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HealthStream and Laerdal Partner to Offer Hospitals an American Heart Association Blended Learning Solution for Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support Training
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (March 20, 2007)– HealthStream (NASDAQ: HSTM), a leading provider of learning and research solutions for the healthcare industry, has announced that it has partnered with Laerdal Medical Corporation to offer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and emergency cardiovascular care (ECC) training programs using a blended learning approach of online learning and hands-on skills evaluation. Each program centers on the use of a unique manikin and an instructorless teaching / coaching system, known as HeartCode™. The two programs are based on the newly revised 2005 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR and ECC, released in November of 2005.
As one of the first customers to select this training program from HealthStream, Barbara Phelan, DNSc, RN, Manager,
CPR is a combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions delivered to victims thought to be in cardiac arrest. Proper CPR can "buy time," allowing a victim to survive a short time until advanced medical care is available. Based on a rigorous international evidence evaluation and consensus process, the American Heart Association updates its guidelines approximately every five years.
According to the association, in-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes are very poor. 2007 American Heart Association Heart and Stroke Statistics show that the rates of survival to discharge after in-hospital cardiac arrest are 27 percent among children and 18 percent among adults. Consequently, approximately 75 percent of all hospital personnel are currently required by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) to earn and maintain certification in Basic Life Support (BLS) training or the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) training—both providing CPR instruction and emergency cardiovascular care guidelines—and the American Heart Association is the leading provider of such programs.
Laerdal Medical Corporation and the American Heart Association share a 10-year collaborative relationship, including a strategic alliance announced in July 2005, which includes a commitment to developing electronic BLS and ACLS training. In collaboration with Laerdal, these innovative learning programs will be offered to the nation's hospitals through HealthStream's online learning platform, where approximately 1.4 million hospital-based healthcare professionals are already active users. Upon release of training materials by the association last summer, the BLS training program was developed and is now being introduced to the hospital market by HealthStream. The introduction of the online ACLS training program is expected to occur later in 2007.
"We are pleased to introduce our new simulation-based BLS and ACLS blended training programs, which we believe will be the most innovative, effective, and instructive training of these important procedures ever offered to hospitals," said Clive Patrickson, President, Laerdal Medical Corporation. "Our partnership with HealthStream enables the delivery of this high-impact training to hospitals through their Internet-based HealthStream Learning Center™, the most adopted learning platform in the industry. To reach hospitals with our new training programs, HealthStream was our first and only choice for a partner."
HealthStream and Laerdal's delivery of these new American Heart Association electronic learning solutions for BLS and ACLS training will save valuable resources for hospitals—both financial and in time-savings for personnel. On average, the financial savings for initial training and recertification are anticipated to range from approximately 50 percent to 70 percent over traditional classroom-based learning formats. By offering the course content portion online, healthcare professionals can choose to learn the material any time of the day and anywhere they have access to the Internet. Given the 24/7 work shift rotations in hospitals, this level of flexibility and convenience is highly beneficial. Moreover, clinical educators' task of tracking, managing, and reporting on the training of their organization's personnel is significantly streamlined through HealthStream's learning management system.
"We are excited to offer our customers and all hospitals this important, required training that has a direct impact on the quality of patient care," said Robert A. Frist, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, HealthStream. "Laerdal's longstanding relationship with the American Heart Association to develop BLS and ACLS training is a testament to the high quality of their simulations-based instructional design expertise. Our partnership will offer the best in training through the best in online learning delivery to the nation's approximately five million healthcare professionals working in acute-care hospitals."
About HealthStream
HealthStream (NASDAQ: HSTM) is a leading provider of learning and research solutions for the healthcare industry, transforming insight into action to deliver outcomes-based results for healthcare organizations. Through its research products, executives from approximately 1,100 healthcare facilities gain valuable insight about patients' experiences, workforce challenges, physician relations, and community perceptions of their services. Through HealthStream's learning solutions—which are used by approximately 1.4 million hospital-based healthcare professionals—healthcare organizations create safer environments for patients, increase clinical competencies of its workforce, and facilitate the rapid transfer of the latest knowledge and technologies. Based in
About Laerdal Medical
Laerdal Medical is headquartered in
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties regarding HealthStream. Investors are cautioned that such results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. This information has been, or in the future may be, included in reliance on the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including risks referenced from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Consequently, such forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation or warranty by the Company that such projections will be realized.