Acute Care Specific Communication Technologies

Increase Throughput & Revenue

Bed Management Systems automate the bed management process; removing one more burden from your nursing staff. With the addition of a two-button station in each admit bed, housekeeping is instantly notified of room in need of cleaning and triage desks are notified when the task is complete with Real-Time information displayed on any networked PC. Instant notification of open or cleaned beds eliminates patient pile up in the Emergency Department or admitting, increasing throughput and preventing ambulances being diverted due to over-capacity issues.

By integrating the Responder NET and Bed Management Systems to an OR or ED Patient Flow Management System, such as PCTS or Versus, the process is even more streamlined. The integration allows hospital staff to visually track patient workflow, as well as the patients themselves, other staff and equipment using RFID. With a full integration to the Responder IV call buttons, service requests are automatically sent out to housekeeping or nursing staff seamlessly and efficiently. Hospitals, such as Christiana Care in Wilmington, DE, have noticed marked decreases in walk-out rates, time-in patient intervals and ambulance diversion due to perceived over-capacity issues thus leading to increased volume and workflow efficiencies. Report Analysis Capabilities allows management to identify problem areas and remedy any bottlenecks in the bed turnover process.

Enhance Patient Safety & Satisfaction

It goes without saying that increasing the efficiency of the OR, ED or admitting processes and of your Nursing Staff on the floor, the overall satisfaction of your patients will be dramatically enhanced. Minimizing the Noise Level on the floors further can enhance their experience at your facility.

Patient Safety is dramatically improved through wireless notification of feature-bed “exit alarms” for high fall-risk patients (JCAHO Safety Goal #9).

Automate Processes

With the addition of a two-button station in each admit bed, staff members need only to press the “Cleaning Needed” button to instantly notify Housekeeping, via computer pop-up, nurse call console or pager/wireless phone that a bed is ready to clean. After the room is cleaned, Housekeeping staff then need only to press the “Bed Ready” button to provide instant notification to registration or bed management personnel that an admission to this bed can occur. This system can provide rapid return on investment for itself by decreasing diversions and keeping top surgeons happy that there is a more efficient system in place to have a bed ready for their patient.

Improve Staff Efficiency & Retention

Equipping your nursing staff with wireless telephones allows them to freely move about the floor without concern of missing an emergency call placed to the nurse's station. All patient calls are filtered and routed directly to the wireless phone of the assigned caregiver in the form of a text message including the type of call placed (i.e. Normal , Toilet, Shower, Bed Exit etc.). They can then communicate directly with the patient's room to determine their need. With the implementation of Enhanced Alarm Management, rich patient monitor alarm information can also be delivered to the wireless phones, allowing staff to immediately assess the alarm and take the appropriate steps. When receiving calls for a drink of water, a bed pan change or a patient going into V-Fib, your nurses can be prepared for the patient when they arrive: saving steps and improving response time and raising the Standard of Patient Safety.

Increase Staff Compliance

The process of signing in to traditional nurse call systems can be somewhat cumbersome, especially for new hires. Signing in improperly can affect whether or not Patient calls from the Nurse Call system make it or don't make it to a caregiver's wireless phone. With Responder NET, Staff Assignments to patients or patient rooms is greatly simplified by allowing unit secretaries or charge nurses to use the PC Scheduler application to pre-assign patients to staff members with a click of the mouse. Staff member's Log-in to the system is extremely easy with RNET, as it utilizes bar code readers. Staff can simply scan their ID badge and the bar code on the wireless phone that they are using that day to log in. Now, after this quick and easy sign-in, Responder NET Information Display, available to any authorized computer user on the Hospital's network, provides a real-time staff directory of which nurses are on duty, which patients are assigned to them, and what their wireless phone number is for the day…effectively providing a real-time automatic STAFF WHITE BOARD.

With HL-7 Integration to your admission discharge system, RNET also provides Patient Information whiteboards automatically. Staff assignments are archived for easy access to produce reports for JCAHO or other purposes.

Reduce Noise and Alarm Fatigue

With many different critical and non-critical alarms sounding throughout the floor (JCAHO Safety Goal #6) on a daily basis there is added risk of alarm fatigue for your nursing staff and increased noise levels on the floor. Rauland's Responder NET and Enhanced Alarm Management Interface filter alarms based on priority level and delivers data-rich messages to the appropriate caregiver's wireless device thus reducing alarm desensitization and noise level.

Contact SAGE

For more information on Acute Care Communications Solutions by SAGE Technology Solutions, email us at info@sagetechs.com or place a call to one of our Systems Engineers at 717.653.6641.