Nandini Roy Choudhury,writer
Brief news
- The SimVET facility in Orlando is a 53,000-square-foot structure that serves as a simulation center for front-line healthcare workers from the VA to practice procedures and pilot new technologies.
- SimVET is equipped with operating rooms, intensive care units, and outpatient clinics, all staffed with mannequins that simulate real patients.
- The facility aims to provide a controlled environment for healthcare workers to resolve issues, ensure feasibility, and test the safety of new concepts.
- SimVET is the largest simulation center within the VA and one of the largest in the country.
- SimVET employs approximately 60 full-time personnel and is funded directly through the VA, making it a logical choice for organizations seeking simulation services.
Detailed news
There are no patients within an expansive $43 million Veterans Affairs facility that is equipped with an outpatient clinic, intensive care units, and operating rooms. At least, not any genuine ones.
The National Centre for Simulation Validation, Evaluation, and Testing, or SimVET, is a 53,000-square-foot structure located just minutes from the Orlando International Airport in Florida. It functions as the primary centre for teams of front-line health-care workers from the VA to travel in order to practise procedures and pilot new technologies, all without imposing excessive risks on patients.
For example, a team of clinicians can repeatedly simulate the process at SimVET in order to modify their response to opioid overdoses or test a new artificial intelligence tool. VA officials informed CNBC that health-care workers can resolve issues and guarantee the feasibility and safety of new concepts by practicing in a controlled environment.
SimVET, which was established in 2016, is a prime illustration of the growing prevalence and sophistication of simulation in the healthcare sector in recent years. Facilities such as SimVET can assist in reducing the clutter that surrounds the evaluation of hundreds of new AI tools that have recently been introduced to the market by health systems.
In 172 medical centres throughout the United States, the Veterans Health Administration provides care to 9 million veterans. Some medical centres have a dedicated space on site, while all have a simulation programme.
Dr. Scott Wiltz, the medical director of the VA’s Simulation Learning, Evaluation, Assessment and Research Network, or SimLEARN, stated that the SimVET facility in Orlando is the largest simulation centre within the VA and one of the largest in the country and is “by far.”
The military and industries such as aviation are accustomed to simulating high-risk scenarios, allowing pilots to spend hours practicing in flight simulators.
Virtual reality headsets are becoming an increasingly popular instrument for practicing surgeries, and hospital systems and medical colleges have long relied on professional actors to assist in doctor training. However, SimVET takes one step further.
According to Wiltz, the objective is typically to achieve “as close [to] a level of realism as possible” in an interview with CNBC.
Wiltz cited the operating chambers as an excellent illustration. “We have two operating rooms that are fully staffed and equipped with all the necessary equipment, including real anaesthesia machines, booms, and lights.” We even have a mannequin that responds genuinely to the anaesthesia.
In March, CNBC visited SimVET, and the mannequins are an integral part of the facility. Some of them are programmed to communicate, move, and develop complications, while others exhibit a variety of facial features, fashions, and skintones. An “older” mannequin at the facility has more pronounced veins and creases, while another can give “birth” to a “baby” mannequin.
Wiltz stated that the figures are intended to depict the VA’s veteran population and the general population of the country. He stated that the facility contains “well over” twenty-two mannequins.
SimVET is home to numerous health-care scenarios that appear to be familiar, in addition to its peculiar patients. Fluorescent lights illuminate a lengthy hallway that is replete with exam rooms, and the operating rooms, which are crammed with apparatus, appear to have been extracted from a nearby hospital.
The facility would appear to be a genuine medical centre to an unsuspecting visitor. The only minimal indication that the structure is educational is the numerous classrooms and educational spaces.
Wiltz stated, “The realism that the space evokes and the diversity of the space really give you the feeling that you can actually take care of patients in that building.” “We do; however, our patients are actors and mannequins.”
According to Wiltz, SimVET employs approximately 60 full-time personnel who typically manage numerous pilots and initiatives simultaneously. He stated that national programme offices and front-line workers within the VA will approach SimVET with concepts for simulations, and occasionally, employees at the facility are inspired themselves.
Wiltz stated that it is frequently more logical for these organisations to seek services from SimVET rather than attempting to pay an entity outside of the government, as SimVET is able to provide funding directly through the VA.
A surgical emergency team that visited SimVET in May of last year was comprised of Amanda Borchers, a patient safety manager at the Lexington VA Medical Centre in Kentucky. In the winter of 2023, she stated that they were seeking to enhance their response to unforeseen complications that may arise during surgery. Consequently, they contacted SimVET with their proposals.
Borchers stated that certain veterans in her population who are at a higher risk of experiencing abrupt complications during procedures have breathing, cardiac, and circulation issues. In order to more effectively address certain obstacles, such as the rapid retrieval of blood and its transportation to an operating room, her team sought to establish a novel protocol.
Before their arrival on site, Borchers and her four other colleagues were assisted by SimVET leadership in the preparation of numerous simulations. Additionally, they were connected with a variety of field experts from various regions of the country.
The team spent a busy week at the SimVET facility. Their first day began promptly at 7 a.m. with a drafting board, and they subsequently spent hours discussing various procedures and resolving issues with the experts and SimVET employees.
“You have the ability to fail, but you must do so in a safe manner, and then you can use that experience to effect change.” Afterward, you repeat the process. Borchers stated in an interview with CNBC, “And then you do it again.” “The transformation was remarkable, as was the extent of our ability to respond to an unexpected emergency.”
Borchers stated that she had previously engaged in simulations; however, she had never encountered anything that could be compared to SimVET. She stated that the facility replicates the environment in which she operates on a daily basis, thereby enabling her to rehearse “every single detail” of her routine.
She stated, “It is identical.” “You could actually perform a surgery immediately.”
Borchers and her team concluded the week by departing SimVET with the framework for a new medical code, which is a facility-wide response to a specific form of emergency. For example, “code blue” is frequently invoked in television programmes and films, in which healthcare professionals immediately respond to a patient’s cardiac or respiratory arrest.
Borchers stated that the new code the team devised would be identified as “code SET” in the overhead speakers, which is an acronym for “surgical emergency team.” She stated that it is intended to notify a specialised team that offers assistance in the event of unforeseen complications that arise during or immediately following a surgical procedure.
Although SimVET provided Borchers and her colleagues with the initial practice and assurance they required for their concept, they still had to convince the other members of the Lexington VA Medical Centre to support it. They presented the code to their executive leadership and proceeded to determine the specific individuals and resources who would be most receptive to it.
Borchers stated that the medical centre initiated its own simulations and proceeded to refine the code in specific areas of the hospital throughout the autumn. Beginning in the spring, they conducted facility-wide simulations with the code and expanded their testing.
Borchers stated that the medical centre is in the process of revising its paging system and will re-simulate the code once the new system is in place. If all goes according to plan, code SET will be implemented with actual patients within the next two to three months.
Borchers stated that her ultimate objective is to have code SET implemented in VA medical centres nationwide. Staff members from states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas have already participated in simulated trainings.
Wiltz stated that the code is on its way to becoming a national programme at the VA.
Wiltz stated, “Fortunately, this was not the result of an adverse event; rather, it was the result of individuals expressing their belief that they could improve upon their current practices.
Source : CNBC News
