SBIR-STTR Award

Ebola and other deadly viral diseases represent a major threat to the nation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have called for SBIR projects that focus on support for Ebola Safety with a focus on virus transmission, disease prevention and control, and public health preparedness. This SBIR addresses this need with the educational product named Medical Unit Specialized Simulation Training (MUSST.) MUSST contains 1) internet based self-study of the scientific background for high stakes infectious disease with special emphasis on the diagnosis, infectivity, transmission of the Ebola 2) a rapidly learned train the trainer internet self-administered component for hospital instructors to teach the course, 3) CDC and NIOSH guideline based safe practice protocols for 15 common simulated tasks for nurses, physicians and other unit workers, and 4) an automated scoring and data acquisition system that immediately grades and ranks performance of learners so that hospital leaders and administrators can insure their staff have learned and mastered the common tasks in a high risk unit. MUSST will standardize education and safe practices across the country keeping our healthcare workers safe and helping in the containment of deadly infectious disease. In Phase I there are 2 distinct aims. Aim 1 is to create a comprehensive digital learning system based on current medical science, CDC and OSHA guidelines that teach teachers to educate their workforce in 15 common tasks and duties and provides automated scoring and ranking of performance of learner staff. A scientific advisory board with Ebola Viral Disease teaching and Mastery Education expertise will validate the content in Aim 1. Aim 2, using pilot testing of hospital worker volunteers, investigates the validity, effectiveness and reliability of the training modules learning system. The pilot studies test the discrimination validity, inter- rater reliability, and effectiveness of MUSST components. Phase II is essential to product development insuring that: 1) that the validity, reliability and effectiveness of MUSST are perfected and tested using power estimates learned in Phase I; 2) the software can run on the commonly available platforms at most hospitals; 3) that MUSST can be successfully used by workers at other hospitals and; 4) learn the decay of mastery learning – determine how often workers have to undergo the simulation to stay safe. Many forces in the market assure the success of this unrivaled educational product. Many hospitals cannot develop their own course and must purchase a valid product. Hospital regulatory agencies like OSHA and The Joint Commission have made the protection of workers and containment of Ebola a requirement. These forces along with product promotion by the firmly established corporate alliances of SimTunes with the largest high fidelity simulation manufacturer (Laerdal), the largest hospital educational content provider (HealthStream), and prior product success of SimTunes products all promise to insure success of MUSST.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Project Narrative Emerging infectious diseases have become more common and threatening to mankind in the last decade, with Ebola now most prominent in the medical community, government regulatory agencies and lay media. NIH has reported major gaps in protection education of workers exposed to deadly pathogens. SimTunes in this project will develop a digital course entitled Medical Unit Specialized Simulation Training (MUSST) that can be licensed and used at virtually any hospital to train health care workers to perform work safely and expertly in the simulated high risk infectious disease environment. When MUSST is developed in this SBIR, it will provide “off the shelf “ software for hospitals to license and use in the standardized training of their workers to keep them protected, and our entire country more safe from the spread of deadly infectious diseases, thus preventing hundreds of millions of dollars in healthcare expenses.

Project Terms:
No Project Terms available.

This product will keep healthcare workers prepared and safe in the next lethal viral pandemic through innovative simulation education. Ebola and other deadly viral diseases represent a major threat to the nation and world. At its peak in December 2015 Ebola had infected 28,640 (including 4 in the U.S.) and killed 11,315 people (including 1 in the U.S.). By the end of 2014 tragically, 814 healthcare workers had died. Any hospital could have a suspected Ebola patient even if for a brief time, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), American Hospital Association and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have recognized the need for healthcare workers to be appropriately trained. This SBIR grant addresses this need with the educational product named Medical Unit Specialized Simulation Training (MUSST.) MUSST contains: 1) internet based self-study of the scientific background for high stakes infectious disease with special emphasis on the diagnosis, infectivity, transmission of the Ebola virus; 2) a novel rapidly learned train the trainer internet self-administered module for hospital instructors to learn how to teach and grade the course; 3) CDC, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and World Health Organization (WHO) guideline based safe practice protocols for 13 common simulated tasks for nurses, physicians and other healthcare workers; and 4) an objectively quantitative automated scoring and data acquisition system that immediately grades and ranks performance of learners with unique analytical tools so that hospital leaders can insure their staff is competent. The product is unique in the internet delivery, proprietary digital grading tool, original database analytics, mastery training and incorporation of High Reliability Team process. Long-term MUSST will standardize education, monitor preparedness and insure safe practices across the country keeping our healthcare workers safe and competent as they work to contain deadly infectious diseases. Multiple forces in the market assure the success of this unrivaled educational product. Many hospitals cannot develop their own course and must purchase a valid product. Hospital regulatory agencies like OSHA, The Joint Commission and CMS have made the protection of workers, containment of infectious disease a requirement. Hospitals also have liability concerns related to hospital acquired infections. The fact that there has not been an Ebola case in the U.S. in the past several years means that there is an unavoidable but potentially disastrous relaxed and unprepared workforce as the World Health Agency pointed out with the re-emergence of Ebola in 2015. SimTunes expects early market acceptance of the product using firmly established corporate alliances for marketing that have brought other innovative product success worldwide. Key Words: Healthcare Worker Preparedness, Ebola, Infection Control, Simulation team training.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Project Narrative This product will keep healthcare workers prepared for and safe in the next lethal pandemic. This SBIR grant addresses this need with the educational product named Medical Unit Specialized Simulation Training (MUSST). The research will test its superiority over conventional educational methods and its ability to be used in community hospitals and with a new disease.

Project Terms:
No Project Terms available.