapid administration of antibiotics.

Fujifilm’s SonoSite X-Porte point-of-care ultrasound system allows us to establish IV access as fast as possible, placing a central line in quickly to deliver lifesaving medications and decrease mortality. The technology is portable, noninvasive, user-friendly and provides minimal interruption. In fact, the system can be up and running at the bedside in as little as fifteen seconds.

However, it is excellent image quality that truly sets this technology apart. One of our biggest challenges when placing IVs in infants and children is the fact that their veins and arteries are incredibly small – centimeters to millimeters. Therefore, high-resolution images are of the utmost importance. The better and more we can see, the sooner we can expedite the process and get infants with sepsis and other sick children on the road to recovery.

Ultrasound technology, and how physicians perform functions such as placing a central line, has come a long way. Ten years ago, physicians literally used their hands, feeling for a patient’s pulse and looking at surface landmarks. Then imaging brought us grainy pictures on a screen that often had a lot of interference. But today’s technology is high-definition. Fine details are visible, making it easier to see the smallest vessels and fine-tune exactly where we are going when placing lines in the tiniest patients.

March 2018 Magazine

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