ECG Machines

What It Does:An ECG machine gives us a quick “snapshot” of what is going on with a patient’s heart, at that particular moment. It’s a critical diagnostic tool that can instantly show us if there is an irregular heartbeat, if the person’s electrolytes are off, if that person has had a heart attack, or numerous other key diagnostics. Currently, our diagnostic imaging team requires three new ECG machines to perform ECG tests on inpatients as part of the daily rounds ordered by doctors, and for the many pre-op patients who require an ECG a few days before their surgery.

Why We Need It: Our ECG machines are 11-years-old. The current life-span for an ECG machine is seven to ten years. They are at end of life, experiencing frequent breakdowns and repairs. But more importantly, the technology has greatly changed in a decade. Currently, everything has to be entered into our older ECG machines manually, but everything is digitized in the new machines. They are faster, more accurate, and there’s no room for error. With the new software, everything is immediately available on Meditech, our online health care records system, so that any doctor can review the results as soon as they’re scanned.