DDTF Corporate Participants 

The manufacturers of anesthesia information management systems that are participants in the Data Dictionary Task Force's Technical Working Group are:

• Cerner Corporation
• Docusys
• Draeger Medical
• eko systems, inc.
• GE Healthcare Information Technologies 
• iMDsoft
• Informatics Clinical Information Systems
• Philips Medical Systems
• Picis, Inc.  

Each of these corporations has agreed to contribute to the APSF specifically for the operations of the Data Dictionary Task Force project. This contribution is in addition to any further corporate support for the APSF made by the companies.

Benefits of Corporate Participation in the Data Dictionary Task Force:

1. Membership in the Task Force's Technical Working Group (TWG). Each corporate contributor will designate a technical representative who will work closely with Dr. Martin Hurrell to guide the development of the framework to create a Reference Data Set. TWG members will help determine the structure of the relational database supporting the project.
   
2. Task Force evaluation and review of existing lexicons and relevant standards for applicability in describing anesthesia in a structured report, eliminating this product development and research expense.
   
3. Opportunity to collaborate and communicate pro-competitively with peers in other AIMS companies.
   

4. • Task Force section of the APSF's web site

   • Regular Task Force reports in the quarterly APSF Newsletter (circulation, 75,000)

   • Task Force press releases.

   • Task Force meeting presentations such as regular updates at the ASA meeting and other relevant professional meetings

   • Acknowledgement as grant supporters in planned Task Force peer-reviewed publications

   Recognition in all Task Force publications and promotional material, including the:

5. Representation through the Task Force to other anesthesia-related organizations and societies that may participate in the project under a planned outreach program.

6. Representation through Task Force to other specialty and national outcomes-related organizations undertaking similar projects.

7. Interaction with and access to Task Force member deliberations and decisions in advance of open forum disclosure

8. Opportunities to participate in future APSF-directed research on the utility of AIMS in clinical practice.

9. Opportunities to participate in planned APSF educational programs highlighting the patient safety-related aspects of AIMS.

10. Strategic partnership with the APSF based on shared objectives that benefit the anesthesia community and create improvements in patient care.

The mission of the Data Dictionary Task Force is to identify a common language of specific perioperative termsand to define the set of data elements necessary for a perioperative information system. Standardization of these data elements will be the first step toward the establishment of a national outcomes database dedicated to the identification of the causes and prevention of anesthetic morbidity and mortality.