Steward Health Care to Expand Industry-Leading Ambulance App Twiage to Massachusetts Hospitals and Facilities

Boston, MA – Emergency departments at Steward Health Care hospitals and facilities across Massachusetts will soon feature Twiage, a HIPAA-compliant app that allows emergency responders to share patient information with hospital personnel real-time, to expedite lifesaving care. Steward will expand Twiage to all of its emergency departments after a successful year-long pilot program with 14 emergency service providers at five hospitals.

Designed by physicians and emergency medical technicians, Twiage offers emergency responders the ability to use a smartphone to share real-time patient data and send HIPAA-compliant photos and videos so that hospital personnel can prepare cath labs, operating rooms, Stroke Teams, and hospital beds well in advance of a patient’s arrival to the emergency room. Twiage also offers accurate GPS-tracking to help hospitals plan estimated times of arrival, shaving life-saving minutes off of treatment time to improve patient outcomes.

“In emergency care, speed and information save lives,” said Brenden Hayden, Steward Health Care’s Director of Emergency Medical Services. “Steward is committed to delivering high-quality, integrated care that helps patients live healthy lives. We’re excited to add Twiage to every Steward emergency department because our experience shows that sharing real-time data with our emergency rooms help us to treat our patients more quickly.”

Since 2016, five Steward hospitals have used Twiage, connecting their emergency rooms to ambulance providers in the region. Under the year-long pilot program at Saint Anne’s Hospital, Morton Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center, Holy Family Hospital – Methuen, and Holy Family Hospital – Haverhill, hospitals has received a total of 31,794 calls through Twiage, helping each hospital to shave life-saving minutes off the time needed for stroke procedures, heart attack interventions, and other emergency actions. Twiage also offers the advantage of allowing emergency responders to communicate sensitive patient information without talking in front of a patient in an ambulance.

Since the pilot program’s launch, a number of municipal fire departments and private ambulance companies have utilized Twiage, including: Andover Fire Rescue, Berkley Fire and Rescue, Brewster Ambulance, Easton Fire & Rescue Department, Fall River Fire and EMS, Georgetown Fire Department, Lakeville Fire Department, Methuen Fire Department, Patriot Ambulance, Raynham Fire Department, Salem Fire Department (NH), Swansea Ambulance Corps, Tiverton Fire Department (RI), and Trinity EMS.

“Our experienced paramedics will look for every advantage that helps them deliver high quality emergency care,” said Timothy Oliveira, Director of Emergency Medical Services for the Fall River Fire Department. “Twiage expands the information that Fall River ambulances can share with Steward Health Care’s hospital emergency rooms, expediting the delivery of lifesaving treatment.”

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About Steward Health Care

Steward Health Care is a fully integrated national health care services organization committed to providing the highest quality of care in the communities where our patients live. Steward owns and operates 18 community hospitals across four states, serves over 800 communities, and has more than 23,000 employees. The Steward network includes more than 25 urgent care centers, 42 preferred skilled nursing facilities, substantial behavioral health offerings, and more than 3,700 beds under management.

The innovative, community-based Steward Health Care Network includes more than 4,500 physicians who care for approximately 2 million patients annually. Steward Medical Group, the company’s employed physician group, provides more than 1 million patient encounters per year and manages Steward Home Care and Hospice with 300,000 and 35,000 patient encounters respectively. Steward’s unique health care service delivery model leverages technology and care coordination to keep patients healthier and in the community. Steward is recognized as one of the nation’s leading accountable care organizations. Steward hospitals have received the country’s top awards for quality and safety.

The Steward Hospital Group is comprised of: Sebastian River Medical Center (Sebastian, FL), Wuesthoff Medical Center (Melbourne, FL), Wuesthoff Medical Center (Rockledge, FL), Carney Hospital (Dorchester, MA), Good Samaritan Medical
Center (Brockton, MA), Holy Family Hospital (Haverhill, MA and Methuen, MA), Morton Hospital (Taunton, MA), Nashoba Valley Medical Center (Ayer, MA), New England Sinai Hospital (Stoughton, MA), Norwood Hospital (Norwood, MA), Saint Anne’s Hospital (Fall River, MA), St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center (Brighton, MA), Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital (Warren, OH), Northside Medical Center (Youngstown, OH), Trumbull Memorial Hospital (Warren, OH), Easton Hospital (Easton, PA) and Sharon Regional Medical Center (Sharon, PA).