GE Healthcare said Wednesday it received approval to launch its Smart Patient Room pilot, a solution designed to provide real-time monitoring of safety protocols.

The Institutional Review Board at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown, N.Y., gave GE the go-ahead to begin data collection. The installed technology at the facility is designed to improve patient safety by monitoring protocols such as hand hygiene compliance, clinical rounding adherence and patient falls.

In the development process at the Niskayuna, N.Y.-based GE Global Research Center, the Smart Patient Room technology is designed for integration into existing hospital rooms. The solution enables clinicians to monitor for patient risk, such as falls, and intervene via gentle notification.

According to the American Hospital Association, patient falls cost the U.S. health care system $1 billion on an annual basis.

"GE is developing a unique solution for the health care industry that helps hospitals and staff identify and mitigate patient safety risks while offering meaningful solutions to improve patient outcomes," said Jan De Witte, president and CEO of GE Healthcare Performance Solutions, in a release. "GE's real-time, adaptable solution will provide actionable data to health care providers regarding patient safety and potential medical errors which in turn will affect the necessary behavioral changes to avoid preventable errors."

The company announced the approval of the pilot at Wednesday's "Future of Healthcare Technology" event that took place at GE's Global Research Center.