The Tennessee Department of Health has announced a new emergency preparedness program that is being tested at over 50 hospitals and three regional communications centers statewide. The program, the Hospital Resource Tracking System (HRTS), will begin piloting in seven Hamilton County hospitals.
HRTS is an Internet-based database developed by the Tennessee Department of Health that allows hospitals to enter their bed and service availability on a daily basis, and during disasters, natural or otherwise.
Chattanooga MedComm, the Regional Medical Communication Center for the Southeast Region, developed a local internet-based program five years ago which served as the model plan for the state HRTS program.
Implementation began with two acute care hospitals systems in Chattanooga, Erlanger and Memorial, who participated in the beta rollout in mid-March. Parkridge Hospital System will participate in the pilot phase.
Once fully implemented, each hospital in the state will update their bed and service availability on a daily basis via a simple Internet application. During a disaster, Regional Medical Communication Centers, Emergency Medical Services, and Regional Hospital Coordinators will have access to bed availability across the region.
The Hospital Resource Tracking System will be piloted in seven area hospitals: Erlanger Baroness, Erlanger North, T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital, Memorial Hospital, Memorial North Park Hospital, Parkridge Medical Center, and Parkridge East.
Once the piloting program is completed, the tracking system will be implemented in acute care hospitals statewide.