Chances are you’ve never even heard of the GE MARS Holter Reporting Solution (MARS), but you probably know someone who has or will be treated with it.

MARS is an important tool in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of patients with suspected or known heart disease―one of the leading causes of death in Canada. Patients wear Holter monitors for up to two days to record all of their heartbeats. Cardiology technologists then use MARS to extract patients’ cardiac data from the monitors. This information is sent to an application called MUSE where it can be reviewed and interpreted by cardiologists.

Improving patient care and user experience

The MARS upgrade has improved the user experience for technologists who work with the system as well as simplified the process patients go through when using Holter monitors.

• A newer version of MARS means fewer unscheduled downtimes, reducing the risk of data loss from Holter monitors—and patients having to repeat their tests.
• A shared licensing structure means each MARS site will be afforded as many licenses it needs to address capacity, helping to keep our patients’ visits as convenient and as close to home as possible.
• Processes that technologists previously had to complete manually, like patient data input, are now automated.
• Data archiving, which was done on CDs, is now done online, increasing technologists’ ease of access to old studies—no more combing through stacks of CDs!

Successful upgrades completed across all VCH MARS sites

Back on November 18, 2016, MARS was successfully upgraded across all MARS sites, including the below VCH sites.

• Lions Gate Hospital
• Sechelt Hospital
• Squamish General Hospital
• R.W. Large Memorial Hospital (Bella Bella)
• Bella Coola General Hospital
• Vancouver General Hospital
• Diamond Centre
• UBC Hospital
• Powell River General Hospital
• Richmond General Hospital

This project also lays the groundwork for upgrading MUSE in March 2017. MUSE is a data management application where cardiac information can be reviewed and interpreted by cardiologists and used to plan treatment for their patients.

Questions?

Please stay tuned for detailed information about this upgrade. If you have any questions about the MARS/MUSE upgrades, please contact Mark Wise, Project Manager, at Mark.Wise@phsa.ca.