By Phyllis Maguire
Today's Hospitalist

When Banner Gateway Medical Center in Gilbert, Ariz., opened its doors in September, it was billed as a “next-generation hospital.” That’s because the brand new hospital, which is located 20 miles from Phoenix, is packed with high-tech features that might seem more at home in Silicon Valley than a U.S. hospital.

The 176-bed facility’s private patient rooms, for instance, are ringed with computer-filled modules where physicians and nurses feed the completely paperless electronic medical record (EMR) system. Hospitalists communicate with each other via wearable, wireless, touch-activated devices. And morning sign-out takes place in one of several conference rooms where patient images can be displayed on a 60-inch plasma screen.

While the hospital is clearly a technical tour de force, its computing horsepower is only part of the story. Look beneath the shiny surface of Banner Gateway’s high-tech gadgets and systems, and you’ll find that 
 the hospital is banking on an expanded role for the new hospitalist practice.

Read more about hospitalists and Banner Gateway